Video For E911-Not Anytime Soon

The FCC wants text messaging and video to be part of E911 as a way to aid dispatchers and provide emergency respoders like police, fire and paramedics with a better idea of what they are up against. For many companies developing those tools that make the information richer and provide the delivery this will be … Read more

IT Expo-My Thoughts

I won't dwell on the negatives that some already have shared privately because for the most part I enjoyed the two days I spent at IT Expo in Austin this past week. But as someone who wants to see the event grow here are some suggestions: 1) Get more launches at the event. Comapnies there … Read more

New Wine Bar in Del Mar-SIP

Pal Jason Maitland is the chef partner of Del Mar Plaza's hottest dining spot, Flavor. Well he and his partner in Flavor have opened up SIP just around the corner and it's great. Offering an amazing array of wines by the glass and bottle, plus with cheese and smoked meats available for nibbling, SIPS is rapidly … Read more

Is IT Expo Getting Cloudy Again?

IT Expo moves their fall show to Austin starting September 13 and for me the cloud is where it will be. Cloud Comm, one of the many (maybe too many) co-located conferences at the fall TMCnet shindig is now in its 4th event and for the vetrans like me this event was always the one … Read more

Another Railway With WiFi

Image by LA Wad via Flickr It seems in Germany some of the ICE trains also have WiFi too. Just like the Acela's on the east coast here in the USA and a few of the Pacific Surfliner trains that run along the California coast between San Diego and Santa Barbara. Having used these in the … Read more

XConnect’s Cloud Solves Transcoding for HD Voice

One of the biggest issues I've seen over the years with voice services is codec mismatches. Not only do they impact how things sound, often times with conference calls they just make the calls sound odd and magnified by the effects of landline, VoIP lines and mobile networks not all speaking the same way to … Read more

Skype Buys Group Me

Skype is buying GroupMe for a reported $85 million dollars. While a lot of conjecture exists around the why, I think that the former Startup Camp participant's value was in the fact that they really do handle SMS for groups and with Skype heading into a small group/small business mine field where the mobile handset becomes … Read more

BART Turns off The Mobile Networks

Was it legal for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to turn off mobile network coverage in stations to prevent civil disturbances? Today, a few days after all the turmoil the perspective in the news is mixed. Some say the backlash is growing, while others question BART's right to simply turn the power off to the … Read more

Video Calling In The Living Room

Image via CrunchBase No question I fall into the category of early adopter. I've been using video for as long as there has been the possibility. CuSeeMe, SightSpeed (former client-exited to Logitech) and of course, Skype. Let's look past the deal with Comcast, which is being powered by Technicolor. Instead let's look at it from a … Read more