Since mobile search still sux, is it time for cellphone content "decks" to die?First of all, the briefest of primers to let all of you know what I'm talking about.Most cell carriers, including mine (AT&T Mobility) offer subject-oriented content decks that offer links to stories and services from favored content partners.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Mobility
Google on Markey net neutrality bill:let's stop the "gatekeepers"Without mentioning Comcast's broadband Internet throttling by name, Google's Public Policy analyst and blogger Derek Slater has just made a post resoundingly in favor of the net neutrality legislation introduced this week by Congressmen Ed Markey and Chip Pickering:Today, Rep. Ed Markey and Chip Pickering introduced bipartisan legislation to help preserve Internet freedom and explicitly make "net neutrality" a guiding principle of U.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Google
VoIPing this Valentine's Day? How did your call go? Tell us your storiesNot everyone is with the one they love on Valentine's Day.Maybe the one you love is on a business trip, on a faith-centered mission, off at graduate school, in Iraq or Afghanistan.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Mobile Carriers
Flippin' off Microsoft: Patent app describes fingerflip-powered document navigationA newly published and quite intriguing Patent application from Microsoft describes technology for hand-activating page turning of Microsoft documents.Here's how this would work.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Mobility
Newly downloadable Skype for Linux 2.0.0.43 beta has 68 bugfixesSkype for Linux 2.0.0.43 beta is now available for download.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Linux
New Skype for Mac available for download: here are the 38 bugfixesSkype's now updated Skype for Mac with version 2.7.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Apple
Comcast, other cable IP phone providers complain to FCC over Verizon's "retention marketing" tacticsCable television broadband Internet access and VoIP providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have filed a complaint with the FCC against Verizon.The complaint alleges that Verizon takes improper "retention marketing" steps to retain customers that have committed to try VoIP services offered by the three cable companies filing the dispute.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Mobile Carriers
Vonage's immediate future: debt re-fi, more patent trollsOur own Larry Dignan has been looking at Vonage's year-end financial report, and points out Vonage's debt issues.Noting Vonage's patent infringement settlement payments for more than $200 million for the year, Larry notes that:To wit: Vonage had $190 million in cash, marketable securities and restricted cash as of Dec.February 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Enterprise Software
16GB iPhone upgrade for existing customers a convoluted mess - for nowOne of the Boy Geinus Report's most credible sources (and they have quite a few) has information that Apple and AT&T will not force purchasers of the new 16GB iPhone to sign a new contract.The policy is not so simple, though.February 13, 2008 by Russell Shaw in iPhone
Why so few Skype WiMAX phones? Here's the answerBrian Dolan of Fierce Wireless notes that Skype's gm of mobile and hardware devices Gareth O'Loughlin, is wondering just where all the Skype-compatible WiMAX devices are at this year's Mobile World Congress closing out today in Barcelona.Brian makes the point that this lack of Skype WiMax isn't due to the tried-and-true reasoning that carriers view alternative channels to cell as cannibalistic to their traditional business models and reflexively defend these business models.February 13, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Social Media
You can read the full text of Comcast-FCC "packet throttling" filing hereAppetite whetted?All it will take for you to read the entire Comcast-FCC document is to click here.February 13, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Government: US
Comcast fesses to FCC: yeah we have right to, and we do, mess with some P2P packetsIn a filing with the FCC yesterday, Comcast admits it messes with certain "P2P protocols."Plain English: When Comcast subscribers are exchanging large files- Comcast sees these as poential factors in slowing down its network, and reserves the right to employ digital chicanery to interrrupt these sessions.February 13, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Government: US
BlackBerry: looks like buggy data routing system upgrade caused crashBlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has just said an early investigation is pointing to a problem with an upgrade of a data routing system as having precipitated yesterday's three-hour service disruption and resulting slow email thruput.That said, RIM had a reason for this undertaking.February 12, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Mobility
Snom VoIP phone vulnerability enables phone history theft, addy book poisoning, and moreFellow VoIP blogger and multi-skilled polymath Tom Keating picks up on security consultancy GNUCitizen.org's description of a security vulnerability in snom Technology's model 320 VoIP phone.February 12, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Networking
VoIP, Inc. lawyering up for massive Click To Call Patent infringement suitsVoIP, Inc. says they have hired legal representation to defend its Patent # 6501837 against what it deems is infringement "by some of the nation's leading Fortune 500 companies.February 12, 2008 by Russell Shaw in Legal