Monthly Archives: August 2007 - Page 2

Some comparison

Posted by on August 6, 2007 No comments | 445 views

Currently I am the owner of a Cingular 8525 from a manufacturer known as HTC. Generally, I have had a good experience with the device. Besides not being the most attractive phone I’ve ever owned, the more I use it (about 9 months now) the more I notice dropped calls, etc. Not as much as my Sony Ericsson S710a.

So, here’s what I need the iPhone to do before I buy one…

1) Grow up, and allow 3rd party application development. They’re already bashing the iPhone’s security (or lack thereof) so you may as well get rid of one of the complaints and open up app development like the PocketPC’s.

2) 3G…this one’s obvious. Lack of 3G in the first version of the iPhone was obviously strategic but I REGULARLY use my 8525 as a high-speed Internet connection provided wirelessly (bluetooth) to my MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, v.1 iPhone strategy left me out of the loop.

3) User Replaceable Battery

Those are really the primary features I would REQUIRE before purchasing. Secondary features being the following:

1) Removable Storage, my current 8525 takes SD cards and I use it regularly.

2) Voice navigation software…after 3rd parties can develop native iPhone apps maybe TomTom or TeleNav will take the reigns and finish the job!

This is my wish list for the iPhone at the moment. Apple is my favorite platform, Steve Jobs, my favorite CEO, my MacBook Pro, my favorite laptop, maybe they can make their iPhone my favorite cell phone too…

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Asterisk is the Digital PBX

Posted by on August 3, 2007 No comments | 1,776 views

VoIP has, thanks again to the Open Source community, become a technology we can all get our hands on.

I am, of course, talking about VoIP for business. No longer are we slaves to six-figure Cisco, Samsung, Panasonic "VoIP" offerings. I hesitate to even put most of them in a category of real VoIP because many of the Enterprise turn-key offerings have an analog backbone with digital plug-in cards. Now, for a mere $2-3,000 a small/medium business can have the same capabilities large corporations have been taking advantage of with VoIP or just traditional PBX technology.

Further, in many cases, the several thousand dollar system is superior and more scalable. Let alone, more cost effective. What am I talking about? If you don’t already know, the Open Source world was graced with a wonderful VoIP PBX called Asterisk some years ago now.

And, it is now what I refer to as "proven technology." I say this because not only have I successfully implemented several medium to large scale installations with little to no difficulty, but there are now thousands of businesses relying on Asterisk software and the Digium hardware that may be purchased for higher end applications (T1/E1, trunking, telco, etc).

To find out more about one of my favorite picks in the BEST OF category for any technology…Asterisk…visit http://www.digium.com. Also, the Astricon Conference is coming to Phoenix, Arizona, my home town of nearly 20 years, hosting an all Asterisk VoIP convention.

Feedback on user experience, technical and consulting questions are welcome and invited.