After living in process-server exile for years, it must feel good to be free to travel stateside again.

• Elinor Mills (closest to a transcript): 'Skypecasts' coming to your blog soon
• Dan Farber: More from the Web 2.0 Summit.
• Alec Saunders: Skype 3.0: Transfer or no?
• Reuters: Skype tests new features in bid to diversify sales
• Doug Dockery: Skypecasts (Or Who Needs A Phone?)
• 21talks: Soon, more Skype to come
• Bobbie Johnson: Web 2.0: Niklas Zennstrom, Skype
• Eric Savitz: Niklas Zenstrom Gets A Big Laugh.

"An audience member asks, with an ironic tone, why Zenstrom, who has a tendency to spurn convention and do what he wants to do with out regard for conventional business practices - thus his creation of both Skype and Kazaa - decided to sell his company to eBay (EBAY) last year.

Zenstrom: "It was a great fit."

Audience of hundreds of Web investors and entrepreneurs: Peels of hearty laughter.

"When you go online,
you can see the world.
Richard Pombo hates that.
So he's selling control over which sites you visit
to strangers,
gatekeepers to the Internet.
People who get to choose for you.
Pombo is selling your freedom for cash.
The freedom to read what you want,
to say what you want,
on the Internet.
Fight for your Freedom of Speech.
Save your Free Internet.
Fire Pombo."

You haven't seen ads like that in this campaign. Not on TV, radio or the web.

Because Net Neutrality never cost anyone an election. And NN advocates aren't peppering the Internet or the airwaves with independent advertising for/against candidates.

Russell Shaw doesn't expect Tuesday's US election to remove Republican control of the Senate, so doesn't expect a shift in Congress's net neutrality stance.

I'll go further.

Even if the Dems win both houses of Congress, it will not matter.

Since nobody will win on a "net neutrality" platform, no political capital will be earned for NN. So NN won't be a priority in the 2008 election. It's not like anyone tied NN to big issues like jobs, the war in Iraq, political corruption, or public morals.

And nobody raised a million dollars to advocate for net neutrality.

Skype's CEO is speaking at Europe's largest blogger conference, 11-12 December. I'm sure he'll demo Skype 3.0's one blogging feature. It's nice, but neither jaw dropping or disruptive, especially given this crowd's sophistication.

In the file sharing world of Kazaa and bittorrents, members of a network share two things: the files, and offers/bids for those files. More specifically, they ask for or offer little chunks of files ignoring the chunks' order in the file. You pass along what chunks you have and grab the chunks you need and, eventually, getting little bits from many sources, you have all the parts you need to assemble a copy of the whole file.

But what do you do with a live event, like a news broadcast or a university lecture? How do you get the benefits of scale-free p2p distribution while keeping all the viewers in sync? How do you accommodate people tuning in and tuning out during the event?

Skype conference calling goes part way. It distributes little bits to/from the conferenced people in streamed order. To keep a conversation rolling it will tolerate dropped chunks and accommodate resource challenges like poor CPU power.

The Company That Will Soon Be Formerly Known As The Venice Project promises to extend this to sharing your bits with strangers. Like bittorrent, you're giving the network a little control over distribution of the bits. You shouldn't mind sharing a little upstream bandwidth with the community since you're sipping from the same stream. Part of their art will be a balance of:

1. Centrally managing the publishing and initiation of streams (think YouTube),
2. Peer to peer distribution of those streams (like bittorrent, but first-bits-first), and
3. Playing on a rich client (like Skype).

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Last week's Voice 2.0 Conference in Ottawa exposed examples across the entire range of infrastructure and services that lead to voice-related applications. Martin Geddes led off with a keynote asking What's telephone for? What's the unmet user need? Where's the money and What's next? Sam Aparicio of  Angel.com provides an excellent commentary on Martin's presentation ending with Martin's economic model for Voice 2.0 telephony:

• Martin talks about an inversion of the model. While most of the money was being made once the call was connected, now most of the money is to be made pre- and post-talk.
• Before talking you have devices, connectivity, privacy, presence, availability, directory and integration
• After the call, social networking.
• Google managed to create $400B of market value by exploiting digital social gestures around hyperlinks, but Telcos still fail to see how CDRs are a goldmine.
• Some of the growth areas: B2C (I'm soo glad he mentioned this...), C2B -- whenever you cross the trust of a social boundary. An example: In Finland, some people organized a grassroots, non-official Voice Idol type system, creating tons of value for the carriers without much of their involvement.
• Some examples of new thinking: considering a cell phone as a retail outlet you get to carry with you wherever you go.
• In the end, whoever controls the context in which conversations happen. (Following the Starbucks model, where they get to capture the bulk of the value generated by the chain starting at the bush of Juan Valdes). He mentioned how, in the future, when in a hotel, options for room service will be in a buddy list.

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I'm on holiday, but I'll post more from last week's Internet Telephony Conference and Expo. The photo in the masthead is of a mad rush into the exhibit hall's opening night.

It was bizarre for me, all VoIP but almost no Skype in the hall, and none in the official program. This conference brings VoIP resellers and enterprise buyers (seen above) to the exhibitors, corporate VoIP toolmakers. Skype, as far as these folks are concerned, is in another industry, consumer VoIP, and not their business. Mostly, the exhibitors and speakers don't even mention Skype because their clients haven't bought or sold millions of dollars of Skype products.

The funny part: a number of vendors are pitching Skype-like functionality. Centralized and well domesticated, of course, but some blend of presence, IM, voice, video, and other collaboration. But few in the room (or with checkbooks) seem to buy value-added-VoIP. Most see VoIP as long distance bypass and little more.

And most don't know that VoIM is being smuggled into their workplaces by team leaders and expatriots and the adventurous. By parents with kids and lovers who want privacy. Skype is spreading in typical disruptor style like faxes and personal computers. If this conference is any indication, this wave of new behavior is well below the radar of nearly all IT and telephony vendors.

On Wednesday I was asked to moderate a second panel at the Voice 2.0 conference in Ottawa on Alternative Networks. Having spoken with a couple of the speakers this session is going to provide an update on what amounts to further unbundling and disintermediation in the voice communications infrastructure space. These developments, which include demonstrated profitable business models, are resulting in the separation of network access, service provisioning and content delivery required to achieve not only net neutrality but lower costs of Internet participation.

The conference is filling up; however, there's still time to register here. See you Monday.

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I have just been asked to moderate a Round Table at the Voice 2.0 conference in Ottawa next Monday; Topic: the Future Visions for Telecom. Recently there have appeared three posts that provide a foundation for discussion of the subject:

First, James Enck, a highly respected telecom analyst and blogger, based in London, posted details of his keynote presentation last week, Ten Things I Hate About You, at Telco 2.0 in London  James has developed a strategic framework around which he sees the future of telecom:

• Telcos have lost control of their core product
• Voice is becoming a feature, not a service
• Telcos can't grasp that consumers may not want what they're being sold
• Telcos thrive on scarcity - future value will be built around abundance
• Command and control culture is dead, open API's rule
• Telco DNA is fundamentally unsuited to the current dynamics of content
• Telcos expand their footprints physically, not virtually
• Telcos can't innovate
• Telcos shouldn't try to innovate
• Maybe the entire foundation is wrong

Definitely a landmark post. So what should the foundation of telecom become? Alec Saunders presents a first anniversary update on his Voice 2.0 Manifesto:

The customer experience predicted by the Voice 2.0 Manifesto is not of a single carrier, but rather of three classes of entities - access, directory, and applications.  As a customer, you'll pay to be part of the network, you may pay for an identity (and this is an idea who's time will come, although it's hard to see today), and you'll pay for applications that that help you communicate in a diverse number of ways.  This is a very different model from the traditional, vertically integrated, communications network.

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While well-known as Canada's capital and, for hockey fans, as home of the NHL's Ottawa Senators, the Ottawa region has transformed itself over the past quarter century into Canada's high tech capital (dare I say Silicon Valley North?). Ottawa is headquarters for Mitel, Corel, and Versatel Networks (amongst others), hosts significant facilities for Nortel, JDS Uniphase (the JDS part), Alcatel (formerly Newbridge Networks) and a major Dell support center, and is a breeding ground for many high tech startups, especially in the telecommunications sector. Under the sponsorship of OCRI,  Ottawa is the site of a new conference - Voice 2.0: beyond telecom - a week from Monday (October 16).

"There is a great need for a venue where practitioners at the forefront of building next-generation communications networks and applications can get a broad perspective on the changes in telecom," said Ross MacLeod, Voice 2.0's conference host. "Voice 2.0 will provide an environment where attendees can share experiences that will speed the adoption of leading technologies and practices in the sector."

As one primer check out Alec Saunders post: Voice 2.0 A Year Later.

Skype Journal will be there and reporting on the activities. Check out the agenda. If you are interested in attending you can register via their website. (Hint: check out Terry Matthews' Brookstreet Hotel. They serve a great Sunday brunch if you arrive a day early and want to work in some pre-conference golf.)

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Just got home from the opening day of Yahoo!'s first open Hack Day. I thought it might be useful to contrast it with eBay's DevCon.

tags: skype, skypejournal, yahoo, hackday06, hackday, hack or die, yahoohackday06, ebaydevcon, ebay inc

Since its inception the secret sauce that results in the excellent voice quality of Skype-to-Skype calls and facilitates quality in Skype-to/from_SkypeIn/Out calls has been the Voice Engine for PC and Voice Engine for (Windows) Mobile licensed by Skype from Global  IP Sound (often referred to as "GIPS"). Monday came the announcement that Skype has licensed a second player for voice engine software in embedded, PC-free consumer devices, namely, Trinity Convergence. Trinity's VeriCall Edge^TM software  brings their many years of silicon-device independent software development into the Skype stand-alone PC-free device space.

The agreement benefits hardware manufacturers by providing a software bundle that allows them to efficiently and cost-effectively design Internet calling and the Skype user experience into devices such as wired phones, WiFi phones and multi-function personal communication devices. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) will leverage the software bundle to shorten product development cycles and accelerate their time-to-market.

The first device to employ Trinity Convergence's software will be the forthcoming Sony Mylo which should be available later this month. Additional devices under development include a Skype phone from Universal Scientific Industrial, a Taipei-based ODM (prototype in the photo) and a currently anonymous dual mode WiFi-GSM phone.

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During VON Fall 2006 I did two podcasts with Jon Arnold on some aspects of the show:

• Tuesday: Discussing the morning's two keynotes (Jeff Pulver and Ted Leonsis) as well as the IM session the previous afternoon.
• Wednesday: A discussion of Canadian companies participating at VON Fall.

Also Jon and I were both individually interviewed by TechNewsWorld about the implications of Skype's announcement of the Skype 2.0 beta with video.

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VON Fall 2006 is over; it certainly helped put into perspective where we are in the IP voice and video communications space at this time.

Video I: Jeff Pulver's presentation included a demonstration of the Vividas high definition video streaming using the Ghost Rider trailer. Select "Watch Trailer in High Definition" from the options. Amazing quality on my 1650 x 1080 laptop screen but when Jeff showed this on the large screen at VON Fall with a full surround sound system, it was as if we were in our local movie theater for both video and audio quality.

Video II: Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman AOL & President AOL Audience Business, has blogged about his keynote presentation where he mentions the several new video services that AOL has recently launched or will be launching in the near future. From commercial music video to personal video services, suffice it to say that, with AOL's access to not only AOL's web resources but also Time Warner's content resources, AOL finally has gotten around to leveraging all the potential foreseen in the original AOL-Time Warner deal.  Sometimes it takes a few kicks at the can to get it right; in this case the deal was done well ahead of the availability of the technology and infrastructure needed to leverage these assets fully.

One exhibitor who drew a lot of attention was Trufone who exhibited their software that brings VoIP to the mobile phone. Martin Geddes has one of the phones with which it is currently compatible and I'm sure we'll hear from Martin soon on his experience with it. Personally I need to wait until they have compatibility with Nokia N70 or Nokia N93.

Skype compatible hardware was exhibited by Ascalade, RTX with their Dual Phone as well as a new line of cordless SIP Phones with dual VoIP/PCN capability, Polycom with their HD Voice-enabled Communicator Speakerphone, amongst others. As well Global IP Sound and Trinity Convergence (post to come next week) were talking about their voice engines used in various Skype products.

And what is PCN? Public Communications Network ... with all the graying of the line between PSTN and VoIP technology, Andy Abramson's new term for the future networks evolving in the communications space. The PSTN is not going to just go away but is going to change.

Personally I learned a lot from both the presentations I attended as well as several interviews on which I have reported or will be reporting.

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I often forget when writing for Skype Journal that terminology in the English language may have different meanings in different parts of the English speaking world. For instance, there is no boot on my Canadian car and I'm sure there is no trunk in Martin's car in Edinburgh.  I guess wireless and cordless can have different interpretations in different parts of the world.

Also sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading my blog posts (although I am learning lots of VON Fall 2006 attendees do). But I was glad to see my post where I recommended that Skype drop their WiFi phones drew at least one response questioning my recommendation.  Furthermore I recommended that Skype work with Nokia, RIM and the Windows Mobile wireless platforms to include Skype as an option for wireless phones.  But a wireless phone is not a cordless phone -- in North America at least.

Rest assured, Howard, today I have seen a solution that can meet your requirements for an easy to use phone that your parents can use with no PC and no learning curve, namely, the entire range of cordless phones being shown at VON Fall 2006, especially in the Ascalade booth. Here they are demonstrating the cordless Phillips and NetGear Skype phones announced last week plus models that will be introduced soon by US Robotics, Linksys and Creative Labs. (In the photo, L-R, are the USR, Phillips and Creative cordless phones.) The cradles hold the power adapter to charge these phones; the modules in the background are cordlessly connected to the handsets using DECT technology and include a processor with an embedded Skype client as well as an Ethernet connector for connection to a cable/DSL router and an RJ-11 connector to the PSTN line. While each vendor will be pricing these units, it appears that these base unit devices will sell for about $150 with additional handsets in the $50 to $80 range.  So not only is the base solution lower cost than the Skype WiFi phones, you can have additional phone handsets around the house or apartment as appropriate at a much lower cost than buying additional Skype WiFi phones.

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Monday afternoon's first Fall VON 2006 plenary session, IM: The State of Presence, featuring a panel of executives and managers from the GYMAS-five representing over 90% of the IM usage worldwide:

• Dan Casey, Director, Windows Live VoIP and Messenger Product Management, Microsoft
• Jeff Bonforte, Director of Voice Product Management, Yahoo!
• Nitzan Shaer, Director, Mobile Devices, Skype
• Mike Jazayeri, Product Manager, Real Time Communications & Google Talk, Google
• Ragui Kamel, Sr. Vice President & General Manager, AOL Voice Services, America Online.

As mentioned previously Carl Ford ran his usual vibrant Q&A format, offering each member of the panel an opportunity to provide commentary on several topics surrounding IM and where it is going. It was a very informative and stimulating discussion overall. Carl's questioning covered why IM, video usage, the role of presence, mobile reach, business models and projections in for the future.

Why do users want Voice with Instant Messaging? From the students avoiding contention when sharing one phone line in a five-student apartment to business productivity enhancement, we heard stories about new scenarios enabled where IM and voice facilitate social networking to newly announced collaborative applications that share spreadsheets. Oh, and for the younger generation, IM allows students to avoid being seen holding discussions in the classroom; did I say to allow private discussion sessions in the boardroom? The new challenge arises when a group of youth want to do a conference call but Stephanie is is not on IM but at the mall shopping for new shoes.

Nitzan talked about how IM with Skype allows users to create one centralized ID that can be used across weblogs, sharing pictures, and enhancing a discussion using video.

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This is the second post in a series reviewing wireless devices in the emerging Personal Handheld Assistant space; the ultimate aim is to identify roles that Skype can play in this market of converged functionality devices. This is a special post in the series that was triggered by a VON Fall 2006 session. Links to other posts in this series are available at the end of this post.

Monday afternoon I attended the first Fall VON plenary session: IM: The State of Presence featuring a panel of executives and managers from the GYMAS-five representing over 90% of the IM usage worldwide. Carl Ford ran his usual vibrant Q&A format, offering each member of the panel an opportunity to provide commentary on several topics surrounding IM and where it is going. It was a very informative and stimulating discussion overall.

One major direction for IM is the extension of IM's access and reach by its incorporation into wireless devices. We heard about many of the issues that challenge the ability to provide seamless wireless IM clients, including login barriers, coverage and the relatively high cost of data services.

But the session confirmed a belief I had started to hold about a month ago during my evaluation of several wireless platforms. In particular, my evaluation of one Skype WiFi phone demonstrated to me the futility of providing such a device:

• The battery life was about eight to twelve hours in standby mode
• It could not handle DTMF tones
• The basic clock would arbitrarily drop a couple of hours
• It provides the presence functionality of Skype's IM client but no text chat capability
• Skype was the only application that runs on the device
• While the Skype client provides Skype names and the Contacts' other phone numbers (if available via the Contact's registration), there is no address, email or other information such as provided by synchronization with Outlook.
• They would only work in open access WiFi zones; they would not work in WiFi hotspots requiring a browser-based logon.
• They were purely engineering toys that demonstrated one could make the concept work but they badly needed an experienced wireless phone product manager to get the feature set right.
• In a market of multi-function devices in a similar price range, a Skype-dedicated device could not be price justified.

I came away with the feeling that, while they perform more or less as advertised, Skype WiFi phones are nothing more than a prototype engineering demonstration of Skype on a wireless platform.  Certainly they would have a very limited market -- maybe in enterprises that wanted to provide "walled garden" communications amongst geographically disbursed nomadic employees. But they certainly are not a wireless phone that will gain broad consumer acceptance and market share of any significance.

Combining this experience with my experience with Nokia N-series phones, the Blackberry and Skype for Mobile on the Dell Axim I have to recommend that Skype drop the concept of a dedicated Skype WiFi phone and focus their efforts on getting Skype incorporated into those other wireless platforms. (It is for this reason that I did not bother to mention which brand of Skype WiFi phone I evaluated; it's the entire product concept that is a problem.)

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