 Web2.0, IP Basics. Phone Smart |
| Free Internet-Calling Services Join the Cellphone App Market By BOB TEDESCHI Published: January 28, 2009 |
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| For years, software providers have offered ways to make free calls from cellphones, and most of them even work. The problem is putting the software on your phone. It is not that carriers want to make it hard for subscribers to load Skype, Fring and other free-calling apps onto phones, although the networks obviously bristle at the idea of giving their customers a way to make free calls (also known as "voice over Internet protocol" or telephony). The bigger issue is that until recently, carriers have made it painfully hard to load anything onto your phone, whether it is sophisticated software or a simple ring tone. But since Apple buried its spurs in the backside of the industry by creating an application store that actually works — thereby compelling other companies to follow suit — these free-calling applications are almost within the reach of the average smartphone user. Of the many free-calling applications, Fring, a start-up based in Israel, and Skype, the standard-bearer of the free-calling realm, are among the more user-friendly. But even then, the applications are not yet worth the inconvenience unless you plan to make a fair number of international phone calls and can put up with less-than-perfect call quality (or far worse). Here is how it works: It helps to have a device that has Wi-Fi, because the call quality is best when carried over the Internet, not through the carrier's pipes. (Skype offers a version that works with a smartphone's cellular-data connection, but it says it "can't guarantee voice quality" for those.) Once the application is loaded and started, the software typically displays its own keypad. As long as you are in a Wi-Fi hot spot, you can make free calls directly to other members of the particular service — Fring-to-Fring calls, say, or Skype-to-Skype. Or you can call landlines through Skype at cheap rates once you have a prepaid account. Skype and Fring users are assigned ID numbers or names, and when they are used for dialing, the calls go over the service's Internet servers. If a telephone number is used, instead of an ID number, the call is partly routed over phone lines, then to Skype's Internet servers, which hand it off again to a local carrier to connect the call on the other end. That is why users see strange local numbers on their caller ID for incoming calls, rather than the name or number of a friend. |
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| There are a few caveats to the service. Skype first offered this software to Windows Mobile users nearly three years ago. Those users can download it by going to Skype.com and following the "mobile" links. PC users can download the Skype mobile software to a computer, sync their handset with the machine and transfer the application to the phone. Mac users cannot download the software to their computer — they have to use their phone's browser to go to Skype's download site. Depending on the phone, this can be a breeze or maddeningly difficult. I used an LG Incite, and let's just say it was not a breeze. For those without a Windows Mobile phone, Skype recently introduced Skype Lite, which runs on dozens of Nokia and Samsung phones with Symbian software, as well as a few Motorola Razr models. On Skype.com, these users can type in their mobile numbers and Skype will send a message to the phone with a link to download the software. But the real news with Skype Lite is that it also runs on the G1, from T-Mobile, also known as the Google phone, which operates on the Android software platform. If you own the G1, you need only visit the "Market," Android's app store. Click on the Skype application, which is free, and a few seconds later you are ready. The company is also working on an iPhoneapp, but in the meantime, Skype users who have iPhones have another free Internet calling option: Fring. In addition to letting you call other Fring members free, the service also connects you to Skype, which is great if you have a phone that does not work with Skype's mobile app, and you want to use Skype to call landlines or mobile phones on the cheap. A Skype call to someone within the continental United States is about 2 cents a minute. A call to Japan from the United States costs the same. It is worth noting that you can also download Fring to the latest versions of the iPod Touch, turning your iPod into a poor man's iPhone. I left myself a voice mail message using the service, and the audio on the iPod sounded distant and grainy, and was briefly inaudible at times. A far bigger problem was that I couldn't make outbound calls to landlines or other mobile phones using my Skype account on the iPod Touch or the iPhone, despite the fact that the account was fully funded. I sent an e-mail message to Fring's customer support, which promised to reply within 48 hours. Sure enough, the next day I received an e-mail message explaining that the company was aware of the problem and was working to fix it. In the meantime, it suggested merely adding a plus sign to the beginning of the number. It worked. I then switched over to the iPhone for a comparison of how Fring might sound without a headset — and on an actual phone — and the quality was significantly better, especially on a Fring-to-Fring call. The audio was still a bit grainy and the call dropped a few times over a matter of 15 minutes, but I could easily see this as an alternative to expensive international calls. And that is really what is important here. If you are in a long-term relationship with someone overseas, say, or on a work assignment and away from your family, these applications can help give you some semblance of connectivity without killing your budget, and without forcing you to haul around a laptop for free VoIP calls. QUICK CALLS This week, the company began selling its Network Extender, which, for $250, creates a miniature cell site. The device plugs into your broadband Internet connection and creates a signal coverage area of about 5,000 square feet. One drawback: the Network Extender does not offer a high-speed, 3G connection to your phone, so services like the VCast media application will not work. You can now pay a cab fare with a cellphone, thanks to a new application from RideCharge. Register your credit card information with the service and use it to book a cab in about 20 metropolitan areas. In addition to iPhone and BlackBerry apps, the company offers this free service through its Web site (RideCharge.com). RideCharge adds $1.50 to the bill for each ride arranged by the service. Which has more calories: a yogurt with 78 calories in a tablespoon, or one with 43 calories for every 2 ounces? Apples2Oranges, a new iPhone app ($5), will answer these and other pesky questions about consumer goods. Or you can try another service, KGB. Send any question by text message to KGBKGB/542542, and a researcher will answer it by text message, for 50 cents a pop. E-mail: phonesmart@nytimes.com |
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Fring llega al NYT... JG estamos en la jugada !
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
La revolución en Internet no se detiene.
| NOTA: La traducción, al español, del presente artículo fue publicada por el periódico "El País" de la ciudad de Cali, el 27 de Enero del 2009; bajo el encabezado "La revolución de Internet no se detiene- La red está cambiando totalmente el modelo de negocios de la industria electrónica. Ahora lo que cuenta no son los aparatos, sino el contenido que pueden ofrecer a los usuarios" El texto completo en español no fue publicado en el website del periódico por razones de "derechos de traducción". (?????) |
Web2.0, IP Basics. |
| To Connect to the Internet, Just Turn on Your TV By SAUL HANSELL. Published: January 11, 2009 |
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| LAS VEGAS — If there was one overarching theme from the Consumer Electronics Show here last week, it was that absolutely every device in our lives is becoming a computer connected to the Internet.
These developments can be seen as more of the electronics industry's constant quest for something new to tantalize gadget lovers. But there is a darker side, too, for the companies that make the devices. If the most exciting thing about your phone or truck or TV is the Web sites you go to and the software applications you download, then the device itself is less important. That is what happened to the computer industry, with its relentless price pressure and indistinguishable products. It is hardly an attractive business model, even for consumer electronics companies already accustomed to low profit margins. "We are commoditizing new technology," said William Wang, the chief executive of Vizio, which has become the country's third-largest seller of televisions after Samsung and Sony. Now that flat-screen high-definition televisions have become commonplace, he said, "the technology shifts are not that dramatic." Other, more established brands beg to differ, of course. Their screens are thinner and their pictures are brighter, they advertise. So consumers will inevitably be drawn to them, they argue. And they are working on what they hope will be another technology on view at the show, one that makes mere high-definition sets seem passé: Three-dimensional televisions. But the more established brands know the battleground is shifting. Increasingly what will differentiate one TV from another is the software it runs and the Internet services it connects to. Even Nokia, which sells more cellphones than its three nearest competitors, says that much of its future success will come from selling services, ranging from music to maps, that operate on the phones. Another approach is to try to embed computer chips with Internet connections, all of which keep getting cheaper and smaller, into ever more unusual devices. Sony introduced an Internet-connected alarm clock that will wake you up with your favorite music videos and traffic forecasts for your commute. Asustek, the giant Taiwanese electronics company, has developed a touch-screen computer that hangs on a wall. It also has built a PC into a keyboard that lets users surf the Net on their TVs . In the future, according to Jonney Shih, the chairman of Asustek, everything in your house, even your bedroom mirror, will be a computer display. So even as electronics makers struggle with the extremely sluggish economy and the relentless competition, they can look forward to finding ever more shapes and sizes in which to embed their gadgets. |
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| Here are some edited excerpts from interviews with top executives who attended the electronics show. More of these interviews, along with other articles about the electronics show, can be found at nytimes.com/ personaltech. Services via Devices "For a long time, our business was defined as cellphones. Hardware is not enough. We need to have a wider array of services and content. This is a major change for us." Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of Nokia "In the next five years, we are not only going to provide hardware, but content through our devices, in an easy, more convenient way. TV is no longer just TV. TV is interactive TV these days. You will use the same TV and the same remote control, but have completely different functionality." Jong Woo Park, the president of Samsung's digital media business "You ought to expect that to be more and more unified — three screens: TV, phone, PC — one cloud-based experience. Live, essentially projecting through consistently, and appropriately, to the three screens." Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft The Evolving Television "Think of Internet on the TV like the Web browser. One view is that the Web, a browser like Firefox, Chrome or I.E., will be right on the television in the next couple years. Another view is, no, a PC-based Web is just too complex. The second one is the phase that we're in now." Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix "Three-D television. That's really a major, major revolution coming into consumer electronics. That's one area where we are placing our bets". Woo Hyun Paik, chief technical officer and a president of LG Electronics "Over five years, the big concept that changes for a consumer is, 'Gosh, do I have to track whether I have my content on my PC, on my phone, on my TV and how do I move it around?' " Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices business New Computer Shapes "A fraction of what we sell, a much bigger percentage of it, will be lower-priced client form factor. It may have all the functionality of a PC, but maybe it's smaller. Maybe it is just an LCD display with PC functionality in the back, that is sitting on a desk or hanging on a wall." Dirk Meyer, the chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices "To make the whole digital home possible, in the eventual state, every wall becomes a display. The mirror should become a screen. You already watch the mirror." Jonney Shih, the chairman of Asustek Coping With Recession "Customers are spending less, but they are still buying. They are putting off vacations, so they can buy TVs and stay at home. Last year, customers bought $900 and $1,000 laptops. This year they are buying $500, $600, $700 laptops. They are not buying cars, so they've got to buy something." Gilbert Fiorentino, chief Executive of the Technology Products Group at Systemax, parent company of CompUSA and TigerDirect. |
Laura Rauch/European Pressphoto AgencySunday, January 25, 2009
'Gratis' es la palabra de moda en Internet
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