Jan's tech blog all about : p2p, IT-security, web 2.0., Skype, VoIP, living in Malaysia, internet, web. Testing a lot of gadgets here also. If it has not been tested here, it probably does not work (very well).
CNET News.com reports via e-mail Alert of Tuesday September 04, 2007 05:42AM PDT - http://www.news.com/ " Chinese airline opts for in-flight mobile service. Shenzhen Airlines to install OnAir's phone service across its fleet of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft by mid-2009. "
I wonder if they would allow Skype VoIP phones during flight and also if the Chinese firewall is working in the Sky ?
Great stuff, I just came back from Barcelona’s huge 3gsm fair (and ate after 3 years) again my first “spruiten en witloof” dish once back in Belgium (coming from Malaysia, that is).
I was there on behalf of Transclick Inc. and running around to get to know more people and services that are floating on this market. Let’s start with some fun booth I a saw. Apart from the usual tech overload, there were really some cool things to be seen there. Take for example the booth of Emoze. I remember everybody wanted one of those hats… Good marketing. Also interesting to see that a word (that has no real meaning) can grasp the attention of the public or maybe it was just the hat ? Not sure about about that since the push mail system of Eboze actually did beat the blackberry push mail system . Note also the cuteness of the whole concept. And yes an Israeli concept (just like ICQ, Skyqube and other cute things). They must have something in their veins to keep on creating such kind of things… Nice to see to that on the level of marketing, that these guys are heavily using blogs to promote their brand. And the reason why I list them here is directly related to their coolness, their cuteness.
I was just doing my weekly trip to Low Yat Plaza to have a look at the goodies there. Always taking cabs here, since I don’t know the roads that well…. Actually Sunway Lagoon Shopping Center (get the LRT to Kelana Jaya 2.5RM from KL Sentral and then take a short cab-drive 10RM) has all this too, but it’s a bit more calm there, a bit more organized too. And the surf on the wave-thing is good over there too. Something else than the pool in Malaysia / KL / Sang Suria… Anyways here is the first decent working GPS handheld device that I saw. It works.
Looks kind of interesting. I think I could be attached to a 2–wheeler too. It’s ment to work in a car, but would work for a bike or bicycle.
When I came back from the ITU fair in Hong Kong last week one sentence kept popping up in my mind… It sounded a bit like «the telecoms and their powerful lobby-groups are like ostridges living in a walled garden, wondering why their dumb (cash-flow)pipes are not delivering as much water into their water-buckets… and instead of leaving their walled garden, they stick their head in the sand to wait till more water comes in…». I also realised the huge power and presence of the global telecoms. But still I am trying to get out of the behaviour that we all learned to accept «give coin for dial-tone». I think it will take a while before that changes, if it ever does. Your technology can be very good (in this case disruptive) but you will have to establish a new balance and fight resistance on all levels. Again : my personal impression. For the record…
Besides this the ITU fair is a huge illimunating summary on the current status of Telecom related technology. It really gave me a wake-up and was a great eye-opener. After all the information you get during the forums is the result of probably 6 months of preparation by the experts. If you are looking for a good summary, well don’t miss out on this event. I loved it.
I also had the distinct impression that WIFI and WIMAX were looked as inferior technology, that could be neglected in the over-all landscape of how to get connected. This gave me a strange feeling since (speaking for myself here) I was constantly looking for a wifi-solution that allowed me to use Skype at an affordable flat fee. I could not find any connection. Maybe I was not close enough to city center. Anyways. Many of my questions on the effect of disruptive technology (during the very interesting forums sessions on ITU) on the revenue where received with some … well how would I say… well they did not like that type of questions… Maybe they were more interested in devices that could cause some latency on the foreign VoIP – signals floating on their network. I will never forget the visionary projection of one of the keynote speakers during a forum-session «in the future you will have a cell-phone that will project a hologram of the person you are calling». That is very possible, but it is also likely that revenues of the telecoms will be hologram if the business-model is not changed drastically. I believe that that pay per minute for telephony is going to be a dead concept. But not yet. Maybe in 2 years from now. Who knows… The role of the regulators is a major factor in this process. If the regulators allow the telecom to put a stop or slowdown on the fast evolution and progress of all kinds of foreign VoIP-systems (that not necessarily create a revenue for the country itself), then things will go slow. Think about the different countries and environments that are already blocking or capping Skype and the likes of Skype.
I just wonder what will happen when the handset-makers are going to put WIFI-chip-sets in the more powerful range of WIFI-enable cell-phones… Surely people would love to put Skype on their cell-phones, or the like of Skype and honestly the GPRS-data (which will increase the ARPU / revenue stream of data-services) will not work with Skype. Maybe for chat yes.
My point is that the flat-fee data-channels will have to be more affordable and available than the occasional (free) or hotspot WIFI. But again, I believe that if you are in the business of selling telephony-minutes that this will be very tough. There always somebody cheaper, and lately I have been using my IPAQ PDA-phone with Skype Mobile in it to do unlimited chats (cheaper than SMS), send affordable global SMS and even do Voice Over IP. In this type of scenario, I used a free WIFI service. It worked fine and not telecom was touched. I don’t like and I don’t have to pay for telephony per minute any more. I want flat f(r)ee and I got it.
I also don’t like the feeling of being milked like a cash-cow, which exactly explains why I love wifi so much. And honestly If I need to make a phone to the outside world. I will just go to Starbucks, drink a coffee and do my VoIP phone-call. Much cheaper than the expense Voda-Phone.
In that perspective I am looking forward to hear more on the business-deal between www.iskoot.com, www.three.co.uk and www.skype.com. I have seen some videos of a presentation in London whereby a cell-phone (Ericsson and Motorola type)had an «embedded skype».
But being an MS Windows user, I did go for a IPAQ with a sim-card. It is still more computer than phone in my world, but due to the built-in wifi I don’t have to carry a brick (laptop) in my backpack anymore on short trips that just need a communications device.
For typing and working the laptop is still needed – at least in my world.
More info on this at www.gatetel.com – looks like an interesting GPS device linked to Google Earth. Have not seen it working yet. Maybe I’ll get to test it. Who knows. It will actually post LAT/LON bearing and post it on a webpage that shows google KML - files… so anybody can see on google the location of this device. Emerging technologies. Nice.
The new Netgear WIFI Phone was announced quite some time ago (Netgear and Skype kept on announcing it, so it’s one I won’t forget…) with lot’s of marketing buzz.
And here it finally arrived in Malaysia / South East Asia. Some important phrases I picked up from the official announcement.
«Unmatched Excellence in Design and Engineering NETGEAR’s Skype™ WiFi Phone (SPH101) delivering a breakthrough in communications with excellence in both design and engineering.”
NETGEAR’s Skype WiFi Phone among this year’s cutting-edge products that have raised the bar in terms of design and engineering
NETGEAR’s Skype WiFi Phone (SPH101) is the first publicly announced and shipped mobile device certified to make Skype Internet calling over WiFi a reality for the more than 113 million registered Skype users across the globe.
Please note that the NETGEAR WiFi phone for Skype (SPH101) will not function during a power failure or broadband Internet outage. Neither Skype nor the NETGEAR WiFi Phone is a replacement for your ordinary telephone. Emergency calls will need to be made by alternative methods.
So with this new gadget, I will not be interested in any security papers on IP (for a while…), neither will I be interested in a Skype Management or Blocking tool (for now). I am already looking funny at the people that will block or limit Skype p2p traffic for this device… Because you are doing more than just keeping the network clean… You could be blocking somebody’s communication and limiting their freedom that they just acquired… And that feels funny, I know. But like I said I am not blocking anything here in my own private place (called home), which is like hot-wired with all kinds of Skype Devices…. (dualphones and other stuff like that…). See below the comparison between different models :
Anyways let’s just check what this device from Netgear can do.
Yep. The future has descended and keeps descending upon Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia, which I discovered few years ago. Unlike some people think, this city is technologically quite advanced. It is such a hot country and it feels like that since I come from colder regions. So now I got myself a Skype Wifi phone. Finally. Provided by Netgear via Vincent Low (regional manager S.E. Asia for www.netgear.com) and it rocks.
Now if I say that it’s because I mean it and I am very difficult and critical on the matter of what works and does not work. Vincent told me to do some hands on testing with this little must-have and this what I shall do.
While I was driving back in the cab, the phone automatically picked all kinds of WIFI - networks, but I did not really connect (to fast moving I guess). Anyways, I am home now and this location provides a 512/1024 ADSL connection (normal streamyx at 99RM per month). There is also 2 wireless hubs here. One Benq AWL-700 running at 10mbps and a Linksys Access Router running at 54mpbs. We shall test the phone in this scenario.
But if you want to cut short, I can already tell you that this phone is something you must have. What immediately struck me is that it is much smaller than I thought. Just have a look. It is white, it is cute, it is squared but feels «roundisch» and it speaks Skype. You must get one. Do it now ! Skype just feels like a telecom company for me. Having a wifi phone with skype on it suddenly creates a totally different world.
It attached itself to my network. I did not have to anything. Just confirm the prompts. So easy. Now mind that (and we’ll come back this) that this is an open network on which I am testing this. Nothing like a «public» hotspot. I did have some funny message on the matter of not getting an IP-number, but that relates to the security setup of my network. Mind you that is where these type of phones might have a problem, where the wifi network is not provisioning easy access or even blocking or limiting access to the p2p / skype protocol. It has to be as simple and affordable to succeed and nothing is as useless as a phone without a network but in LOCAL WIFI where you can authenticate with a WEP key or some pass-phrase. I do hope that in next field test www.boingo.net will allow me to log-on properly. Boingo is now in the process of working with the Wi-Fi phone and dual-mode phone manufacturers to integrate Boingo's commercial Wi-Fi roaming software into their devices to ensure that users have easy access to our 50,000 hot spots around the world with their VoIP devices (http://www.boingo.com/embedded). They have also released code in open source format that allows any manufacturer to port the software to their hardware platform easily at no cost to license the code (http://boingowifitool.sourceforge.net).
So, let’s make a call. It shows the avatar/image of the person that you contact, so that is kind of handy, since after a while you get used to these images.
I just called somebody t to convince them that it really works (somebody who is not a great believer in this technology due to certain limitations). I could not reach him. Many people don’t like to be called just like that via skype because in most cases Skype is running on their computer and you disturb them in their work activities. So that justifies exactly the reason why this type of Skype WIFI phone makes sense. I think I might setup a skype account to call me and another one to chat with me… The Netgear WIFI phone does look much better and nicer than the Zyxel WIFI phone. Really. It feels a bit like an Apple Ipod only thicker. And since it is Skype you can obviously do many things with this.
But it does not support chatting. That is a pitty. You can also not send SMS, so those are currently 2 important limitations.
Display of the image :
Well, faces (the skype avatar) look a bit scrambled, out of proportion. But okay the picture is there. Disadvantage is that the phone numbers of the skype profile are just fitting on it. The Skype profile is not totally visible…
Accessories :
Just a cable to feed the phone power, via the usb-port of the pc. Fine for me. There seems to be a provisioning for loading power via a cradle, but my package did not contain that cradle.
Usage :
Very simple. Navigation button feels smooth. Typing text and figures goes well. The buttons are not «sticky». All works, really handy navigation system. What I like about this is that you can just buy a phone, create an account (no sim card needed in this one and off you go). You can create your new skype account with this one and you will be online in no time. So there you have your quick and cheap dial-tone.
Sound test :
I did the first sound-test with for this wifi phone with wife. So me on the computer and me wife holding the phone. Mostly when speaking directly into the microphone the people could hear me too.
I can work with or without a headset. Has a good speaker phone. What is annoying is that increasing the volume will throw an beep into the other side their ears.. Kind of harsh..
Sound-quality :
Good even when you put people on the speaker-phone. Most of them said there was no echo of their own voice. On the other hand it will also capture any ambient / surrounding / background noise… which is interesting if you are doing a documentary on the birds in the rain-forest but pointless for most normal telephone conversations.
Unexpected :
I use the authorisation request as quick chat, instant messages since this phone does not all chat over skype. But you can add contacts… . Only worked one time of course. Once a user is authorised no point. I could use this phone also to quickly find a wifi network which saves me the time starting up my laptop to pick up some e-mail…
Finding people :
Very funny is that you have now the telephone-book of Skype-users available for search in your «cell-phone». which telecom/celco can say that … my buddy list in my hand-phone, it’s what I always wanted. but hey : it’s a Skype wifi phone.
Issues :
I was just wondering on the registration of phones in Singapore. Do you need to register this type of phone ? Meaning you can just start it up and then create and account and Privacy and Security. How to use it safely ?
When the account on pc is set to forward to another SKYPE ID it won’t ring the WIFI phone itself when this phone is running the same account of Skype. Does it work properly in combination a Skype ID that is running simultaneously I got a DHCP network at home and when I connected my laptop could not get an IP. When you have a lengthy contact list in skype, let’s say about 500 contacts, then the loading time will take long. Talking about 10 to 15 minutes here…
The phone and therefore my ears were getting warm (actual hot) after 15 minutes calling time. Now that is a bummer ! But okay, I can solve that with a good headset.
Accessing WIFI networks :
The phone support auto-connect, so basically it will try to connect to any open WIFI network it find (making it ready for the wireless roaming future…). You can enter a SSID network name, assign preferred networks. See more on this topic of WIFI connectivity on my earlier blog-entries. Since we are talking WIFI here, it will suck up battery time. Make sure to carry a loader when you travel. It really goes fast. In my case every hour or so the phone needed to reload… Would be nice also to find in Starbucks and other wifi hotspot a USB-loader plug. Just to come and load-up your cell-phone or your wifi-phone, while consuming a coffee. I would prefer to drink my coffee there…
Manual :
Neatly done. Manual is simple to read and there is also a web-version.
Software / Drivers :
Installation of the device is seamless; really. It also does automatic updating of it’s software via it’s WIFI connection.
Support / Registration :
Can be given by the existing regional customer support contacts of netgear. The did not mention a skype ID on the other hand… The cdrom provides the facility to register your product online.
Good test-report here : http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34620. Kind of funny that Skype was and is allowed in certrain airplaines with all the legimate hype around security, but on certain universities it is banned… where is the logic in that ?
I was just looking here at Windows Live Maps and then how to get it on a cellphone. For example Mobile GMaps is a FREE application that displays Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Windows Live Local (MSN Virtual Earth) and Ask.com Maps and satellite imagery on Java J2ME-enabled mobile phones, PDAs and other devices. MGMaps can connect to a GPS receiver over bluetooth or use internal GPS features on some phones in order to automatically display the map for your current position.
I am currently in France. Looking at the wealth of information. At least virtually in France (thanks to google earth), in the Riviera (south of france, Nice, Monaco - I worked there "long time" ago). So basically with the gatagata.jp application (and some others) actually can map listed skype - ID's to the the given GPS coordinates (LAT/LON) on top of the google earth geographic data. A 3D phonebook and a bit more than that.
Probably in the near future this will be linked to your cellphone and then you will be zooming to the cellphone of your friend via google earth skype link. You could even make it live traceable.
I always said that Skype should have been taken over by Google and not by Ebay... It is so much more a good match.
I just find it amazing that I can find stuff on google earth, and then link to a local presence and talk and chat to find out. The blog of that local content comes to me via the Skype - info. Not via the Google stuff. Anyways, just a reflection.
I guess we'll have to keep watching to those Skype, Google Plugins.
A friend of a friend will drive into Singapore today. He is not familiar with Singapore roads and needs help. For a view of Cuaseway traffic conditions, click here.
«EMAS is an intelligent incident management system that monitors and manages traffic along expressways, including the CTE tunnels. It deters congestion and implements appropriate action plans. EMAS provides motorists with updated traffic information on incidents so as to mitigate its effects. By providing real-time traffic alerts, EMAS allows early detection and quick clearance of accidents and breakdown vehicles. The overall result is a safer and more pleasant journey for motorists.»
Apart from that, imagine if you could link video-feeds to Skype ID’s and put them on a gps-geo-grid… The clickable callto://skype_ID.geolocation (gps, city or country for example). The only problem would of course be the management of such a grid. How would you know the ongoing transactions on such a grid. You would need an application for that. Click on each account is not an application. But with the build in video skype certainly offers the platform for a grid-application.
Sound like something for Virgin airlines to engage with Skype on a global scale. Just a thought..
In-flight broadband to take off with AirCell? voice and data services to the general aviation sector, primarily the corporate jet set. ... use voice over IP (VoIP) phones and applications such as Skype.
We did not really feel anything here in Malaysia. Kind of tight sleeper. Also I guess we are to far away from the epicentre. But yes, «A deadly earthquake shook the area around the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia early on Saturday morning.» Do check this website for latest events. http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
Many of the people that call around on the skype system are pigs (without brains). They seem to have no understand of global time and don’t even start talking about cultural differences. For them there should be a new system inventend : PIG 2 PIG. Nothing is more stupid or annoying than to call somebody at the wrong time. Take this into consideration since many people are already having their global free Skype Phone linked to their cellphone or fixed phone.
Know your time, tune your manners… .check this good yahoo global time widgets to keep track of global time. But If you do want to a be a swine well callto: PIG2PIG.
I can hear it already : «Hello this is your captain speaking. Please switch off ALL your cellphones, wifi-phones, skype-phones, sip-phones, laptops, IPODS, MP3 and an any other WIFI, GPS devices.» People who do not comply will undergo the SKYPE OUT procedure. Also it is forbidden to play flight-simulatorgames on board on the inflight system, due to bandwidth-restrictions. and tracking airplanes via www.fboweb.com on www.earth.google.com might be forbidden in certain countries. Have a nice flight.
Maybe Skype can now afford their own airplane or get one painted and airborn ! I am sure Virgin Express would be interested to paint one airplaine with the Skype logo in exchange for global free telephony . It would certainly be the greatest marketing-stunt yet pulled off.
VoIP calls in flight. http://www.voipnow.org/2006/05/fcc_frequency_a.html An FCC frequency auction to be undertaken this week would be paving the way for VoIP calls in flight. Around nine companies are bidding for the frequencies. Many of the airline companies have been favoring a ban providing VoIP in-flights but Connexion by Boeing which has been offering their services in nearly two hundred international flights daily have up till now not noticed any complaints regarding in cabin incidents about the technology. Their service is already being used by passengers for making VoIP calls. Via informationweek
Something that can be folded up into a hard casing (jus like sunglasses), because during travel most headsets will incur dammage. I am searching for a hard casing for an expensive headset.
You can find some of them here. This is apparently also the new way of publishing something. I don't mind (not really) : first publish them and then inform the author of the images that it has been done. It used to be different but these days the rule of reality is that : anything you put on the internet will be sucked up in something else and will pop up somewhere else. It's not a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN. Oh well, as long as people enjoy it. In a way these images don't belong to me anyways, they belong to the Indian / Malaysian Community that runs the whole project and therefore the potential profit (if any) should go the people who organize this event.
See also the original source of my shots (made it myself, totally myself) at Webtown Thaipusam.
Roaming Agreements With Centrin Communications (Indonesia) and MilCom Systems (Thailand) Add Four Major Airports and Dozens of Hot Spots to the Boingo(R) Roaming System.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Boingo Wireless, the world's leading Wi-Fi network aggregator, today announced further expansion of its hot spot network in Indonesia and Thailand, including four key airports in the two countries. Boingo signed roaming agreements with Centrin Communications Ltd. for access to its hot spots on the islands of Indonesia, and with MilCom Systems for access to one of Thailand's highest-profile hotspot networks. With these agreements, the Boingo global network includes more than 3,700 hot spots in nine Asian countries including China/Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Worldwide, the network includes 25,000 hot spots. "Adding key airports in Indonesia and Thailand helps us round out our Asian Wi-Fi network at a time when business travel to Asia is growing dramatically," said Allen Pan, Boingo's director of network strategy for Asia-Pacific. "These agreements give Boingo customers access to desirable locations in Indonesia and Thailand, as we continue to pursue our goal of a ubiquitous network across Southeast Asia."
This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my previous or current employer(s) and/or businesspartner(s). This blog is NOT affiliated with Skype. Skype is a trademark of Skype Limited. Any trademarks belong to the respective owners. This blog is slightly satirical and contains a heavy dose or irony if not sarcasm. Get used to it. For cleaned up marketing and PR stories please visit the original websites. I am quite sure you will notice the difference.
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