EveryJoe » VoIP

Skype 4 and Twhirl with Seesmic illustrate centralization and evolution of Web 2.0 tools

Tris Hussey — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:14:54 +0000

This week we’ve seen both the release of a new version of Skype—Skype 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows initial release – Skype Garage—and a preview version of Twhirl that includes Seesmic playback—Seesmic Blog: Play Seesmic videos in Twhirl client—while they haven’t been connected previously, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Looking at the new Skype, it draws and centralizes your attention to the task at hand, communication with others. Twhirl is doing the same for microblogging. We’ve seen this before and when it’s happened great things have always followed.

When?

First the web browser. Remember gopher and newsreaders and the other required tools to view the “Internet” back in the 80s and 90s? Remember when all of these started to converge in the browser?

That started Web 1.0.

The other example I have is Exchange and Outlook. These happened at about the same time, but had a whole different set of results. Before Outlook, we all had separate apps for email, calendar, contacts. Sure some of them could be integrated (I used Now Up to Date for example), but they were still separate, then they came together.

I’d venture that this began the push of PDAs, not the birth, the push. We saw that these things should be together be cause they were so centrally connected.

Now we’re seeing it again. Skype is, I think, brings such focus and your attention to chat, video, and calls, that it will have to have influence and repercussions.

Twhirl, on the other hand, is much closer to that shift. Twitter, FriendFeed, Seesmic … read, post, share all together in front of you.

The next phase I’d venture is something to do with RSS and other information flow. Snakr has become indispensable for me to monitor the flow of news.

So if when we bring similar things together, we can then see the next jump—I’d say we’re going to be seeing some pretty exciting things soon.

What?

I have some ideas and I’m going work on them and write a follow up post (my gut tells me it will have to do with the nature of how we create and share content).

Post from: EveryJoe

Skype 4 and Twhirl with Seesmic illustrate centralization and evolution of Web 2.0 tools

Entry date for the Lypp + Highrise mashup contest pushed to April 15

Tris Hussey — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:45:33 +0000

Take one telco platform, and in a Contact Manager-CRM system, add a couple APIs, mix and you get… That’s up to you, actually. Late Feb the folks at Lypp announced a contest to take the Highrise and Lypp APIs and make something cool. The original opening date was April 1, but because of changes to the APIs the start of the contest has been pushed to April 15:

Due to these and other updates we are pushing back the entry date for the 37 Signals Highrise and Gaboogie Lypp Mashup to April 15th. We will be posting another announcement here on that day inviting everyone who wants a piece of the action to sign up. Source: Highrise + Lypp Mashup: April 15th « Gaboogie Blog | Lypp Service and API

I can’t hope to figure that some cool, cool stuff will come out of this … of course I’m expecting it to be Canadian, of course.

Post from: EveryJoe

Entry date for the Lypp + Highrise mashup contest pushed to April 15

iotum’s Free Conference Call Facebook App now sports recording

Tris Hussey — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:02:58 +0000

Canadian start up iotum, who got some serious funding in late November, has a nifty app for Facebook that lets you make free conference calls. Of course what’s a sweet conference call without being able to record it? Okay a meeting, but if you can record a call, then it can become a podcast or interview. As Alec Saunders writes, this is exactly what they have in mind:

We hope that it will become the foundation of a new kind of podcasting more like talk radio than today’s podcasts. Last night a few friends and I recorded an inaugural call to test this idea out. Jim Courtney, Ken Camp, Sheryl Breuker, Howard Thaw, Randall Howard and I engaged in a wide ranging discussion on topics ranging from Skype to mobile handsets. Following the call, I grabbed the audio file, and made some quick edits. Next I installed the Podpress plug-in for Wordpress, and then uploaded the file and created this post. It was dead simple. Source: Free Conference Calls… now with recordings — Alec Saunders .LOG

Given my general curmudgeonliness for Facebook, you might expect me to poo-poo this app. On the contrary, I think a useful app that doesn’t involve zombies, free drinks, or hatching eggs is refreshing. I will be doing a BlogTalkRadio show, next week I think, but I will certainly give this app a try (I’ve already re-installed it on my profile).

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Facebook apps, iotum, Free Conference calls, podcasts

Post from: EveryJoe

iotum’s Free Conference Call Facebook App now sports recording

(Almost) Free International Mobile Calls

Mark Evans — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:44:25 +0000

Nothing like disruptive technology to disrupt yet another high-profit marketplace. Today’s victim is the wireless long-distance market where carriers are charging subscribers exorbitant prices that tower over LD rates on landline phones. Coming to the rescue of consumers everywhere is Vancouver-based EQC Communications, which just unveiled EQO Mobile, a service that “lets users make international long distance calls and exchange IM and text messages on their mobile phones at local calling and messaging rates”. EQO claims you can save as much as 95% on all international calls.

Well, it seems too good to be true. But EQO said it doesn’t stop there. Using EQO Mobile, you get free calls and text messages with other EQO users; text messages to regular mobile phones with savings of up to 70%, free instant-messaging using MSN, Yahoo, AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ and Jabber. And there’s more: it’s apparently easy to use, there’s no calling cards, complicated dialing or callbacks. If you’re at all tempted, you can sign up here. For more on EQO Mobile, check out Russell Shaw.

EQO, which unveiled its mobile service at DEMO 2006, raised $9-million earlier this year from Ventures West, GrowthWorks and BDC Capital.

Post from: EveryJoe

(Almost) Free International Mobile Calls

SaskTel Finally Gets Into VoIP

Mark Evans — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 20:44:57 +0000

Even though VoIP has been all the rage over the past two or three years, several Canadian carriers (SaskTel, Telus, Manitoba Tel) have stayed out of the market due to concerns about the regulatory environment that favoured cable rivals and independents such as Vonage. With the federal government recently giving carriers the freedom to price VoIP service as they wish, SaskTel has finally come out of the gate with a VoIP service called WebCall Basic within its home territory, Saskatchewan. For $15.95 a month, consumers get an Internet-based service with quality of service guarantees. It can only be a matter of time before SaskTel comes out with a premium service with more bells and whistles and a QoS promise.

Post from: EveryJoe

SaskTel Finally Gets Into VoIP

FirstHand Makes Fierce15 List

Mark Evans — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:37:59 +0000

Ottawa-based FirstHand Technologies, which makes technology to enhance the capabilities of smartphones and PDAs, has been named to FierceVoiP’s First 15 list. “FierceVoIP congratulates FirstHand Technologies on being named as one of the Fierce15,” said Dan Rosenbaum, editor of FierceVoIP. “By bringing mobile phones into the enterprise, FirstHand helps realize the promise of fixed-mobile convergence.” FirstHand, formerly known as SIPquest, raised $7-million in venture capital earlier this year in a deal led involving BDC Venture Capital, Covington Capital and Skypoint Capital. Update: Ottawa-based Iotum also made the First 15 list (my apologies to Howard Thaw and Alec Saunders!). For more, check out Jon Arnold.

Post from: EveryJoe

FirstHand Makes Fierce15 List

Hullo, You’re Canadian!

Mark Evans — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:07:01 +0000

Hullo made a splash earlier this week with the launch of a new VOIP service with all kinds of bells and whistles such as the ability to conference call and do find-me services. For everthing you’d want to know about Hullo, check out Alec Saunders’ blog post. Hullo has been in beta for some time and held its launch party in Ottawa. While it got some TechCrunch Love (TL) and a fair bit of blogosphere coverage, the company could have got even more PR juice by being more pro-active with bloggers (Rob Hyndman, Jon Arnold, Mathew Ingram, etc.) in its own backyard. You’d also think Hullo would have approached the media – well, at least telecom reporters with one of Canada’s national newspapers…:). In any event, it’s good to see a Canadian VoIP player on the scene. For more blogging coverage of Hullo, check out productdose.com, Dead 2.0 and LOOSE wire blog.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hullo, You’re Canadian!