Alec Saunders SquawkBox

The title of Friday’s call was Small Computers vs. Big Phones, and the impetus was an issue of Mark Anderson’s Strategic News Service by the same name.  We talked about the coming “war” between smartphones and netbooks, computing in the cloud, and where the intersection between these devices might occur.

Many people expressed the opinion that we would likely be carrying multiple devices, depending on context, and thus were inclined to dismiss the idea that a war might be coming as hyperbole. 

Nevertheless, there’s certainly jockeying for position going on as TI prepares to ship 1W multi-core processors, operating system vendors duke it out, and the device manufacturers themselves battle for the hearts and minds of consumers. 

Friday’s conference call was recorded on Calliflower.  In attendance: Tim Panton, Carl Ford, Jonathan Greene, Brad Jones, Bill Volk, Jim Courtney, Doug Renert, Kim Dushinski, Barlow Keener, Sheryl Breukrer, Ken Camp, Todd Spraggins, Sergio Meinardi, Misha Nossik, and Aga Magdolen.

 

 Squawk Box Feb 27 [49:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We hosted Lee Dryburgh, the organizer of eComm, on the January 26th SquawkBox conference call.  A wide ranging and well attended conference call, we discussed the origins of the eComm Conference, what to expect from this year’s conference, and highlights of previous years.

Along the way, we also managed to talk about Open networks, telecom and Skype, whether interoperability really matters at all, and the communications continuum idea that folks like Jeff Pulver have been actively promoting. And we managed to convince lee to dust off his crystal ball, and prognosticate on the future of telecommunications. 

eComm will be March 3-5 in San Francisco.  Early bird registrations are open for just two more days – until January 30th.  If you’re in the communications industry, you owe it to yourself to attend this event.

On the Calliflower Conference Call: Jonathan Jensen, Dan York, Jim Courtney, Lee dryburgh, Martyn Davies, Mark Hewitt, Mike Pruyn, Brad Jones, James Body, Ken Camp, Sheryl Breuker, Warren Bent, Todd Spraggins, Jeanette Fisher, TJ Snell, Sergio Meinardi, and Tim Panton.

 

 Squawk Box January 26, Guest Lee Dryburgh [57:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It had been seven days since the Windows 7 beta was released so it seemed fitting that we talk about it. Last Friday morning we discussed Windows 7, people’s experience with it, and the controversies surrounding it.

Several people on the call were running Windows 7, on a variety of platforms ranging from netbooks to Mac’s and various Windows machines.  We talked about various aspects of the experience, including the Device Stage. The consensus was that the OS was fast, lighter-weight than Windows Vista, and stable. 

We also discussed a few of the controversies:

• What does Windows 7 mean for Ubuntu?
• Should Microsoft have used BitTorrent to manage the download?
• What will Microsoft do with Windows 7 and the burgeoning netbook market?

On the Calliflower Conference Call: Jonathan Greene, Jonathan Jensen, Jim Courtney, Frank Abrams, Mike Pruyn, Dan York, Maxim, Sergio Meinardi, Jeb Brilliant, Rob Enderle, Dave Michels, and Chuck Willemsen.

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 Squawk Box January 16, 2009 [41:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On December 9 we talked with InnerPass Executives Steve Parsloe and Bill Trail about the launch of their Inner Pass “Share, Collaborate, Communicate” Certified Skype Extra – a web-based persistent document sharing service that supports conversation and collaboration activity by invoking Skype voice services and Instant Messaging (chat) as well as screen sharing. A basic use case scenario would be where a project administrator or team manager creates a virtual “meeting room” with a set of project- or task-related documents, such as engineering drawings or legal contracts. The host can then invite other team members or individuals that he wants to have access to the room. The documents are accessible at any time by the meeting room members whom also have the ability to upload their own files and add additional participants. The files can be stored for as long as they are needed for the project and controlled with a version management process. When the relevant team wants to hold real time conversations they can either launch an “instant ad hoc conversation” or schedule a meeting and launch a conference call and/or team chat session via Skype’s multi-party calling and group chat services. Team members can be brought into voice conference sessions via either Skype or SkypeOut.

For this call Steve hosted a desktop sharing presentation that demonstrated how rooms were created and how conference conversations (voice and/or chat) were set up. InnterPass is a hosted work or community team-building service with additional tools for screen sharing, email, inviting and removing team members as well as the level of member participation permitted. Since its mid-October launch there have been over 42,000 downloads of their Skype Certified version.

During the call there is mention of a GoToMeeting session; while we could not record that, the PowerPoint deck used at that session is attached.

On the Calliflower Conference Call today: Jim Courtney (Moderator), James Body, Bill Trail, Steve Parsloe, William Volk, and Sergio Meinardi .

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 SquawkBox Dec 9 [23:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Friday morning we talked with OnState Communications CEO Pat Kelly about the launch of the OnState Virtual PBX service, a hosted PBX that extends to include handling of Skype calls, whether Skype-to-Skype or involving SkypeIn numbers or SkypeOut. OnState’s Virtual PBX uses much of the software and architecture developed for their OnState Call Center service. Basically it will receive calls from the PSTN (including wireless phones), a toll-free (“800″) number, Skype or SkypeIn and can direct them to designated recipients, whether on Skype, a traditional fixed line handset or a wireless phone.

Pat included a presentation that covered schematically how their Virtual PBX service works and compares it with traditional PBX services. It also includes enhanced features, such as call queuing. You can view the presentation as a sharable Google document here.

On the Calliflower Conference Call today: Jim Courtney (Moderator), Jeb Brilliant, Brad Jones, Pat Kelly, Tom Orr, William Volk, Sergio Meinardi and Yusuf Motiwala.

 

 SquawkBox November 21 [36:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download