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Date: Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010 18:42
Microsoft today announced TrueColor Technology which they claim enhances the color and brightness of webcam video in the worst of lighting conditions. True Color Technology is a new image processing technology that automatically adjusts the picture quality to provide more colorful video. It does this through a proprietary combination of software and firmware technology. TrueColor Technology actually leverages face tracking technology developed by Microsoft Research, which can detect a person's face and help ensure it's not overexposed or underexposed, so the video call picture looks great even in the most challenging lighting scenarios.
Microsoft also announced 3 new LifeCam models that support TrueColor Technology. All of these new LifeCam models support TrueColor Technology, , 720p HD sensors, and Auto Focus technology.
LifeCam HD-5000
LifeCam HD-5001
LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks
Not used to the square 'boxy" look for a USB camera, but if the resolution and quality is as good as they say it is, I might buy one even if isn't as "sleek" looking as i would like. The LifeCam HD-5000 and the LifeCam HD-5001 will be available later this month for the estimated retail price of $49.95 and the LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks will be available in May for the estimated retail price of $59.95. The LifeCam HD-5000 and LifeCam HD-6000 for Notebooks will be available for pre-sale on Amazon.com and Buy.com starting today.
TrueColor Technology will be available via a software download for LifeCam Cinema, which is already broadly available at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/downloads/default.mspx.So if you're a current LifeCam user you'll be able to get the LifeCam software and a firmware update for the LifeCam Cinema available now that adds the TrueColor Technology. Sweet! 
Tags: 720p, camera, hd-5000, hd-6000, LifeCams, microsoft, technology, TrueColor
Related tags: truecolor technology, retail price, lifecam cinema, lifecam models, estimated retail, lifecam
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Author: "--" Tags: "Accessories, Digital Cameras, Gadgets, H..."
Date: Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010 15:10
Some very interesting news from AudioCodes with the launch of AudioCodes' SIP Phone Support (SPS) for Microsoft Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS). AudioCodes is well known for their VoIP gateway products - well think of SPS as a gateway between SIP IP phones and Microsoft OCS. Essentially, AudioCodes' SPS enables connectivity to Microsoft Office Communications Server using standard SIP IP phones, which then adds OCS's powerful UC functionality, including presence into your existing IP phone infrastructure.
You get even more powerful features if you use AudioCodes phones, including support for Microsoft's wideband RTA codec. SPS enables the connection of the AudioCodes 300HD IP Phone Series with Microsoft Office Communications Server, while providing Office Communications Server features, such as enhanced presence, active directory, and support for Real Time Audio (RTA) - Microsoft's high-definition, wideband coder. A direct connection to Office Communications Server is supported both for currently installed phones and newer models, as well as connecting mobile phones using AudioCodes' Mobile Clients, utilizing AudioCodes' gateway technology.
This isn't the first time a SIP phone has integrated Microsoft OCS functionality. snom has a special firmware load that enables OCS functionality, however it is a special firmware load and it only works on their SIP phones. The AudioCodes SPS product changes the game by allowing any major SIP phone to work with Microsoft OCS.
"Office Communications Server 2007 R2 has been a game changer for our customers, providing enhanced communications, significant ROI, and short time frames for payback. The ease by which any telecommunications environment can be UC-enabled with Office Communications Server 2007 is truly unique in the industry", said Hugh Oakes, Managing Director Time2Market.
"Now with AudioCodes' SPS, it's even easier and more cost-effective to migrate to Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The requirement of changing out your legacy handsets is mitigated, we can leverage the SIP handsets already in place. The ability to use the existing handsets makes the migration to Unified Communications even more cost-effective and provides yet another reason why we always recommend that our customers deploy Office Communications Server with AudioCodes' gateways". Time2Market is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner with the coveted voice specialization.
Enterprises migrating into the Microsoft Unified Communications environment have been showing great interest in enabling cost-effective IP Phones to connect to Office Communications Server. According to Synergy Research, the current installed base of IP Phones in the market is approximately 65 million. By 2014, around 20 million new IP Phones will be sold annually. Most of these phones have not had direct access to Microsoft Office Communications Server. Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications 2009 stated that "Enterprises looking into UC, particularly those with Microsoft applications already in place, should understand the Microsoft portfolio, because it represents a new paradigm for communication by a market leader. Microsoft's solution, while comprehensive, is also the basis for a range of partner offerings". Based on the Microsoft leadership and customers' demand for partner solutions, customers can now protect their existing investment in third-party IP-Phones, while enjoying the full benefits of the Microsoft infrastructure, including unified call control, integration with their Microsoft Office Communicator, presence information and more.
IP phones connected to Office Communications Server through SPS can be used as a desktop phone for Microsoft Office Communications Server, for locations without PC workstations or for users that prefer the convenience of using a phone handset. Making and receiving calls using the IP Phone updates user presence just like using Office Communicator. The user can change presence status and search for contacts from the phone directly. The user's contacts presence can be displayed on the phone. (requires BLF support from the SIP phone).
"We believe that this is a very significant announcement since many enterprises are dependent on Microsoft desktop applications and have been forced to live in two separate worlds, one for their phone technology and the other for their desktop software environment", said Elka Popova, North American Program Director, Unified Communications & Collaboration, Frost & Sullivan. "Many enterprises are looking for integrating the two worlds by connecting their existing installed base of IP Phones directly to the Microsoft Unified Communications environment."
The IP phones supported by SPS include AudioCodes' 300HD family of High Definition IP Phones, as well as other third-party IP Phones, such as Cisco, Avaya, Aastra, Polycom and other standards-based SIP phones. The mobile smart phones support is enabled using AudioCodes' Mobile SIP clients, supporting all major smart phones' operating systems, including Windows Mobile, iPhone OS, Symbian and Android.
AudioCodes' 300HD family of IP Phones offer integrated, DSP-based support of Microsoft Real Time Audio (RTA) codec and the support of Secured Real Time Protocol (STRP) and SIP over TLS, enabling maximum security, high definition calls between IP Phones and Office Communicator clients. In addition, AudioCodes' phones provide enhanced presence and Active Directory support in the phone user interface, offering enhanced user experience for the Microsoft clients.
Importantly, with SPS you get support for Remote Call Control (RCC). Incoming calls will simultaneously be received at both the IP Phone and Office Communicator, giving the user the ability to pick the call using either.
"Utilizing AudioCodes' Mediant family of Media Gateways, SPS can enable connectivity of other vendors' SIP phones into the Microsoft environment", stated Lior Aldema, Chief Operating Officer at AudioCodes. "Supporting Secure RTP and enabling a wide variety of narrowband and wideband codecs, AudioCodes' SPS can connect legacy SIP phones into the Microsoft Office Communications Server environment, while maintaining security, providing high quality voice and user presence."
Existing customers of AudioCodes' Mediant gateways can now upgrade their existing installed base to support SPS. The same gateway can support the SPS functionality while providing a Media Gateway function between Microsoft Office Communications Server and/or Microsoft Exchange Server and the enterprise TDM PBX and/or the PSTN. SPS can scale from small demos of a few users all the way up to supporting enterprise installations of thousands of IP Phones and SIP Mobile Clients. By optionally integrating it with the different AudioCodes' Mediant Media Gateways it can scale from 120 concurrent RTP to SRTP calls on the Mediant 1000 all the way up to 884 calls on the fault-tolerant Mediant 3000.
For more info on AudioCodes' SIP Phone Support for Microsoft Unified Communications, check out www.audiocodes.com/SPS
Tags: audiocodes, microsoft, ocs 2007 r2, office communications server, sip, sps, unified communications, voip
Related tags: communications server, office communications, microsoft office, unified communications, office communicator, microsoft
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Author: "--" Tags: "Microsoft, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communic..."
Date: Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010 05:00
I tested and reviewed IceWarp Server 10 for TMC's Unified Communications Magazine, which will be published very soon. I was very impressed with the product and thought I'd share my test results here. Check it out...IceWarp Unified Communications Server 10
www.icewarp.com
Pricing: 10 users=$549.54; 50 users=$2041.25; 100 users = $3821.04
30-day fully-functional trial available
|
The buzzword "unified communications" gets thrown around pretty easily these days. Companies with solutions that cover just two or three model methods of communications often consider their products as part of the "unified communications" spectrum. It is true they are unifying at least two disparate communications, so technically they are within the UC realm. However, I have discovered perhaps the one and only "true" unified communications solution that covers just about every communications method you can think of and most people probably never heard of them. Imagine a product that combines email, instant messaging, VoIP, FTP server, Web server with PHP support, Groupware, SMS, ActiveSync, SyncML, WebDAV, antivirus, and anti-spam along with a feature-rich AJAX-based Web-based UC client. That's exactly what you get with IceWarp Unified Communications Server 10. The feature-set is no slouch either. It's not like they stuck bare-bones functionality into each of the core communication methods. For instance, their mail server features many of the advanced features you see in Microsoft Exchange, including storage quotas, IMAP support, powerful filters, ActiveSync, and more. IceWarp sent TMC Labs their software to check out and review and let's just say we were very impressed.
Installing IceWarp was a snap. Amazingly - no shockingly, the installer for all of this functionality was only 85 MB! To compare, the installer for just Microsoft Exchange 2007 alone with only one piece of the UC puzzle is 840MB! Or compare with Microsoft's UC solution - OCS 2007 R2 and you're looking at 872MB. IceWarp definitely has some very tight code. We should mention that the installer automatically uses SQLite for the back-end, but you can also use MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle, Firebird, Interbase, and MS Access. After installation, we launched the Windows-based admin GUI application (See Screenshot 1).
Continue reading IceWarp Unified Communications Server 10 Review...
Tags: email, groupware, icewarp, instant messaging, mobile, sms, uc, unified communications, voip
Related tags: unified communications, icewarp unified, communications server, microsoft exchange, users users, communications
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Author: "--" Tags: "Microsoft, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communic..."
Date: Monday, 15 Mar 2010 21:48
My Irish brethren, rejoice! For free Here's the news...
Put On A Happy Smile With Truphone this St. Patrick's Day
Free calls all day on 17th March is like finding a 'pot o' gold'
London, 15th March 2010 - Truphone, the next-generation global mobile operator, is doing its part to spread the lilt of Irish laughter this St. Patrick's Day by offering free calls to Ireland, USA, the UK, Canada, and Poland all day - assuring that those who wish to share good cheer with family, friends and loved ones can talk for free until their Irish eyes are smiling.
The 24 hour promotion is for free calls to landlines to all five countries, with free calls to mobiles included across the United States and Canada.
"For those of Irish heritage, like myself, St. Patrick's Day is an occasion for toasting with family members and friends," said Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone. "We want to help friends, families and loved ones stay connected, despite the distance between them. The Truphone App is easy to download to a wide variety of mobile phones and is easy to use, with no hidden or start-up fees."
Consumers can download the Truphone application onto their Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch, BlackBerry, Nokia or Android phones from www.truphone.com and respective application stores.
The free calling will apply from 00.01 GMT 17th March 2010 to 23.59 GMT on the 17th March 2010. The full list of destinations included within the promotion can be found on the Truphone website at http://www.truphone.com/offers, while the price checker for all destinations, including those not in the promotion, can be found at http://www.truphone.com/applications/pricing/.
Further savings can be made when customers sign up to one of Truphone's three rate plans. For details on Truphone's everyday low-cost rates for calling international mobiles and landlines, as well as its great rates for other destinations around the world, visit the Truphone website at: www.truphone.com.
Truphone offers a consistent high quality calling experience through use of innovative handset software and premium voice-routing partners; unlike other operators, Truphone does not charge a set-up fee for customers to make calls on its network.
Tags: calls, free, ireland, poland, st patrick's day, truphone, united kingdom, usa
Related tags: calls ireland, truphone offers, canada poland, truphone website, found truphone, truphone
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Author: "--" Tags: "Mobile Phones, SIP, TMCnet, VoIP, Wirele..."
Date: Monday, 15 Mar 2010 15:49
Covad Communications, which has been testing their Ethernet service, announced today the launch date for nationwide Ethernet services - namely April 15th (aka Tax Day, "Pay the Man Day", etc). I almost went with Covad's solution when TMC moved to our new headquarters, but decided to go with Optimum Lightpath instead ($2500/month for bundled 45Mbps data + voice). In any event, according to Patrick Bennett, President and CEO of Covad, "What will differentiate this product in the market are the integrated QoS and CoS options that give our partners immense flexibility in optimizing network performance based on their application requirements."Covad designed these services to run business-class, real-time applications like Voice over IP, video, gaming, VPNs and video conferencing through multiple traffic-handling options via Quality of Service (QoS) and Class of Service (CoS), and are backed by Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
"Ethernet is an important component of Covad's overall portfolio strategy. What will differentiate this product in the market are the integrated QoS and CoS options that give our partners immense flexibility in optimizing network performance based on their application requirements," said Patrick Bennett, president and chief executive officer at Covad.
"Covad Ethernet extends the availability of higher-bandwidth products while also offering new, even more cost-effective Ethernet services at the lower end of the broadband speed curve. Our new services have been purpose-built to support revenue-generating, value-added services such as VoIP, video conferencing, VPN and software as a service."
Covad's Ethernet service will be available beginning April 15 at speeds from 1.5 Mbps to 35 Mbps out of more than 4,000 COs reaching approximately 10 million businesses nationwide.
Tags: cos, covad, ethernet, qos, sla, voip, vpn
Related tags: ethernet service, performance based, bennett president, based application, differentiate product, covad
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Author: "--" Tags: "Internet, TMCnet, VoIP, cos, covad, ethe..."
Date: Thursday, 11 Mar 2010 21:09
My jailbroken iPhone already does VoIP over 3G. But for you fools who refuse to jailbreak your iPhone and wish to remain in Steve Jobs' walled garden, this bit of news might make your day. The latest Nimbuzz now allows you to make VoIP calls over 3G on iPhone.
Nimbuzz said, "Yes, after months of waiting it's finally happened: the Wi-Fi hunt is over. Now you can call all your friends from Nimbuzz, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger or Gtalk for free, using just your 3G internet connection and Nimbuzz!"
Download it here: Nimbuzz for iPhone.
Tags: 3g, apple, gtalk, iphone, nimbuzz, skype, voip, windows live messenger, yahoo messenger
Related tags: nimbuzz, iphone
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(Team National on Mar 12, 2010 12:58 PM)
This is amazing! I really never thought that this kind of situation would come about. Now it will be much cheaper to call people whenever I want. :)
Team National
Author: "--" Tags: "Apple, SIP, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, 3g, app..."
Date: Thursday, 11 Mar 2010 20:59
As if the financial news for Sprint couldn't possible get worse, according to Kansas City Journal, Sprint Nextel Corp. is losing an outsourcing contract with Time Warner Cable Inc. worth as much as $250 million per year.
A spokesman for Time Warner Cable stated that they are phasing out the agreement with Sprint to handle the VoIP phone traffic for Time Warner Cable's digital phone service and would be bringing VoIP in-house.
Not paying $250 million per year to outsource VoIP services seems like a smart financial decision by Time Warner Cable. My only question is why did it take them a 4
Read
Tags: sprint nextel, time warner cable, voip
Related tags: warner cable, sprint nextel, cable, warner, sprint
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Author: "--" Tags: "TMCnet, VoIP, sprint nextel, time warner..."
Date: Monday, 08 Mar 2010 05:00
Today, Avaya IP Office 6.0 was released bringing additional new features to this tried and true SMB phone system. I reviewed Avaya IP Office back in 2004 and it certainly has come a long way since then. Avaya claims that this new version of Avaya IP Office enhances user experiences for greater productivity and that it makes UC up to 40% more affordable for companies with less than 20 employees. One of the biggest reasons how they cut costs down is via Avaya IP Office 6.0's new 'combination card' . This single card does what used to require several cards to support digital, analog and IP devices. The combination card sports 6 digital phone connections, 4 analog, 2 BRI, and 10 voice compression module channels.
With IP Office 6.0 they've doubled the capacity for a multi-site network from 500 to 1,000 users and up to 32 sites. One of the most interesting features is part of their business continuity feature-set. They've added voice messaging and auto attendant back up so that if Site1 goes down your IP phones will not only register to Site2, but your voice messages will still be retained at Site2. Even the auto-attendant carries over. When I spoke to Avaya about this last week I told them I wasn't aware of anyone offering this capability without requiring additional hardware. This disaster recovery feature comes included.
Another new piece of the puzzle is better UC capabilities including Enhanced one-X™ portal for IP Office. This Java-based web portal offers IM, presence, voice, call recording, and full featured audio conferencing capabilities (mute, mute all, unmute) all from a browser window as seen here:
You can turn on telecommute mode and then enter your home landline number, or your cell number and then manage your calls from this web portal. You can also initiate an outbound call remotely and the system will dial you first and then connect dial the remote party. The beauty of working with any phone device is that you don't have to dedicate a $150-$350 IP phone for your home telecommuters or traveling sales people.
Today, the new release adds fully-integrated instant messaging with embedded voice calling capabilities, as well as presence that shows status icons such as "available", "busy" "do not disturb" and "offline". This boosts both the speed and responsiveness of inter-office communications among co-workers. Additionally, the audio conferencing control feature, which allows up to 64 parties on a single call, now provides the ability to view, add, drop and mute attendees, as well as record conference calls. The total number is 128 total parties within their conferencing system and each user can have their own private conference bridge. The system also supports integrated video conferencing using the IP Office Videophone application.
With the Nortel acquisition it was pertinent to ask Avaya if legacy Nortel phones (IP & Digital) work with Avaya IP Office 6.0. Avaya responded, "The design of R6.0 was planned well in advance of the announced and subsequent closing of the Nortel Enterprise Solutions acquisition. The next release of IP Office, currently scheduled for 2011, will incorporate our integrated roadmap and include key features and capabilities of Nortel solutions."
Pricing
5 user = $2500
10 user = $4300
15 user = $6300
20 user = $7100
This is for a typical system with trunk lines, voice mail, mix of digital phones, and analog connectivity for fax machines, wireless etc
The Office Worker productivity suites is $99 per seat - that has the one-X Portal for IP Office capabilities as demonstrated
Discounts apply for 5+ and 20+ seats
Tags: avaya, Avaya IP Office 6.0, im, java, nortel, presence, uc, unified communications, voip
Related tags: office released, audio conferencing, office, avaya, voice, system
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Author: "--" Tags: "Avaya, avaya, Avaya IP Office 6.0, im, j..."
Date: Wednesday, 03 Mar 2010 21:55
A very cool new app in Cydia called LastApp lets you quickly switch between the last two apps running on your iPhone. Think of it as Alt-Tab for the iPhone. 
It only works with jailbroken iPhones (obviously). Simply go into Cydia and then choose your activation method via the Activator preference pane in Settings. You can set it do double-tapping the Home button activates, short hold of the Home button, or single press of Home button at SpringBoard. However, my double-tab is preset to launch Camera, so I didn't want to change that. Fortunately, LastApp supports "shaking", so you can shake the iPhone to toggle between two apps. Is that not cool or what? It also supports slide gestures (drag onto screen from below, drag onto screen from bottom-left or bottom-right) and a plethora of other methods you should check out.
Also, with Backgrounder installed, you can optionally set the current application to background upon switching.
Get LastApp for free in Cydia using the BigBoss repository.
P.S. Hat Tip to Rich Tehrani for the tip
Tags: alt-tab, app switcher, app switching, apple, iphone, lastapp
Related tags: lastapp, iphone, cydia, button
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Author: "--" Tags: "Apple, Gadgets, Mobile Phones, TMCnet, W..."
Date: Wednesday, 03 Mar 2010 14:54
Skype for Symbian is now a downloadable application for Nokia phones and works over both WiFi and 3G. Over 200 million Symbian users around the world can now use this Skype app to make FREE calls to other Symbian mobile users without chewing up cellular minutes. That's a huge market! You can download it from Skype or from the Ovi store.
Features include:
- make free Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world
- save money on calls and texts with Skype's low rates
- send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups
- share pictures, videos and other files
- receive calls to your online number
- see when Skype contacts are online and available to call or IM
- easily import names and numbers from the phone's address book
Via Skype Blogs
Tags: nokia, skype, skype for symbian, symbian, voip
Related tags: skype calls, skype symbian, skype, symbian, calls, users
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(NookSurfer on Mar 3, 2010 12:17 PM)
Pretty awesome news for the Nokia team. It's great to see that there are major development initiatives going on for platforms other than focusing on the Apple market.
Author: "--" Tags: "Mobile Phones, Skype, TMCnet, Unified Co..."
Date: Wednesday, 03 Mar 2010 14:30
Verizon Wireless customers are experiencing a 3G outage nationwide. Some have been able to rectify the issue by unplugging their battery and plugging it back in, while others are still having a complete outage - both voice and data. (Verizon) Blackberry users are also offline, so no email access. Ironically, today Verizon Wireless put out a release how they've increased wireless broadband capacity on its Rochester, NY area network. Perhaps whomever did this upgrade took down the entire nationwide network? 
As an IT and telecom guy, I know I've had my share of mess ups.Also in this release it says: "The company's "nation's most reliable wireless network" reputation is based on network studies performed by real-life test men and test women throughout the country". Great timing, Verizon Wireless.
More:
TMCnet
Tags: 3g, outage, verizon wireless
Related tags: verizon wireless, outage nationwide, wireless, verizon, network, nationwide
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(Deadcellzones.com on Mar 3, 2010 11:09 AM)
Not surprising as they have hundreds of cities across the US where they claim service available and it is not. See this map and blog article at Deadzones.com
http://deadcellzones.com/verizon.html
http://www.deadzones.com/2010/03/false-advertising-of-service.html
Author: "--" Tags: "TMCnet, Wireless, 3g, outage, verizon wi..."
Date: Monday, 01 Mar 2010 20:24
CKEditor (formerly FCKEditor) is one of the best WYSIWYG editors. In fact, some of us within TMC have had an affectionate nickname for the old name due to it sounding very close to something X-rated. Dropping the 'F' (bomb?) might explain why they renamed it to CKEditor.
One of my pet peeves when using our old FCKEditor is that the Paste from Word is useless since it doesn't strip out all the extra crap that Microsoft Word puts into the Clipboard. Well, I tried out the new CKEditor on Movable Type and finally this feature works! I'm a straight HTML-kinda guy, so I never paste from Word into the (F)CKEditor, but my boss Rich Tehrani swears by it. I've seen him paste into FCKEditor then have to click View Source button and clean up all the gobbledygook by hand. It ain't pretty. Not very efficient either. All that work just to retain some hyperlinks and formatting? I tried telling Rich "Notepad and handcoding HTML tags FTW! (For the Win!)", but he wasn't buying it. Part of my job as CTO is making sure TMC team members are productive. It pains me to see Rich being so inefficient and he ain't learning straight HTML code anytime soon.
So anywho, it's been awhile since I've upgraded Movable Type's GUI editor (FCKEditor), so I thought I'd check the new version out. I got it working for MT4.x simply by using the old FCKEditor plugin that David Davis wrote along with some minor code tweaks.
First, I simply downloaded the latest CKEditor from ckeditor.com. Next, I extracted it into the exact same folder as my old FCKEditor plugin folder since I could see the filenames were different by 1 letter (old filenames had 'f' and the new files had no 'f' as the first letter). Thus, I could easily revert to the old version if I wanted with no concern over overwriting the current FCKEditor.
Then I had to rename fck_editor.js to ckeditor.js in mt-static/plugins/FCKeditor/fckeditor/fckeditor.tmpl.
Next, I added a snippet of code below just above this line:
<img src="http://blog.tmcnet.com/<$mt:var name="static_uri"$>images/spacer.gif" width="100%" height="10"/>
Code to add:
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
// This call can be placed at any point after the
// <textarea>, or inside a <head><script> in a
// window.onload event handler.
// Replace the <textarea id="editor"> with an CKEditor
// instance, using default configurations.
CKEDITOR.replace( 'editor-content-textarea' );
//]]>
</script>
All this code does is look for the textarea with id=editor-content-textarea and overlay the CKEditor on top. Pretty simple...
Here's the editor in action:
While this works, the only issue I have is that I can't override the Insert Image button that the CKEditor uses. Thus, I lose the awesome MT Asset Manager, which takes care of uploading and managing images.
It should be an easy fix. In the old FCKEditor MT plugin the code to override FCKEditor's InsertImage button was this code inside the fck_editor.js file:
insertImage: function() {
var div = DOM.getElement( "editor-content-enclosure" );
app.openDialog( "__mode=list_assets&_type=asset&edit_field=" + div.getAttribute( "edit-field" )
+ "&blog_id=" + div.getAttribute( "mt:blog-id" ) + "&dialog_view=1&filter=class&filter_val=image" );
Basically, this code launches the MT Asset insert image dialog window. But I'm not sure how to make these changes to the new ckeditor.js, which seems fairly different from fck_editor.js. Alas, Javascript isn't my expertise. If any of you Movable Type fans out there figure it out let me know. I should mention that if you're running Movable Type 5, there is a new CKEditor MT plugin that seamlessly integrates with the new CKEditor (download). Alas, we're still running Movable Type 4 since there are plugin incompatibilities with MT5. So I'd really like to get the new CKEditor running on our MT4.25 install.
Facebook Connect for Movable Type plugin - Dec 05, 2008
Enabled Comments from AOL/AIM, Yahoo, Movable Type, WordPress, LiveJournal, OpenID, or Vox users - Jun 27, 2008
Upgraded to Movable Type 4.2 - Jun 13, 2008
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Upgrading MovableType Berkeley to MySQL - Apr 08, 2005
MovableType Facebook Connect Problems and Fixes - Jan 07, 2009
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Dropping the 'F' (bomb?) might explain why they renamed it to CKEditor.One of my pet peeves when using our old FCKEditor is that the Paste from Word is useless since it doesn't strip out all the extra crap that Microsoft Word puts into the Clipboard. Well, I tried out the new CKEditor on Movable Type and finally this feature works! I'm a straight HTML-kinda guy, so I never paste from Word into the (F)CKEditor, but my boss Rich Tehrani swears by it. I've seen him paste into FCKEditor then have to click View Source button and clean up all the gobbledygook by hand. It ain't pretty. Not very efficient either. All that work just to retain some hyperlinks and formatting? I tried telling Rich "Notepad and handcoding HTML tags FTW! (For the Win!)", but he wasn't buying it. Part of my job as CTO is making sure TMC team members are productive. It pains me to see Rich being so inefficient and he ain't learning straight HTML code anytime soon.
So anywho, it's been awhile since I've upgraded Movable Type's GUI editor (FCKEditor), so I thought I'd check the new version out. I got it working for MT4.x simply by using the old FCKEditor plugin that David Davis wrote along with some minor code tweaks.
First, I simply downloaded the latest CKEditor from ckeditor.com. Next, I extracted it into the exact same folder as my old FCKEditor plugin folder since I could see the filenames were different by 1 letter (old filenames had 'f' and the new files had no 'f' as the first letter). Thus, I could easily revert to the old version if I wanted with no concern over overwriting the current FCKEditor.
Then I had to rename fck_editor.js to ckeditor.js in mt-static/plugins/FCKeditor/fckeditor/fckeditor.tmpl.
Next, I added a snippet of code below just above this line:
<img src="http://blog.tmcnet.com/<$mt:var name="static_uri"$>images/spacer.gif" width="100%" height="10"/>
Code to add:
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
// This call can be placed at any point after the
// <textarea>, or inside a <head><script> in a
// window.onload event handler.
// Replace the <textarea id="editor"> with an CKEditor
// instance, using default configurations.
CKEDITOR.replace( 'editor-content-textarea' );
//]]>
</script>
All this code does is look for the textarea with id=editor-content-textarea and overlay the CKEditor on top. Pretty simple...
Here's the editor in action:
While this works, the only issue I have is that I can't override the Insert Image button that the CKEditor uses. Thus, I lose the awesome MT Asset Manager, which takes care of uploading and managing images.
It should be an easy fix. In the old FCKEditor MT plugin the code to override FCKEditor's InsertImage button was this code inside the fck_editor.js file:
insertImage: function() {
var div = DOM.getElement( "editor-content-enclosure" );
app.openDialog( "__mode=list_assets&_type=asset&edit_field=" + div.getAttribute( "edit-field" )
+ "&blog_id=" + div.getAttribute( "mt:blog-id" ) + "&dialog_view=1&filter=class&filter_val=image" );
Basically, this code launches the MT Asset insert image dialog window. But I'm not sure how to make these changes to the new ckeditor.js, which seems fairly different from fck_editor.js. Alas, Javascript isn't my expertise. If any of you Movable Type fans out there figure it out let me know. I should mention that if you're running Movable Type 5, there is a new CKEditor MT plugin that seamlessly integrates with the new CKEditor (download). Alas, we're still running Movable Type 4 since there are plugin incompatibilities with MT5. So I'd really like to get the new CKEditor running on our MT4.25 install.
Tags: ckeditor, editor, fckeditor, graphical editor, html, movable type, mt, mt4, mt5, plugin, wysiwyg
Related tags: editor content, running movable, content enclosure, filter class, content textarea, ckeditor
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Author: "--" Tags: "MovableType, TMCnet, Technology and Scie..."
Date: Monday, 01 Mar 2010 13:55
I just wrote about Bill Miller leaving Digium and how Bill was one of the important faces at Digium and the VoIP industry as a whole. What I wrote at the end of the article got me thinking about the VoIP industry:
Asterisk started in late 2001. I penned an article for Communications Solutions Magazine titled 'In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX' where I examined the various Linux-based PBX solutions. Take a look at what I wrote for Asterisk:
Wow! Back in 2001 the only POTS support Asterisk had was with Adtran Atlas and the Quicknet Internet PhoneJack. Now Asterisk works with Digium hardware, Rhino, Pika, Sangoma, and more. Further, back in 2001 I explained, "This product is not a turnkey out-of-the-box Linux-based PBX, and its still under development, but it does have several telephony functions working, such as call bridging, call transfer, call parking, and rudimentary voice mail." Amazing! Who would make such a statement today about Asterisk? It has all the major telephone features and a pretty sophisticated voicemail system. When I
examined Asterisk back in 2001, it seems like a garage basement project by a couple of guys - which it pretty much was. Just ask Mark Spencer!
My oh my how fast it has grown. It's too bad Mark didn't offer stock options back in 2001. I would have taken some. I'm a huge fan of open source and knew that Linux was going to crack the multi-billion dollar telecom market, which is why I penned the 'In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX' article in the first place.
Digium Launches Support Services for Asterisk - Mar 31, 2009
Digium Headquarters Tour - Aug 26, 2008
Interview With Asterisk Founder, Mark Spencer - Jun 26, 2008
Digium podcast of Mark Spencer's new role - Jan 30, 2007
AsteriskNOW 1.5.0 Released - Apr 01, 2009
Leslie Conway Joins Digium - Jul 11, 2008
Awesome Adtran & Digium article - Jul 08, 2008
Rev B of Astfin's BRI (ISDN) Asterisk Appliance Arrives - Apr 29, 2008
PhoneFromHere.com & Digium Ink 5 Year Deal - Apr 09, 2008
Dell picks Fonality VoIP Phone System - Jan 23, 2008
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I hope this [important people leaving VoIP industry] isn't the start of a trend. But if it is, this just goes to show you that the VoIP industry is constantly evolving and perhaps new blood will be a good thing. It's easy to get sentimental when people I've worked with for years leave an industry I love.
Asterisk started in late 2001. I penned an article for Communications Solutions Magazine titled 'In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX' where I examined the various Linux-based PBX solutions. Take a look at what I wrote for Asterisk:
Asterisk
As my search continued, I stumbled upon a company called Asterisk. According to their Web site, Asterisk is an open source PBX and general telephony toolkit that runs on the Linux operating system. Asterisk provides a set of APIs that essentially make it a type of middleware between Internet and telephony channels like VoIP, voice over frame relay, etc., and telephony and Internet applications like voice mail, phone directories, call parking, and so forth. Asterisk supports a flexible and extensible channel API, allowing any number of real hardware or software interfaces. It is purported to support ISDN, PRI, T1, and POTS through an Adtran Atlas. The Quicknet Internet PhoneJack and Quicknet Internet LineJack are both supported. Plans to support Lucent-based Winmodems also in the works. This product is not a turnkey out-of-the-box Linux-based PBX, and its still under development, but it does have several telephony functions working, such as call bridging, call transfer, call parking, and rudimentary voice mail. Check them out.
Wow! Back in 2001 the only POTS support Asterisk had was with Adtran Atlas and the Quicknet Internet PhoneJack. Now Asterisk works with Digium hardware, Rhino, Pika, Sangoma, and more. Further, back in 2001 I explained, "This product is not a turnkey out-of-the-box Linux-based PBX, and its still under development, but it does have several telephony functions working, such as call bridging, call transfer, call parking, and rudimentary voice mail." Amazing! Who would make such a statement today about Asterisk? It has all the major telephone features and a pretty sophisticated voicemail system. When I
examined Asterisk back in 2001, it seems like a garage basement project by a couple of guys - which it pretty much was. Just ask Mark Spencer!My oh my how fast it has grown. It's too bad Mark didn't offer stock options back in 2001. I would have taken some. I'm a huge fan of open source and knew that Linux was going to crack the multi-billion dollar telecom market, which is why I penned the 'In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX' article in the first place.
Tags: asterisk, linux, mark spencer, voip
Related tags: linux based, quicknet internet, rudimentary voice, parking rudimentary, still under, asterisk
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Author: "--" Tags: "Asterisk, Linux, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Co..."
Date: Monday, 01 Mar 2010 13:35
Digium and TMC having dinner
Left-to-right clockwise: Steve Sokol, John Todd, Russell Bryant, Dave Rodriguez (TMC), Greg Galitzine (former TMC), Jane Brooks, Tom Keating (TMC), Bill Miller
Last week I heard Bill Miller, VP Product Management for Digium had left for another opportunity. Bill has been with Digium for as long as I can remember. He's one of the core faces of Digium and Asterisk, and I've worked with him over the years for various Digium news stories, including but not limited to the Skype for Asterisk announcement, which Bill had promised to give me a scoop on, but alas the eBay folks (public company) wouldn't allow me to have the news before everyone else. You win some, you lose some.
In any event, I've been in the VoIP industry since the beginning of time - back to it's core roots when I was testing and reviewing NetMeeting and VocalTec's Internet Phone. So I've been in the VoIP industry when you could count the major players on one hand and got to know many of them personally. Although Bill joined Digium in 2006 which was at least 10 years since VoIP started & 5 years since Asterisk was created, Bill was at Digium to partake in its phenomenal growth. So it's always sad when I hear one of the VoIP industry's core guys leave.
Recently, Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality left the organization he co-founded. I hope this isn't the start of a trend. But if it is, this just goes to show you that the VoIP industry is constantly evolving and perhaps new blood will be a good thing. It's easy to get sentimental when people I've worked with for years leave an industry I love. I wish Bill Miller the best of luck in his new venture. What that is I'm not sure, but when I find out I'll update this post.
Tags: asterisk, beelinebill, bill miller, digium, voip
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Author: "--" Tags: "Asterisk, SIP, TMCnet, Unified Communica..."
Date: Friday, 26 Feb 2010 18:02
Today, Vonage has launched a new promotion for Vonage World calling plan that allows new customers to sign up for $14.99 for the first 6 months with a one year agreement. According to Vonage, this plan gives you unlimited calls to over 60 countries at a 40% reduction in cost from the previous rate for 6 months. After the promo is over the cost will then be $25.99 per month. Still a great deal, especially since you can use Vonage on your Blackberry or iPhone using their Vonage Mobile app to make unlimited calls to over 60 countries. Other nice features include:• Vonage Visual Voicemail and SimulRing
• No access codes or calling cards
• Keep your existing number
Tags: apple, blackberry, iphone, promo, voip, vonage, vonage mobile, vonage world
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Author: "--" Tags: "SIP, TMCnet, VoIP, Vonage, apple, blackb..."
Date: Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010 16:50
Wireless Zone is now offering its customers a free application called Textecution which locks a phones texting capabilities when the user is behind the wheel. The application is targeted towards parents who are concerned about their teen's texting while driving habits. It leverages GPS to detect if you are traveling more than 10mph and then it disables texting, as well as email and web browsing.
Sure, but what if your son/daughter turns off GPS? Or they could sit on their phone to block the GPS signal, then quickly whip it out, text something, then stuff it back under their buttocks. GPS won't be able to lock-on fast enough in many cases. Further, what if their son/daughter is a passenger in a car or riding a bus or train? That kinda sucks to be joy riding with your teenage friends and be the only one who can't text or check email. Don't get me wrong, I like the concept, but it doesn't seem foolproof and seems a bit limiting. Fortunately, you freedom-loving, independent teenagers need not worry about Textecution affecting you very much since this
application only runs on Google Android devices.
So you iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, and other mobile phone users need not worry - at least not right now. Besides, I'm sure the ACLU will sue on the behalf of some 17-year old kid claiming they have the "right to text" while traveling more than 10mph. Heck, some teenagers can run more than 10mph. What then? Can't run and text if you're a fast sprinter? Another freedom lost. Where's Glenn Beck when you need em?
Anyway, here's the news release...
Putting the Brakes on Texting While Driving Wireless Zone Launches the Textecution App to Disable Texts, Email and Web Browsing While Driving
We've all heard the horror stories of accidents that occur when drivers are texting behind the wheel, but no wireless provider or retailer has stepped in to take a stance of this pressing issue, until now.
Recently, the National Safety Council published a study reporting that 28% of accidents occur as a result of talking or texting while driving; 200,000 accidents are blamed on texting while driving per year. Due to these shocking statistics, 19 states have now banned texting while driving. Last week, an additional study was release by the Highway Loss Data Institute which stated that the ban's states are putting on texting while driving are showing no reductions in accidents, because the laws are not being enforced. Wireless Zone's new application Textecution prohibits the ability to access the texting, emailing or web browsing feature of the phone, ensuring the safety of the driver, as well as the safety of others.
Putting the Brakes on Texting While Driving
Wireless Zone Adds Textecution to All Applicable Cellular Devises, Application Disables Texts, Email, Web
MIDDLETOWN, CT - At the turn of the New Year, three more states - Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oregon - added its names to the growing list of states that have banned texting while driving. Staggering statistics, including the fact that you are 22 times more likely to get in a car accident if texting while driving, have influenced political powers and a national retailer to take a stand.
Wireless Zone, the largest cell phone franchise in the U.S., has announced it will place an application, at no cost to its customers, that prevents texting while driving on all applicable devices. The application, Textecution, is a user-friendly application that completely disables texting while driving.
"Wireless Zone has always been committed to cell phone safety," said Mark Asnes, COO and Executive Vice President of Wireless Zone, noting that Wireless Zone has provided hands-free devices to customers, for free, in the past. "Our stores have provided hundreds of thousands of free hands-free devices to anyone with a cell phone - whether or not they purchased the phone from us. The challenge today is people text more than they talk; and driving while texting is a danger for everyone on the road. We knew we had to do something."
Textecution runs on Android phones and uses the onboard GPS to know how fast the phone is moving. If it detects the phone traveling at 10 miles an hour or more, Textecution disables the texting, email and web browsing functions of the phone.
"We see the application primarily as a tool for parents to install on their teenage driver's phone so they know their child is safer behind the wheel of the vehicle. However the program is also ideal for companies to install on its employees cell phones," Asnes said.
The products founder wanted to connect with a national brand to distribute this program. With its consistent dedication to cell phone safety as well as it having more than 400 locations nationwide, Textecution's Jonathon Young found Wireless Zone to be the ideal match.
"As a loving and protective parent, my children were the inspiration," he said. "I felt the temptation to text while driving was simply too great, and I was determined to prevent it. The idea was truly an epiphany that I hope prevents many needless tragedies, and keeps all of our kids and loved ones safer on the road."
ABOUT WIRELESS ZONE
Founded in 1988 as "The Car Phone Store", Wireless Zone has become the nation's largest premium wireless retail franchisor and was ranked the No. 1 franchise in its category by Entrepreneur magazine. Every store is independently owned and operated, exclusively offering Verizon Wireless products and services. In 2009, the more than 400-unit franchise awarded more than 100 new franchise locations, setting a strong tone despite the rocky economy. Wireless Zone is a division of Automotive Technologies, Inc. For more information, visit www.wirelesszone.com.
fring Brings Video calls to iPhone and iPod touch - Dec 01, 2009
eBuddy for iPhone Supports Push Notifications - Jul 01, 2009
Microsoft Blocks VoIP on Windows Marketplace for Mobile - May 06, 2009
Here Comes the BlackBerry Apps Store ... - Oct 22, 2008
What's Wrong with Windows Phone 7? - Feb 15, 2010
Google Voice + Gizmo5 = Free Inbound & Outbound Calls - Jul 27, 2009
Google Brings Location Info to iPhone's Safari - Jul 16, 2009
Download iPhone OS 3.0 for free - Jun 09, 2009
Free turn-by-turn GPS directions comes to the iPhone - Feb 11, 2009
Apple iPhone 2.0: Twice as Much for Half as Much - Jun 09, 2008
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Sure, but what if your son/daughter turns off GPS? Or they could sit on their phone to block the GPS signal, then quickly whip it out, text something, then stuff it back under their buttocks. GPS won't be able to lock-on fast enough in many cases. Further, what if their son/daughter is a passenger in a car or riding a bus or train? That kinda sucks to be joy riding with your teenage friends and be the only one who can't text or check email. Don't get me wrong, I like the concept, but it doesn't seem foolproof and seems a bit limiting. Fortunately, you freedom-loving, independent teenagers need not worry about Textecution affecting you very much since this
application only runs on Google Android devices.So you iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, and other mobile phone users need not worry - at least not right now. Besides, I'm sure the ACLU will sue on the behalf of some 17-year old kid claiming they have the "right to text" while traveling more than 10mph. Heck, some teenagers can run more than 10mph. What then? Can't run and text if you're a fast sprinter? Another freedom lost. Where's Glenn Beck when you need em?
Anyway, here's the news release...
Putting the Brakes on Texting While Driving Wireless Zone Launches the Textecution App to Disable Texts, Email and Web Browsing While Driving
We've all heard the horror stories of accidents that occur when drivers are texting behind the wheel, but no wireless provider or retailer has stepped in to take a stance of this pressing issue, until now.
Recently, the National Safety Council published a study reporting that 28% of accidents occur as a result of talking or texting while driving; 200,000 accidents are blamed on texting while driving per year. Due to these shocking statistics, 19 states have now banned texting while driving. Last week, an additional study was release by the Highway Loss Data Institute which stated that the ban's states are putting on texting while driving are showing no reductions in accidents, because the laws are not being enforced. Wireless Zone's new application Textecution prohibits the ability to access the texting, emailing or web browsing feature of the phone, ensuring the safety of the driver, as well as the safety of others.
Putting the Brakes on Texting While Driving
Wireless Zone Adds Textecution to All Applicable Cellular Devises, Application Disables Texts, Email, Web
MIDDLETOWN, CT - At the turn of the New Year, three more states - Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oregon - added its names to the growing list of states that have banned texting while driving. Staggering statistics, including the fact that you are 22 times more likely to get in a car accident if texting while driving, have influenced political powers and a national retailer to take a stand.
Wireless Zone, the largest cell phone franchise in the U.S., has announced it will place an application, at no cost to its customers, that prevents texting while driving on all applicable devices. The application, Textecution, is a user-friendly application that completely disables texting while driving.
"Wireless Zone has always been committed to cell phone safety," said Mark Asnes, COO and Executive Vice President of Wireless Zone, noting that Wireless Zone has provided hands-free devices to customers, for free, in the past. "Our stores have provided hundreds of thousands of free hands-free devices to anyone with a cell phone - whether or not they purchased the phone from us. The challenge today is people text more than they talk; and driving while texting is a danger for everyone on the road. We knew we had to do something."
Textecution runs on Android phones and uses the onboard GPS to know how fast the phone is moving. If it detects the phone traveling at 10 miles an hour or more, Textecution disables the texting, email and web browsing functions of the phone.
"We see the application primarily as a tool for parents to install on their teenage driver's phone so they know their child is safer behind the wheel of the vehicle. However the program is also ideal for companies to install on its employees cell phones," Asnes said.
The products founder wanted to connect with a national brand to distribute this program. With its consistent dedication to cell phone safety as well as it having more than 400 locations nationwide, Textecution's Jonathon Young found Wireless Zone to be the ideal match.
"As a loving and protective parent, my children were the inspiration," he said. "I felt the temptation to text while driving was simply too great, and I was determined to prevent it. The idea was truly an epiphany that I hope prevents many needless tragedies, and keeps all of our kids and loved ones safer on the road."
ABOUT WIRELESS ZONE
Founded in 1988 as "The Car Phone Store", Wireless Zone has become the nation's largest premium wireless retail franchisor and was ranked the No. 1 franchise in its category by Entrepreneur magazine. Every store is independently owned and operated, exclusively offering Verizon Wireless products and services. In 2009, the more than 400-unit franchise awarded more than 100 new franchise locations, setting a strong tone despite the rocky economy. Wireless Zone is a division of Automotive Technologies, Inc. For more information, visit www.wirelesszone.com.
Tags: aclu, android, apple, driving, glenn beck, google, iphone, Textecution, texting, wireless zone
Related tags: while driving, texting while, disables texting, texting email, allow textecution, texting
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(Jonathan Young, President, Textecution on Mar 1, 2010 10:01 AM)
I appreciate you posting the news release about our life-saving application, and the relationship we've established with Wireless Zone in order to protect children on the road.
There are however some inaccurate statements in your opening remarks. First, If a child tries to disable GPS or block it in any manner, Textecution will be enabled, and texting and Internet usage will be not be allowed. This is a safeguard built into the application to prevent children from trying to creatively disable the program like you described.
Secondly, for kids traveling as a passenger or on a bus, the application has a feature where the child can press a button to send a message to the parent asking for permission to be disable Textecution. If the parent knows that the child is a passenger and wants to allow full usage of the phone, they simple text back ALLOW. Textecution will then be disabled for a predetermined period of time. If they don't respond with ALLOW, Textecution will continue to operate.
Thank you again for helping make parents aware that they can do something to protect their children while driving.
(Tom Keating on Mar 1, 2010 4:31 PM)
Hey Jonathan,
Thanks for the more details on your feature-set. I figured there might be some anti-tampering stuff going on, but then it occurred to me there are legitimate reasons not to get a GPS signal, such as skyscrapers, trees, bad weather, etc. Blocking texting in these cases might not be such a good idea. But that may only be a rare occurrence.
I tip my cap to you making it safer for parents to give their kids cellphones with less worry. A bit nanny-state if you ask me, but I might not think so once my daughters hit the teenager years.
(Paulie on Mar 3, 2010 11:30 PM)
Don't bother wasting $40 USD on the Textecution app, as it can EASILY be deleted by your child - no administrator password or similar prevention mechanism exists to prevent uninstall.
http://www.textecution.com/faqs.php
March 2010 - Excerpt:
"My parents installed this application on my phone. Can I uninstall it?
Yes. But we have a feeling your parents might reprimand you since they were so concerned to have it installed for your safety."
Author: "--" Tags: "Mobile Phones, TMCnet, Technology and Sc..."
Date: Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010 14:59
Who'd a thunk that your cable box could magically transmit your PC's video and audio directly to your TV with no wires? Cablevision just released a new piece of software that you simply load onto your PC and then your screen pixels and audio are transmitted across the coax to Cablevision's centralized network where it is then converted into your very own individualized channel that you can simply view by changing your cable box's channel. Since your cable box is already connected to your TV, there's no need to run any special video or audio cables from your PC. Think of this as Remote Desktop (RDP protocol) (or VNC) on steroids.The new service is called "PC to TV Media Relay" and it's an interesting solution for less technical users to bridge their PCs and their advanced home entertainment systems. Obviously, more tech savvy users already know how to connect their PCs to their TVs using component, S-Video, composite, DVI, or HDMI cables.
I'm not sure how the refresh rate performance will be. Doubt you can play PC video games this way due to not just refresh rate/screen redraw, but lag time as well. I'm not sure how they're even able to do video playback with good quality using just screen sharing (pixels) technology. Microsoft's RDP protocol sucks as remote video playback. Though interestingly my Linksys Media Extender and the Xbox 360 (also an extender) also uses RDP and video playback is fine. If that's the case, not sure why Microsoft crippled RDP when using the native Remote Desktop client. Ticks me off that a simple animated Flash banner ad in a browser window brings my remote desktop session to a crawl.
I do have some privacy concerns with this though. Essentially, your entire screen is being transmitted to Cablevision for them to do the conversion to a specialized channel. I'm guessing they are not capturing keystrokes, but rather are using screen delta technology that is also used in remote desktop software. Basically, screen delta technology saves on bandwidth by only transmitting the part of the screen that changes. So I don't think they can do keystroke logging, however a Cablevision employee could in theory watch the screen pixels live. Wonder how long before CALEA gets their hands on this?
In any event, the Cablevision user can view and interact with their PC to perform web surfing, watch Web video from Hulu, YouTube, etc., play a slideshow of family photos, or simply do some online banking. Of course, Hulu, founded by NBC, Fox, Disney, and some other media titans is not going to be pleased with this. Hulu blocked Boxee for offering a set top box that gave a seamless living room experience to the Hulu website. So could a battle between Cablevision and Hulu be in store? Napster opened Pandora's Box and changed digital music forever forcing the music industry to embrace digital music. The same will happen in the TV/video space. Evolve and give users freedom of choice (how/when/where they play video) or users will find workarounds for how they play content and they'll get their video content for free.
Tags: cablevision, hulu, pc, PC to TV Media Relay, rdp, remote desktop, tv, youtube
Related tags: remote desktop, video playback, screen delta, delta technology, digital music, video
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(Bettieclaire on Mar 3, 2010 7:05 AM)
I hope there isnt too much wait for it to be shown in the UK but the second it does you can count on me watching it.
(Bettieclaire on Mar 3, 2010 7:08 AM)
That was awesome! Probably one of the more interesting reads in awhile.
Author: "--" Tags: "Home Entertainment, Technology and Scien..."
Date: Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010 16:12
Noticed a problem with GoToMeeting yesterday and learned via Twitter they indeed had a service outage. GoToMeeting is used by thousands of businesses and probably millions of users to give sales demos, online training, and more. I live in GoToMeeting and WebEx due to all my press briefings with vendors showing me their latest wares.I have never encountered any service issue problems with GoToMeeting in the years I have used it. Yesterday was the first time. I guess I can't be too hard on them, since even companies like Google and Microsoft have had service disruptions to their websites. Even more critical than website uptime is your voice service -- and even major VoIP service providers Vonage and Packet8 have had outages.
I certainly have to give props to GoToMeeting for proactively using Twitter to fully disclose the outage and respond to users complaining on Twitter about the outage. Being proactive to customers via Twitter more than makes up for the brief outage. We don't need another Kevin Smith PR disaster incident on our hands.
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Author: "--" Tags: "TMCnet, Unified Communications, gotomeet..."
Date: Tuesday, 16 Feb 2010 21:42
We can end my speculation now - Verizon Wireless is indeed enabling Skype to work over Verizon's 3G network. Wow! This is ginormous game-changing news. It would appear the great firewall between allowing VoIP over 3G on carrier's networks is finally cracking. Verizon and Skype have announced they are enabling global Skype calling via an exclusive, easy-to-use Skype mobile offering for a variety of Verizon's 3G smartphones, which will allow you to:
- make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe on America's most reliable wireless network;
- call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates;
- send and receive instant messages to other Skype users; and
- remain always connected with the ability to see friends' online presence.
This is great news for VoIP and Skype fans everywhere. Your move AT&T...
Tags: 3g, mobile phone, skype, verizon wireless, voip
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(Howard Fisk on Feb 16, 2010 4:48 PM)
Wow!
Firewall cracking, indeed!
Now is Verizon Wireless ever gets the iPhone, then life would be sweet.
(Anonymous on Feb 16, 2010 6:27 PM)
Check your facts, or better still attend the press conference. Verizon stated in very clear terms that the Skype calls transiting the VZW network would be carried on their circuit switched voice network and not as VoIP over 3G.
(Tom Keating on Feb 17, 2010 9:45 AM)
Thanks, I already knew that. What does it matter if it's VoIP over 3G (data channel) or VoIP over 3G (voice channel)? As long as it works. Though if the Skype client on Verizon Wireless's phones was 100% VoIP -- going over the 3G data/Internet channel that would enable Voice over WiFi Skype calls. Alas, the Skype client for Verizon phones only works when going over Verizon's 3G network.
Nevertheless, Verizon cracking open their "firewall" to allow Skype to essentially "steal" minutes from them is a still a very big deal. The calls would go over Verizon's network and would not use up your cell plan minutes when making international calls. However, there is one catch. Minutes would be deducted, if you use Skype to call phone numbers in the U.S. But why would you use Skype to make calls to U.S. numbers when your Verizon Wireless plan already has "free minutes"?
Author: "--" Tags: "Mobile Phones, Skype, TMCnet, VoIP, Wire..."
Date: Monday, 15 Feb 2010 21:54
So everyone is gushing over how sexy the new Windows Phone 7 Series is. Microsoft has done a "reboot" of their mobile operating system and gone to an entirely new operating system. Sorry Windows Mobile fans, your old apps won't work on this new phone.Engadget: "Forget everything you know about Windows Mobile. Seriously, throw the whole OS concept in a garbage bin or incinerator or something. Microsoft has done what would have been unthinkable for the company just a few years ago: started from scratch."
Gizmodo: "It's astounding that until this moment, three years after the iPhone, the biggest software company in the world basically didn't compete in mobile. Windows Phone 7 Series is more than the Microsoft smartphone we've been waiting for. Everything's different now."
So what's wrong with Windows Phone 7, other than the stupid name?
Background app support - Microsoft didn't give a clear answer. That probably means no. At least the iPhone can be jailbroken to run background apps. We'll have to see if Microsoft is as much a control freak as Apple.
VoIP support - Well without Background app support, you'll only be making outbound calls. No work whether VoIP is supported at all, but if I had to guess, I'd say yes. In this day and age, creating a mobile phone with no VoIP support is a non-starter.
Adobe Flash support - No. Currently Windows Phone 7 does not support Flash, but Adobe and Microsoft are working on it. That sucks. That probably means no YouTube support. Sheesh, even the older Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, which Microsoft has now dumped in favor of this Zune-based OS, supported YouTube. Kind of a step backward no? Although, the iPhone is able to play YouTube apps without using a Flash player. I think YouTube agreed to re-encode all of their videos in another format to support the iPhone and their QuickTime player. Though even my iPhone today still can't play some YouTube videos. I think YouTube takes their sweet time converting new videos to iPhone-compatible format. Now this assumes Microsoft can read the iPhone-compatible format.
Windows Mobile legacy app support - No. You have to ditch all the apps you've come to love (& hate) on your Windows Mobile 5/6/6.5 phone.
Speech dialing - I love speech dialing on my iPhone 3GS. It works the majority of the time on the first try. No mention of speech-recognition built into the dialer.
Carrier support - AT&T is their "premiere partner" in the U.S. Doh! That sucks. Ok, they are allowing other carriers, so not to worry. It's not an exclusive deal like AT&T & the Apple iPhone
Windows Phone 7 now has multi-touch capabilities, but I hear the browser isn't much better from prior mobile versions. It's not as fast at rendering Web pages as Safari on the iPhone. Still, there is a lot to like about the Windows Phone 7 and I'm glad to see 2 strong competitors (Microsoft & Google) take on Apple, which will cause a race for more cool features, better performance, and a better user experience. I think Windows Phone 7 could give the iPhone a run for its money. Some might think it's too late to catch-up, but just remember the billion dollars Microsoft invested in the Xbox and everyone thought they couldn't catch Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. Now the Xbox 360 (2nd model) is the leading gaming console. Can Microsoft duplicate their success after this mobile operating system reboot??
Tags: apple, flash, google, iphone, microsoft, mobile phone, multitouch, voip, windows phone 7, wireless, xbox
Related tags: windows phone, windows mobile, operating system, phone series, compatible format, windows
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