May 05 A Look at What is New With Free Voice Over IP Providers
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Tips, Software, Pocket PC, Linux,

What you should know before signing up with a voice over IP provider. The information provided in this article is geared toward people who operate a Linux operating system and are interested in converting their Pocket PC into a free Voice Over IP Phone. At the end of this article you will see a comparison chart, which will show the following:

* What operating system/platform do you need? Will you be running a Linux, Macintosh, Pocket PC or Windows Microsoft operating system?
* What is the pricing structure?
* Will you be able to make calls from your computer to a real landline phone?
* The ability to use videoconferencing or not
* Where can you buy it?
* How is the sound quality?

I trolled the Internet for something new, interesting, unusual and perhaps something you’ve never heard about in the Voice Over IP or digital telephone markets. Before going further, I would like to define the following important industry terms:

* What is Voice Over IP?
* What does the term server-side mean?
* What does the term client-side mean?

In a recent article, Peter Wolchak of Backbone Business Technology Lifestyle, interviewed Mario Belanger, president of Avaya Canada to get his perspective on the Voice Over IP market. Mario Belanger said, "Over the next five years, we expect the Canadian telecom market will shift offering fully converged IP telephoning solutions. Globally, there are approximately 400 million business lines and only about 18 million to 20 million are IP based business phone lines, which works out to 5% of the market. We're seeing a dramatic growth in IP telephony we think it will continue over the next five years. Our goal over the next five years is for Avaya's communications solutions to become designed into the offerings from the Canadian service providers. For example, customers will be able to call their service providers in Avaya solutions designed to fit their needs. This is likely not going to happen within five years, but is a longer-term goal." Mario Belanger also shared that the new features such as: meet me conferencing and unified messaging will put Voice Over IP in a competitive advantage over traditional long-distance services.

What is voice over IP?

Simply put, Voice Over IP is the ability to make a telephone call from your computer. The call on the Internet that you make from your computer, Pocket PC, tablet PC or laptop is turned into a voice signal, which is patched into your callers’ regional telephone network. Voice Over IP, digital telephony or Internet telephony is a technology that brings both Internet and the phone together. Internet telephony is an exchange of voice data over a network. Your local telephone company has a dedicated network to transmit voice data. However, with Internet telephony, the voice data streams over a general network, which in this case is the Internet.

Here is what you need to make calls on your computer or Pocket PC:

Plug your landline phone into a broadband Internet router
* Plug the broadband router to your electrical outlet for power
* Connect a cable from your Internet ADSL or cable modem to the broadband router/Voice Over IP phone adapter unit
* Connect a cable from the voice over IP broadband router / phone adapter to a router or hub switch
* Connect your desktop computer, Pocket PC or laptop to a router / hub switch

If you do not understand this information, please click on this link:http://www.broadvoice.com/support_install_SPA2100-bv.html where you'll be directed to a diagram, that visually explains what you need to do to make calls on your computer or Pocket PC.

As a business user, it's important to take into account that there are problems in using this inexpensive technology to make long-distance calls from your computer. Please keep these in mind:

* When making an outgoing long-distance call, you may or may not connect. Voice Over IP is still in its infancy in development.
* If you're using a 56K modem as your Internet connection speed, your voice will have a delay in the connection. You can remedy that by subscribing to a broadband cable Internet service provider.
* Before calling your local telephone company to disconnect your landline, the Voice Over IP technology has a lot of catching up to do.
* What if you need to make an emergency call and call 911? You're not guaranteed 100% that you Voice Over IP call will go through. In my previous article Voice Over IP Comparison, which you'll find by clicking on this link: http://www.symbianone.com/content/view/2123/31/ I discussed how there are full-service Voice Over IP providers, that will allow you to make 911 calls. Both Vonage and Net2phone have this service.
* Another problem with digital telephony is that there is not an E.164 standard like the ones set up to assign cell phone or landline phone numbers.

Eavesdropping On An Internet Telephone Call

Since Voice Over IP is still a developing technology, it's really easy for even a high school student to hack into your system to spy on your Internet telephony conversation. Encryption is not available on Voice Over IP. I wouldn't advise you to throw your Mickey Mouse telephone away just yet!

What Does the Term Server-Side Mean?

The server-side in the Voice Over IP equation would be the Internet telephony service provider. You need to sign up with a Voice Over IP provider if you want to make Internet telephone calls. There are full-service telecommunication firms such as : SIP phone, SIP Broker, Vonage, lingo, AOL, Total Talk, Verizon Comcast, Shaw cable, and Baby Tel, which are Voice Over IP service providers. These providers offer web-based Voice Over IP service for a monthly subscription fee. Some digital telephony providers are free such as: Skype and X-lite Counterpart Solutions Inc. Watch how Skype lets you make Voice Over IP calls to a conventional landline. In this case, you'll only be able to make PC to PC calls. Forget about ordering pizza or Chinese food on a Friday night if you are Skype user.

Pocket PC Voice Over IP - A Surprising Feature

Pocket PC owners, you'll be glad to know there is a company called Counter Path Solutions Inc. who will sell you a single user license for your Pocket PC for only $29.95 USD. It's called a Pocket PC 2.2 Sip SOFT Phone. Best of all, you can make videoconferencing calls if you upgrade to the next level. When you save money by using your Pocket PC to make free long distance calls, it’s like crispy, salty beer nuts - it's addictive! Once you start, you can't stop. To find out how you can use your Pocket PC as an Internet phone, please click on this link: http://www.xten.com/index.php?menu=Products&smenu=PPC. Best of all, you don't even need a headset to make or receive calls using the Pocket PC 2.2 Sip SOFT Phone application.

What Does the Term Client-Side Mean?

There are generally three types of standards or protocols in a typical Voice Over IP solution.

• 1) H.323
• 2) SIP or Session Initiation Protocol
• 3) There are also third-party proprietary protocols used by: Skype, SCCP, CISCO.

What's the difference between the session initiation protocol and the rest of the different standards? SIP stores the VoIP customer's IP address in their own package. This can be a problem when your Linux, Macintosh or Microsoft Windows operating system is behind a firewall.

Both Gnome Meeting and Microsoft NetMeeting use the H.323 protocol. Apple's iChat, SIP phone and Microsoft Messanger use the Session Initiation Protocol(SIP).

Hardware for you - The Client

If you want to have the highest possible sound quality, consider these two options:

1) Purchase a TALKPro USB 100 parrot translator from VXI Corporation for only $129.00 USD. You can call them toll free at (800)742-8588. Their Corporate website is: vxicorp.com. Hours of operation are from 8AM to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Some of the features I really enjoy on this Macintosh certified headset include: volume dial control, the mute on and off button, the quick disconnect switch, Echo reduction, noise canceling technology ensuring higher speech recognition accuracy. Once you start using the VXI talk Pro headset, you'll never consider any other brand name. If you are also a Macintosh user, you'll be glad to know that these headsets are compatible with Macintosh laptops and computers. If you would like to read a recent press release on the talk Pro USB 100, please click on this link:http://www.vxicorp.com/about/Press/2006/2006-04-04.asp. In addition to the noise canceling technology, you'll also appreciate the very high call quality coming through on your TALKPro USB 100 parrot headset. This product comes with a two-year unconditional warranty.

2) In addition to considering your network architecture, look at how much available bandwidth you can access. I tested a Voice Over IP call using a slow dial-up 506K modem. The call was not even, there were dead gaps where I couldn't hear anything from the other caller. The static and connection was really poor and inconsistent. I tested another call using my Talk Pro USB 100 headset from VXI. This time using a high-speed broadband cable connection provided by Shaw cable, the call had clarity, there were no echo sounds, and I could hear the person very clearly through out the duration of the call. I was really impressed. I run a Linux operating system and installed Gnome Meeting on my computer and have found this to the best option.

If you want a use your Pocket PC as a Voice Over IP phone, your best bet is a Pocket PC 2.2 SIP phone from www.xten.net. Here is a comparison chart of four applications, which I tested. Comparison Chart.

	Gnome Meeting	Kphone	Skype	X-Lite
Licence	Open Source / GPL	Open Source / GPL	Proprietary free ware	Proprietary free ware
Operating System	Linux	Linux	Linux, MS windows, Mac	Pocket PC, Linux, MS windows, Mac
Make Calls from your computer to a real phone	Yes	No	No	No. But Pro-version. Possible
3 way calling	Yes	no	no	No. only in Pro-version
Sound quality	Very good, consistent	Good enough for me since I use Broadband connection	Good, sometimes choppy & flaky	The sound was good in both directions, sometimes on a subsequent call, there was static in the speech
Requires Headphones to work	yes	Yes	Yes	No
Protocol	H.323, SIP	SIP	Has their own proprietary Protocol	SIP
Where to buy it?	Gnome Meeting	Kphone Website	Skype Website	Buy it from the Xten Website

You are not bound by a fixed location. Like the old adage, have phone will travel; only now it's the broadband router and phone adapter that travels with you. Simply pack the adapter in your suitcase and at your new destination just plug it into a broadband connection. Say hi to your friends and neighbors back home just by using one of the Voice Over IP providers recommended above. Source: The Linux Journal issue 145.

Source: Rene Tse.

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Dec 09 A new slider from T-Mobile and Samsung called T809
Published by root in:Mobile News,

"Pulled back the curtain on the highly anticipated t809, revealing an amazingly fashionable and ultra-slim phone packed with a vibrant screen, numerous music and multimedia features and Bluetooth(R) wireless technology. Available in time for holiday shoppers exclusively through T-Mobile on Monday, December 12, the slender black-shelled phone is thin enough to fit into consumers' pockets, but the phone's rich multimedia capabilities will ensure it doesn't stay hidden away for long. The t809's sleek, flat design and large, full-color screen creates a striking first impression, resembling the look and feel of high-end plasma televisions. The elegant slider phone features an MP3 and video player supported by external stereo speakers that deliver a rich sound." We are all looking forward to get one of those in hands so we can do some more detailed review ... coming via [PRnewsWire]
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Dec 03 A701 Pocket PC phone coming to Europe first quarter of 2006
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Devices, Mio, Pocket PC,

British online tabloid The Register was 2 times wrong about this phone: firstly they wrote Mio will next week preview the A701, its first GPS-enabled Windows Mobile-based smart phone and it has not (!) happened. Now they write, that The A701 is scheduled to ship mid-December but our sources directly (!) at Mio Technology (division of Mitac) have denied it, saying that it will be released in first quarter of next year.

Clearly all the claims of The Register about exclusivity are false because actually we also published information about A701 Pocket PC phone - that we received directly from Mitac. Furthermore claims about release date are also apparently false if even Mitac staff is denying them. We have impression that all these exclusivity claims are fabricated by The Register - just to pretend that they have exclusive information and to attract visitors.

One is for sure: they were wrong first time and now Mitac staff says that they are also wrong. If A701 indeed will not be available commercially "mid-December" 2005 then we all will have final confirmation of how unreliable source of information The Register really is. Since The Register was in past bashing Microsoft's efforts in mobile phone industry, now one can see that all these writings were not quite correct.

Some highlights about A701 Pocket PC phone:

* it will have slightly different specifications than A700 (Chinese version that is already on sale in Asia) but these differences are not yet officially announced or known
* built-in GPS
* built-in Bluetooth (but no Wi-Fi)
* GSM/GPRS support (but no EDGE or UMTS)
* fast processor: 520 MHz

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Jul 18 Absolutist released BlockBuster game for WM Smartphones
Published by Baksanir in:Smartphone, Games,

Mobile software developers Absolutist has just released their latest game for Windows Mobile powered Smartphone, BlockBuster. It is as they say intellectual game featuring addictive arcade gameplay and amazing interface.

BlockBuster is a amazing arcade game with relaxed game-playing mode. The main goal of the game is very simple, you just need to remove color squares from the board, but as soon as you start playing, you realize that you need to struggle for victory. Three skill levels, original interface and amazing skins make your game more addictive than ever.

BlockBuster Features:

* three skill levels with increasing difficulty, something for everyone
* save your best results, and take part in the top players contest on the Web
* free technical support by e-mail
* upgrade to new versions is free

More information about BlockBuster can be found here.

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Jul 03 Absolutist releases ButterFlight and Bubble Snooker PPC games
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Games, Pocket PC,

Mobile software developers Absolutist has just released version 1.22 of Bubble Snooker and their latest game ButterFlight.

Updated Bubble Snooker is a game that combines the best features of Bubble Shooter, Pool, and Arcanoid. Your task is to remove the balls from the pool-table by shooting at them with the balls of definite color and combining together 3 or more balls of the same color. If the shot was unsuccessful, additional balls appear on the hexagonal net following the rules of John Conway's Game of Life. The balls that do not have neighboring balls (single balls) are removed from the table. When all the balls are removed you go to the next level.


The winning strategy is to play from the cusions not letting the balls fill in the whole table. Try to remove at least one color from the very first shots. Do your best to make the winning combination (2 or more balls of a definite colors together) for all colors be available at all times. Good luck!


ButterFlight is fresh updated Butterflies game for puzzle lovers. Your task is to collect as many butterflies as you can. You can click and rotate, trying to bring the butterflies of the same colour together. They will fly away, freeing the place for new butterflies. White butterfly matches the butterfly of any color. Different game modes will suit everyone. You can play Pairs, Twins, Quads and Trios game modes. In Pairs and Twins you can interchange 2 neighboring butterflies, you should collect a straight line of three or more similar butterflies, to make them fly. In Quads and Trios you can rotate groups of four and three butterflies respectively.


In the registered game you will have: nice and handy gameplay different game-modes four skill levels with increasing difficulty, something for everyone free technical support by e-mail.

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Nov 06 Access advanced configurations for Windows Mobile
Published by root in:Pocket PC, Software, Freeware, Windows Mobile, WM6,

Ever wanted to tweak your Pocket PC completely ? Well it's now possible with the Advanced Configuration Tools by schaps member of the XDA-Developers forums. The application has been recently updated to version 1.1 and now it features:


- Appearance tweaks
- Performance tweaks
- Phone tweaks
- Connections tweaks
- Bluetooth & A2DP tweaks
- Internet Explorer customization
- Comm Manager customization
- ClearType tuning
- SoftKeys changing
- Keyboard layout changing
- File associations editing
- Misc. tweaks
- Useful shortcuts for hardware & software keys


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Nov 16 ACCESS Finalizes PalmSource Acquisition
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Mobile News,

Tokyo-based software firm ACCESS today completed its acquisition of Palm platform developer PalmSource. Consequently, PalmSource is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese vendor and will no longer be a separate publicly traded company.

The total transaction cost is $324.3 million. As a result of the acquisition, each outstanding share of PalmSource common stock has been converted automatically into the right to receive $18.50 in cash.

More than 39 million mobile phones, handhelds, and other mobile devices run PalmSource software. ACCESS's NetFront browser technology delivers full Internet browsing and related services to mobile devices and consumer electronics ranging from digital televisions to automobile telematics to smartphones and PDAs.

PalmSource split with parent company Palm, Inc. (which then changed its name to palmOne) back in October 2003. Earlier this year, PalmOne changed its name back to Palm after buying full rights to it from PalmSource for $30 million.

PalmSource's CEO, David Nagel, stepped down in May. ACCESS announced its accepted proposal in September, but not without controversy.

A month later, reports surfaced that Motorola had its eye on PalmSource as well (Palm did too, even). In fact, the electronics giant asserted it had closed the deal on September 7th for $17.25 per share, a couple of days before ACCESS announced its $18.50 per share buyout.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Motorola is suing PalmSource for $8.7 million in damages. An amount, it told a judge at Delaware Chancery Court, previously agreed upon as compensation or a breakup fee should its deal with the Palm platform vendor fall through.

Court papers stated "PalmSource was obligated to pay Motorola the termination fee of $8,697,595 on or before Sept. 16, 2005.'' It didn't, hence Motorola's lawsuit.

ACCESS Likes Linux
PalmSource's new parent company says it is committed to its subsidiary's plans to release a Linux version of the Palm OS next year. That commitment was highlighted yesterday when PalmSource announced its founding membership in the new Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum.

LiPS is an a consortium companies who's goal is to accelerate the adoption of Linux in fixed, mobile and converged devices by standardizing Linux-based services and APIs that most directly influence the development, deployment and interoperability of applications and user-level services. It wants to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Symbian.
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Feb 20 Access online newsgroups with Qmail
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Mobile News,

The free Qmail is a really nice multi-purpose application. It's almost as powerful as the desktop Outlook application and far more powerful than any other mailer clients on the Pocket PC.

With its unified interface you have not only support for three entirely different protocols in the same application, but once you learn how to set up/configure an account to access RSS feed, you'll have a much easier time at setting up your mailing accounts and NNTP newsgroup access because of the same framework and the same or similar settings dialog.

The similarities don't end at the GUI level, however. The file system stores mails, news messages and RSS feed messages in exactly the same way, giving you total freedom in managing these accounts and messages – for example, backing them up to your desktop PC, copying them to another Pocket PC. You just can't do the same with the built-in Messaging applications unless you really know what you're doing, on the WindowsCE system database level.

Source pocketpcmag's blog

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Jan 26 ACCESS rebrands Palm OS to Garnet OS
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Mobile News, Palm, Garnet,

ACCESS CO., LTD., has revealed the new ACCESS Powered logo and announced it is renaming Palm OS to Garnet OS. The new ACCESS Powered logo replaces the Palm Powered logo and is now used with products from both ACCESS and PalmSource, Inc. (now known as ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc.).

Back in October 2006 ACCESS announced that its subsidiary PalmSource, Inc. had begun the process of changing its name to ACCESS. As part of that process, along with its previously announced agreement with Palm, Inc., to sell PalmSource’s rights in the Palm Trademark Holding Company to Palm, ACCESS is renaming all products that originally had Palm-based names. The first product to be renamed is Palm OS, which is now known as Garnet OS.

ACCESS customers may include the ACCESS Powered logo on their ACCESS compatible devices, either on the hardware itself, or on splash screens. The logo may also be included on customers’ packaging, marketing and sales collateral, tradeshow exhibits and other promotional items.

The Garnet OS supports a range of screen resolutions and expanded support for wireless connections including Bluetooth. It also includes multimedia capabilities, a suite of security options, and support for a broad set of languages. Garnet OS also offers flexibility for licensees to customize the software to build devices for different market segments such as phone, multimedia, educational or enterprise.

Garnet OS is delivered to licensees as part of the Product Development Kit (PDK). A Software Development Kit (SDK), that allows third party developers to create applications or test their compatibility with Garnet OS, is also available on the ACCESS Developer Network website.

In addition to Garnet OS, ACCESS is developing its next-generation platform for mobile phones and converged devices, called ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP). This is a fully integrated, commercial grade Linux-based platform for mobile phones and devices. The ACCESS Linux Platform will include a Garnet OS compatibility layer, currently known as GHost (Garnet Host)

ACCESS says that most properly written 68K Garnet OS applications will run on ACCESS Linux Platform-based devices with little or no modification.

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Mar 21 Access your PC multimedia from anywhere with Mobile Media Center
Published by Vesselin Nerdeff in:Freeware, Mobile News, Multimedia,

Moblie Media Center is great new freeware i have spotted on coolsmartphone.com, that allows you to access you computer wherever you are located.

Moblie Media Center is much more than great, because it allows you to throw an eye, check, download, stream or whatever you want to do from a distance by your pocket device securely. You can even to watch TV when a TV-card is connected to the PC! Mobile Media Center must be installed on your PC, then you configure your personal settings, that should value to options such as speed or streaming quality, ports, etc. This cool utility is the perfect companion if you are looking for way to stream some music from your home, or just listen any audio file data, that you need at any moment.

Moblie Media Center is currently released in v2.01 and is available for free download here.

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