VoIP

Fring adds support for Nokia E90; Auto-roams between between WiFi and 3G!

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 22:30:00 GMT

Lucky Nokia E90 owners (if it the assembly was ok) will be glad to know that one of the most popular VoIP application for the Symbian platform, fring, now works on your beloved business-centric device. In addition to the latest Communicator, fring team also announced support for other Nokia handsets — including the 3250, 5500 Sport, E50, 6121, 6290, N76, 6120 Classic and the 6110 Navigator.

Following support for more devices, fring team also came out with even better news. The big news is that the new fring version, 3.23, adds auto-roam feature between WiFi and 3G. What this means is that when entering the familiar, previously defined hotspot your phone will auto-connect to WiFi for the next call. Similarly when leaving a hotspot fring will access 3G network on the next call. Finally, when you return to the known WiFi zone, fring will auto-reconnect you again, so you save even more on your future calls.

Source: IntoMobile.com

Sharing your 3G connection: D-Link 3G Mobile Router

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:31:00 GMT

As a regular HSDPA user I sometimes would like to share my mobile broadband connection with my colleagues when we are at work in customer premises. One can set-up its laptop to share the HSDPA connection over Wifi, but you can also use this 3G mobile router by D-link.

D-Link crosses the twilight zone between mobile broadband wireless connections and Wi-Fi with its 3G Mobile Router. Just plug a compatible 3G notebook adapter into this baby's CardBus slot, and suddenly that EV-DO, UMTS or HSDPA network can be shared with any Wi-Fi enabled device.

Lock it up tight with WEP, WPA and WPA2 security, and then you're off and running with your choice of Wi-Fi or four ports of full duplex 10/100 switches. Plus, it works like any other Wi-Fi router if you don't have a wireless broadband card plugged into it.

The D-Link 3G Mobile Router will be available in two different models, one for EV-DO (model DIR-450, available now) and the other (DIR-451, available next month) for UMTS or HSDPA networks. Unfortunately, it's not cheap; $300 takes it home.

Source: gizmodo.com

[Update 30 may 2007] I recently came across an interesting 3G router product by Dovado. Their WRG supports a great variaty of HSDPA cards

Spam over Internet Telephony; Solution by NEC called SEAL

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:15:00 GMT

When preparing for going to 3GSM I saw the announcement of NEC on engadget that they are announcing an anti-SPIT solution. SPIT is in this context “Spam over Internet Telephony". NEC thinks that SPIT could potentially be the next big spam threat, and considering that SPIT combines the disruptive nature of junk phone calls with the ease of distribution of email based spam, it's easy to agree with this assessment.

In order to preempt this threat, NEC has been hard at work on a piece of software called SEAL, which uses the Turing test to detect and then block any computer generated SPIT that it detects. A simulation showed that the SEAL software rejected 99 percent of the SPIT that it encountered: an impressive result, but the 1 percent that slips through could still potentially annoy a lot of people. Just think of how distracting each spam email that slips past your filter is, and then add the context of a ringing phone each time one arrives in your inbox: not cool. NEC hopes to improve the technology going forward, although as the current situation regarding email based spam shows, once the battle between prevention and the SPIT-spammers starts, it's unlikely to end decisively. NEC is showing off its SPIT-repelling SEAL software at the 3GSM World Congress 2007 this February and will continue to develop the solution until it's feasible to release it commercially.

Now I am waiting for the first vendor to introduce software to prevent SPIM; Spam over Instant Messaging. May be vendors should look for more generic solutions since the SPAM problem is on every communication channel we are introducing in the market.

802.11n Wireless Access Point introduced: Next element in Fixed Mobile Convergence

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:10:00 GMT

A lot of telecommunication operators are developing Fixed Mobile Solutions to enable customers to get the best out of their communication devices against the lowest prices. More background information can be found on the website of the Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA). The Alliance has even put out product requirements for the future services.

An important element in the delivery of these service is (besides the handsets) the wireless access point. On Engadget I found an interesting Wifi Access Point from Actiontec. They are kicking out a range-extending router to help you make and receive calls on your mobile handset via WiFi. Touted as a "world's first," the Wireless FMC Router acts a standard four-port 802.11b/g/n router, supports WPA2 / WEP, and comes with a rather robust firewall to keep your conversations guarded from snoopers. Additionally, it facilitates call switching between the mobile and home WiFi networks as users move in and out of the house, giving you the option to connect via your cellular network or over VoIP with the same handset and same number. Aside from acting as a "middleman between the broadband and cellular networks," it can connect / drop from the WiFi / mobile networks on-the-fly while conversing, and can purportedly support "all major carriers" as well. So if you're thinking of consolidating the amount of phone numbers attached to your name, and don't mind picking up a hybrid handset, this multifaceted router will be able to simplify your conversations for $179.99 when it lands in Q2.

My VoIP magic box: Sipura 3000

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:19:00 GMT

Yes, I am (was) VoIP enabled for my home communication needs. In my profession I should always be upfront with applying new technology, but I did not yet take the step to go to VoIP yet. Main reasons (in combination): 1) the reliability of the current commercial VoIP offerings out there and 2) Convenience of my DECT handset.

Now I have bought a SIP ATA to overcome these 2 major drawbacks. The SIP ATA sits in between my DECT handset and my POTS line and DSL modem (from which I connect to my VoIP provider). When, for some reason, the VoIP connection does not work, the SIP ATA immediately switches to classic landline to establish the call.

The choice for the best ATA was cumbersome. After an initial purchase, that I returned, I went for the Sipura 3000. The implementation is very sound, with an interesting option of enabling 4 different SIP accounts and implementing a real dialing plan. The dialing plan is interesting to prevent your girlfriend from dialing mobile numbers via the VoIP connection, since this will cost you big time. ;-)

After some test calls I (and especially my girlfriend) was not convinced of the voice quality, because there was still an annoying echo on the line. I still have to figure this out.

Nokia E65 To Support VoIP, Wi-Fi

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:23:00 GMT

The upcoming Nokia E65 is built with a slider keypad, it is quite a thin slider phone according to the side view photo. Other than the standard numeric keypad and shortcut buttons, there are some phone call function buttons below the LCD screen. mobilmania said the keys are apparently used for VoIP calls so that you can make VoIP calls easily with a dedicated button. The phone use pop-port connector, doesn't sound nice as everyone would prefer a USB connector. It has also integrate the WiFi module, giving you more possibility on making VoIP calls with wireless hotspot.

Specifications:

GSM Quadband / WCDMA 2100 MHz
Size: 106 x 47 x 14 mm
Display: 352 x 416 pixel 16 million color
Memory: 70 MB (52MB for user) internal
microSD card slot
IrDA, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g, GRPS, EDGE, UTMS, CSD HSCSD, POP Port(USB 2.0)
Operating System: symbian series 60
Battery: BL-5F
2 megapixel camera with autofocus

It will be selling at around 340 euro, and you can expect to see it on Q2/Q3 this year.

SOURCE: ringnokia.com via mobilmania.sk

NOTE: So today we have the following phones supporting VoIP over WLAN

Nokia; E60, E61, E65, N80i (all SIP VoIP) and 6136 (UMA)

Samsung: P200 (UMA)

Motorola: A910 (UMA)

[UPDATED: 5 February 2007 with video showing Nokia E65]

New business model for calling 5 favorit friends by T-mobile

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:20:00 GMT

After several scoops, it is finally released, the MyFaves service from T-mobile. More information can be found on the productpage.

This might be a first step of T-mobile towards a Fixed-mobile convergence service based on UMA. This service will first be launched in the Netherlands by Orange based on the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung SGH-P200. The product is refered to as “unique“ and the more information can be found on the following URL.

Estimate of the market developments of mobile VoIP

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 11:54:00 GMT

A very interesting analysis has been made by the research company Analysys on the market of Mobile VoIP. Unfortunely the summary of the analysis is in Dutch and can be found on tweakers.net.

10 ways to improve your VoIP calls

Jurjen Veldhuizen — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 10:28:00 GMT

On Gizmodo the following article/URL was published and highlighted “Improve the QoS of VoIP calls“. I found it rather open doors but it might give some more insight in what factors influence the Quality of Service of your VoIP calls. All these troubles with VoIP, gives me insight that the SS7 protocol and traditional voice networks are very good ;-)