Services

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IP Over Satellite Standard Gets ETSI Approval
Satellite broadband services should become a lot easier to implement with the adoption of the first broadband satellite standard on both sides of the Atlantic.
The transatlantic agreement sees both the US-based Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) adopting the Internet Protocol over Satellite (IPOS) standard.
Satellite data links are an important alternative to wired links in poorly connected rural areas or for business operations that like to regularly shuffle about to new locations.
IPOS-based equipment and software used to build satellite broadband will now be available from a variety of companies who support the standard, including Hughes Network Systems, Microelectronics Technology, Texas Instruments, TriQuint Semiconductor, Wind River Software, Intelsat and Telefonica.
“Now ratified and approved by the two major standards bodies, IPoS opens the door for greater optimisation and economies of scale throughout the satellite industry,” said Pradman Kaul, chief executive officer of Hughes Network Systems.
“IPoS is the only air interface specifically designed for the efficient delivery of broadband satellite services and offers the best means to expand satellite’s addressable markets worldwide.”
“The IPoS standard is extensively field proven, highly scalable and supports low-cost terminals. Now approved by both governing bodies, widespread adoption of the IPoS will further reduce equipment costs and make broadband available and affordable to many more users worldwide,” said Enrique Salvatierra, director of Satellite and Submarine Cables Department, Telefonica de Espana.
IPoS works by specifying a Satellite Independent Service Access Point, which creates an interface between the satellite-dependent functions and the application layers, thereby enabling an open service delivery platform.
To date, the standard has been implemented in over 500,000 sites worldwide.
“Intelsat meets the connectivity requirements of some of the largest telecommunications service providers worldwide,” said Frederick Morris, vice president of Intelsat.
“These companies frequently turn to us for unbiased assessment of satellite broadband technologies available to their end-customers, and having standards like IPoS makes this process easier. We heartily endorse any effort to spread standardisation throughout the satellite broadband service industry.”
IPOS will be competing against the likes of WiMAX in the fixed broadband wireless market. WiMAX trials have already been started by AT&T at companies in the US and Europe is expected to experience the first WiMAX services from providers next year.
Telecommunications Industry Association
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
16 March, 2005
TiVo Software For Comcast In Strategic Partnership
TiVo has signed a multiyear deal to make a version of its personal video recorder software available to customers of Comcast Cable, currently the King Kong of largest cable operators in the US.
The deal is the first of the partnerships the struggling pioneer hopes to forge with cable operators and will result in Comcast and TiVo working together in peace and harmony to develop a version of the TiVo service to be made available on Comcast’s current DVR platform.
The new service will be marketed with the TiVo brand, and is expected to be slipping out on Comcast’s DVR products in a majority of Comcast markets in mid-to-late 2006.
This long-term, non-exclusive partnership will provide Comcast customers with the opportunity to choose the TiVo service with features like Season Pass and WishList, available as an additional option.
If all goes to plan, the service will showcase TiVo’s home networking, multimedia, and broadband capabilities.
“We are focused on providing our customers with a 21st Century television experience,” said Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “TiVo has revolutionized the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. By partnering with TiVo, we are continuing to deliver technology that enables our customers to watch what they want when they want on TV. This agreement also reflects our commitment to work with leading technology providers to offer customers more value and choice in their home entertainment experience. Customers love the ease and convenience of our current DVR service, and we look forward to working with TiVo to enhance that service and offer customers the best-in-class DVR experience.”
Steve Burke, the president of Comcast Cable and COO of Comcast, added, “The strong TiVo brand, the clear track record of customer loyalty it has and its cutting-edge features make this a terrific partnership and exciting new product for Comcast.”
Tom Rogers, the vice chairman of TiVo, noted, “It is very important that TiVo has found a way to work with the nation’s largest cable operator on a cooperative basis to develop a state-of-the-art TiVo service, fully integrated with a cable set-top box, that will make TiVo available to millions of cable viewers. … This is a real milestone for TiVo and for the cable industry, but most importantly it is a milestone for television viewers.”
Analysts are hailing the agreement as a lifeline for the Californian-based company, whose shares jumped 75 percent, or US$2.87 (e2.14/£1.50), to close at US$6.70 (e5/£3.50) in Tuesday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Although TiVo currently boasts more than 3 million subscribers it has struggled to find a business strategy that would increase its subscriber base and withstand gnawing competition from generic DVRs offered directly by big cable companies.
In the quarter that ended Jan. 31, TiVo lost a thumping great $33.7 million, substantially heftier than the $12.4 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
The Comcast deal means that TiVo will have to adapt its software to work on Comcast’s existing DVR platform. This will enable TiVo to blast out the advertising it sells as interactive video clips in their onscreen menu to Comcast subscribers.
Comcast will continue to market its own DVR, with new customers getting a dual-tuner DVR, letting viewers record two shows at once and high-definition television; TiVo offers such features only to DirecTV satellite customers.
Comcast subscribers who plump for the TiVo service will get funky features such as “Suggestions,” which recommends shows based on past viewing habits, and the ability to schedule recordings over the Internet.
The agreement gives TiVo access to Comcast’s 21.5 million cable customers, including 8.6 million digital cable customers who can take advantage of DVRs
TiVo
Comcast
16 March, 2005
ineen Challenges Skype With Free VoIP/Video Client
With the soaraway success of Skype’s VoIP client, we’ve been waiting for other companies to try and elbow themselves a piece of the action.
Hot off the blocks is the rubbishly named ineen, a new piece of P2P IM software pushing all the right industry buzzword buttons – VoIP, P2P, video conferencing, free, open standards, cross-platform – in a package that the makers are claiming is “easy and free to use”.
If you’re going to try and take on something as popular as Skype, you’ve got to attack its weaknesses. Given a lot of Skype calls and its software are free, you’re not going to compete on price. One vulnerability Skype has is that it’s not based on open standards, despite them being freely (pun intended) available.
Built using Xten’s eyeBeam SDK, the client makes use of SIMPLE for P2P IM and Presence. VoIP is supported by SIP and the Video media is H.263[+].
ineen uses SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] and other open standards which makes it interoperable with various SIP networks including Free World, Dialup, SIPphone, TerraCall and Iptel.org
Sadly, none of the bigger IM networks [AOL/ICQ/Yahoo/MSN Messenger or Skype] use SIP, so you won’t be kissing goodbye to your favourite IM application quite yet.
Ineen offers video conferencing, with conference support for up to four users and audio conferencing for up to ten chatterers.
The interface looks slicker than Frank Sinatra on a hot date, although the less technically minded may run screaming to the hills when presented with its feast of buttons and blinking lights.
What isn’t so slick, however is ineen’s insistence of users using “phone numbers” to create computer-to-computer VoIP calls and we’re a little concerned by the lack of published technical details or details of their business model.
Unlike Skype’s proprietary technology, ineen was created with Open Standards, that it hopes will ensure greater future inter-connectivity.
The software is currently available for PCs and Macs, but there’s no sign of PocketPC and Palm versions on the horizon.
Thanks to Pete Ferne for the tip.
ineen
10 March, 2005
Broadreach Offers Free Wi-Fi Access For UK Skype Calls
Skype has announced a new partnership with Broadreach Networks which is giving UK Skype users free Wi-Fi access to make free Skype calls in 350 Internet locations across the UK.
The deal will give Skype users free access to Broadreach’s ReadytoSurf network of locations, which include Virgin Megastores, Eurostar, Travelodge, Moto, Little Chef, Virgin Trains, EAT, Choice Hotels and Quality Inn and major railway stations including all the London terminals.
Now, we know what you’re thinking. There must be a catch.
Well, dear reader, we’re delighted to tell you that there is no catch. There is no cost, no sign up, no catches – just lots of lovely free wireless Skype access!
So has Broadreach gone mad in a fit of anti-capitalist yogurt-weaving altruism, or is there sound business reasoning behind this act of philanthropy?
Not unexpectedly, it’s the latter, with Skype founder Niklas Zennström describing it as a “win-win-win deal”, with Skype, the user and Broadreach all ending up as happy bunnies.
Skype increases their coverage, Broadreach gains market awareness (with the prospect of consumers upgrading to their data services) and the user gets lots of lovely free phone calls. A right synergetic result!
Here’s what Zennström said to Digital-Lifestyles friend, Guy Kewney at newswireless.net about the deal:
“What we are doing today is in line with what we were talking about when we announced our deal with iMate.
Part of what we want to do is make Skype more available. The growth on computers, however… it’s just part.
For Skype to be really useful for end-users, you have to be able to use it when you are out, and in more and more places. Combination of WiFi and Skype is a good synergy; make free wireless calls.”
Using the free service is simplicity itself – the user simply switches on their notebook or PDA with Skype running, and waits until the Skype window shows the list of contacts, and then you’re off!
If the user hasn’t already got Skype installed, they’ll be able to log onto Skype.com and download the appropriate software without charge.
Of course, Broadreach are banking on Skype users also buying into their data services, perhaps to send emails or attachments with their calls.
Either way, this announcement is great news for freeloading Skype users and sends out a clear message that VoIP is going to be big news in the UK.
Broadreach ReadytoSurf
Skype
3 March, 2005
Skype Handset, Siemens M34/S440 Competition Winner
At last, (if not a little behind schedule) …
Congratulations to Bernard Herbert of Belgium, as he has won the Skype-friendly Siemens USB adaptor and Handset combo in our recent readers competition. When we spoke to Bernard, via Skype of course, he was delighted, “It’s going to be of help every day,” he enthused. It’s currently not available in Belgium, so Bernard will have a one-off.
You may remember that we also got quite excited about it in our exclusive review. We’re going to miss this baby at the Digital-Lifestyles offices. It’s become part of our daily tech toolkit.
Many thanks to everyone who filled out the survey. We really appreciate the feedback.
We’ve had a lot of people contact us asking when the Siemens kit will be available in their country. The official word from them is they’re “in discussions”>If you’re interested in the combo, drop us a quick note to Siemens.Skype(at)Digital-Lifestyles.info. We’d be happy to pass them on to Siemens, with the vague possibility that it might hasten their introduction in your country.
Simon Perry
2 March, 2005
Google Movie Search Born
A handy Google search feature went live this week that lets users find showtimes at nearby movie theatres using either their computer or mobile phones and other wireless devices that use short-message services.
The service is available from any Google search box or via SMS.
So a movie hungry visitor to New York could enter their zip code in this search phrase “movie: 10122” to get a listing of what’s playing and when at theatres in their area. If they’re looking for a specific film, typing in, for example, ‘Vera Drake in 10122′ will provide local listings and show times.
The new feature also provides information such as theatre locations and reviews, and enables users to search for movies by title, plot or genre, sortable by movie or cinema.
Other possible searches can help with recommendations or simply refresh fans’ memories (or settle late night arguments).
A query such as “movie: lick my love pump” would return with “This Is Spinal Tap (1984)”, or searching on “movie: great fights” would provide a list of films featuring lots of fabulous punch-ups. And before you ask, yes, it works for naughty words too.
The search results come with a star rating, calculated on an aggregate of online reviews, and links to critics’ reviews.
“We’ll expect more traffic flow overall in movie names,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s director of consumer Web products. She said increased inventory will increase bidding. “We’re basically creating a new market for AdWords.”
In addition to film studios, Google expects marketing interest from video and DVD distribution companies such as Netflix, Blockbuster Online and Amazon.com, and from marketers of celebrity wallpaper, mobile ringtones and other such money-spinning merchandise.
This latest service ups the stakes in the ongoing bunfight between Google, Yahoo – and recently MSN search – as they battle to provide the most comprehensive set of Web search tools – and get a slice of fast-growing advertising revenues.
Google
24 February, 2005
Voice-controlled EPG on your TV from Opera
Punching endless buttons and shouting at your video recorder could become a thing of the past thanks to Opera Software’s new voice-enabled Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for home media.
The perfect complement for Homer Simpsons everywhere, the new EPG means that couch potatoes won’t even have to exert themselves to pick up the remote – instead they can simply bark commands at the home media unit and crack open another beer.
Traditionally, navigating through the labyrinth menus and sub menus of videos and DVD players was on a par with aligning the damper sprockets on a nuclear fission engine, involving a multitude of remote controls and key combinations.
The new Opera software (self-declared as ‘the future of human-computer interaction’, but we think they’re getting a bit carried away there) helps make navigating complex data structures easy by using simple voice commands.
Opera will also be rolling out a new voice-enabled edition of the Opera browser for PCs.
The voice-enabled EPG is written in XHTML+Voice or X+V multimodal programming language with initial targets aimed at enterprise customers and developers. You can see a demonstration of X+V multimodal speech applications at www.ibm.com/pvc/multimodal.
This release forms part of a project to raise awareness in the consumer electronics sector of the benefits of voice-enabled Web technologies
We like the idea of being able to bellow at the TV, although we have to wonder how effective the voice commands may be after a skinfull on a Saturday night.
Perhaps you can also program in slurred versions of the commands for full weekend compatibility?
Opera
21 February, 2005
SIPassure, VoIP Firewall First from Borderware
BorderWare has unveiled a new application-level firewall, SIPassure, which it claims is the first firewall to protect against Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) security exploits.
As the take-up of VoIP increases, individuals or businesses that reply on VoIP for all of their phone calls potentially leave themselves open to being cut off from an inconsistent service from the ISP and potentially malicious hack attacks. SIPassure hopes to address the latter.
Announcing the product at the annual DEMO conference in the US, the SIP-based technology is designed to protect VoIP communications from hackers, spoofers, phishers and other malicious threats.
With VoIP proving attractive to both consumers and businesses (nearly one out of five US Internet users saying they are likely to upgrade their traditional phone service to VoIP), industry vendors and researchers have begun to sound the alarm bells that VoIP is vulnerable to a number of potentially disastrous security exploits.
“With SIP, your firewall is like a Swiss cheese,” says Jean-Louis Previdi, senior vice president and research director, EMEA Meta Group. “For SIP to work effectively, you have to open all ports of the firewall, so the protocol can browse and choose a port to initiate a session, which compromises security.”
In response, vendors have formed the VoIP Security Alliance (VOIPSA) to raise awareness, offer research and product security testing.
“As the VoIP revolution unfolds, users need to be aware of the many exploits that could compromise their next Internet call,” says Chris Shipley, DEMO executive producer.

“BorderWare’s VoIP security technology guards against many of the pitfalls associated with the adoption and deployment of this new communications technology. BorderWare’s SIPassure has the potential to make VoIP a safe option for everyone,” he adds.
BorderWare claims to protect users against Denial-of-Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks that can eat up large amounts of bandwidth in a VoIP network.
There’s also security against eavesdropping and “man-in-the-middle” attacks that allows hackers to become part of a VoIP call without the communicating parties knowing someone is listening.
The software also offers protection from Call Redirection, which enables a hacker to automatically call-forward a connection to their system as well as providing protection against Malicious Calling, VBombing and VoIP Spam, which are attacks that flood the receiver with hundreds of false voice mails within seconds.
Finally, SIPassure also claims to keep users safe Fake Caller ID, in which a hacker can masquerade as a trusted person making legitimate voice calls to an unsuspecting patron.
John Alsop, Chairman, BorderWare explains the risks:
“While the industry works to secure voice communications at the transport layer with VPN-type encryption, hackers are developing tools that attack Internet calls at the application layer, gaining unauthorized access to a VoIP connection.”

“To protect VoIP communications at the application layer you need a SIP firewall that is able to authenticate the user attempting to make a connection and to provide systems administrators with the ability to easily set and enforce their VoIP security policies.”
16 February, 2005
Skype and Motorola Form Partnership
Motorola and Skype Technologies have announced their intention to jump into bed together on a saucy co-marketing collaboration that will provide greater connectivity options and access for Skype’s 25+ million registered worldwide users.
Both companies are hoping that this technological romp will explore exciting opportunities for both companies.
Motorola’s strength in advanced mobile technology, mobile devices and accessories, should prove to be the perfect love match for Skype’s rapidly-growing global user base and rich voice and messaging communication tools.
The first baby born out of this union, will be the co-marketing of freshly optimised Motorola ‘Skype Ready’ companion products, such as Bluetooth headsets, dongles, and speakerphones, as well as delivery of the Skype Internet Telephony on selected Motorola mobile devices.
Liz Altman, vice president of business development, Motorola Mobile Devices, was clearly happy with the relationship:
“By making Voice over IP truly mobile and easily accessible, we can make communications seamless for consumers as they travel throughout the environments of their day – at work, at home, in the car, or out in the world.
“With over 68 million downloads of their client in the last 18 months, we believe Skype is a natural fit with our vision of simple and seamless connectivity for our consumer customers around the globe.”
And Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder was also enjoying the experience: “Our alliance with Motorola is a major step forward in delivering the Skype experience to a whole new base of mobile device and accessory users”
Motorola ‘Skype Ready’ companion products are expected to be available in the first half of 2005.
14 February, 2005
i-Mate Preloaded Skype on Smart Phones
Skype has announced a partnership with i-mate, industry innovators of wireless device solutions.
i-mate will launch the first dual-mode wireless mobile handset preloaded with Skype software and demo it for the world at 3GSM in Cannes from Monday 14th February through Thursday 17th February.
The new i-mate PDA2K and PDA2 handsets will come preloaded with Skype’s award-winning software, allowing users to fire up Skype and get phonin’ as soon as they’ve wrenched the unit out of the box.
The handsets, expected to retail at a wallet-draining price of $850 (€660, £455), are enabled in dual modes – GSM/GPRS and Wi-Fi – and both use the Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition.
The two companies worked for several months to integrate the software with the handsets and have provided a solution that will, in some circumstances, enable calls made over GSM and GPRS technology to be free, while others will be subject to small charges.
Skype users can call other Skype users for jack diddly squat, while another service, called SkypeOut, enables users to call to public-switched telephone networks for slightly more than two cents a minute.
The VoIP market is currently growing faster than Billy Bunter’s waistline on Bun Eating Day, with businesses and individuals keen to get a slice of the cheap call action.
The Skype service is already making noticeable inroads into traditional phone traffic, with more than one million users on the Skype service at any given time.
The peer-to-peer software is available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide with over 67 million downloads, since its launch in August 2003.
So the program is a hit. Everyone wants it. But how are they going to make money out of something they’re giving away for free?
It seems that Skype’s solution is to create an income stream through licensing their software on to other platforms.
Skype
iMate
11 February, 2005