Yahoo! Acquires DialPad, Entering VoIP Market

Yahoo! has acquired DialPad, a provider of Internet Telephony services. Financial terms were not disclosed.Yahoo! plans on leveraging Dialpad's PSTN calling capabilities to add to Yahoo! Messenger's recently enhanced PC-to-PC voice calling offering. DialPad currently offers several services, include DialpadMonthly -- a monthly subscription for calls to the U.S. from over 200 countries with rates as low as 1.7¢ per minute; DialpadPrepaid -- a prepaid service that allows calls to and from over 200 countries; and DialpadCallingcard -- a VoIP-based...

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SIRIUS Signs Content Agreement With Sprint PCS

Sprint plans to offer select SIRIUS Satellite Radio programming to its PCS Vision customers. Some of the music channels being evaluated by Sprint and SIRIUS for the new service include new hits, classic rock, hip-hop, country, blues and soul to jazz and Broadway's best music. The new Sprint service will be available nationwide, and both companies plan to announce more specifics of the service, as well as the price later this year.http://www.sirius.com http://www.sprint....

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JVC's New HD Camcorders Feature Built-In Hard Drives

JVC is introducing a new series of consumer camcorders that record up to seven hours of DVD movie-quality video at 9 Mbps using built-in hard disk drives. The benefits of recording video to a hard disk are the same benefits that have made hard disk-based audio players so popular -- random access to quickly locate desired material, the ability to effortlessly delete unwanted material, and easily rearrange the playback sequence. The camcorders will feature multiple connections for TV playback, dubbing to a VCR or DVD recorder, or transferring video...

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Europe's GÉANT2 Builds 500 Gbps Next Gen Research Network

Alcatel's optical gear was selected for GÉANT2, the successor to Europe's current academic research network. GÉANT2, which promises a total network of nearly 500 Gbps, will connect research facilities in thirty-four countries, including major European sites in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Ireland, Portugal and Greece.The network will deliver multiple, switched 10Gbps links to its major hubs. It will be managed by the Alcatel 1350 management suite and include...

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Orca Interactive Launches Home Media for IPTV

Orca Interactive, a supplier of IPTV middleware, introduced a digital entertainment application that brings digital media content from a PC to a TV in the living room. This enables IPTV subscribers to view photos and listen to music via the TV. The new Home Media application is part of the Orca RiGHTv video-over-IP application suite. Home Media is comprised of TV- and PC-based components. The TV application provides a user-friendly subscriber user interface (SUI), accessed from the RiGHTv main menu. PC applications include a media server responsible...

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ECI Telecom Introduces Mini-MSPP

ECI Telecom introduced a miniature Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP) designed for metro access and WAN deployments, including Ethernet services over SDH, or cellular backhaul.ECI's BroadGate-40 MSPP features a narrowband cross-connect integrated into platform, which includes low bit rate interfaces such as voice channels and V24/V35 for data services. ECI said these capabilities enable cellular operators, as well as utilities, to remotely control various types of equipment sets in a unified manner from the Base Station Transmitter (BTS)...

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Proxim Files for Chapter 11, Sells Assets

Proxim, a supplier of Wi-Fi and broadband wireless equipment, announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and agreed to sell its assets to Moseley Associates, which also supplies wireless systems.Under the agreement, Moseley will acquire and assume most of the domestic and foreign operations of Proxim for a purchase price of $21 million, subject to certain adjustments and deductions. The sale will be implemented through Proxim's filing of a chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and subject to...

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Freescale Moves to its 4th Generation 3G WCDMA/EDGE RF Subsystem

Freescale Semiconductor announced its fourth generation, multimode 3G WCDMA/EDGE cellular RF subsystem -- shrinking board space by 70% for a new breed of slim 3G handsets.Freescale said typical subsystems require greater than a hundred components. Its latest 3G WCDMA/EDGE dual-mode RF cellular subsystem for handsets allows customers a three-to-one component reduction in less than 649 mm2 of board space. The high integration allows manufacturers the ability to add features such as MP3 players, Bluetooth connectivity, digital cameras, DVB-H, and...

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Ericsson Lands $250 GSM/SPRS Contract with India's Bharti

Ericsson was awarded a US$250 million managed capacity expansion contract with Indian operator Bharti to provide managed services and expand its GSM/GPRS network into rural India. The contract will enable Bharti to expand into around 3,000 towns and villages in 15 regions. The rollout of the first phase of this ongoing coverage expansion into rural India will start in July 2005.Ericsson is a long-term Bharti partner, operating its GSM/GPRS network in 15 out of 23 regions under a managed capacity agreement, and is the sole supplier of Bharti's...

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Uniden and 3Com Offer Business Cordless VoIP Phones

Uniden America and 3Com are teaming up to offer VoIP cordless multi-line phones for enterprises. Available today, the 3Com 3106C cordless phone and 3Com 3107C cordless phone can be used with the 3Com NBX IP telephony system. The multi-line IP phones offer an extended range of up to 305 meters from the base unit. The joint development assures tight integration with the 3Com NBX IP telephony system, providing mobile access to hundreds of system features. http://www.3com.com http://www.uniden....

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Nextel Launches Wireless GPS Platform

Nextel Communications introduced its Wireless GPS Platform, an application development environment that extends location-based services (LBS) to a broader base of users. The Nextel Wireless GPS Platform provides large corporate and government customers and solutions providers with a means to create customized, server-based solutions to "location-enable" their existing internal applications. LBS applications developed on the Nextel Wireless GPS Platform will support all Nextel Assisted-GPS devices, including the BlackBerry 7520 as well as both Java...

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Fujitsu Enhances its FLASHWAVE 4020 Ethernet Service Platform

Fujitsu Network Communications announced an upgrade to its multiservice FLASHWAVE 4020 Ethernet Service Platform (ESP) to support Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) interfaces. New SFP-based OC-3 and OC-12 base unit shelves are now available, and each can be equipped with matching-rate SFP modules to support Long Reach (LR), Intermediate Reach (IR) and Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) requirements for converged access networks. Since these SFP modules can be easily interchanged, networks can be upgraded and maintained more conveniently...

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FCC Launches Inquiry into Universal Service Fund

The FCC launched a formal inquiry into the management, administration and oversight of the Universal Service Fund, which helps provide affordable phone service in rural areas, fund Internet access and telecommunications equipment in the schools and libraries, bring telemedicine services to rural areas, and assist low-income families with their phone bills. Since 1997, the Universal Service Administrative Company, or USAC, which administers the fund, has disbursed approximately $30.3 billion from the fund. Money collected for the USF has been...

Cisco Acquires M. I. Secure for VPN

Cisco Systems has acquired privately-held M. I. Secure Corporation, a developer of advanced features and functionality for security and VPN solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay up to approximately $13 million in cash. The company is based in San Jose, California.Cisco said the acquisition brings unique security technology expertise and a team of proven security architects to Cisco. The company is now part of Cisco's Security Technology Group (STG).http://www.cisco....

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BT Wholesale Offers Internet Security Software

BT Wholesale began offering its Netintelligence internet security software, which allows ISPs provide online security and parental controls to their customers. Netintelligence also allows parents to monitor and record children's online activities, such as instant messaging, in real time to reduce the risk of exposure to strangers in chat rooms. ISPs can brand the Netintelligence software as their own and can provide it to home and business customers as part of a broadband package, a stand alone internet security offering, or on a 'try before...

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Sun Open Sources the Solaris Operating System

Sun Microsystems released its Solaris OS as open source code for both the SPARC platform and x86/x64 platforms. The OpenSolaris source code includes the core operating system, networking, system libraries, and commands--and all the key innovations delivered in the Solaris 10 OS.http://www.sun.comAt CTIA Wireless 2005 earlier this year, Sun cited momentum for Solaris 10 in telecom applications. Solaris 10 offers in-kernel support for the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). It also provides unique features...

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