I'm a bit late on this one, but it was great to see Jeff Pulver get such a nice profile in the International Herald Tribune the other day. I've been busy finishing up my year end deliverables, and haven't been reading the blogs much lately - nor have I had much time to blog myself.
The profile is a nice read, and kudos to Jeff for getting some mainstream recognition. There's a great piece in there about Jeff enabling a video phone call on the fly, which really proves how well IP can work with mobility if you know what you're doing. Don't worry - this will be pretty mainstream stuff before you know it.
Speaking of what else is coming, Jeff's recent posts include a review of how his 2006 predictions turned out (not too badly), as well as what he thinks will unfold in 2007. When/if my work settles down in the next day or so, I hope to have time to comment on Jeff's predictions for next year.
And in case you're wondering where Jeff is now, he's hosting the VON enterprise event in Atlanta now, and you can read all about it on his blog. Busy guy...
Technorati tags: Jeff Pulver, Jon Arnold
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Monday, December 4, 2006
Unified Communications Strategies - Another Place to Find Me
Independent consultant Jim Burton is very well known in unified communications circles, and we have become friendly ever since meeting at Fall VON this year. We have reciprocated links, and recently, Jim asked if I would be willing to share relevant postings on his site, as well as contribute there occasionally myself. I'm more than happy to do that, and you can find some of my postings on his portal, Unified Communications Strategies.
It's an excellent resource for unified communications, and he's got a great roster of contributors, including Blair Pleasant and Don Van Doren. There's a lot of content there, and it's updated regularly. You have to register to access the content, but it's free, and just takes a couple of minutes.
The website is serviceable, and with a few clicks it's not hard to find what you're looking for. However, Jim has been updating me on the overhaul coming for the website, so look for a new and improved UC Strategies portal very soon.
Technorati tags: Jim Burton, Jon Arnold, Unified Communications
It's an excellent resource for unified communications, and he's got a great roster of contributors, including Blair Pleasant and Don Van Doren. There's a lot of content there, and it's updated regularly. You have to register to access the content, but it's free, and just takes a couple of minutes.
The website is serviceable, and with a few clicks it's not hard to find what you're looking for. However, Jim has been updating me on the overhaul coming for the website, so look for a new and improved UC Strategies portal very soon.
Technorati tags: Jim Burton, Jon Arnold, Unified Communications
Friday, December 1, 2006
WiFi-Cellular Convergence Conference Hilights
I was in Dallas this week, and Chaired the first day of Informa's Wi-Fi/Cellular Convergence conference. It was a pretty small event, but the content was very good, the audience was a good mix of carriers and vendors, and everyone got to know each other pretty well. Since everything took place in one room, I don't have much to show you. However, the venue was very upscale and quite photogenic. It took place at the Hotel Crescent Court, which is not a place I would normally hang out, but it sure was nice.
In terms of the content, the presentations covered the full range of topics. The first day focused on the business case and business issues around why carriers would want to put cellular and WiFi together. Day 2 covered the technical issues and challenges - lots of IMS, SIP, FMC, UMA, QoS and security there. I was not able to stay for the third day, which was dedicated to dual mode handsets, but from all accounts looked to be quite interesting.
All told, I came away with a clearer understanding as to why cellular and WiFi are coming together, and there was a consistent message that this is an important step along the way to FMC. On their own, cellular and WiFi can each address specific needs, but there is a lot of synergy that will come from integrating the two. Most speakers were pretty certain about where WiFi is going, but less so about WiMax. It was generally seen as a wildcard, but one that will have a significant impact, especially on cellular. But no one is quite sure just how or when. No surprise there, but it was good to hear it from so many people.
One of the highlights for me came from Nokia's presentation, which was given by Vipul Mehrotra. He gave a great overview about how Nokia's phones are evolving to support dual mode services, and multimedia communications with great ease of use. At one point he talked about how that day, Nokia had announced support for Gizmo, a SIP-based service that is similar to Skype.
This was the only time I heard any Voice 2.0-type vendors mentioned, and I warmed up to him right away. One of my mantras during the conference was that the applications developers stand to become big winners in this space, as once this level of convergence becomes reality, there will be unlimited opportunities for cool, innovative services that carriers will be able to offer for virtually any niche market. I think my message was well received!
Gizmo will be very familiar to any reader of Andy Abramson's blog, and I mention this for a reason. Later that day when I got back online, I saw that Andy had already posted about this news release, and was very pleased to see that Nokia was supporting Gizmo so strongly. Well, Andy may have had the online scoop, but I think I have the visual scoop. One of the photos below is from Vipul's slide that mentions support for Gizmo. Given that the news came out that day, I suspect our group was one of the first to learn about it via a slide presentation from Nokia. Right place, right time!
Aside from a brief recap of the conference, this post also marks the debut of my N93 photos. In recent posts I've mentioned how my son Max has been using the Nokia N93 for a while, and he recently posted his review about it. Well, it's finally my turn to use the phone, and I'm putting the N90 aside for now.
If you've seen my N90 photos on various other posts, I think you'll notice a marked improvement in the photo quality here. The Crescent Court is very Euro and caters to a well heeled clientele, and the setting is very dramatic. Great for taking photos, and I've included some examples below to demonstrate how well the N93 captures detail, color and depth of field. I couldn't get results like this with the N90, and you can expect to see more of the same in upcoming posts. Enjoy.
First, here's my view of the audience from the podium
Nokia presentation - Vipul's slide about the Gizmo announcement - you saw it first here!
The courtyard just outside the venue. Incredibly, it snowed the next day!
Technorati tags: WiFi, Jon Arnold, Informa
In terms of the content, the presentations covered the full range of topics. The first day focused on the business case and business issues around why carriers would want to put cellular and WiFi together. Day 2 covered the technical issues and challenges - lots of IMS, SIP, FMC, UMA, QoS and security there. I was not able to stay for the third day, which was dedicated to dual mode handsets, but from all accounts looked to be quite interesting.
All told, I came away with a clearer understanding as to why cellular and WiFi are coming together, and there was a consistent message that this is an important step along the way to FMC. On their own, cellular and WiFi can each address specific needs, but there is a lot of synergy that will come from integrating the two. Most speakers were pretty certain about where WiFi is going, but less so about WiMax. It was generally seen as a wildcard, but one that will have a significant impact, especially on cellular. But no one is quite sure just how or when. No surprise there, but it was good to hear it from so many people.
One of the highlights for me came from Nokia's presentation, which was given by Vipul Mehrotra. He gave a great overview about how Nokia's phones are evolving to support dual mode services, and multimedia communications with great ease of use. At one point he talked about how that day, Nokia had announced support for Gizmo, a SIP-based service that is similar to Skype.
This was the only time I heard any Voice 2.0-type vendors mentioned, and I warmed up to him right away. One of my mantras during the conference was that the applications developers stand to become big winners in this space, as once this level of convergence becomes reality, there will be unlimited opportunities for cool, innovative services that carriers will be able to offer for virtually any niche market. I think my message was well received!
Gizmo will be very familiar to any reader of Andy Abramson's blog, and I mention this for a reason. Later that day when I got back online, I saw that Andy had already posted about this news release, and was very pleased to see that Nokia was supporting Gizmo so strongly. Well, Andy may have had the online scoop, but I think I have the visual scoop. One of the photos below is from Vipul's slide that mentions support for Gizmo. Given that the news came out that day, I suspect our group was one of the first to learn about it via a slide presentation from Nokia. Right place, right time!
Aside from a brief recap of the conference, this post also marks the debut of my N93 photos. In recent posts I've mentioned how my son Max has been using the Nokia N93 for a while, and he recently posted his review about it. Well, it's finally my turn to use the phone, and I'm putting the N90 aside for now.
If you've seen my N90 photos on various other posts, I think you'll notice a marked improvement in the photo quality here. The Crescent Court is very Euro and caters to a well heeled clientele, and the setting is very dramatic. Great for taking photos, and I've included some examples below to demonstrate how well the N93 captures detail, color and depth of field. I couldn't get results like this with the N90, and you can expect to see more of the same in upcoming posts. Enjoy.
First, here's my view of the audience from the podium
Nokia presentation - Vipul's slide about the Gizmo announcement - you saw it first here!
The courtyard just outside the venue. Incredibly, it snowed the next day!
Technorati tags: WiFi, Jon Arnold, Informa
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Canadian IP Thought Leaders Series - TalkSwitch and VoIP for SMBs
On this week's podcast, my guest was John Cunningham. He's the VP of Business Development with TalkSwitch, an Ottawa-based vendor who has been focused on small business telephony since 1990.
I've been trying to stay close to this market, and was looking forward to hearing John's thoughts on the opportunity he sees there and what PBX replacement solutions like his brings to SMBs. We also talked about the challenges of educating the market as well as why adoption of VoIP in the Canadian business market has lagged the U.S.
You can download the podcast here, as well as read more about John.
Speaking of TalkSwitch, fellow blogger Garrett Smith just posted about them today, commenting about their just-launched IP PBXs. Good timing, Garrett.
Technorati tags: SMB VoIP, Jon Arnold, TalkSwitch, VoIP podcasts, John Cunningham
I've been trying to stay close to this market, and was looking forward to hearing John's thoughts on the opportunity he sees there and what PBX replacement solutions like his brings to SMBs. We also talked about the challenges of educating the market as well as why adoption of VoIP in the Canadian business market has lagged the U.S.
You can download the podcast here, as well as read more about John.
Speaking of TalkSwitch, fellow blogger Garrett Smith just posted about them today, commenting about their just-launched IP PBXs. Good timing, Garrett.
Technorati tags: SMB VoIP, Jon Arnold, TalkSwitch, VoIP podcasts, John Cunningham
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Vonage/Telio Post - Rebuttal to Om
I've never done this before, but late last night I happened to come across Om's comment on my Vonage/Telio post from the other day. I'm commenting for a couple of reasons. First, I don't think Om's take on my post is accurate, and second, it has spawned a series of comments that seem to be echoing his commentary, so there's a ripple effect here that I need to respond to.
First, the title of Om's post - "Are VoIP Service Providers Making a Comeback?". The focus of Om's post seems largely about my post, and I don't see how anyone could conclude anything about a "comeback" from what I wrote about. I could see that if I was talking about Vonage showing a dramatic turnaround in their numbers, but I'm not. And they didn't. All I'm saying is that the news from their Q3 isn't all bad - but they're far from being in "comeback" mode. And regarding Telio, the news has only been good - there's no comeback happening there - just more of the same positive momentum they've had all along.
Second, Om, I just wanted to say that my post was simply a comparison between Vonage and Telio, esp since their quarterly numbers came out around the same time. Nothing more, nothing less. It should be pretty clear that I'm not commenting on the overall state of "CVSPs" - because on that front I would agree with you 100% - I don't think they have much of a business model, esp if they try to go big. I certainly am not forecasting "sunny skies for them", at least not for Vonage. That should be pretty clear from my post.
Telio is another story, and it's hard to argue with their success and how well they've positioned themselves for the mobile market. I think they're way ahead of Vonage - or the other CVSPs on this front, and that's a key differentiator to me. So, I really don't think it's fair to conclude from this that CVSPs are a "great business". As a category, I don't think they are, but I do think Telio has got it right. Sure it's much tougher to compete in the North American market, and when you go on a large mass-market scale. No question. But, as I've often said, small can be beautiful, and with the healthy gross margins I noted in my post, it can be a great business, even on a small scale. I've always felt that the network operators will always win in the end, but you can certainly make a go of things with the right focus.
That's it, Om! I just want clarity here and to make sure people don't reach the wrong conclusions about my post. I don't see any "comeback" for Vonage, and it's not "sunny skies" for all these players. But I do stand by my take on Telio, and for that matter Vonage, and I've been pretty consistent in my views on them in previous posts.
By all means, may the dialog continue - from anyone who cares to contribute - that's what blogging is all about.
Technorati tags: Om Malik, Jon Arnold, Vonage
First, the title of Om's post - "Are VoIP Service Providers Making a Comeback?". The focus of Om's post seems largely about my post, and I don't see how anyone could conclude anything about a "comeback" from what I wrote about. I could see that if I was talking about Vonage showing a dramatic turnaround in their numbers, but I'm not. And they didn't. All I'm saying is that the news from their Q3 isn't all bad - but they're far from being in "comeback" mode. And regarding Telio, the news has only been good - there's no comeback happening there - just more of the same positive momentum they've had all along.
Second, Om, I just wanted to say that my post was simply a comparison between Vonage and Telio, esp since their quarterly numbers came out around the same time. Nothing more, nothing less. It should be pretty clear that I'm not commenting on the overall state of "CVSPs" - because on that front I would agree with you 100% - I don't think they have much of a business model, esp if they try to go big. I certainly am not forecasting "sunny skies for them", at least not for Vonage. That should be pretty clear from my post.
Telio is another story, and it's hard to argue with their success and how well they've positioned themselves for the mobile market. I think they're way ahead of Vonage - or the other CVSPs on this front, and that's a key differentiator to me. So, I really don't think it's fair to conclude from this that CVSPs are a "great business". As a category, I don't think they are, but I do think Telio has got it right. Sure it's much tougher to compete in the North American market, and when you go on a large mass-market scale. No question. But, as I've often said, small can be beautiful, and with the healthy gross margins I noted in my post, it can be a great business, even on a small scale. I've always felt that the network operators will always win in the end, but you can certainly make a go of things with the right focus.
That's it, Om! I just want clarity here and to make sure people don't reach the wrong conclusions about my post. I don't see any "comeback" for Vonage, and it's not "sunny skies" for all these players. But I do stand by my take on Telio, and for that matter Vonage, and I've been pretty consistent in my views on them in previous posts.
By all means, may the dialog continue - from anyone who cares to contribute - that's what blogging is all about.
Technorati tags: Om Malik, Jon Arnold, Vonage
Monday, November 27, 2006
Oz Raises $34 Million - More Good News From Canada
Montreal-based Oz Communications looks poised to make some moves in the mobile messaging market, where they already have done some impressive things. They've got deals going with A-list Tier 1s like Cingular, T Mobile, AOL, Telfonica, Bell Mobility and Telus, plus all the major handset vendors.
Today they announced a second round raise of $34 million, which is quite large for a Canadian vendor. Mind you, I said the same thing last week about Natural Convergence, and that was only a $10 million funding, so in my books, this one definitely merits some attention.
Interestingly, 2 of the 3 lead investors were Quebec-based, which tells me some of the major fund managers see good potential here, and it's a good vote of confidence to support a homegrown company. I say this because Canadian money managers tend to be more conserative than in the U.S., and by local standards, this level of funding is a pretty hefty bet.
As the press release notes, they are not planning an IPO any time soon, but that time will surely come if they stay the course. With this kind of funding to support their strong momentum, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them make some acquisitions to further establish themselves as a global player.
I've posted about Oz before, and am planning to do a podcast with them quite soon, so stay tuned as I continue to follow their progress.
Technorati tags: Oz Communications, Jon Arnold, mobile messaging
Today they announced a second round raise of $34 million, which is quite large for a Canadian vendor. Mind you, I said the same thing last week about Natural Convergence, and that was only a $10 million funding, so in my books, this one definitely merits some attention.
Interestingly, 2 of the 3 lead investors were Quebec-based, which tells me some of the major fund managers see good potential here, and it's a good vote of confidence to support a homegrown company. I say this because Canadian money managers tend to be more conserative than in the U.S., and by local standards, this level of funding is a pretty hefty bet.
As the press release notes, they are not planning an IPO any time soon, but that time will surely come if they stay the course. With this kind of funding to support their strong momentum, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them make some acquisitions to further establish themselves as a global player.
I've posted about Oz before, and am planning to do a podcast with them quite soon, so stay tuned as I continue to follow their progress.
Technorati tags: Oz Communications, Jon Arnold, mobile messaging
Next Stop - Dallas - WiFi/Cellular Convergence
It's been a busy season for me attending conferences, which I always find to be the best way to meet companies first hand to learn about their business, and of course to network.
On Tuesday, I'm off to Dallas for Informa's WiFi/Convergence conference, where I'll be Conference Chair for the first day on Wednesday. Am quite looking forward to hearing about the latest in FMC, dual mode handsets, and the business case for mobile network convergence.
Technorati tags: WiFi, Jon Arnold, dual mode handsets, Informa
On Tuesday, I'm off to Dallas for Informa's WiFi/Convergence conference, where I'll be Conference Chair for the first day on Wednesday. Am quite looking forward to hearing about the latest in FMC, dual mode handsets, and the business case for mobile network convergence.
Technorati tags: WiFi, Jon Arnold, dual mode handsets, Informa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
RSS Feed
