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Industry News Summary – Android, Windows 7 Phone, Qualcomm and Facetime

October 21, 2010 By Itzhak Wolkowicz Leave a Comment


Is Android “Evil”?
Andreas Constantinou from Vision Mobile tries to give a broader explanation about how “open” Android really is.
Among the flaws mentioned – Rapid development rate of Android versions, leaving no time to phone makers to adapt and the Compatibility Testing Suite (CTS) requirements which does not cover only API but also Hardware and performance testings.
While its true Android has it flaws – Can Google really choose a different path?

One step closer to unified communications?
Apple announced it’s Facetime mac client beta, which is available to download today from Apple.com.
Facetime is the apple protocol powering iPhone 4 video-communications, being based on open standards.
While Facetime might become popular at the future – Apple has yet to enable interoperability with anything other than its own products.

Stream of reviews about the new Windows Phone 7 devices
The general tone toward the new Windows Phone 7 platform is positive. While the expected flaws of a version 1.0 product are there – Microsoft offers unique features like integration to Xbox-Live (Microsoft Social network for its gaming console – the Xbox 360) and Sharepoint integration which might prove useful in the corporate market.

Cisco is rather sure about their network router capabilities
In a campaign for their ASR 9000 they allow costumers to pull RSP units out of the router, remotely via a robotic arm, while watching a video-stream uninterrupted:

MetroPCS Turn on its 4G LTE network in Detroit
MetroPCS, while not being one of the largest carriers in the United States was the first to offer LTE mobile phone – The Samsung Craft.
MetroPCS CEO, Roger D. Linquist, stated the company plans to expand to eastern and western Michigan throughout 2011.

Qualcomm acquires iSkoot Technologies
Qualcomm announced the acquisition of iSkoot – mobile application development company that known for it’s mobile Skype clients , social networking application and mobile internet platform – Kalaida.
Kalaida enables rich mobile internet experience on low-cost devices.

IMTC Annual meeting moved to November 3 !
IMTC Members, Please mark you calendars to join us for the 2010 IMTC Annual meeting on November 3 at the IMTC office in San Ramon, California, from 10:00-12:00 Pacific.  Remote attendance will be provided by both audio and video conferencing.

So what are the Business Tablets out there?
Fierce Voip explains.

To return to IMTC blog, please press here.
About the writer: Itzhak Wolkowicz
Filed Under: Industry News, Technology insight Tagged With: , , , , ,

Events – ITExpo & 6th Annual VoIP Conference and Expo

September 29, 2010 By Itzhak Wolkowicz Leave a Comment

IMTC President Anatoli Levin will participate in panels at two major events in October:

The VoIP conference and Expo is a two-day conference that include technical professionals, Telecom executives and Standards bodies. Anatoli will speak about mobile video communications in his panel – Video Communication on the Go – Realities and  Perspectives:

“Mobile video is rapidly becoming the hottest subject for device manufacturers and service providers. Apple’s FaceTime once again is showing to the world what’s possible for one, and Android is making it possible for many. Are the networks ready for mass proliferation of video communications? What is the role of the Service Providers in this market? Are people ready? Who will get paid? This presentation will answer some of these questions and provide plenty food for thought (and may be even heated discussion).”

Also, among the speakers will be Amir Wolf, an IMTC fellow. His panel is called “Evolution of Mobile Video Streaming“:
“Mobile video streaming made a long a way in last decade.  Starting with what used to be called standard streaming over UDP, through tunneling solutions and recently the trend in http based streaming.  The session will describe the existing solutions for http streaming and the reasons for transition into http. We will also discuss the differences between mobile streaming , online streaming and TV broadcasts.”

If you happen to participate in one of the events and want to meet Anatoli or send him a specific question before the event – Feel free to contact him via Email at alevine@radvision.com.


About the writer: Itzhak Wolkowicz
Filed Under: Events, IMTC News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Can Cisco introduce Telepresence technology to the masses?

September 15, 2010 By Itzhak Wolkowicz 3 Comments

A similar question would be – Can Amazon introduce E-books to the masses?
They are doing it right know – But how?

Amazon Fulfillment Center - A thing of the past?

Amazon kindle is an amazing product, with estimate sales of 1.5 to 3 million units for Q4 2009 and after selling more e-books than hard-covers in July 2010 – It is E-book for the masses.

But is it the Kindle device itself that enabled all of those E- books sales? Amazon won’t tell -
Judging by the popularity of the Kindle iPad-application, it’s probably not. According to analysts the iPad already sold more units than all kindle versions together – and the kindle is on the market for almost 3 years.
If this trend to continue and Amazon’s kindle application will remain so popular on the iPad – The Kindle hardware itself will become less relevant as most kindle users will read their E-books on the iPad.

Kindle Application on the Popular iPad tablet

It might be possible that in order for Amazon to keep it’s superiority in the E-book field they must support the most popular tablet on the market – The iPad. And while not an E-book device it seems to be an adequate reader by itself.
Unlike E-book readers that remains a niche product – iPad or an iPad like device is something many of us will find at out homes and briefcases within a few years.

Cisco doesn’t sell E-books, with the Cius they expect to sell something that is even more of a niche product – Telepresence systems.
As with the Kindle/iPad situation, Cius might kick-start the engine, but I don’t think it will fuel the revolution.
Cius and Kindle are niche products, they do what they do well, but most consumers prefer one thing that does everything – With the iPad, it is possible.
At 499 USD, the lowest cost iPad cost only 10 dollars more than the highest end Kindle DX. The Kindle is still a monochrome E-book reader and not a high-end tablet with high resolution color screen suited for video.

Cisco Cius - HD Video-Conferencing Tablet

Cisco’s Cius can’t really cost much less than a modern tablet, as it hardware should be suited for HD video.

So the question remains – At a similar price point to an all-around multimedia machine, with many applications – Can the Cius really compete?

As Sagee Ben-Zedeff from Radvision said in his blog-post about Cius – Cisco isn’t targeting Apple with this move. But if we look further ahead – Cisco might gain more from going the Amazon way, and enabling iPad users to communicate with its Telepresence platforms.
While it’s true the iPad don’t have a built-in camera, adding one shouldn’t be problematic; it’s quite easy to speculate that as with the iPhone – a front facing camera will be added eventually.

We all understand the importance of Interoperability as in this case, it might help make a niche product a commodity. The ability to phone-call a Telepresence session makes Telepresence useful for meetings that are not only-management level.

The next step, as it seems, just like the kindle service (which is now, more than just Hardware) is not only connect Cius to every other device, but to connect every other device to the Cius ecosystem. If Apple and Cisco will understand the potential video-conferencing interoperability holds for both of them – both will profit.

About the writer: Itzhak Wolkowicz
Filed Under: Industry News, Interoperability, Telepresence Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

IMTC SuperOp! 2010 – Continuing Advancing Interoperability

June 13, 2010 By IMTC 2 Comments

So the time is finally on. Long-planned and even postponed (thanks to the Iceland volcano with the unpronounceable name), IMTC SuperOp! 2010 is taking place in a small town of Jesi, near Ancona in Italy, June 14-18. Big Thank You to our hosts RADVISION Italy, Aethra.Net and Telecom Italia, as well as our sponsors Tandberg, Polycom, Cisco and Vidyo!

What is behind the name “SuperOp”, which sounds both big and cryptic at the same time? SuperOp!, a.k.a. “major interoperability event” is an annual gathering of IMTC member companies, getting together to conduct interoperability testing of IP Multimedia Communications solutions over one big network setting. Our First SuperOp!, took place in 1997, and then continued annually. SuperOp!’s goal is to help engineers to advance the level of interoperability of their companies’ products. Latest and greatest solutions, quite often include simply unreleased [yet] versions of software and hardware, that are tested for interoperability with each other. One can truly look at the SuperOp! as a giant development lab, where experts from the competing (sic!) companies work together to improve their products.

Is SuperOp! still relevant? It seems that interoperability is a key word, coming from every corner of the communications industry. From newly formed alliance, UCIF, which promises to focus on interoperability of unified communications, to the just announced Apple’s iPhone 4, which will provide video communications based on open standards, interoperability is a key topic for the whole industry. And interoperability is the major area where IMTC made the difference from day one – iNow profile and H.323 Forum Certification Program, numerous improvements in mobile video streaming standards and technologies, adapted by 3GPP, 3G-324M interoperability testing plans used by GCF as a foundation for certification program for mobile video telephony, MONA standardization in ITU-T, SIP Parity (video control enhancements over SIP)  definitions which are now making it into IETF, and latest efforts in the GSMA VoLTE and Telepresence multi-streaming and TIP – these are IMTC contributions into making technologies better in the practical hands-on terms.

So what will be happening at the SuperOp! 2010? First of all, there will be a lot of interoperability testing done in all of the Activity Groups – video conferencing using both SIP and H.323 (thanks to the year long hard work of the SIP Parity activity group, SIP-based video communication is becoming a reality), IP video streaming in PSS Activity Group, mobile video conferencing using 3G-324M. Then there will be a traditional SuperConnect – all-participants with all the video conferencing devices, always done on the last day of the event. In addition to this traditional activities, this year IMTC will also conduct Telepresence Workshop, where industry leaders from Cisco, Polycom, Vidyo, AT&T and others will present current state of affairs in the Telepresence Interoperability and lay out the plans to make Telepresence ubiquitously interoperable (audience poll: who thinks it is achievable, raise your hands J). All in all, we are looking at a busy week, a lot of work and a lot of fun! IMTC is open for every company interested in improving interoperability of their products (and enjoying the process at the same time!), so … c’mon over!

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About the writer: IMTC
Filed Under: Interoperability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Technology Behind iPhone 4 FaceTime Protocol – Standards & Apple

June 9, 2010 By Anatoli Levine 34 Comments

Apple announcement of FaceTime, their new video telephony solution, included various standards: H.264, AAC, SIP, STUN, TURN, ICE, RTP, and SRTP. If this is the case, it would offer great start for interoperability, as the very same standards are widely used by the modern video communications solutions by majority of the vendors.

Here’s a short explanation on the role of each standard:

H.264 – one of most prominent video compression standards in use today. Used by every major and minor video communications solution today, from the mobile video to desktop to room system to Telepresence system. Has AVC (advanced video coding) and SVC (scalable video coding) profiles – AVC profile is what is widely used and interoperable today, while SVC profile holds great promise once interoperability will be established. Already used on the iPhone and other i-devices.
AAC – advanced audio coding standard. Widely used today in audio and video communications and has established interoperability. Used by iPhone and other i-devices.
SIP – Session Initiation Protocol – de-facto standard of IP Communications solutions, including both Voice and Video communications. Used by majority of video conferencing vendors, such as Cisco, Tandberg, Polycom, RADVISION and more. Also one of the core standards in 3GPP IMS ( IP Multimedia Subsystems) communications.. Highly interoperable, however, lacking dedicated definitions for IP Video Call Control – IMTC SIP Parity Activity group developed set of best common practices and use cases to improve interoperability of SIP –based video communications.
STUN, TURN and ICE – typically used together to support Firewall and NAT traversal functionality. STUN ( Session Traversal Utilities for NAT) allows to map internal IP addressed behind the NAT to the external IP addresses. TURN (Traversal Using Relay NAT) is used in rare cases where STUN doesn’t provide a solution. ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) is used as an umbrella standard utilizing STUN, TURN, uPnP and others in order to find possible way to transfer the NAT and Firewall.
RTP, which stands for Real-time Transport Protocol, is used in Voice and Video over IP implementations to carry over real-time media and collecting of the statistics, such as jitter and latency, which in turn allows to implement better quality solutions. Today used by absolute majority IP voice and video vendors.
SRTP – Secure RTP, profile for secure RTP communication which supports encryption, message authentication and integrity. Widely used in both IP Video and Voice implementations.

We are looking froward for further implementations of this new technology. Things are getting very interesting in visual communication products.

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More about Facetime:

  • Facetime Technical Analysis on packetstan.com - Part 1(TCP, UDP, AKAMI, STUN, SIP), Part 2 (Sip & Data Streams), Part 3 (Call Connection Initialization).
About the writer: Anatoli Levine
Filed Under: Interoperability, Technology insight Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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