Less VoIP May Be More When It Comes to Click-To-Call Ads

By Robert Poe

It's no secret that the big Web portals consider voice over IP a key ingredient in the mix of e-mail, instant messaging and other services they're offering visitors to their sites. The mystery is how exactly they expect to make money from it. One clue to their thinking is scheduled to surface soon, with the expected announcement of a big-name customer for eStara's click-to-call VoIP software. The software and other eStara products make it possible for advertisers to know exactly how many customers contacted them by phone in response to a specific Web ad.

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The Changing Face Of The Internet

You may have missed it this week. In the dead middle of a Business Week interview with SBC chief Edward Whitacre is a comment that foretells the future of broadband. At least, the future incumbent broadband providers are planning for. But it’s not a pretty picture for the rest of us.

When asked whether he was concerned about Google, MSN, Vonage, and other companies' plans to get into broadband services, the CEO of the telco giant let slip his plans to create a "walled garden" where your freedom to surf is sacrificed at the altar of SBC profits:

How do you think they’re going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain’t going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there’s going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they’re using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?

The internet can’t be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment and for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!

Americans take for granted the diversity of information and services they find at the click of a mouse.

Legal Music Downloads Rising with Broadband and MP3 Player Adoption

Broadband households in Europe and North America will re-shape the distribution of recorded music over the next five years, according to Martin Olausson, a Senior Analyst at Strategy Analtyics. His latest research shows broadband households will spend billions of dollars through 2010 to download music from sources like Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, Napster, Yahoo and a hoard of Internet service providers.

According to a new report from the Strategy Analytics Broadband Media and Communications service, broadband users in these regions will spend over a billion dollars on online music this year, with sales expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2010. This figure will represent nearly 16 percent of total sales, up from less than two percent in 2004.

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Apple Launches The New iPod

Witness the evolution of the revolution. First it played songs. Then photos. Then podcasts. Now iPod plays video, changing the way you experience your music and more. Again. In lighter, thinner 30GB and 60GB models starting at $299, the new iPod is music to your eyes.

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Broadband National Awarded Exclusive Affiliate Rights

Broadband National has been awarded the exclusive affiliate rights to market broadband services from SBC Communications, Comcast, Qwest and Covad. To market these products Broadband National utilizes a "Private Label Program". This programs promote services via a private label website that maintains the look and feel of the providers website. Customers will view broadband services as an extension of current products in a seamless web environment. Broadband National creates a private label site with Logo and content consistent with the providers website. In addition, Broadband National provides an affiliate ID and tracking mechanisms in order to manage all inquiries and orders provided by Private Label customers. To view some examples of Private Label Programs that we have produced visit comcastspecial.com, sbcyahoospecial.com, or qwestspecial.com.

Broadband National Appoints David Wilcox As Chief Technology Officer

Broadband National today announced the appointment of David Wilcox as Chief Technology Officer. Wilcox is responsible for directing the development and management of Broadband Nationals technology infrastructure. This includes BBN’s software development and data center operations.

Prior to joining BN, Wilcox served as CIO for Integrated Physician Solutions (IPS) from 1999-2005. He also was the concept development lead and architect of IPS’s web based healthcare ASP business. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Missouri.

Broadband National and CBIZ Team to Offer Broadband Solutions for Managed Services

Broadband National LLC., the leading online retailer of consumer and commercial broadband services, today announced a partnership with CBIZ allowing CBIZ's team of technology advisors and customer support specialists to utilize Broadband National's proprietary Integrated Broadband Information System (IBIS) technology.

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INDIA - Hole in the Wall

A billion people live in India -- one of every six on the planet. Half of them are illiterate. Only one in four has access to adequate sanitation. Some 350 million Indians live on less than a dollar a day. Yet India is also home to some of the world's most advanced high-technology firms, and New Delhi is Silicon Valley East.

Several years ago, a computer scientist, Dr. Sugata Mitra, had an idea. What would happen if he could provide poor children with free, unlimited access to computers and the Internet? Mitra launched what came to be known as the hole in the wall experiment. FRONTLINE/World producer Rory O'Connor first encountered Dr. Mitra and his experiment while directing a film on global poverty.

Speed Test Reposted

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Inexpensive MP3

Take up to 50 music titles anywhere you go with this MP3 player from Broadband National. It comes with 128MB Flash Drive and supports WMA and MP3 and all for low low price of just $39.99. Click here for details.

FCC Requires Certain Broadband and VoIP Providers to Accommodate Wiretaps

Washington, D.C. – Responding to a petition from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FCC Commission determined that providers of certain broadband and interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services must be prepared to accommodate law enforcement wiretaps, the Federal Communications Commission ruled yesterday.

Free 30 Day Trial To 1,500 Digital Videos

More than 1,500 titles with TotalVid Pass. Get hundreds of high quality, digital downloads available. From surfing, skateboarding, to travel, home improvement, or anime, TotalVid offers a huge selection to help you find the content you crave.

You get instant access with TotalVid downloads, you are always just minutes away from watching top videos. To avoid being charged after your trial, simply cancel your account before the trial ends. If you are enjoying TotalVid, do nothing and your membership will automatically continue on the plan you have selected for as long as you choose to remain a member.

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Katrina photos, are they real?

A friend of mine sent me this photo and more of hurricane Katrina coming ashore in near New Orleans. There are several others in this series. All equally impressive. I don't know if they are real or not.

AOL And VoIP

Time Warner Inc. said on Tuesday its America Online Inc. unit would introduce a new VoIP service called TotalTalk early next month.

VoIP allows customers to use their high-speed Internet connection instead of traditional landlines to make telephone calls. AOL said its TotalTalk service may lead to savings of up to 40 percent on monthly bills.

It said it would begin the roll out of the new service on October 4.

AOL The Next Vonage?

"Excerpt From Red Herring Magazine Online"

Portal players have taken off the gloves in the wake of eBay’s announced purchase of Skype. One report on Thursday had Time Warner and Microsoft in “advanced discussions” on a merger of AOL and MSN. Another has AOL unveiling the VoIP product at next week’s Voice On the Net (VON) Coalition conference in Boston.

According to the web publication Light Reading, AOL, which was one of the first web portal companies to dabble in VoIP, is getting set to launch a full-service VoIP product that will not require AOL membership or AOL’s software client. It will be a full-blown VoIP service, much like Vonage’s, that will be available to consumers across the United States.

Also, the New York Post cites two unnamed sources that claimed Microsoft is proposing a deal in which it would pay Time Warner for a stake in AOL, after which the two companies will create a joint venture that will merge the portal efforts of AOL and MSN.

Vonage IPO?

It's inevitable that Vonage will go public. Most predict that it'll happen before the end of the year. Others predict that it will be received with the same gusto as the Google IPO. Are you ready to buy into the Vonage dream? I for one don't want to miss out on another possible Google type rise. But lets face it they have some serious dogs biting at their heels. AT&T soon to be SBC and Time Warner and Cablevision to name just a few. Not to mention that their market share has recently been cut in half.

So do you roll the dice with Vonage or play it safe with SBC? After all it's only money.a

eBay to acquire Skype?

At first I was a little confused as to why eBay would want to acquire a company like Skype. But after further review it seems to make pretty good sense.

By acquiring Skype, eBay could set itself apart by exclusively offering Skype's low-cost voice services to customers. Skype's trademark computer-to-computer calling would let eBay's buyers talk directly with sellers, and customers could also use the technology to take part in auctions live, calling out bids vocally.

eBay also may have grander ambitions than remaining an online marketplace. The deal would help eBay offer services that could pluck customers from Web giants such as Google and Yahoo, which are pursuing their own Net-phone plans.

Microsoft Acquires Teleo.

Microsoft recently announced it has acquired Teleo Inc. Teleo is a provider of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) software and services. Teleo is privately owned, founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco. The company’s software allows PCs to make phone calls to cell phones, regular phones or other PCs.

VoIP technology is already featured in MSN Messenger as well as other Microsoft products and services. Microsoft plans to incorporate and expand upon Teleo technologies.

Picking Up the iPhone Buzz

Apple and Motorola may soon unveil their long-awaited iTunes cell phone, but the device is facing a slew of rival mobile music options

Apple Computer's cryptic announcement that it's holding an "invitation-only event" in San Francisco on Sept. 7 has rekindled media buzz around the computer maker's planned release of a music-playing mobile phone, developed in conjunction with Motorola. Apple (AAPL ) and Motorola (MOT ) are mum on the event's agenda, yet there's little doubt that this long-awaited device is enormously important to both companies. Jupiter Research estimates the number of wireless phones that support music will surge to more than 70 million by 2010, surpassing the number of portable MP3 players. In fact, sales of digital music players, including music-ready phones, will break the 35 million-unit mark by the end of the year, the researcher says, citing a recent market study.

What's less clear: How much of a breakthrough is the Motorola iTunes phone, and will it be a hit with consumers?

This is great news unless you live where I do. I can almost hear the sound of cars slamming into one another as all the idiots are talking on cells phones with ear plugs listening to the Black Eyed Peas.

10 Worst Album Covers Of All Time

Click here for the 10 worst and I mean worst album covers of all times.