This weekend I will travel to Barcelona to attend the Mobile World Congress, the year's most important trade fair in the wireless industry. I work there as a reporter for Areamobile and member of the Nokia Blogger Relations program.

The schedule is quite packed with interviews to Qik, Nokia, United Mobile and many other companies. Most interested I am in new devices.

However I realize that many of my readers and fellow bloggers will go to Barcelona too. It would be great to meet you face to face. So please drop me a line to set up a meeting!

Labels: Devices, Media, Nokia, United Mobile

                                      

Yesterday I checked out the EEE PC from Asus and I like it very much. It comes for €299 in Germany, is super handy and makes no noise when you use it. So it's perfect for checking e-mails or reading websites while in fact you have to other things, like listen to your professor or something like that.

The EEE PC is a very unobtrusive device, but it also has its odd qualities: The screen is often too small for configuration purposes on the built in Xandros Linux. In many cases you cannot reach the OK button at the end of a configuration window and often configuration options are left outside the usable screen.

That almost drove me crazy when I configured the Thunderbird e-mail program. The "Leave Mail on Server" option was unreachable outside the screen and there is no possibility to change the default resolution on the Asus EEE PC. Since the EEE PC has only few Gigabyte of storage it's not exactly the device where you want to download all your e-mails.

But fortunately I found a workaround: Thunderbird can be configured by editing the about:config page. That's a powerful feature of Mozilla applications which lists application settings (known as preferences) that are read from the profile files prefs.js and user.js, and from application defaults. Many of these preferences are not present in the Options or Preferences dialog. Using about:config is one of several methods of modifying preferences and adding other "hidden" ones. In Thunderbird 1.5 or later, about:config is accessed via "Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor (button)".

In about:config this option has to be set on true:

mail.server.default.leave_on_server = TRUE

And if you want to save space on the flash drive, it's recommendable to empty the trash bin every time you close the Thunderbird e-mail program:

mail.server.defaul.empty_trash_on_exit = TRUE

That's all. Have fun with the Asus EEE PC! It's the perfect mobile device for quickly answering e-mails, because it has a full QWERTY keyboard and boots up in 30 seconds.

Labels: Asus, Devices, EEE PC, EQO Mobile, Linux

                                      

The company AVM from Berlin has started to sell one of the coolest VoIP devices ever, the FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270, but only in Germany. Fritz!Box devices are still lacking FCC approval and carry only the seal of Europe's counterpart, Communauté Européenne (CE). That's why people from many other countries cannot enjoy them. In my opinion they blow away all other VoIP devices from Linksys, Grandstream or Sipura. At least you can start to dream by reading the first press release from March 15, 2007.


FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270
Premiere for the New FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 – Combines ADSL, VDSL, WLAN 11n, DECT and Media Streaming for More DSL, More VoIP and More Multimedia

• New top-of-the-range FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270


• Integrated DECT base station; ADSL, ADSL 2+ and VDSL broadband


• More WLAN with 802.11n and MIMO technology


• Media streaming server for all music files a the USB port


• HD voice with 16 kHz broadband speech codec

The FRITZ!Box family will be premiering its new flagship, FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270, at this year’s Cebit. Thanks to its wide range of features the new FRITZ!Box is now more than ever your central data hub for home Internet access. The new FRITZ!Box enables a previously unknown wide range of options: broadband access via ADSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL, and operation of cordless telephones using DECT. The new IEEE 802.11n (Draft 2.0) wireless standard, also in use for the first time, offers optimum transmission of data, speech and HD video in combination with MIMO multiple antenna technology. The integrated media server lets you listen to music in your entire network even when your PC is switched off.

ADSL and VDSL broadband

The new FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 shares the award-winning details of the current FRITZ!Box line and is also incredibly easy to use. Using ADSL (6 Mbit/s), ADSL2+ (16 bit/s) and VDSL (50 Mbit/s) technologies, the new FRITZ!Box is ready for the future expansion of broadband connections. It supports permanent virtual connections (ATM PVC) for ADSL 2+ and virtual local networks (VLAN) for VDSL. This enables different quality of service classes for various services such as voice, video and Internet. FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 supports Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) for Internet streaming. IGMP is the standard for IP multicasting on the Internet, i.e. the sending of an IP data stream to several recipients simultaneously.

New WLAN features: 802.11n and eco mode

For the first time, FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 enables WLAN connections using the future IEEE 802.11n wireless standard, which is ideal for simultaneous transmission of data, voice and multimedia. AVM uses the recently unveiled Draft 2.0 of 11n, which also defines compatibility. MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) multiple antenna technology has increased WLAN quality and data transfer rates considerably. Wireless connections can also be established using 802.11g. FRITZ!Box is secure on delivery thanks to activated WPA encryption; WPA2 can be activated individually as required. WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) ensures optimum wireless transmission of voice, data and multimedia and simultaneous transmission of multiple streaming applications. WLAN can be switched off using sleep mode or a switch. WLAN eco mode also lets you reduce power output considerably even when the device is in use. Thanks to eco mode, AVM already complies with the planned EU Code of Conduct on improving energy efficiency.

Integrated DECT – new sound with HD voice – VoIP encryption

FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 makes placing calls over the Internet or your landline (analog and ISDN) easy and convenient. TAE sockets let you use existing telephones without the adapters required by other products. Cordless calls are also possible thanks to the new integrated DECT base station, which supports up to six mobile components. The new FRITZ!Box is compatible with the first phase of the new DECT cordless standard (CAT-iq), which offers better voice quality thanks to more bandwidth. The internal ISDN S0 connection lets you use up to 8 ISDN phones and PBXs to access VoIP and your landline. Integrated bandwidth management (quality of service) enables parallel applications such as VoIP and HD video streaming. FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 delivers with HD voice (High Definition) a brand-new sound quality for Internet telephony. It supports the Linear PCM 16 and PCMA 16 voice transmission standards with a 16-kHz sampling rate. RFC 3551 defines the application of these standards for Voice over IP (VoIP), enabling top voice quality in phone calls. Calls over the Internet can be encrypted as needed. AVM uses two internationally standardized protocols, TLS (Transport Layer Security) and SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol) for this purpose. Using important familiar features from ISDN, such as toggling, call waiting, call divert and three-way conference calls, is intuitive with AVM’s new FRITZ! product whether for Internet or landline calls.

More options – music server and new USB interface

The FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 USB 2.0 port enables new network applications, and the integrated music server lets you listen to music in your entire network even when your PC is off. Hard drives connected to FRITZ!Box can be operated in Windows as conveniently as a local hard drive. You can even have secure access remotely using FTP. Thanks to AVM USB Remote Architecture (AURA), all devices connected to FRITZ!Box behave as if they were connected directly to your PC.

Comprehensive features for more security and convenience

The new FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 features comprehensive software, including a telephone book, alarm clock, firewall, child lock, WLAN sleep mode and eco mode for reducing energy consumption. One button lets you pair handheld devices (DECT and WLAN), while another lets you switch WLAN on and off.

Labels: AVM, Devices, Fritzbox, VoIP

                                      

Since my last post "Call me for free with Tringme!" I get funny calls from Senegal and other far away countries. They go through Tringme, but also my click to call widgets from Voxalot and Sitňfono. Somebody must have spread the word that I give support on certain VoIP services and devices. No wonder that people call me, since it's for free.

I am OK with such calls, but please understand that I can only answer during working hours in my time zone. The rest of the calls goes to the voice mail box. The yesterday's caller didn't even understand that he was talking to an answering machine. He thought that I was on the phone with him but refusing to answer, so he got a little upset. Also I had serious problems to understand his Englisch and the e-mail address he left.

I think for such purposes it's still the best option to contact me over the contact form on my website. The last caller who came through caught me on my cell phone in a department store when I couldn't help him at all.

Labels: Devices, free phone calls, Sitňfono, Tringme, VoIP, Voxalot

                                      

So the Google Phone is out and the first reactions are not too good. At least at GigaOM there is more criticism than kudos. Nobody wants to hype the new product, nearly everyone is nagging. Since Google's shares are worth more than 700 dollars it's not cool anymore to be a Google fanboy.

I got an invitation to the same press call like Om, but unfortunately it started when my workday ended. May other journalist cover the story. Also it seems that the press call was not very much of a pleasure. "They completely dodged my question about how does it reconcile with other mobile linux efforts which are backed by none other than partners like Motorola", writes Om Malik.

Personally I like very much what he tells about Android, Google's new mobile phone plattform:

What is Android? A fully integrated mobile “software stack” that consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications. It will be made available under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licenses, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products. Next week, the Alliance will release an early access software development kit to provide developers with the tools necessary to create innovative and compelling applications for the platform.

Does anybody know if this has something to do with OpenMOKO, the other open Linux cell phone platform? Maybe Android is just the same?

How open is Android compared to OpenMOKO?

The latter let's you manipulate everything to the very core of the mobile phone functions. Yet now there are thousands of great free Linux programs running on the OpenMOKO devices. I would love to see this kind of openness backed by heavy weights like Google and the other mentioned companies.

I hope that Android is as open as the Open Handset Alliance's website says:

Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

All applications are created equal

Android does not differentiate between the phone's core applications and third-party applications. They can all be built to have equal access to a phone's capabilities providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services. With devices built on the Android Platform, users will be able to fully tailor the phone to their interests. They can swap out the phone's homescreen, the style of the dialer, or any of the applications. They can even instruct their phones to use their favorite photo viewing application to handle the viewing of all photos.

I think GigaOM's reader rohit understands it right:

i think this is a much bigger potential play at replacing the whole mobile phone software stack and aimed at making it truly an information appliance. think of it as an IP-services led “phone” design, not a telco-call based device.

It's a Linux for phones! You can do everything with it, if it's really open. I already wonder how it cooperates with Google's Ubiquisys femtocells. It annoys very much that my cell phone is not as open and flexible as my PC. Give me a command line to my cell phone and I will be happy!

Or, as commentator David Jacobs puts it:

Being an open system, hackers will have a field day with this and it could get some serious traction among the geek community who are so frustrated with the iPhone limitations.

Here you can get more quotes from Android's developers:

"Even A teenager in the basement and a senior designer in a big company - they have the same chance", says the film. That would be great because I don’t want just a Google Phone. I want many different of them for different purposes. That’s why I think the OS approach is great. The iPhone just isn’t enough anymore. It’s so 2007.

I got the offer to do interviews to John Wang, Chief Marketing Officer of Google's hardware producer HTC, and Florian Seiche, Vice President Europe of HTC, tomorrow. Let's see if that will answer my open questions.

Labels: Devices, Google, HTC, Mobile, Motorola, Open Handset Alliance, OpenMoko, Software

                                      

The web based callback operator Jajah starts to offer real VoIP calls over a 3G HSDPA cell phone network in Japan. That's funny since it undermines their own "Smash your headset" campaign which Jajah uses to attack competitor Skype. But Jajah's press department again did a great job of reality distortion so that bloggers and old school media didn't realize the the contradiction. I already covered the topic for the German news website Areamobile where I now work more often.

Normally people have to pay double at Jajah. After they enter their own number and the callee's number on a web site or in a mobile phone, Jajah's server establishes two phone calls to connect them. That's not always the cheapest option, compared to calling cards or pure play VoIP, and has nearly nothing to do with mobile internet telephony. Jajah uses VoIP only in the backend to connect the calls. The callers just need a normal PSTN or cell phone to start a Jajah conversation. But now Jajah starts to change these rules with a new operation in Japan. The per minute price gets cheaper by eliminating the double calls and Jajah does more or less the same like Truphone.

The Japanese company Emobile will be the first mobile operator in this country to offer VoIP over HSDPA. The start is scheduled for October 18, 2007, and the application has been developed by Jajah for the "One Alpha" devices of Emobile, which until now were data only and could not make phone calls. The phone calls go over the Jajah network and cost per minute about 9.7 Euro cents to Japanese cell phones and 1.4 Euro cents to the PSTN. Emobile makes its money by charging a flatrate tariff for the VoIP and other data usage. Emergency calls or calls to free numbers are not possible, as we already know it from other VoIP providers. The VoIP application comes preinstalled on new devices, or can be installed on existing devices, and the customer only needs to sign up with Jajah, which gets him a 300 Yen (1.80 Euro cents) call credit.

I would really like to know more about this application, but the information is spare. Jajah did not send out an own press release and their public relations people don't know more either, I learned from emails and phone calls. The big question is how the new Jajah VoIP application looks from inside and if it's the first outcome of the recent investment by Intel. Jajah's co-founder, Roman Scharf, said in May 2007 on this occasion: "The deeper Jajah can be embedded into Intel solutions, the better for customers everywhere. It is our intention to bring a best-of-class, next generation solution to the market which can be embedded and optimized for any computing device." Fellow blogger Moshe Maeir then explained in his blog posts "Jajah gets $20m and Intel’s patents" and "Behind the scenes of the Intel, Jajah deal" how Jajah's access to Intel's patent portfolio helps to embed Jajah's telephony functions at the chip level of mobile phones.

Maybe that's what's happening now with Emobile? The birth of a new mobile VoIP hardware?

The funny part is that you have to connect a HEADSET to the "One Alpha" device from Emobile, which runs Windows Mobile 6.0, to make a Jajah call. That's so ironic since Jajah is badgering their opponent Skype yet for months with a campaign under the claim "If you liked Skype, You'll love Jajah". It makes fun of the fact that Skype users are tied to their PC and have to use a headset to make a call. "Jajah is revolutionary because it lets you make free and low-cost global calls using your everyday mobile or landline phone," said Roman Scharf in the regarding press release. "Services like Skype require headsets, software downloads and sometimes other technical equipment, making them way too hard for the everyday consumer to use."

With the new VoIP service from Emobile Jajah works exactly the same way. But at least nobody has to pay double for a phone call.

Labels: 3G, Devices, Emobile, HSDPA, Jajah, Mobile, Skype, Truphone, VoIP

                                      

Does anybody know whether you can download podcasts wirelessly from iTunes to the new iPod touch?

I cannot find an answer to that.

I guess this new wireless device could fulfil all my musical needs. But Steve Jobs shouldn't think that I would buy music over Wifi from his iTunes store! That's a new feature of the iPod touch which has been celebrated in all the news.

But the best iTunes feature are the free podcasts, like Dance Department, winner of the category Best Podcast at the 2007 Miami Winter Music Conference. Every week another world famous DJ is on the decks, no annoying advertising or cheap talk. Just one interesting interview, the best dance tracks of the week and a 30 minutes high class DJ set plus one "educating classic".

But I am fed up with downloading podcasts to the laptop and syncing to the iPod. I would like to download them directly over Wifi and delete them when the memory is full.

This leads me to the next question: Does the new iPod generation finally have a delete button?

Labels: Apple, Devices, iPod, Media

                                      

PC World has a very interesting text and interview with the makers of OpenMoko, the open source "anti iPhone". Most interesting: After GPRS, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth they will add 3G next year.

We plan on going 3G next year. This first device uses existing Gerber designs from our feature phones to lower the costs. Remember that this is an unlocked, nonsubsidized phone. So $300 is actually incredibly cheap. We thought this was super-important, to help with early adoption.

There is a nice list of yet available applications, but there is more to come since the entire open source world is invited to develop and to port their applications.

Labels: Devices, Linux, Mobile, OpenMoko