Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Mobile Browser Code Reveals a Cornucopia of Applications

I have been too busy last week to get the true value of this interesting news: Nokia discloses the source code of its S60 browser
As far as I am concerned, I see two reasons for this announce to be worth to be read at least twice:
  • the ongoing trend of releasing Source Code, or freely accessible APIs to the public domain. The most important software companies in the world (wide, web :)) appear to be happy with sharing their valued code with others. For Nokia, there is one simple explanation: by opening their code, the Nokia Developer community can build lots of applications at no cost. Consequently, the consumer user base is attracted by the wide range of software products that have been released.
  • the possibility of integrating VOW-Voice Over Web seems to be quite nearer than expected. With little effort, an application that exploits the sofia-SIP stack capabilities and the pervasive presence of phone numbers in the WWW will surely be a best seller (or at least a best downloader) application. Or, do we have to wait for the S60 version of Tapioca?


Technorati Tags: , ,

Thursday, May 25, 2006

WWW Call Home...

Do you remember ET pleading for a space call home? Well, just call me here via WWW: call me with Abbeyphone just sign in, it's free!




Technorati Tags: , , ,

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

My solution presentation is online



Pervasive VOW for an important media company

This is the solution presentation I held at VON Europe 2006.

The
main theme is "how to put the Voice Over Web", in order to find new
revenue streams, add value to a previously established community,
increase the stickiness of the user base. 

It is split in three parts:

  • the solution in general(the five "W"s of VOW)
  • Kataweb experience: a practical application (our first one)
  • Libero experience: a practical application (with a different approach)
Download it here!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Skype and the free telephony model

I am a bit curious on the last Skype move.
They declared that the price wars are going to settle on free PSTN calls worldwide in the next 10 years. Well, they are pushing the thing a bit, I think. They who must not be named are offering free calls from North America to North America wirelines.


It's like breaking windows with rocks that have been wrapped with a leaflet, which says:

"Your glass has been broken? Call 800-555-GLASS and we'll repair it instantly!"



What really scares me is that low-cost VoIP termination is not reaching the expected results, even for the leading service provider (as long as we consider their huge user share).
I foresee a dark future, where lots of VoIP companies will fail to achieve sufficient business performances, having their workforce, their intelligence, and their creativity devoured by the wildest and the bravest.


Voice communication has been already commoditized by telco incumbents, the true marketing advantage is the nomadic experience: mobile phones are the perfect substitution to wireline, but they are still too much expensive, and they miss the interoperability of a smart terminal.
People want a more coherent experience, where communication can be routed and managed with something bigger than a 16-button pad and 2" display: what about a PC with a web browser?
What if it were a TV?










Technorati Tags:

Sunday, May 21, 2006

OpenErnie is out!

As announced by Thomas Howe during the VON Europe 2006 conference, OpenErnie is out!

Frankly, I consider this as a big leap for VoIP and all the surrounding environment.
I am talking about the big network of technical knowledge and expertise that has been steadily growing, a community that is feeded by the communication issues of the WWW in the present days and the future.
It is a society of skilled engineers, social networking experts, artificial life researchers, psychologists -a society that would need those applications for collaborative working and media content retrieval that constitute their very study matter!


But a bunch of them are just thinking of money. As soon as the marketing issue comes in, we have to consider what is worth, who is going to pay and for what, who is going to make money, who receives some kind of value and who consumes the "thing".
As a consequence of this, all the free reasoning ("free": not as in beer) on the social and technical questions is harnessed by business concerns. Progress can then slow down, unless an open and clever alternative development stream keeps working on it.


That is why I praise the OpenErnie project: I hope you, the reader, will give it the attention and the contribution Ernie needs now.


Technorati Tags: , ,

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Just met Ernie's father

Today I've been introduced to Thomas Howe, the "father" of Ernie, the Open applications Platform.
He is a clever guy, he gave us lots of advices and it is really a pleasure to hear him.
He is a bit too quick-speaking, but I feel confident I'll get some acquaintance during the next meetings :-)

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Real Presence Experience!


Are you still wondering what's all the fuss about presence services?
Our solution is
  • stable
  • carrier grade
  • extensible
  • hot-plug
  • wireless
  • nomadic
  • standard compliant (VelcroTM)
Ok, we are joking. But our Praesentia Presence Enabler is not.
Come and see it at VON Europe, booth #302, Stockholm Intl. Fairs, Stockholm!

Monday, May 15, 2006

The VON Europe Conference, Day 1



Today we started our on-site activity at the VON Europe Conference: I am positively impressed by the greatness of the Stockholm International Fair and the perfect-as-in-Sweden organization of Jeff Pulver and his staff, albeit being full USA-bourne.

What most impressed me, anyway, is our booth: a 6x6 meters area roofed with a mini gothic vault, which resembles a Benedectine abbey. Uhm, has it been done on purpose or it is just... chance? :-)
It is the highest booth building in the expo area, and it can be seen from everywhere.
You can see the Abbey under construction right here on the left.