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An interesting article at the Register claims that a recent uTorrent decision to use UDP for P2P file transfers (instead of TCP) to get around ISP “traffic management” restrictions will cause a meltdown of the Internet. Poppycock you say?

It’s worth pointing out that traditionally P2P sharing apps such as Bittorrent,  use TCP not UDP. So why would UDP cause VoIP apps to fail? Well for one huge reason, TCP allows for congestion control.

First, the article explains:

Gamers, VoIP and video conference users beware. The leading BitTorrent software authors have declared war on you - and any users wanting to wring high performance out of their networks… Upset about Bell Canada’s system for allocating bandwidth fairly among internet users, the developers of the uTorrent P2P application have decided to make the UDP protocol the default transport protocol for file transfers.

The article then adds:

By most estimates, P2P accounts for close to half of internet traffic today. When this traffic is immune to congestion control [i.e. TCP], the remaining half will stumble along at roughly a quarter of the bandwidth it has available today: half the raw bandwidth, used with half efficiency, by 95% of internet users. Oops.

Yikes! Say goodbye to VoIP. No more Skype. No more fring, Gizmo5, Packet8, Vonage, Bandwidth.com SIP trunks, and all the rest of my beloved VoIP applications and services. May you rest in peace my good friends. [sniff] Now I’ll have to change my blog to the “Gadgets Blog”.

Game over man, game over!

Click above to hear this famous audio clip from Alien.

Tags: Bandwidth, Bittorrent, com, fring, Game over man, TCP, UDP, uTorrent, voip, vonage

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Sick and tired of cr**py YouTube video quality? Well, check out kottke.org’s tips on how to enable HQ video on YouTube. It’s not HD quality, but much better than the default.

The specs for the Youtube HQ video is mѤ encoded using H.264 and stereo AAC sound at 480𝘨 resolution.

Also you need to do to link to a high quality video on your blog is simply append &fmt=18 onto the end of the YouTube URL, i.e.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuqiGrWBRqE&fmt=18

And if you want to embed the code on your blog/site you add &ampap=%2526fmt%3D18, i.e.:

<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/MuqiGrWBRqE&amphl=en&ampfs=1 &amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18“></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/MuqiGrWBRqE&amphl=en&ampfs=1&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″&gt;</embed&gt;</object&gt;

Now head on over to Kottke to see the before and after video quality comparisons. Good stuff!

Tags: AAC, H.264, HD, hq video, kottke.org, stereo, video, youtube

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Original post by nafiz

Today, TMC announced the launch of NGN Magazine focused on next generation networks and how service providers and carriers can build these networks and what they will need to know to maximize savings and ARPU (average revenue per user).

“We’re in an interesting time,” says TMC President and Group Publisher, Rich Tehrani. No, he’s not referring to the American political scene or the chaotic American economy. Rich is referring to Next Generation Networks, which Rich believes will be critical to the future of service providers and carriers. Certainly, in these tough economic times, squeezing the most efficiency and most value-add services is critical. Verizon is probably the best example of that. They’ve been investing billions in their fiber-based FiOS service which supports high-speed Internet, voice, and TV/video/HDTV.  They are no doubt also looking to tie in their considerable wireless/cellular network with their FiOS network to offer customers a competitive advantage over competing solutions.

In his video interview with TMCnet Group Managing Editor Erik Linask, Rich discusses NGN Magazine. [click to visit video link]

The topics TMC’s NGN magazine will address, some of which Rich mentions in the video interview:

» How do you deploy new services and applications ?
» What technology should you consider ?
» How do you integrate new technologies with legacy elements?

Erik points out that a lot of publishing companies have been cutting down on staff and even folding print publications. Rich addresses this point by pointing out that 2-3 million executives visit tmcnet.com to read the content digitally. He also discusses how TMC offers digital (PDF) versions of the print magazines which greatly reduces costs. Thousands of people subscribe to the digital PDF format.

While all facets of the economy seem to be slowing down, TMC continues to grow — not only launching a new magazine, but recently adding new telecom/wireless industry talent such as Carl Ford, Scott Kargman, and more. Newspapers may die, print magazines may fold, but good information and news will always be needed. And where there is a need for good information, people will pay for it. Publishing companies which are nimble enough to adjust to the trend towards online news dissemination will survive, while those that can’t will die.

Case in point is the NY Times, which must deliver $400 million to lenders in May of 2009 or face bankruptcy. But if you’re a New York Times fan, don′t worry. I’m sure President-elect Barrack Obama will add them to the $700+ billion bailout. Can′t have the NY Times go bankrupt, can we? Don′t answer that question…

Tags: ARPU, Erik Linask, networks, next generation networks, NGN Magazine, NY Times, Rich Tehrani, service providers, voip

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Cisco Systems unveiled a supercharged router called the ASR 9000, which is capable of moving 6.4 terabytes per second of traffic. The router is aimed at service providers with next-generation networks which plan to run bandwidth heavy services such as video, IPTV, mobile broadband, and more. With the explosion of Youtube videos, and other bandwidth-hungry apps, service providers are looking to stay ahead of the bandwidth demand curve. The ASR 9000 hopes to address that need with the ability to support the future “Zettabyte era”. According to CRN, “The Cisco Aggregation Services Router 9000 Series (ASR 9000) is designed to be the carrier Ethernet foundation for the “Zettabyte era,” said Doug Webster, Cisco’s senior director of service provider marketing. According to Webster, Cisco expects IP traffic to reach half of a Zettabyte by 2012.”

Cisco’s Pankaj Patel, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Service Provider Technology Group called and left me a message stating that their new hardware took four years and a whopping $200 million to develop.

The ASR 9000 router is capable of transmitting data at a rate of 6.4 trillion bits per second, and it has 10 times the bandwidth capacity of Cisco’s ASR 1000 router.

Pankaj Patel also told the San Jones Mercury Times, “We truly believe consumer IP traffic will more than quadruple by 2012,” He said the new router is capable of delivering 200 movies per second or 250,000 MP3s per second.

Price: It’s expected to go for around $80,000.

Tags: ASR 9000, cisco, Cisco Aggregation Services Router, router, Zettabyte

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Copyright VoIP &amp; Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas …? Is that the same for Reno?

Following in the footsteps of Time Warner Cable, Frontier Communications and several UK Internet service providers, AT&T has unveiled a tiered broadband service in Nevada.

According to a Friday filing with the Federal Communication Commission, AT&ampT executives met with the legal adviser to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to discuss “usage-based pricing” as a form of network management.

AT&ampT has hinted that this was coming for the last few months. From the filing:
In particular, AT&T plans to initiate a broadband Internet access usage trial in Reno, Nev., beginning in November. Consistent with AT&T’s belief that consumers should have clear information about the capabilities of their broadband Internet access services and any meaningful limitations on those service, AT&T will be providing written notice to customers involved in the trial explaining that their broadband service will be subject to a certain monthly usage tier for the total amount of data they may send and receive, as well as a per gigabyte charge in the event they exceed the usage tier. 

I thought the Internet was meant to be free …?

Get more at GigaOM.

Tags: AT&amp;T Wireless, FCC, Frontier, tiered broadband, Time Warner Cable

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Original post by nafiz

Hewlett-Packard wants to employ a new tactic to market netbook computers in the U.S., offering them at a steep discount to customers who sign-up for wireless service contracts.

This bundling of cellular service with PCs isn’t done in the U.S., but in Asia and Europe wireless carriers routinely knock hundreds of dollars off the price of a computer if a customer also buys a long-term service contract.

Maybe AT&ampT and Verizon Wireless are interested?

For example, Taiwanese carrier Far EasTone Communications sells the EEE PC from Asustek Computer for $29 with a two-year contract, rather than the usual price of $429.

Hewlett-Packard says the surging interest in netbooks — stripped-down computers that offer basic applications and Web browsing — is driving the move. With the economy fading and lots of high-speed cellphone networks available, the world’s largest computer seller by revenue sees bundling as a way to move more of its computers into customers′ homes.

Yesterday, H-P introduced three new netbooks, including a $399 HP Mini 1000 and a $699 HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition, with flourishes like a “red with peony flower″-colored case.

More at the Wall Street Journal.

Tags: asustek, at&amp;t, eee, far eastone communications, hewlett-packard, hp mini 1000, netbook, verizon wireless

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Copyright VoIP &amp; Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Cellphones

We know, you’re just dying to say this is a complete shock, but we’re here to inform you that it’s not. If you’ll recall, Cox dug deep to snatch up a decent block of spectrum in this year’s 700MHz auction, and it even went so far as to promise a differentiated product that would eventually integrate with its other content and services. Sure enough, it’s keeping its word. After spending $500 million on wireless capacity in its markets, president Pat Esser says it’s time to turn things on. By relying on Cox’s own 3G network (along with Sprint’s, initially), the carrier will offer up an undisclosed amount of handsets that will “include a network address book that automatically synchronizes with home PCs″ and allow remote programming of one’s DVR. Furthermore, users will be able to access e-mail and voicemail that they receive at home right on their mobile, and ideally, subscribers could watch TV shows right on their handsets. Get ready for an awkward new rival in the wireless space beginning, um, anytime now.

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Original post by Darren Murph

A rapidly growing phenomenon in the telecommunications world is the growth of “cord cutters,” people who give up their hardwired landline phones and use only cell phones.

Now one of the leading proponents of that shift, Sprint Nextel, hopes to do for the Internet what it’s doing for telephones.

At a recent ceremony in Baltimore, officials from Sprint Nextel celebrated the official launch of the company’s XOHM WiMAX service by literally cutting a cord — they sliced through some Cat-5 wire with pruning shears to mark the end of the wired Internet.

4G has rapidly gone from a mobility vision to service reality with the launch of XOHM service in Baltimore, the company said.

Although XOHM, Sprint’s 4G business unit, has aggressive plans for nationwide WiMAX, the actual implementation may take some time. 

Approximately 70 percent of the city has coverage, with 180 base stations operating and the target at end of build out is 300.

Long-term, XOHM hopes to roll out enough of its national network to make WiMAX available to as many as 140 million people by the end of 2010. 

More at NewsFactor Network.

Tags: 4g, cord cutters, sprint nextel, wimax, xohm

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Rich posted the official ITEXPO Show Guide, which gives you a preview of what’s happening at next week’s ITEXPO. You can check out the 17MB PDF by clicking the image to the left. In Rich′s blog post, he previews what’s happening at the show and he writes, “All the top names are in the show… Cisco, Avaya, Time Warner Cable, Mitel, Interactive Intelligence and Dialogic. In addition, the most important open-source communications companies will be exhibiting. Digium/Asterisk, Sangoma, Fonality, Pika, Orecx, Xorcom, Redfone, FreeSide and many more.”

He adds, “Every IP PBX vendor who matters will be there. Every SMB VoIP provider… There will also be a great deal of solutions for service providers, call centers and more. The entire communications vendor community will be in attendance.”

I can′t believe the show is less than a week away. Should be a great show! Looking forward to meeting all the major players in VoIP & IP communications, as well as hanging out with fellow bloggers and journalists at Andy Abramson’s renowned Bloggers’ Dinner.

As I previously stated, I plan on using Livecast to stream portions of the show. I should probably test it sometime today on my blog to see how well it works. Come to think of it, I think I will. Stay tuned!

Tags: andy abramson, Digium, fonality, IP communications, ITEXPO, Livecast, Pika, Rich Tehrani, Sangoma, SMB, voip

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: GPS

Believe it or not, the Berlin-based IFA trade show is nearly upon us, and Becker is more than prepared. Reportedly, the Z100 Crocodile will be making the journey, complete with a 4.3-inch display, an SD card slot, European NAVTEQ maps, a SiRFstarIII GPS receiver and RDS-TMC support. Furthermore, the unit will sport an ultra-rugged exterior meant to handle nearly any jungle excursion you set out on. Expect to hear more (a price and release date would be just fine, Becker) when IFA commences late next month.

[Via NaviGadget]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Believe it or not, JATY is far from being the first gadget maker to think of stuffing a breathalyzer into something completely unrelated (like a wristwatch), but this do-it-all navigator really has included everything save for the kitchen sink (and an N64 emulator, but you get the point). Specs wise, you’re looking at a 7-inch touchscreen, 533MHz CPU, WinCE 5.0, 64MB of NAND Flash / SDRAM, an SD expansion slot, built-in GPS / T-DMB receivers, USB connectivity, integrated speakers and support for MP3, WMV, OGG, Aʡ, MPEˇ/2/4, DivX, XviD, AVI and JPG formats (just to name a few). Chances are you’ll never see this on US soil, so you’re looking at a flight to Seoul in addition to ₩296,000 ($294) in order to procure one.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen anything fresh from FineDigital, but the firm has just introduced the slim and seductive FineDrive X700 over in South Korea. Humorously, the company is asserting that this particular unit is the first of its kind to offer voice recognition, but even a light amount of research would help it understand such a statement is far from being true. Nevertheless, the unit does look to offer a spacious screen and a bundled remote, but details beyond that are unfortunately absent.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

We aren′t suggesting that these problems are widespread or anything, but a fair number of users over at AVIC411 seem to be having all sorts of issues with their (admittedly pricey) F-Series navigators. According to owners, the issues range from complete lock-ups to distorted voice commands to quirky iPod interactions — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Have any of you taken the plunge only to find a litany of problems after installation? Or is your unit humming along just fine? Chime in below and let us know what’s up.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

As if the iPhone 3G launch could really have any more misinformation floating around, we’ve got yet another tidbit that needs clarification. Shortly after Apple’s second iPhone was announced, out flew a report from Reuters suggesting that TomTom already had iPhone navigation software ready to go. French site Mac Generation was able to get ahold of TomTom spokesperson Yann Lafargue, and here’s the gist of what he had to say. First off, the aforementioned Reuters statement was said to be inaccurate, though he did affirm that an iPhone version of the software was running in the labs and working “pretty well.” Unfortunately, the question of “will you guys ship this for the iPhone?” was answered with a “We don′t know” style response, but he did clarify that the questionable SDK verbiage we saw wasn’t an obstacle at all. Check out the full interview in the read link below — hope you′re fluent in French and / or machine translation!

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

That sound you hear is the not-yet-released n&uuml;vifone trembling in fear, as TomTom has just announced that an iPhone-ready version of its famed navigation software is practically ready to rock ‘n roll. More specifically, a TomTom spokesman was quoted as saying that its “navigation system runs on the iPhone already,” and he made the statement hot on the heels of the iPhone 3G announcement. Sadly, he wouldn’t disclose an estimated release date for the software, but it’s safe to say that the TomTom touch could make Apple’s darling a formidable n&uuml;vifone opponent.

[Via GPSReview]

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Original post by Darren Murph