VoIP-Point

Comcast say they have reached a collaborative agreement with Vonage which appears to suggest that while Comcast have their own VoIP offering, they wont be blocking or degrading Vonage’s rival product.

Quite where that leaves other SIP and proprietary VoIP users on Comcast’s network is anybody’s guess.

Comcast also say they haven’t been blocking any rivals VoIP in the past either but accusations have been levelled at them.

Connection quality is critical for Voice over IP applications as you need as much of the data as possible to arrive in a timely manner. ‘Packet loss’ in a VoIP conversation can manifest itself as a degradation of quality in the call followed by the call actually breaking up and finally being dropped altogether when too few packets arrive. Delaying of data at the ISP level can cause issues where the latency of the call makes normal conversation difficult.

Openmoko have launched the Neo Freerunner, it’s first mass-production open-source mobile handset.

Neo Freerunner does not yet have a VoIP application but with it’s built-in WiFi and linux based, open software architecture, it looks like it will only be a matter of time before a SIP compliant application is ported. Telepathy, a framework which allows IM and Voice over IP integration looks like a prime candidate.

The Neo Freerunner is designed with sensitive corporate environements in mind. The lack of camera and the possibility of a full code audit should put minds at ease in the board-room.

Specifications:

Connectivity:

• GSM
• Bluetooth 2.0
• GPRS
• AGPS
• WiFi (in final version)
• USB 1.1 slave and host
• 2.5-mm audio jack

Memory

• 128 MB SDRAM
• 256 MB NAND flash

Display

• 2.8 in. VGA (480×640) TFT

Dimensions

• 120.7mm × 62mm × 18.5mm

The Neo Freerunner is available now in North America, Europe and Asia with a MSRP of $399 US.

Jajah, the phone-voip-phone Voice Over IP service provider has launched a localised service for Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Jajah allows you to call a special number from a normal landline to make a long-distance connection using Voice Over IP. The new localisation of the service in Eastern Europe will provide a call-in number for those countries.

Sipgate, an established SIP Voice Over IP provider has announced a new software product for the Apple iPhone.

iPhone users will now be able to use a SIP application directly when connected to WiFi hotspots to make free or reduced cost calls over the internet.

This brings the iPhone in line with other WiFi enabled smartphone which have SIP functionality directly available.

Sipgate appear to be offering their free iPhone product via their USA, UK and Austrian websites although, if the software is truly SIP compliant, there shouldn’t be any geographic limitations to its use.

AVAD Technologies, a New York based company, is offering ‘hosted’ IP PBX services for businesses.

Hosted IP PBXs mean that the customer has no need to purchase and install potentially costly servers and associated hardware to run their IP PBX. The IP PBX is instead hosted by the service provider (in this case AVAD) who colocate the neccesary hardware, data connectivity and telephone lines in a data center.

An advantage of this approach is that teleworkers can communicate with the PBX at potentially higher data rates than one located behind a normal ADSL or Cable link. Further, having the PBX hosted at a major data center may improve performance features such a latency and throughput for large, distributed organisations.