IP telephony market ready to go mass market
Ericsson to equip Microcell for high-speed data
TV goes mobile
CuPhone announces VICS
DSL rivals join forces to create compatible products
Microsoft restarts share buybacks
NorthVoice deploys FastComm signaling gateway
CUseeMe teams with Compaq to provide VoIP solutions
Verizon bulks up on DSL providers
Sprint pushes voice recognition
Web surfing, at the sound of your own voice
Adding fiber to your diet
Xtrem boosts the Power Mac G4 to a whopping 1,200MHz
Sun moves toward open-source storage
3Com and Extended to provide Bluetooth for Windows OS

IP telephony market ready to go mass market
Source: Newsbytes

Just five years after the first Internet telephony products started being installed in end user PCs, Voice over IP technology is about to reach critical mass.  That is the message from a report from Frost & Sullivan, which notes that the deployment of higher bandwidth connections, coupled with the rising number of partnership initiatives and new entrants to the market, are all conspiring to make VoIP a mass market service.  Following a sluggish start, the report, which forms part of F&S' "IP Services in Europe, Middle East and Africa" service, says that the IP market will experience rapid growth, with revenues rocketing from $131.3 million in 1999 to $55.41 billion by 2006.  This equates to minutes totaling 613.7 million in 1999, leaping to 972.6 billion by 2006.   The study says that "toll-by-pass" remains a strong driver behind total market growth, along with the intensification of deregulation across Western Europe.

And, in response to IP services and to other forms of competition, PSTN prices are falling. As the price advantage of IP telephony decreases, however, the report predicts that competition will move to other important benefits of IP such as value-added features and voice/data integration.  Interestingly, F&S' report notes that voice still accounts for the vast majority of revenues in terms of service type, currently representing around 80 percent of service revenues.  Fax and data account for the remaining 20 percent, although, during the forecast period, the study says that the proportional importance of voice will diminish, while other service types such as data and video are poised to prosper.

The report concludes that Net2Phone, ITXC, iBasis, DeltaThree, and Ursus Telecom now count among the IP services market front-runners in the race to claim a larger share of the overall market.

Ericsson to equip Microcell for high-speed data
Source: Angustel

Ericsson Canada has agreed to supply Microcell Connexions with software and hardware needed to upgrade its network for GPRS packet data transmission at up to 144 Kbps.

TV goes mobile
Source: Angustel

Sat-Tel Corp, based in Red Deer, Alberta, plans to deliver Bell ExpressVu's high-speed Internet and TV service via satellite to recreational vehicles, buses, long-haul trucks, and ships.

CuPhone announces VICS
Source: Businesswire

On Aug. 8, 2000 CuPhone announced VICS -- VideoPhone Internet Connection Sharing. VICS is the world's first solution that enables the seamless placing and receiving of multiple video calls simultaneously from CuPhones that are on a LAN where Internet connection sharing has been implemented.   With VICS installed on the PC that provides the connection to the Internet for the LAN, any PC on the LAN that has a CuPhone-USB VideoPhone installed is able to place and receive Internet VideoPhone calls via the LAN. The "look and feel" of the CuPhone is the same as if the CuPhone is directly connected to the Internet.  Dr. YW Sing, chairman of CuPhone, commented, "The CuPhone-USB VideoPhone connected to the Internet via a broadband access point such as a DSL or cable modem enables excellent video and audio quality. However, many users with broadband access share the Internet connection to multiple PCs using a LAN; until now, these users found that placing video calls over the Internet to be a problem."  Dr. Sing continued, "To enable users on a LAN to enjoy VideoPhone calls, we developed VICS. With VICS installed, all of the users on the LAN can place and receive VideoPhone calls with exactly the same `look and feel' as if they are directly connected to the Internet. VICS combined with our CuPhone's echo-free audio and excellent video quality presents the user with the ideal and complete VideoPhone solution for home and office environments."

DSL rivals join forces to create compatible products
Source: Cnet

The digital subscriber line (DSL) industry announced on August 7 it has created the OpenDSL initiative, which will work toward getting rival companies' products to work together.  Several top equipment and semiconductor manufacturers that produce gear for DSL, a high-speed Internet access technology, are behind the move, including 3Com, Cisco Systems, Intel and SBC Communications.  The OpenDSL group is charged with ensuring interoperability of equipment and modems made by rival companies, as well as striving toward technologies that can be easily installed by average consumers.

The initiative marks the first time that local phone companies, DSL competitors and the gear makers that supply them have come together to test and certify the technology. Analysts said the group is sorely needed to speed installations and cut costs in the DSL industry, particularly now that many companies appear to be willing to forsake  G.lite, a DSL technology that allows consumers to install the service themselves. G.lite's popularity has yet to take off.  Although the DSL industry already operates under several transmission protocols and standards, no one has been able to make sure that various companies' gear actually meets those standards and also works well with other equipment built to those specifications.  The OpenDSL group has told analysts it expects the first DSL modems to be certified as interoperable--or compatible with competitor technologies based on the same standard--by the first quarter of 2001. However, some analysts believe a year from now is more realistic. 

Microsoft restarts share buybacks
Source: Digitalmass

Microsoft Corp. restarted it stock buyback program, a move cheered by analysts, who had expected the software giant to take that step weeks ago.  Shares in the Redmond, Wash. company rose 87.5 cents to $70 in trading on the Nasdaq. The stock slid from a 52-week high of $119.9375 last December to a 52-week low of $60.375 in May amid concerns of slowing growth and its ongoing antitrust battle. 

The number of shares to be purchased in Microsoft's 2001 fiscal year, which started on July 1, would be based mainly on the level of stock options exercised by employees, the company said in a brief announcement.

NorthVoice deploys FastComm signaling gateway
Source: iLocus

NorthVoice reports that it has deployed FastComm's signaling gateway product as part of its VoIP network.  FastComm's signaling gateway product, sits between NorthVoice's VoIP gateway and the US PSTN converting ISDN Primary Rate signaling to SS7, allowing calls to be exchanged between NorthVoice's VoIP network and the PSTN.  FastComm product also supports a range of traditional telephony signaling protocols, both domestic and international, and assist NorthVoice in deploying its network in locations where those protocols are not supported by the VoIP network directly.

The signaling dilemma is intensified for international locations. For example, ITU-T C7, the international standard for out-of-band signaling for telephony networks, is not compatible with SS7 signaling used in North America.  Additionally, many countries have created their own variants of the ITU-T C7 specification. For international service providers such as NorthVoice, these signaling incompatibilities can represent a major roadblock to deployment.  FastComm can assist organizations like NorthVoice to penetrate these international markets much more quickly.

CUseeMe teams with Compaq to provide VoIP solutions
Source: iLocus

CUseeMe Networks, a provider of voice and visual communications solutions for the Internet, has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Compaq to provide Internet-based voice and visual communications solutions for Internet telecommunications operators, ISPs and ASPs in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.  The two companies will conduct joint business development activities for promoting a combined technological solution using Compaq's hardware and CUseeMe Networks' software solutions.  CUseeMe's technology is standards-compliant via the H.323 protocol, and can be used to facilitate video and audio communication across the Internet.

Compaq Offices and representatives in any EMEA countries will receive information, training and support from CUseeMe Networks in order to include voice and video collaboration in their Internet offers.  CUseeMe Networks develops solutions for interactive voice and visual communications over the Internet. The company's Web technology enables live audio, video, and collaboration capabilities to be embedded in a standard Web page for applications such as visual instant messaging, Internet videochat, face-to-face e-commerce, and dynamic Web-based conferencing.

Verizon Communications took a break this morning from contending with striking workers to detail its plans related to the acquisition of digital subscriber line (DSL) service provider Northpoint Communications Inc. During a press briefing, Verizon and NorthPoint officials detailed the $800 million deal that will combine the respective DSL units of Verizon and NorthPoint, with Verizon acquiring controlling stock interest in NorthPoint. The officials explained that together, the "new" Northpoint would employ approximately 3,000 people. The blended businesses will create a broadband network with over 3,000 operational central offices (COs) supporting 62 million homes and businesses in 163 different U.S. metropolitan areas, company officials said.

The largely consumer-focused Verizon, itself formed from the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., is looking to extend its presence in corporate accounts. Verizon vice chairman and president Lawrence Babbio said the new company--referred to as the "new" NorthPoint--will have strong holds in both consumer and business markets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The new NorthPoint will have wholesale deals with a number of Internet service providers (ISPs) including America Online Inc. (AOL, Dulles, Va.) and UUNet Technologies Inc. (Ashburn, Va.). Once the merger is finalized, the company will pursue broadband ventures in both Europe and Canada.

Sprint pushes voice recognition
Source: Teledotcom

Sprint PCS  is claiming to be the first wireless carrier to roll out network-based, voice-activated dialing for its wireless customers, late last week.  According to analysts, Sprint's new service, dubbed Voice Command, may set the trend for a slew of comparable services, since its network voice dialing is the next step up from regular phone voice-recognition dialing systems.

Voice Command is linked to each subscriber's Web page--accessed from www.talk.sprintpcs.com--where a personal address book can be created and accessed as well as using the phone itself. Users can store up to 500 names with five numbers per name, and shared group lists are available for businesses.  To make a call using voice recognition, subscribers press the "star" button on the mobile handset followed by the "talk" button and this connects them to the Sprint network. Users then say the name of the person they want to call and the text names entered into the address book are matched with the voice command. Charges are not initiated until the person on the receiving end picks up, and there are no extra fees for every voice-command call made, said Sprint in a prepared statement announcing the service.

As a result of the service, cell phone calls can be made without the fumbling to dial that can distract cell phone users on the road. In March, Sprint PCS announced it is also working with Ford Motor Co. to implement in-vehicle communications services in select Ford Lincoln 2001 models.

Web surfing, at the sound of your own voice
Source: Comsoc

Several companies are now marketing telephone-based voice portals as an alternative way to access the Internet. With voice portals, users can call from any kind of telephone to request information from the Internet. Voice-recognition software allows the services to understand and retrieve the desired information. Currently, these services are somewhat limited, providing only basic information such as weather, sports, and stock information as well as movie and restaurant listings. However, many services will soon offer email and e-commerce options. Analysts have mixed feelings about the potential of this new technology. By 2005, voice-portal services could generate as much as $12 billion in revenue each year, according to the Kelsey Group. Right now, most voice-portal revenue comes from advertising. Most of the services play brief ad messages while their computers are processing customers' requests. Other analysts doubt whether users will want such a limited service.

Adding fiber to your diet
Source: Comsoc

Substantial Internet growth has spurred record demand for bandwidth. As a result, fiber-optic technologies, including optical networking, have emerged. Optical networking will continue to improve as developments in capacity, distance, and network intelligence emerge. In the near future, communications networks will depend on "opaque networks" that lessen the need for electro-optical and opto-electrical (E/O/E) conversions. The initial step toward easier E/O/E conversion was the introduction of the optical amplifier. The Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier, the main technology used for the commercial WDM, does not require E/O/E conversion when amplifying signals. Prior to the introduction of WDM, optical networks could only transmit one wavelength per strand. Now, DWDM technology, the latest version of WDM, allows as many as 160 wavelengths per strand. DWDM enables service providers to increase bandwidth without having to deploy additional fiber-optic cable.

Eventually, component technology will evolve to the stage where all electro-optical conversion is eliminated. The next development in optical networks is expected to be the introduction of systems that will route and manage data directly over wavelengths. The systems, which will be totally optical, will have to keep carriers' existing equipment intact. Established carriers are not going to throw away the billions they have spent on Sonet equipment to invest in totally new network devices. However, upstart carriers are able to move forward with next-generation optical deployments in their networks.

Xtrem boosts the Power Mac G4 to a whopping 1,200MHz
Source: ZDnet

Fending off the skepticism of Mac users worldwide, Swedish vendor Xtrem Inc. insists it's working on a hardware package that will boost the Power Mac G4 from its current top speed of 500MHz to a whopping 1,200MHz by year-end.  Xtrem CEO Mats Wallberg told MacCentral that the XtremMac G4 1200 MHz will be powered by Apple's G4 motherboard and deliver more than 2 billion floating-point operations per second from a single processor.

Wallberg said that the XtremMac upgrade won't run afoul of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple's draconian licensing rules, which eliminated Mac clones back in the fall of 1997. "(This is) no clone. We are using Apple components," Wallberg said. "This is a development project, so we can't reveal too much information right now."  The XtremMac is built around Apple's proprietary hardware, Wallberg added, although Apple  isn't licensing its hardware and isn't involved in the XtremMac G4 1200 project.  In addition, Stockholm-based Xtrem has yet to explain how it will be allowed to ship its product bundled with the Mac OS without Apple's blessing.  In fact, the XtremMac is still under development and there's no finished prototype currently running at 1,200MHz, Wallberg said.  Even the product shots on the company's Web site aren't photos but artist's renderings.

The company said the XtremMac G4 will run graphics-intensive applications such as Adobe Photoshop up to three times as fast as 1GHz Pentium III-based PCs and outperform Apple's Power Mac G4/500 in all areas, including memory access.   Xtrem said its process resembles the technology used by KryoTech to cool Athlon processors while overclocking them. In addition, the system will feature active cooling of the system's motherboard, memory and cache, the company said.  "The revolution with the XtremMac G4 is how the whole system interacts," Wallberg said. "It's not only the processor that runs faster. The whole system -- including memory, graphics and disks -- are working at top speed.

Sun moves toward open-source storage
Source: itworldcanada

In an effort to make good on a promise to open-source its storage offerings, Sun Microsystems Inc. has announced that it has teamed with San Francisco-based Linuxcare Inc. to create a Linux failover driver which supports the Sun StorEdge T3 array.  Businesses running Linux-powered servers can use the failover driver to attach storage subsystems comprised of two or more T3 arrays, said David Sifry, co-founder and chief technology officer of Linuxcare. If one T3 fails, operations are transferred to the working T3 with zero downtime.  The open-sourced failover driver will be available for download, free of charge, beginning Aug. 15, said Sifry.

Sun's modular T3 arrays, the first attached-storage products from the Santa Clara, California-based company, have been on the market for less than two months. But according to Steve Duplessie, a senior analyst-with the Enterprise Storage Group, in Milford, Massachusetts, Sun's move toward making the units available to the Linux community had less to do with opening up new markets than it had with making good on an old promise.

3Com and Extended to provide Bluetooth for Windows OS
Source: itworldcanada

3Com Corp. and Extended Systems Inc. chose the third Bluetooth Unplugfest meeting in the high-tech setting of Sophia Antipolis in France to announce a deal to co-develop Bluetooth technology for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows platforms.  Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will cooperate to deliver a suite of Bluetooth data management applications, protocol stacks and hardware adapters to consumers, manufacturers, businesses and OEM customers, 3Com said in a statement.  Bluetooth is an evolving standard which uses low-power radio technology to enable ad-hoc networking between portable devices over a distance of up to 10 meters and at speeds of up to 700K bps (bits per second).

3Com will use its Bluetooth hardware and the jointly developed Windows software suite to offer end users a product for synchronizing and managing data between PCs and Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices. Extended Systems will provide PC and handheld device manufacturers with Windows development kits, protocol stacks and data management applications.