Tag Archives | Alec Saunders

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BlackBerry Playbook: RIM’s Infrastructure for New User Experiences for Tablets

Yesterday I wrote about coverage of the BlackBerry PlayBook launch, partially inspired by three pages of coverage in last weekend’s Globe and Mail Report on Business. But I left with the question of whether competitive comparisons with the iPad are valid or can the PlayBook provide new market directions for tablets. Certainly on content and […]

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Facetime for Mac: Adding Millions to the FaceTime User Base

Yesterday Apple released FaceTime for Mac, making its popular iPhone 4 Facetime application available to all owners of MackBooks and iMacs that are using the Snow Leopard (OS/X 10.6) operating system. Most significant about this announcement was the immediate expansion by several million of the user base who could be reached on FaceTime calls. (3.89 […]

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iotum’s Calliflower Conference Call Service Adds Skype Access

Since its launch about two years ago, I have blogged several times about iotum’s CalliFlower Conference Calling service. More significantly I have used it for several conference calls of up to 25 people, including a couple that ran for over two hours. While permitting up to several hundred participants into a conference call, Calliflower’s primary […]

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The Skype Spinout Version 2.0

So it’s finally resolved. The Skype spinout from eBay will involve Skype’s founders as investors and board members while contributing a cash investment. Skype finally owns the core intellectual property required for Skype to operate at its current cost levels. eBay gets the cash they were looking for but 5% less of the new Skype. […]

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Christopher Dean, Skype CSO at VON 2009: Skype Becoming Disruptive About Business

Building on Skype’s recent announcements of its evolving Skype for Business activities, Chief Strategy Office Christopher Dean gave a keynote address yesterday at a joint VON/Channel Partners Conference session. Three posts have followed up on the session: Khali Henderson, in Skype Not Just Telecom’s “Bad Boy”, CSO Says, reports Christopher’s overview of their approach to […]

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The Future for 3rd Party Skype Developers: Bloggers Speak Out.

The recent announcement of Skype’s decision to drop its Skype Extras (marketing) program initially caused much anguish across the blogosphere; however, more sober commentary has been appearing in the past few days. To recall the announcement: Immediately: No new partner programs or upgrades will be placed into the Skype Extras Going forward: Skype Extras will […]

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Burning Man Gets Its Own Country Code (Almost)

This week about 50,000 people have gathered in the northern Nevada desert for the annual Burning Man ritual. You really have to visit their website to get a feel for what it is about and the principles that guide this annual one week experience. Started in the mid-1980s, Burning Man is designed to generate a […]

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FREETALK® Everyman USB Headset: From Twitterville and More Bloggers

The initial feedback post, FREETALK® Everyman: The Bloggers Speak Out, is getting a bit long for a single Internet post. But feedback continues to arrive, not only in blog posts but also via Twitterville where we find, searching on “FREETALK Everyman” and “Skype Everyman”: And Michael Graves (@mjgraves), in his post Skype’s FREETALK® Everyman Headset, […]

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Is WiFi Becoming the Unregulated Stealth Carrier of the Future?

On a recent trip to Spain, where I turned off my BlackBerry Bold’s and iPhone’s  mobile carrier network connection except when really required, I was able to use WiFi connections at my various hotels quite effectively to keep up with my “data” activities on these devices. (Except in a situation mentioned below I used Skype […]

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Is Rogers Setting A Benchmark for Net Neutrality Policies?

It all started when I attended the June 2 Android launch on Rogers Wireless. During a scrum I had asked “Fringe” actor Joshua Jackson if he had made a call from Paris, France to his wife in Vancouver using Skype for Android (Skype Lite). Rogers Wireless CMO John Boynton interjected that Rogers allows all applications […]

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