[GadgetRatty] tag: acquire

CinematographHD case mod conceals monster video editing rig

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:29:00 +0000

Filed under: Desktops

Oh sure, Stealth could've just phoned up NextComputing or ACME in order to acquire a beastly (albeit portable) LCD-infused desktop, but seriously, where's the joviality in that? Instead, this clearly skilled individual decided to concoct a custom rig of his own, complete with two 22-inch LCDs, lots (and lots) of diamond plate and "zero compromises." Dubbed the CinematographHD after a Lumière Brothers device from the 1980s, this massively potent video editing system also packs a Blu-ray drive, inbuilt speakers and a storage compartment for mice, keyboards and copious amounts of BAWLS. Check out the construction video just after the break.

[Thanks, Justin]

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snom m3 review

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:31:14 +0000

The snom m3 SIP wireless (DECT) phone is one of my favorite VoIP phones. I've been testing and reviewing it for a few months but haven't had time to write up the review until now. First, let me point out that the problem with IP-PBXs is they typically give you a desk phone or a softphone with no real mobility options to walk around, which is critical in some vertical markets, such as retail and manufacturing. Even sales professionals want the flexibility to take calls while roaming the office. In the past, I have used analog telephony adapters to connect my cordless phone to my SIP-based IP-PBX, but the cordless phone lacks multiple lines, call transfer, call conference, call waiting, or even a message waiting indication (MWI). Enter the snom m3, a SIP wireless phone that like a home cordless phone which not only gives you mobility while on the phone, but full IP-PBX functionality as well, including call hold, call transfer, message waiting indicator, and more. In fact, while the caller is holding, music-on-hold is available from the IP-PBX, giving the same business professional experience from a desktop phone.

I should mention that there are WiFi SIP phones, but the battery life on these phones isn't great. snom takes advantage of Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), a wireless communication standard which can seamlessly hand off calls as a handset moves between multiple base stations in a large office, but also has superior battery life than WiFi SIP phones. The Lithium Ion battery offers a very good eight hours of talk time and 100 hours of standby. Additionally, DECT devices use the 1.9 GHz band while WiFi uses 2.4Ghz so they don't interfere with one another. DECT also doesn't suffer the microwave oven interference that often plagues WiFi access points.

snom m3 Main Menu

The snom m3 supports up to 8 different SIP identities (registrations) allowing you to connect to separate IP-PBXs (or SIP service providers) or the same IP-PBX to support multiple lines. The m3 is 2" x 5" and less than an inch thick sporting a nice 1.75" color LCD (128x128 pixels and 65,536 colors), 2.5mm headset jack, and a speakerphone. The headset jack is a nice feature that I haven't seen on any cordless DECT phones. The phone also comes with a belt clip so you can easily use the headset for talking while walking. The m3 is surprisingly very lightweight - much lighter than I would have expected. The phone also has volume controls, the basic 12 dialpad keys, five navigation keys, and two function keys. The snom m3 ships with some documentation, but for real technical details, the snom m3 wiki is the place to go.

The m3 communicates with the base station which is connected directly to your network via a standard Ethernet cable. Once connected and booted up, the base station obtains an IP address from the DHCP server. By default (factory setting), snom m3 phones are configured to use HTTP as the transfer protocol for provisioning, but TFTP can also be used. Since I was testing this with an Asterisk-based trixbox system, I changed the gateway to use TFTP. Also, the snom m3 supports Option 66 on the DHCP server to automatically acquire the IP address of the TFTP server. Nice!

The TFTP boot server address can be an IP address, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or an URL. I also created a config file (/tftpboot/m3/settings/0004132A10E4.cfg) on the TFTP server for the snom m3 to download. I was able to get access to the firmware, upload the new firmware to /tftpboot/m3/firmware/ and it automatically downloaded the latest firmware. Even better you can have it set to connect directly with snom's server (http://provisioning.snom.com/m3/firmware/) to download the latest firmware and even set a schedule to automatically grab the latest version.

Features:

Display: 128 x 128 pixels, 65536 colors, backlit
Li-Ion battery pack for 20 hours of calls or 100 hours standby
Range: 50 meters indoors, 100 meters outdoors
12 numerical keys, 5 navigation keys, 2 function keys
Speakerphone on mobile handset
Polyphonic ringtones
Automatic registration of handset
Separate charging cradle for handset
8 handsets per base station
8 SIP registrations with different servers/registrars
Up to 3 concurrent calls per base station
Three-way conference
Remote setup, password protection
Open DECT GAP standard

Since the snom m3 supports multiple handsets, this leads to some interesting multi-handset functionality. For instance, the Telephony Settings on the web interface lets you pick which identity (CallerID) each handset will use when making outbound calls. You can also set which handsets will ring on incoming calls for each SIP registration/phone number. Thus, you can have one SIP registration ring your home office m3 handset, another ring your son/daughter's m3 handset, and another phone number be the shared kitchen m3 phone. In fact, the snom m3 supports three concurrent calls per base station so you can receive 3 simultaneous calls to the handsets.

The snom m3 supports the most common VoIP codecs, including G.711u (PCMU), G.711a (PCMA), G.729ab, and iLBC. G.711 is the standard used by traditional phone systems and it features the best voice quality at the expense of more bandwidth used (80kbs), which isn't ideal for some DSL connections that only sport 256kbs upstream. Fortunately, the snom m3 supports G.729a which only use 8kbps at a slight loss of voice quality. iLBC (Internet Low Bitrate Codec), although not as widely supported, is designed for narrow band speech and supports two bit rates, 15Kbps (20ms frame rate) and 13.3 Kbps(30ms frame rate), though the m3 only supports the 20ms frame rate @15Kbps. iLBC yields slightly better voice quality than G.729a yet also has a higher robustness in dealing with packet loss while using roughly the same amount of bandwidth. It also has a more dynamic range of sound than G.729a. So kudos to snom for including iLBC as a choice.

You can also configure various settings from the phone itself, though it's more tedious. The VoIP settings is protected by a PIN / password which defaults to 0000. From the phone you can configure the timezone and it even supports NTP time servers for accurate time. Additionally, you can add contacts, however adding contacts via the phone is a bit tedious. I wished the web interface let me add them there and then it would push the contacts down to the multiple handsets.

So how's the phone's range? snom claims the phone needs to be within 50 meters indoors or 100 meters outdoors from the base station. I walked around TMC's offices and didn't lose a signal. Then I went outside walked about 250 feet and it was crystal clear. Excellent range I have to say. The voice quality of the earpiece was very good and the remote end said I sounded very good during my test calls. I also tested the speakerphone, and although it wasn't the best voice quality, I didn't expect a fantastic sounding speakerphone on such a small handset. I should mention that you can also perform intercom calls to either a single m3 handset or you can intercom page all handsets. Useful if you are trying to reach someone and don't know where they are located.

Ratings	Score
Installation
Documentation
Features
Usability
Performance
Overall

All in all, the snom m3 is an excellent wireless VoIP phone with excellent battery life, very good range, and very good features. The multiple simultaneous SIP registrations is a huge plus. I wished the base station supported PoE, but it's not a big deal for home users since most home users don't have Power over Ethernet switches. I'll be interested to compare the snom m3 with the new line of Polycom KIRK wireless DECT SIP phones, but for now the snom m3 is my favorite cordless SIP-based VoIP phone!

Price:
You can buy the snom complete set (with base + handset) on Amazon for $172 , and an additional handset on Amazon for $142.

Tags: DECT, review, SIP, snom m3, VoIP, wifi

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Comments on this Entry:

(Michael Graves on Oct 7, 2008 11:32 AM) Tom, Good overview! Have you tried the v1.19 firmware? It has the ability to provision the contact list from a cvs file. It's in beta at present. I'm also interested in comparing the m3 to Polycom's IP200W which appears to be based upon the same reference platform from RTX Telecom. These two will be differentiated by their firmware development, and so may differ significantly.

(Tom Keating on Oct 7, 2008 1:58 PM) Thanks for the feedback. I heard awhile ago that .csv upload support was coming. I haven't tried the 1.19 firmware. Has 1.19 launched (available on their firmware update server) or do I have to pull some strings to get the latest yet-unreleased firmware? ;)

Telecom Italia acquired the Cisco solution and Adobe

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:59:00 +0000

Telecom Italia agreed to acquire content delivery system on the platform of Cisco Internet Streaming (CDS-IS) with streaming Adobe Flash technology to deliver live television and video on demand via the Web-portal Yalp! (www.yalp.it). Platform Cisco CDS-IS and Adobe Flash technology will allow the Italian company to deliver high quality multi-streaming content to spectators who can watch television on mobile and desktop computers, ie virtually integrated services to television and the Internet. Because Cisco CDS-IS supports all major formats for streaming and downloading of data, including Adobe Flash Player, the company Telecom Italia has received a platform capable of delivering any stream to any screen in any format.

Users are increasingly gaining access to content using personal computers, PDAs, mobile phones and other devices. After you install the platform Cisco CDS-IS and the introduction of technology Adobe Flash Telecom Italia subscribers will have seamless online access to constantly connected to interactive video services over the Internet.

Using Cisco CDS operators can offer subscribers multiple services, including streaming intensive Web-services, video on demand, television with a shift in time, videoreklamu, the transfer of custom content and content delivery network services (Content Delivery Network, CDN) a new generation. Cisco CDS-IS supports all common Web-formats. Software Adobe Flash Media Server 3 on the platform CDS provides the user with all the benefits of technology Adobe Flash, including high capacity, fast response to requests from users and a high level of protection for streams, which provides enhanced security of content transmitted by viewers.

Do We Need a Digital Bill of Rights?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:29:49 +0000

TechCrunch, much like the Digital Freedom Campaign, believes we need a Digital Bill of Rights to serve as "a consistent policy governing everything from Internet Protocol regulations to intellectual property on the Web."

The Digital Freedom Campaign focuses on the first three issues laid out in the TechCrunch piece -- "The Right to Use and Reuse Content," "The Right to Control Digital Property On Your Own Device" and "The Right to the Free Flow of Information."

The presidential election gives us a chance to turn the page and move forward, with support and guidance from policymakers, into a bright digital future.

Now let's see if anyone in Washington is listening.

Read more about it at TechCrunch.

And then cast your vote!

Tags: digital bill of rights, techcrunch

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Verizon Buyout of Alltel Still On Track

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:43:21 +0000

Verizon noted today that it is indeed moving forward with plans to acquire Alltel for $28.1 Billion US Dollars. That’s a lot of dough. The deal would make Verizon the largest wireless carrier in the US. A spokesperson for the company has noted that they hope to close this deal before the end of the year. Plans are to keep moving forward on this deal, despite the current financial crisis going on in the US.

A major ratings firm (Fitch Ratings) that evaluates a companies financial strength for world credit markets isn’t so sure of the deal… they noted:

“Considering the size of this deal, it would be surprising that Verizon would enter something with such significant risk that it really threatens to preclude this deal from closing…”

All reports have this deal closing in the near future, but the skeptics are out. We’ll have to see how this goes down.

[Via: Yahoo! News]

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Bandai Ants Life Studio Virtual Ant Farm

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:43:41 +0000

Most of us had ant farms when we were kids. Those were some happy days and we knew how to appreciate those ants we broke our back to get and set up. The bad thing about those ant farms was that ants were hard to acquire (usualy a month by mail) and that the room looked like a gas chamber after you sprayed five canisters of antspray since you tipped over your little ant farm. Well since most things are simplified and made accesable by technology we got this virtual ant farm from generous people of Japan. This virtaul farm can maintained like the real thing. You can feed your ants with sugar, salt, pebbles, worms and fruit to help them excel in their little virtual ant life. If you shake the farm, however, the ants will become dissoirented and confused. All that fun without any possibility of hazzard or the ants escaping makes it really cool. This gadget is available at Audio Cubes.

via gadgetmadness.com

Nokia to Acquire Oz Communications

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:27:47 +0000

Nokia and OZ Communications today announced that Nokia is to acquire OZ, a privately held company with approximately 220 employees and headquartered in Montreal, Canada. OZ, the leading consumer mobile messaging solution provider, delivers access to popular instant messaging and email services on consumer mobile devices.

By acquiring OZ, Nokia will enable easy-to-use, fast access to leading instant messaging and email services, including AOL, Gmail, ICQ, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!. With more than 5.5 million monthly paid users, OZ's solutions have been deployed by leading mobile operators on a wide array of mobile device platforms.

The expertise and technology Nokia acquires through OZ is complementary to Nokia's existing portfolio of messaging solutions and will provide a complete portfolio of mobile messaging solutions for Series 40 and S60 devices. Nokia will continue to work closely with OZ's existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and mobile operator customers.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2008. After the closing, OZ will become part of Nokia's Services & Software operative unit.

Nokia to acquire email and instant messaging provider OZ Communications

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:12:08 +0000

Nokia is about to acquire Montreal, Canada based OZ Communications, a privately held company that delivers access to popular instant messaging and email services on mobile devices.

By acquiring OZ, Nokia will enable easy-to-use, fast access to leading instant messaging and email services, including AOL, Gmail, ICQ, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!. With more than 5.5 million monthly paid users, OZ’s solutions have been deployed by leading mobile operators on a wide array of mobile device platforms.

As part of the deal, Nokia will continue to work with OZ’s existing OEM partners and mobile operator customers. After the deal is sealed (expected time is Q4 2008), OZ will become part of Nokia’s Services & Software operative unit.

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Nokia to acquire leading consumer email and instant messaging provider OZ Communications

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:42:57 +0000

Service enables out-of-the-box access to popular consumer email and IM

Espoo, Finland and Montreal, Canada - Nokia and OZ Communications today announced that Nokia is to acquire OZ, a privately held company with approximately 220 employees and headquartered in Montreal, Canada. OZ, the leading consumer mobile messaging solution provider, delivers access to popular instant messaging and email services on consumer mobile devices.

"With OZ, Nokia is renewing its mission of Connecting People by enabling consumers to easily connect and communicate using their favorite Internet communities," said Niklas Savander, Head of Nokia Services & Software. "OZ's team and technology will help Nokia to address the fast growing consumer messaging market."

By acquiring OZ, Nokia will enable easy-to-use, fast access to leading instant messaging and email services, including AOL®, Gmail, ICQ®, Windows Live(TM) Hotmail, Windows Live(TM) Messenger and Yahoo!®. With more than 5.5 million monthly paid users, OZ's solutions have been deployed by leading mobile operators on a wide array of mobile device platforms.

"OZ has been working closely with Nokia since 2003 - joining forces at this point is a natural extension of our partnership," said Jim Knapik, President and CEO of OZ. "We are excited about taking OZ's solutions to consumers worldwide by leveraging Nokia's devices and distribution scale."

The expertise and technology Nokia acquires through OZ is complementary to Nokia's existing portfolio of messaging solutions and will provide a complete portfolio of mobile messaging solutions for Series 40 and S60 devices. Nokia will continue to work closely with OZ's existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and mobile operator customers.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2008. After the closing, OZ will become part of Nokia's Services & Software operative unit.

About OZ
OZ empowers consumers to stay connected with the most popular messaging and Internet services, including IM, email and online communities, through their mobile phones. Working with the leading mobile operators, handset manufacturers, portals and online communities, OZ delivers innovative and standards-based solutions that provide rich and fully integrated messaging experiences on millions of mobile devices.

Leading companies that are Powered by OZ(TM) include: 3 Scandinavia, Alcatel Lucent, Alltel, AOL®, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, AT&T, Dobson, HTC, ICQ, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Orange France Telecom, Palm, Pantech & Curitel, Rogers Wireless, Samsung, SonyEricsson, Sprint Nextel, TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones, TDC, Telefónica Móviles España, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, Telus Mobility, T-Mobile USA®,T-Mobile International, UTStarcomm, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile USA and Yahoo! ®.

OZ is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with regional offices in the United States, Europe and India. For more information, visit the OZ website at www.oz.com.

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

Motorola Completes Acquisition of AirDefense

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:42:37 +0000

Combination of Industry Leaders Will Make Wireless and Security Synonymous for the All-Wireless Enterprise

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. —Sept. 30, 2008 — Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced the completion of its acquisition of AirDefense, Inc., a leading wireless LAN (WLAN) security provider.

As previously announced on July 28, 2008, Motorola signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held AirDefense, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola integrated into Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business.

“The acquisition of AirDefense by Motorola was the logical next step to a very successful three-year OEM partnership,” said Kathy Paladino, president of Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business. “Together with AirDefense, Motorola will secure enterprise networks with a common platform solution providing superior indoor and outdoor wireless protection for users operating in a variety of settings including corporate headquarters, manufacturing and distribution plants, and remote branch offices.”

Enterprises are increasingly seeking reliable, secure wireless networks from trusted suppliers of mission critical communications. AirDefense, with its patented technology, is the premier provider of wireless intrusion prevention systems (WIPS) that enable corporations to secure their networks against wireless security threats and to comply with regulatory and industry requirements. This acquisition allows Motorola to further complement its assets in RF diagnostics and planning as well as its strengths in RF management.

“We are excited to unite our people, processes and technology with Motorola to ensure secure wireless mobility today and in the future as customers migrate to 802.11n, mesh networking and fixed-mobile convergence,” said Mike Potts, former chief executive officer of AirDefense. “The AirDefense solution has already been successfully delivered, installed and validated with over 800 leading enterprises worldwide, including numerous direct Motorola customers. The Motorola-AirDefense platform will continue to exceed the global needs of the WIPS market allowing our customers to enjoy comprehensive wireless security regardless of their WLAN infrastructure.”

Based upon the success, trust and valued relationship through the years, the combination of Motorola’s WLAN infrastructure and AirDefense’s best-of-breed features will further enhance network security offerings with next-generation, gap-free security for every enterprise user via integrated wireless firewall, AAA, VPN, locationing and industry-best WIPS ensuring FIPS and Common Criteria EAL-4 validated security for PCI, SOX and HIPAA-compliant protection around the clock.
"This transaction is a tremendous opportunity for Motorola to enhance its WLAN portfolio by utilizing AirDefense’s relationships and technology to further integrate WIPS security solutions into our WLAN infrastructure offerings,” said Sujai Hajela, vice president and general manager, Motorola Enterprise Wireless LAN division. “We look forward to deepening our integration to meet our customers’ demand for a secure and reliable all-wireless enterprise at the lowest total cost of ownership while continuing to offer and enhance AirDefense’s vendor-agnostic security and management solutions.”

Enterprise WLAN is part of Motorola’s portfolio of innovative wireless broadband solutions and services that complement and complete IP networks. Delivering IP coverage to virtually all spaces both indoors and outdoors, the portfolio includes fixed broadband, mesh, broadband over powerline, and Enterprise WLAN solutions for private and public networks that, together, truly deliver the wireless enterprise.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications. The company develops technologies, products and services that make mobile experiences possible. Our portfolio includes communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility solutions, digital set-tops, cable modems, mobile devices and Bluetooth accessories. Motorola is committed to delivering next generation communication solutions to people, businesses and governments. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $36.6 billion in 2007. For more information about our company, our people and our innovations, please visit http://www.motorola.com