Bye Bye SkypeKit…What’s Next

Today users of Invoxia were notified that SkypeKit is no more. While a few months ago rumors were that SkypeKit enabled devices would keep working, I was telling others that I wouldn't count on anything that was hardware related that worked with Skype to expect it to keep working. Invoxia's revelation pretty much shows the … Read more

Are Skype’s Days Numbered?

Every day I see Yet Another WebRTC based service come to life. Today its "ROOM" which has a very simple beta list signup going on where if you tweet their existence you get immediate access to the beta. Services like Slack, Hall, HipChat, Vobi and many others are offering what I'm calling Skype Takeaway Service (STS) often for free, often even richer in experience … Read more

France: More Reasons for Uber and SnapCar

There’s another reason for Uber in France and the French government needs to pay attention. It’s customer service with taxi drivers. Just like in San Francisco where Uber was born there’s a pattern of behavior that exists with taxi drivers that causes great frustration with the regular traveler. It’s called being declined a ride because … Read more

Wowed and Impressed-Alcyone, Intercontinental Marseille

I have to admit that hotel dining can be either hit or miss. Happily the experience at both Les Fenetres and Alcyone in the beautiful Hotel Intercontinental Marseille exceeded on every count. For starters a Monday lunch on the patio at Les Fenetres with the sun overhead, the Vieux Port before us and amazing cooking coming from … Read more

Why The Uber Economy Works

Last week I used Uber X and Uber all over the Bay Area. Using Uber X my costs for a nice car, usually a Toyota Prius or something a bit larger was under $15.00 and often closer to $12.00 for rides to lunch, dinner or to get from a meeting on Treasure Island to my … Read more

Grenache Isn’t Always Red

For many, Grenache conjures up thoughts of Chateauneuf du Pape as the mind floats to such names as Reyas, Vieux Telegraphe and Marcoux. One dreams of Tempier from Bandol and rich, deep reds from the Roussillon like the ethereal wines from Herve Bezul’s Clos de Fees. But for me the most interesting Grenache wines are … Read more

Back In The World I Love

I have to admit. I have been suffering writers block for months. While I have been composing my thoughts, musing on Facebook and Tweeting away on Twitter, my inability to post, write long form was a bother…It hurt. It was painful and what’s more there’s no way around it. Like a baseball player in a … Read more

Finding Your Way With WebRTC

Pal Dean Bubley gets it. So do a few others. But sadly not everyone does. The "what" is WebRTC and the who are the telcos. Read Dean’s post and get a great lay of the land. Last week at WebRTC World in Atlanta a lot of companies demo’d something’s new, somethings derivative and other concepts and … Read more

The Comunicano Daily for Tuesday May 27, 2014

        The Comunicano Daily       Imagine if Qualcomm or Intel bought out T-Mobile in the USA? That's potentially what's going on in Taiwan where Foxconn is looking to broaden their business interests and vertically consolidate their holdings by putting a stake into a Taiwanese mobile operator. Given their ties to companies … Read more