Gizmo Project and Google Talk Connect IM Networks

SIPphone and Google Talk became the first major instant messaging networks to launch complete compatibility between their user bases.




Interoperable features incorporated between the two services include:

• Instant messaging, which allows users of Google Talk and Gizmo Project to communicate across networks.



• Full address book management, including the ability to send invitations to members of other networks.



• Presence (online, offline, away) so you can see if your contacts are available to chat.

The companies said this relationship is the culmination of over six months of cooperation.



"Although Gizmo Project and Google Talk are competing instant messaging products this technical cooperation illustrates our commitment to open directories," said SIPphone CEO Michael Robertson. "Our partnership will put pressure on closed networks like MSN, Yahoo!, Skype and AOL to connect to the rest of the world so a user won't be forced to juggle five different accounts on different networks to communicate with the world."http://www.sipphone.com

• In July 2005, The Gizmo Project, a free VoIP service developed by Michael Robertson and his team at SIPphone, released the first public beta of its consumer VoIP software. Robertson's previous start-ups have included MP3.com, Linspire, SIPphone and most recently MP3tunes.com. Unlike Skype, Gizmo is based on SIP and follows a standards-based approach to its network and directory. New users choose their username and then a SIP number is automatically assigned to the account. Gizmo can send/receive calls to over 100 other SIP networks, including some university networks and Asterisk-based networks. Regular phones could be attached to the service using an unlocked SIP analog-telephone-adapter.



• Gizmo, which is describing itself as a "Skype-killer", said it because it does not operate on a pure P2P model, its members' computer resources and bandwidth are never tapped to route calls, as they are with Skype. Gizmo is supporting a range of audio compression technologies including Global IP Sound, which is also used by Skype.

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Opnext Ships its 100,000th 10G transceivers

Opnext has shipped more than 100,000 10G transceivers to date. The company offers a line of 10G products, including 300-pin, XENPAK, X2, XPAK and XFP encompassing all port types within these form factors. The company's modules enable applications for use in: SONET OC-192 and SDH STM-64 and 10GbE long-reach terrestrial transmission, metropolitan area network, IP Router premise switching, OADM, High-speed data communications, and FEC (10.7 Gbps G.709). http://www.opnext.com

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Sentito Appoints Stephen Crummey as CEO

Sentito Networks named Stephen Crummey as its new CEO, replacing Dennis Chateauneuf. Crummey joins Sentito from vCentrix, where he served as the company's CEO. vCentrix offers a hosted, turnkey VoIP platform for telecommunications service providers. Prior to his tenure at vCentrix, Steve served as CEO of e-Studio Live, a multimedia applications company that developed authoring software for the webcasting market; co-founded and held the position of CEO at the web-collaboration company Intranets.com, now Webex; served as VP of Worldwide Sales for video conferencing company PictureTel; and served as VP of Sales and Marketing for Avid Technologies.



Sentito's ONX solution, which includes its Intelligent Voice Gateway, Proxy 7 Signaling Gateway, and PreVision Network Manager, works in an open VoIP environment to deliver a wide range of service provider applications.



Sentito said that since the release of its ONX System 3 in August 2005, it has six customers and an additional ten product evaluations deployed at service providers worldwide.
http://www.Sentito.com

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Cisco Names Susan Bostrom as Chief Marketing Officer

Cisco Systems announced the appointment of Susan L. Bostrom to the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and an executive officer of the company. Bostrom succeeds James Richardson, who has been appointed Senior Vice President (SVP), Commercial Business, a new role created to accelerate Cisco's opportunity in its fastest growing customer segment made up of small and medium-sized businesses.



An eight-year Cisco veteran, Bostrom most recently led Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), an organization she created and built from the ground up to bring vertical expertise and Internet best practices to Global Fortune 500 companies, governors, and heads of state. In addition, Bostrom continues to lead Cisco's Worldwide Government Affairs organization where her leadership has driven and expanded Cisco's policy thought leadership and coverage of key global issues such as healthcare. Her industry background includes more than 20 years of marketing experience at companies including Cisco, National Semiconductor, AT&T, McKinsey and Company, and FTP Software.



As one of the most experienced general managers at Cisco, Richardson's tenure at Cisco spans more than 16 years, including leading the company's Enterprise Line of Business and successively from 1992 to 1999 each theatre sales organization.

http://www.cisco.com

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IPWireless Launches TDtv for Existing 3G Spectrum

IPWireless unveiled its TDtv mobile television solution that would allow mobile operators to leverage existing unpaired 3G spectrum.

TDtv combines IPWireless' commercial UMTS TD-CDMA platform and the newly defined 3GPP Release 6 Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Standard (MBMS. IP Wireless cited several strategic, performance, and economic advantages over alternative mobile TV solutions. These include:

• TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. It allows UMTS operators to fully utilize their existing spectrum and base stations to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services. Several operators in Europe are expected to announce TDtv trials in their 1900MHz unpaired 3G spectrum during the first half of this year. In Japan, IPMobile plans to trial the technology for their services in their recently awarded 2010MHz spectrum. The solution will also be made available to operators in the other frequency bands that IPWireless supports globally, including the 2.5GHz band.



• With TDtv, UMTS operators can deliver up to 50 channels of TV for standard mobile phone screens, or 15 higher quality QVGA channels, all in their existing 5MHz of unpaired 3G spectrum. For operators that have 10MHz of spectrum in any of the bands supported, the solution can deliver twice the number of channels or increase the quality of their service offerings. And unlike current unicast mobile TV services that take additional network bandwidth for every subscriber using the service, TDtv leverages MBMS to allow an infinite number of customers to watch the same channel or use the same network bandwidth. Operators can also deliver digital audio or other IP data cast services to enhance their service offerings.



• TDtv promises better integration with WCDMA systems than other Mobile TV technologies. TDtv architecture is designed to seamlessly integrate with WCDMA on both the network and device side. At the cell site, the very low cost TDtv base stations can be co-sited on existing WCDMA sites without additional regulatory issues. The solution integrates with WCDMA at the core network level resulting in easier billing and other back office integration. By utilizing the Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC) as defined in the 3GPP standard, the two networks can work in unison to deliver services to subscribers.



• On the device side, IPWireless is partnering to integrate TDtv into existing WCDMA devices at very low cost. Initial two-chip TD-CDMA/WCMDA handsets or larger screen devices will be able to reuse much of the WCDMA RF to lower cost and reduce size. Ultimately, TDtv will be integrated into WCDMA chipsets. Because TD-CDMA can reuse many of the existing WCDMA stacks, this adds a very minimal cost to the device.

http://www.ipwireless.com

• IPWireless technology operates in a non line-of-sight environment allowing fast wireless data access indoor, outdoor and in vehicular mobility environments. The system gain (link budget) is typically higher than 2G cellular systems allowing cells to be larger than that of typical cellular / PCS systems, or alternatively similar size with greater building penetration probability. Cell radius will depend upon deployment strategy, but can be as small as a microcell or as large as 29km.



• IPWireless' current product line is optimized for data rate of up to 16 Mbps carrying IP traffic.

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Siemens Selected for Nationwide Wireless Network

Hutchison Telecommunications International selected Siemens to be the supplier for a nationwide turnkey wireless network and managed services in Indonesia. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Hutchison Telecom Indonesia plans a range of nationwide comprehensive and affordable wireless communications services in Indonesia, through a GSM 1800 network with UMTS infrastructure overlaid in key cities.



According to plan, the network shall be expanded in phases with target completion of around 2,000 cell sites in Phase One in the second half of 2006. Under the agreement Siemens will also provide financing as well as network management services for an initial three-year period, which will include network maintenance, performance and capacity management, service management as well as network field services.http://ww.htil.com

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Finland's Vaasa Build Metro Ring with Extreme Networks

Finland's Vaasa Telephone has built a high-speed 10 Gigabit network between the cities of Vaasa and Seinajoki using Extreme Networks' BlackDiamond 10K switches for the network core and Summit switches at the network edge. The network aggregates more than 30,000 combined Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) and DSL connections, carrying broadband traffic for phone calls, Internet connections and video.



Extreme Networks said it was selected by Vaasa for its scalability with 10 Gigabit bandwidth and its redundant EAPS protocol, enabling a highly available ring topology. EAPS provides 50 millisecond failover on network links if fiber is cut or interrupted. Vaasa also benefits from scalable Layer 2 VPNs supported with Extreme Networks' VLAN and VMAN technology. VMANs support the encapsulation of multiple VLANs, more than 4,000 on every switch, to segment network traffic, make network designs more efficient and scale the network more easily.

http://www.extremenetworks.com

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IPWireless Raises New Funding Led by Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel has made an additional $10 million strategic investment in IPWireless, a supplier of TD-CDMA technology. Sprint made its initial investment of $4 million in IPWireless in July 2005.



Sprint Nextel is currently trialing IPWireless' UMTS TD-CDMA technology in the Washington, D.C. area for broadband access for laptops, desktops or PDAs; backhaul for enterprise campus; and a wide array of Wireless Interactive Multimedia Services such as video-streaming, online gaming, document collaboration and video-conferencing.



IPWireless has raised more than $200 million since its founding in 1999, with lead backers including Bay Partners, DCM - Doll Capital Management, Gabriel Venture Partners, GIC Special Investments, J.F. Shea Venture Capital, and Oak Hill Capital Management.
http://www.ipwireless.com

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HelloSoft Receives Funding From Intel Capital

Intel Capital has made an equity investment in HelloSoft, a supplier of signal processing technology and Software Defined Radio (SDR) solutions for VoIP, Wi-Fi, Cellular, and converged markets. Financial terms were not disclosed.



HelloSoft's products are provided as a suite of integrated-offerings that include DSP software, networking software, RTL, complete reference designs and consulting services to customize these solutions to suit customer requirements.



Products that utilize HelloSoft's solutions include next-gen mobile phones, personal digital assistants, IP phones, set-top boxes, game consoles, residential gateways, enterprise and SOHO gateways, WLAN access points, carrier-class media gateways, soft switches, and mobile base stations.



The Intel funding was part of the Series B funding previously announced by HelloSoft.
http://www.hellosoft.com

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Sonus Names Cisco Exec as VP of Engineering

Sonus Networks announced that Chuba Udokwu has joined the company as its new Vice President of Worldwide Engineering. He joins Sonus most recently from Cisco Systems, where he was responsible for managing the design, development and release of the company's MPLS-based software technologies. Prior to joining Cisco, Udokwu led the engineering team at Seranoa Networks (acquired by White Rock Networks). http://www.sonusnet.com

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Strix Announces 802.11j Mesh Products for Japan

Strix Systems announced the availability of 802.11j wireless mesh products for the Japanese market. Strix has introduced support for 802.11j in its multi-radio, multi-channel, multi-RF wireless mesh platform to address the need for a high-performance mesh solution for use throughout Japan, where 802.11a is prohibited. Strix's 802.11j-compliant radios operate at the 4.9 to 5.0 Ghz frequency, providing a high-throughput mesh backhaul replacement. Strix has also announced its global expansion with the opening of its Japan offices, which will provide local support for its growing network of Japanese value-added distributors (VADs) and partners.



Strix also announced the addition of five new Japanese VADs to its network of global partners, including ALP Systems, Network Value Components, PSI Japan, Soliton, and Takabun. Strix currently has a network of over 15 value-added resellers (VARs) in Japan alone. These partnerships have resulted in Strix's first Japanese customer wins with KDDI and the Phoenix Seagaia Resort.



KDDI's Wi-Fi Hot Zone deployment in the shopping malls of Gifu uses Strix's wireless mesh nodes to provide simple, integrated Wi-Fi coverage over a 5,000 meters squared area. The service, which has been available since August 2005, provides Hot Zone Wi-Fi coverage for visitors. The Phoenix Seagaia Resort is using Strix's wireless mesh solutions to deliver triple-play services to its guests throughout the entire property.

http://www.strixsystems.com

Which Mesh Architecture is Best for Delivering VoIP?

For wireless data networks, voice is a "killer app." This article will first look at the four key mesh network performance requirements for real time applications; the three mesh architectural options when deploying wireless voice over IP (wVoIP) over a WiFi mesh network; how a multi-radio, multi-RF architecture positively impacts the capital cost to deploy; and the operating expenses involved to properly operate such networks.

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VideoEgg Raises Funding for Video Publishing

VideoEgg, a start-up based in San Francisco, closed a venture round with August Capital supporting its web-based video publishing solutions. The VideoEgg Publisher, which is expected to launch soon, aims to make it as easy to post videos to the web as it is to post photos. The web-site plug-in software will grab video from a digital camcorder, digital camera, video file, Web cam or mobile phone and then post to a blog or other website. Funding details were not disclosed.
http://www.videoegg.com

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Sony Ericsson Ships 3 million Walkman Phones

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications shipped 16.1 million mobile phones in Q4 2005, up from 13.8 million in the previous quarter. Sales for the quarter were EUR 2.310 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 15%.

The second half of 2005 was particularly strong due to the success of hit model phones in both the imaging and music product categories. Since the first Walkman phone was launched in volume in August, Sony Ericsson has shipped 3 million Walkman branded units.

http://www.SonyEricsson.com

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BroadSoft Reaches Profitability, Reports 2005 Gains

BroadSoft, a provider of VoIP application software, announced that it achieved profitability in 2005, reaching the milestone ahead of its expectations. The company said in 2005 it ounted 6 of the top 10 and 11 of the top 25 global carriers (based on revenue) as customers, with an overall base of more than 150 customers and 1,750,000 lines deployed. The company also noted that it doubled revenues for the year, ending with the eighth consecutive quarter of sequential quarterly revenue growth. During the year, the company grew by more than 50 percent, with the opening of new offices in Australia, China, France, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. http://www.broadsoft.com

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