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Skype SMS to be delivered within 15 seconds
2007-03-08 12:09:05
This may be filled what lacks the most to Skype . Mobile messaging services provider TynTec yesterday unveiled its deal with Skype to provide SMS delivery. TynTec messaging service is available in 140 countries and linked to 340 networks, claims the company. Skype users’ SMS messages are delivered within 15 seconds, something the company is already used to do for another service of this kind, text messaging financial news.
More About: With , Live , Second , Econ

Dallas will have its broadband train
2007-03-08 12:09:05
The Trinity Railway Express announced it will be offering a broadband in-train network for early summer 2007. About 5,000 daily passengers would be able to access the Net on a train that runs up to 63 mp/h (around 100 km/h). The railroad links Fort Worth, Dallas and DFW International Airport, totalizing 36 miles (72 km). Nortel and Colubris Networks will provide equipment for what is expected to be “the first end-to-end broadband wireless service offered by a major U.S. public railway”. According to the Nortel’s press release, each train will see 10 Mbps connectivity using Nortel’s Municipal Wireless Solution — which incorporates wireless mesh, WiMAX and optical technologies. Plans also include a range of information and entertainment services, like breaking news and sports, local advertising and other video content, all of this presented on 27-inch LCD screens. No prices have been set yet.
More About: Band , Broadband , Rain , Train

At the TechFest, a glimpse in the future of audio tech
2007-03-08 12:09:05
At the Microsoft’s Tech Fest 2007 forum, MS researchers show off their latest innovations in various tech domains. Of course, not all of them focus on audio stuff, but we found a couple that might give an idea of what Microsoft is preparing. The Personal Audi o Space, a semi-private system for real-time communication. Only the intended user can hear the system. It will rely on multiple speakers (pictured), and create a kind of sound bubble surrounding the user. To anyone outside of this personal audio space, the sound is inaudible. By focusing the sound, the sound level could be lowered and thus, requires less power than a conventional system. Dynamic Noise Reduction. A simple and strong model to enhance quality of recorded speech and to remove non-speech sounds from a recording. People dictating an audio note in a bar or in a car could get their message more audible. “Speech enhancement is especially important in applications such as preventing environmental noise fro...
More About: Future , The Future

Elder phone slows down voices
2007-03-08 12:09:05
Developed countries share this common point: their population are aging. Old Europe, but also old Japan. Put it in the modern telecoms point of view, it gives that cellphones need to provide more adapted features to keep seniors using handsets. The Raku-Raku, a newcomer cellphone to hit the Japanese market in next April, intends to solve the equation. The cellphone features unusual functions like the ‘Slow Voice ’ feature, which slows down the spoken words coming through the earpiece for easy listening, Digital World Tokyo explains (via textually). To output a even more perfect audio quality, there will be a ‘Clear Voice’ noise detection, which takes account of surrounding noise levels and adjusts the earpiece and ringtone volume to suit. As a needed extra for SMS, the phone features a text-to-speech built-in function. Awesome phone, that you don’t need to be a grown-up to like, especially if you get phone calls at crowded bars and get tired of yelling...
More About: Phone , Down , VOIC

Struggling Palm for sale?
2007-03-08 12:09:05
Remember this episode. Several hours after that Apple showcased its iPhone, handset maker Palm ’s market share dropped by 6%. But that was just the top of the iceberg. Palm is struggling and is “evaluating its options, including a possible sale to Nokia or a private-equity firm,” MarketWatch notes. The rumor made Palm’s market share go up for a moment. But analysts think Palm isn’t cool anymore. J.P. Morgan downgrade its rating to underweight from neutral, saying Palm’s product line has grown stale while the competition is intensifying. On the other side, by acquiring Palm, Nokia could strengthen its smartphone division.
More About: For Sale , Sale

More Google into Apple
2007-03-08 12:09:05
Google CEO Eric Schmidt keeps buzzing around the Google-Apple partnership. At the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco on Monday, he said that the two companies are working together on “many more” new projects. The statement, quite vague so far, won’t get more detailed even if he hinted that Google and Apple “have similar goals, similar competitors.” Does ‘similar competitors‘ refer to cellphone carriers? Apple will launch its iPhone in June and Google is preparing a cellphone for 2008. And at the last MacWorld, Google Maps was featured among the iPhone toolbox.
More About: Google , More , Googl

Tip of the day: Speed dialing in Opera Mini
2007-03-06 18:07:11
Opera Software unveiled a new way to load favorite links in its Opera Mini , the Web navigator for mobile devices. The process borrows to the traditional speed dialing technique: by pressing Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9, you access to your 9th favorite link directly. “Adding your favorites to Speed Dial is also very, very simple: Just click the button and choose a site from your Top 10 history or from the currently open tabs. Deleting them is just as simple, with the X in the upper right corner,” the Opera Mini blog explained (via genbeta). We like this way to browse faster. But we also suggest to broaden the technique and let users add their shortkeys, like in Firefox web browser.
More About: Opera , The D

Lingr adds tags to chatrooms
2007-03-06 18:07:11
For people who want to chat without downloading and installing any new application, Lingr is a simple solution that sticks to the minimalistic principles of IRC: a message input field and a list of users. Something that has to do with Satoshi Nakagawa, known as the guy behind LimeChat , the most widely-used IRC client in Japan. But Lingr also is an up-to-date service. People can tag each chatroom (okay, in this case, it’s a trendy word to categorize by chat topics) and bloggers can embed the Lingr chatroom-status widget into their web sites. Lingr is an open chat community. It means you can chat about anything you want (although the most popular rooms are for tech topics like Zope framework or Python programming language), that you can talk in public or private rooms. And that no account is required. Room owners can even upload their own graphic to brand the room. Everything written is automatically archived, and can be seen by everyone, which is a little more obtrusive than...
More About: Hat , Tags

FindSounds in a snap
2007-03-06 18:07:11
If you’re planning to add music in your podcast or if you want to design your own ringtones, Find Sound s is an interesting search engine to try. The service provided by the Comparisonics Corporation, claims to index over 1,000,000 sounds on the Internet and served some 2 million requests monthly. The FindSounds’ index base mainly consists of sound effects and musical instrument samples. Results are in AIFF, AU and WAV formats, in both mono and stereo. Unfortunately, they all need to be launched at a separate media player. Like others, the search engine returns a list of URLs. Above each URL is a waveform display, color coded to convey the frequency content of the recording. Reds signify high frequencies, greens denote middle-to-high frequencies, blues represent low-to-middle frequencies, and dark colors indicate low (bass) frequencies. Similar sounds are mapped to similar colors, and changes in sound are seen as changes in color. This display serves as a “thumbna...
More About: Snap

The Google Phone rumored to run scalable vector graphics
2007-03-06 18:07:11
Besides the rumor the Google Phone might be touchless, there’s a set of new about the handset developed by the search engine, Samsung and Orange, its partners for the project. According to Simeon Simeonov, a VC of Poralis Venture Partners, the handset might use scalable vector-based graphics instead Ajax technology. Although it might look like the Adobe Flash-Lite technology, the multimedia Flash engine for mobile devices, Google will use an alternative engine provided by Skia, a tech company acquired by the search engine in late 2005. Other features includes VoIP, he also said, and optimized Java running on the C++ core. If those details come to be true, the Google Phone will have graphics as slick as the Apple iPhone.
More About: Graphics , Rumor

Yahoo! Mixd now clos?d
2007-03-06 18:07:11
Quietly launched in late November 2006, Yahoo ! group text messaging service Mixd has closed. “The Mixd pilot study ended on February 25th, and the service will no longer be available,” we can read on the web site. Yahoo told Read/WriteWeb they will incorporate group text messaging and multimedia sharing features into future Yahoo! mobile products. Us: Recently, Google Talk unveiled a feature that Y! might retake for the future version of Mixd. GTalk users can update their Twittr ‘tumblelog’ through their GTalk client by writing a message to a bot or robot. A tumblelog could be considered a low-effort mini-blog or merely like a “[Google’s] Dodgeball for people who don?t go out,” says Frog Design.

Meraki to start its own San Fransisco WiFi network
2007-03-06 18:07:11
It starts with the Fon wireless network which gave away its wireless routers last year. But it doesn’t stop there. The always delayed citywide WiFi network in San Fransisco opens a window of opportunities for smaller players to spread their tentacles in the area. Meraki, a wireless equipment manufacturer, also plans to “deploy” its network. Over the next several weeks and months, the company will be working on a community mesh network from Mission Dolores Park through the Castro and Duboce Park Neighborhoods and up to Alamo Square Park in the SF urban area. About 15,000 residents could access the Internet for free, Meraki said in a press release. The company also claims to have 15,000 Meraki users who rely on their tiny router in more than 25 countries, mostly in the US. Does Google need to update its plans in San Fransisco? We guess not. The common point between Fon and Meraki is that Google has invested in both start-ups.
More About: Work , Network , Wifi , Start , Star

Rural telcos ordered to open up to VoIP
2007-03-06 06:06:01
It’s not a vision, it’s an order, VoIP for all. The FCC has ruled that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to VoIP services, overruling two state public service commission opinions. The decision was taken after Time Warner Cable filed a petition, in which the cable company complained that the South Carolina and Nebraska public service commissions had allowed rural local exchange carriers to refuse access to wholesale telecom vendors connecting to Time Warner’s VOIP service. In a statement, the FCC explains that opening the telecoms market to VoIP providers “ensures that consumers in all areas of the country reap the benefits of competition in the form of lower prices, innovative services and more choice.” Meanwhile, Time Warner found out that four other states required local carriers to connect with the wholesale vendors.
More About: Open , Voip , Telco , Order , Rural

Cisco acquiring Tribe: A good move?
2007-03-04 18:04:33
It’s an unusual deal. Cisco , the networking equipment major company, is anticipated to acquire social network Tribe .net, reports the NYTimes. Cisco has previously purchased a social network design firm, Five Across, and intends to create services resembling MySpace or YouTube to bring its business customers together online. This would be like the Dell’s Digg-clone web site called Ideastorm. Two reactions: “The idea that Cisco is going to be a force in social networking is about as plausible as Ning being a force in optical switches”, Marc Andreessen, Ning founder (interviewed by the NYTimes) “If cable operators and telecom are the ?media companies? then they are the antithesis of cool, and social networks thrive when they are cool. Media companies and service providers aka incumbents want control ? Social networks thrive when there is no control, and the community is allowed to mutate.” Om Malik, GigaOM
More About: Ring , Move , Good

Mig33 ties social and cellphone network
2007-03-03 00:02:12
If you don’t consider your cellphone as just a phone, here’s another service to try. Mig33 is a mashup between a Web-based social network like MySpace and a mobile community service. Once Mig33 users create their profile on the network, they can start interacting with friends or people with similar interests. They can do it using regular chat tools like group chat rooms, profiling, photo sharing, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Messenger. They can also do it by send text messages using the Mig33 SMS tool, Java-enable instant messenger or voice calling. For the last feature, cost averages SkypeOut price rates. Last note, as it’s quite rare for a service in beta, Mig33 already has its unofficial fan site, quite active and providing use tips to take the most advantage of the service.
More About: Social , Phone , Cell , Work , Network

Joost gets international
2007-03-03 00:02:12
Joost gets multinational after the company closed a deal with Canadian broadcast company JumpTV, reports Reuters. The peer-to-peer TV client will soon air Spanish-language series from Colombia, Chile and Peru, and an Arabic-language comedy. Later this year, will come Romanian, Turkish, Russian and Bengali JumpTV programs. On Red Herring, Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, president of JumpTV Inter national , said he’s “not smart enough about this whole thing to see how it?s going to play out”, but believes “it’s going to be disruptive.”
More About: National , Nation , Joost

In Japan, when giants Cisco and NTT hook up, IP convergence is soon to rise
2007-03-03 00:02:12
NTT DoCoMo will launch dual-mode cellphones for businesses in Japan . The biggest cellphone local carrier hooked up with Cisco , which inked its second major deal after the recent one with Nokia. The offering combines DoCoMo’s N902iL FOMA phone with Cisco’s Unified CallManager and corporate WiFi networking gear, enabling a single-number access, a single office voice mailbox, Mobile Voice Access and other mobile application capabilities for business users, says the release. For Unstrung, “The move makes sense for Cisco. Along with Avaya Inc. it’s driving the enterprise VOIP market, so it’s logical to see the IP giant move into the mobility sector.”
More About: Giant , Convergence , When

Rumor: Apple to provide a 3G version of the iPhone by 2008
2007-03-03 00:02:12
One of the missing feature of the Apple iPhone is 3G connectivity. Without it, this phone won’t work in Japan or less roaming choices in Europe and other parts of Asia. This might change in 2008. Apple Insider (via mobile digest) rumored a Swedish firm has been assured that they’ll get their hands on a 3G version of the iPhone by that time. The eventual non-American version of the iPhone would rely on “a particular form of 3G known as High-Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) [which] happens to represent Apple’s best shot at selling the iPhone beyond American borders,” says Apple Insider.
More About: Rumor , Iphone , Sion

21talks has Joost invitations for you
2007-03-02 12:02:15
Joost is the new video client on the block created by Skype’s founders. Even though it’s not publicly available yet, it already makes quite a big noise around the blogosphere. Its sweet proposition: Watch TV programs on your computer for free, and interact with other TV screeners. As Viacom partnered Joost, you can soon be able to watch TV shows from MTV, BET Networks, and film studio Paramount Pictures for free — and legally. If you missed your chance to try it, today is your day. Today, we have 2 invitations to give away. It’s not that much, we know it, but those invitations are real at least. To grab one of them, just write a comment (click on the appropriate icon on the left side) and give us a tip to improve 21talks. We’ll decide the two best answers among comments dropped at the end of the week (Sunday). Go answer.
More About: Vita , Joost , Talk , Invitation , Invitations

Stats show the US is adopting WiFi, but not dual-mode phones
2007-03-01 00:00:06
The last survey from the the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates about one-third of Internet users in the U.S. have used a wireless connection to surf the Web or check e-mail. For sure, it’s a increase; they were about 22% in February 2004 to use WiFi. Domestic wireless networks have nearly doubled since the same period last year (19% compared to the 10% in January 2005). About 25% of Internet users said they have a cell phone that can access the Internet, and 54 percent of those with the capability said they have used it to get online. When it comes to using WiFi connectivity to make phone calls, another survey reports that only one US mobile phone subscriber in 50 will have a Wi-Fi enabled phone by 2010. Ovum consultancy says the US carriers need a “reality check”, and predicts that less than 5.5 million subscribers will have onboard WLAN. This would confirm the trend that the USA is falling behind Europe when it comes to mobile VoIP telephony.
More About: Phone , Phones , Show , Mode , Wifi

Skype turns bank balance into phone numbers
2007-02-28 17:59:02
How intrusive could be a plugin that was develop to gain time? Quite far, said Jeremy Wagstaff. The WSJ columnist reports a blind behavior of the Skype browser extension. So far, the addon (now a built-in option of the Skype 3.0) detects any string of numbers in a web page that might be a phone number or anything that Skype can dial and turns it into a one-click-to-call button. Pretty cool stuff, indeed, but it also converts bank balances into telephone numbers. “This would freak out the casual user not a little, I should think. Who wants to think that a piece of code in their browser is scouring their bank account Web site and turning anything it can find into telephone numbers?” The solution to this flaw is to deactivate the plugin each time you check your online bank account. But it would be better if Skype provides the option in its plugin that users could customize depending on their needs. Firefox anti-pop-up filter does that already. That shouldn’t be har...
More About: Phone , Numb , Numbers , Balance

Verizon will launch its mobile television service next week?
2007-02-28 17:59:02
Verizon Wireless is on the verge of launching its mobile television service, hints RCR magazine by checking the coverage maps on the carrier’s web site. The maps indicates that mobile TV would be available only in “select markets” and starts on March 1. Further details are pretty rare. “The maps do not currently show coverage in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego or Las Vegas,” it notes. The carrier also announced last month that it would offer shows from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment and Nickelodeon. But so far, no pricing has been unveiled by Verizon. Cingular also announced a video service coming quite soon this year. It will provide video conference among cellphone users.
More About: Television , Mobile , Verizon , Service , Next

Gizmo hits the version 3.0, turns multi-IM
2007-02-28 05:59:07
It’s out. Gizmo Project hits the version 3.0. The new version adds support to the “Big 4 IM” minus one (Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, except AIM). What is even more interesting is the international feature. Gizmo Project 3.0 users can also call international Yahoo Messenger users for free in France, Spain, and many other countries. Right now, only Windows users could update their Gizmo client. Linux and Mac still have to wait. More information later as their chancelog (the file containing all the modification from a version to another one) isn’t updated yet.
More About: Multi , Hits , Sion , The V

iSkoot grabs another $7 million
2007-02-28 05:59:07
Enabling Skype users to talk over cellphones is a good track. iSkoot, a company who does it, keeps growing. It today announced that it has secured $7 million in Series B financing, which follows the $6.2 million grabbed last year. The round was led by Charles River Ventures and includes previous investors Khosla Ventures, ZG Ventures, and Jesselson Capital Corp. Izhar Armony, a general partner at Charles River Ventures, will join iSkoot’s board of directors. Recently, the company inked a deal with Hutchinson-Three to deliver Skype in the X-Series offers, combining IPTV, VoIP, Yahoo! and Windows Live mobile services.
More About: Other , Lion , Another , Million , Grab

Voice chat in Second Life will start in March
2007-02-28 05:59:07
Voice chat will become a ‘reality’ in Second Life . Linden Lab, the company developing the virtual world, is planning to launch a beta version of the VoIP feature by March. During the testing period, users will chat for free. They can also turn it off on their private lands and keep chatting via the native instant messenger. Afterward, users will chill down. Only “owners of mainland property as well as island owners who pay the current $295 monthly maintenance fee will continue to be able to utilize the feature on their property for free”, reports CNet. An amount, obviously, that a large portion of the million residents wouldn’t dare to spend. Second Life ’s voice features have been developed in collaboration with Vivox and DiamondWare. For the record, SL’s users know a bit Vivox, as the company cofound by Jeff Pulver gave away one million free minutes last October.
More About: Chat , Voice , Hat

What Steve Jobs forgot to tell you about the iPhone
2007-02-28 05:59:07
An interesting feature of the iPhone was revealed by a close study of the Steve Jobs ’ keynote at the previous MacWorld. Ah. The iPhone use ringtones and future users would be able to buy or create them, affirmed ActionCorp tech video blog which released a video claiming it. The likelihood of the feature would be suggested by a “Ringtones” tab used in the keynote version of iTunes. Will iPhone ringtones welcome videos too is another question. For now, what can be expected is that with ringtones, the iTunes store would get additional hundreds of thousands extra bucks, as this segment market is blossoming. Other features lurked from the keynote concern the calendar tool and the navigation on Google Maps.
More About: Steve Jobs , Iphone

Tellme denies rumors of acquisition
2007-02-28 05:59:07
Tellme, the voice recognition software company, is one of the startups looking for a public introduction later this year. It has hired Lise Buyer, who helped Google through its IPO, and hooked up with Tellme afterwards, since August 2005. She was looking for a “better opportunity”, she explained. Well, Tellme isn’t for sale, affirmed Techcrunch. “We have multiple sources saying that Microsoft has acquired the company. We?re trying to find the price now.” Tellme co-founder Angus Davis has denied that the company has been acquired by Microsoft, reports GigaOM. The deny was confirmed later by Techcrunch. Anyway, the rumor game shows Tellme’s IPO is very anticipated and could be one of the biggest one of the telecoms sector of this year. The company is profitable since 2004 on an estimated $100 million revenue.
More About: Rumor , Rumors , Mors , Acquisition

Jubii: Store anything, share anything
2007-02-26 17:57:02
With all those social networks and multimedia sharing sites, launching a new “Web 2.0″ community website becomes a hard task. Jubii, which will start in March, will nevertheless try to break into, with two ideas. First, provide a gigantic web storage account: 10 gigabits, four times what Google does, although the offer is a launch promotion. Second, become the new Swiss knife. On Jubii, members could use the account to store and share pictures and videos. But they can also send and receive emails, make VoIP phone calls, conference calls, or send text messages. And to limit spamming and to increase the social aspect of the network, each account is separate into a public and a private space. Right now, we found the site pretty slow, and according to the spanish blog Genbeta, it is plagued by a series of drawbacks and bugs.
More About: Store , Share , Stor , Thing , Anything

Apple iPhone at the Oscars
2007-02-26 17:57:02
“Hello? I’m coming in June”. Apple aired a new iPhone commercial during the Oscars ceremony last night. The ad featured clips of popular movies, like ‘Back to the Future’ or ‘The Big Lebowski’, showing someone answering the phone and saying “hello”. The tagline of the ad indicates that the Apple iPhone will come some time in June. (via macnn) To watch it.
More About: Cars , Scars

Get all IM and VoIP clients for your cellphone, as widgets
2007-02-24 23:55:01
A new Netvibes is coming, the mobile version of course. The service, now available to the public, has been developed since November last year, and enables users to customize their starting page with modules. Among the popular widgets, there are the to-do list, various RSS feeds or the sudoku game. There also are instant messenger clients like Gmail or Jajah. Not all of them have voice features right now, but it’s interesting to consider Netvibes as a potential platform for mobile chatting client. Just two examples: The system can open multiple tabs that emulate the principle of a multi-user chat on a computer. Or you can make a phone call through Jajah and For curious, the service is available at this link and here’s a more detailed review.
More About: Phone , Widgets , Widget , Cell , Voip