Items Tagged: VOIP

The internet is losing its wires as people are going nuts for more and more handsets enabled with Wi-Fi. Currently Wi-Fi isn’t a very common feature on mobile phones, only being available on the more advanced handsets.
In an increasingly mobile world the introduction of Wi-Fi to mobile handsets is a noteworthy achievement. Mobile technology continues to evolve and do so quite extensively. Over the past decade mobile technology has been going through an amazingly radical phase. Mobile phones are getting equipped with:
•    Touch-screens
•    Cameras
•    Video cameras
•    Music players
•    Much more
One of the most significant of these is the addition of Wi-Fi. There are so many important changes that have been made in the performance, features and the design of handsets. The presence of Wi-Fi is increasing the value of these enabled handsets in the market.
Mobile phones work over the same popular wireless technology that is used for computers, video games, home networks and MP3 players. The Wi-Fi mobile handsets use radio waves in order to offer the high speed internet network, internet without wires. In addition to mobile phones the PDAs are also Wi-Fi enabled and are able to be connected to the internet anytime they’re within WLAN or Wi-Fi range.
PDA users are able to check out their important emails if they’re on the road. Wi-Fi allows for easy video and picture sharing. The Wi-Fi mobile phone has its own network. The Wi-Fi enabled phones allow for a high speed transfer of data. This can be from anywhere but it has to be within the range of a hotspot. The user can exchange data up to 300 foot away from a local WLAN.
The Wi-Fi networks allow for the costs of cables to be cut down through the setup of wireless LAN connections. LAN connections are the perfect outlet where there are places where someone can’t expand or install a network, like historical monuments, outdoor places and so forth.
There’s a difference between the connections of those of Wi-Fi and those of Bluetooth. Bluetooth is very short in range so it only works in small areas like rooms and there’s no data transfer beyond that specific area. Wi-Fi on the other hand can transfer data from a floor of an apartment building to another floor. Bluetooth transfer speeds are quite a bit slower at only 800 kbps while Wi-Fi transfer speeds will give you much faster speeds of up to 54 mbps. Internet without wires is becoming a real reality.

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As we cell phone users look forward to the coming availability of 4G technology in their provider network let’s take a look back at the generations preceding it leading up to the modern cellular standards that we know of today. While the 1G was analog and didn’t even offer something that we couldn’t live without today, text messaging, today’s more advanced 3G and now 4G digital technology offers us features that years ago we wouldn’t have ever imagined.

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Verizon Wireless announced Tuesday, 02/16/10, that it would now start to add internet phone giant Skype’s internet phone application to smartphones.
This announcement could be the beginning of a seismic swing in the industries hardcore position against allowing customers a choice of using rival technologies on their same network.
Additionally it will be a quick switch. Announced at the shared news conference held in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress the process will begin next month. This will open the gates for the 90 million Verizon Wireless customers to be able to download the free voice and videoconferencing Skype software. Though the switch is for 9 smartphones and will include the popular BlackBerry Curve as well as the Motorola Droid.
Through use of the application a Verizon customer would be able to call any Skype subscriber throughout the entire world for free. For any call made to someone that isn’t a Skype subscriber it would then be deducted from the minutes balance. This will come from the voice minutes.
Additionally, the application will include some of the other popular Skype features; such as:
•    Instant messaging
•    Social networking tools
•    Videoconferencing (later release)
In order to take advantage of the software the Verizon customer will need to have both voice and data plan.
The analysts are already weighing in and are saying that with this move it is showing that the wireless industry is starting to recognize more and more that the internet data plans are going to be able to provide them a significant source of revenue with customers increasingly switching to smartphones over standard phones and using them to web surf and download applications.
Wireless companies are recognizing the threat of traditional voice services and will continue to seek to distinguish themselves by offering applications that were originally feared would erode their main business. This couldn’t be made any clearer than that of the deal just made with Verizon and Skype.
Tole Hart, an independent wireless analyst said “Voice dollars are coming down and you are seeing more competition from prepaid minutes use like from Boost. So companies want to be able to show they have additional applications that are most desirable for people to use.”
Originally launched in 2003, Skype now has over 500 million subscribers worldwide. Skype’s end goal is to become the dominant communications platform for the internet. Skype has even been partnering with television makers to start to expand their offerings beyond the pc and with this week’s Verizon Wireless deal they are making another crucial step towards their end goal.
Both Verizon and Skype have recognized this agreement as exclusive and the deal will eventually extend to other parts of the Verizon Communications business even moving into broadband and TV service. The one thing not shared was that of revenue as no financial aspects of the deal were disclosed.
The arrangement is in massive contrast to the multi-year regulatory battles between the companies over the “net neutrality” rules which would prevent carriers from blocking specific internet applications on their network. As the FCC continues to attempt to craft the rules Verizon is at the forefront fighting against what it refers to as overregulation. Skype is one of the most vocal corporate proponents of the rule.
Whatever happens this is a new and exciting time as more and more features are being added to integrate cell phones with internet applications. I for one can’t wait.

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iTokk Communications Click-to-Call Buttons provide an easy-to-use alternative for to listing you phone number or 1-800 number on your website.  Instead, web users can click a button or link, enter their phone number, and iTokk will connect them to you instantly.

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