Google Voice Local Search Beta

April 09 2007

Last week, Google Labs announced their new, experimental, free 411 service. To try the Google Voice Local Search Beta call 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). Currently, the service will bridge your call, provide results via SMS, or give you more details (such as location and phone number). You can listen to an Odeo recording… read more

Oops! Joost

February 20 2007

I was playing with the recently re-released Mac build of Joost this evening and noticed the kind of bug that’s sure to infuriate content providers. You’re looking at a screenshot from Joost’s National Geographic channel playing The Search For Kennedy’s PT-109. Unfortunately, the show is incorrectly labeled as Inside the… read more

3rd Party Interop

February 19 2007

I heart disruptive services and technologies. Especially the kind that enable something obvious that consumers have been asking for but have been denied. While this falls under the “few on the internet are likely to care” category the gtalk2voip service has added Yahoo! Messenger support. This (for now) open and free… read more

What a Great 24 Hours!

February 09 2007

First, our buddy Surj became a Dad all over again! Surj, congrats to you and your family! Second, I’m blushing because I was part of the small team at Yahoo! that just helped launch Pipes. I’m hopeful that some will find cool, new ways to power telephony apps using Pipes data.… read more

Network operators want to challenge the internet search giants

February 04 2007

In what sounds like a bid to work together to continue to keep their network and services closed there are rumors online that many of the major European network operators are planning meetings together next week at the 3GSM conference. The discussions are supposedly around attempting to collaborate on building… read more

Persuade More People to Build a Hackable Mobile Phone!

February 03 2007

At yesterday’s Mobile Persuasion conference discussions turned off topic for a bit. Many in attendance voiced their frustration with the way the mobile network operators disallow the phones they sell, and the services they offer, from being more readily hacked on. In a audience Q&A the discussion of Mobile Persuasion got… read more

A list of Telecom 2.0 projects

January 28 2007

Bob Stumpel has been compiling a list of Telecom 2.0 projects. While no means comprehensive it’s an interesting place to quickly gauge what various companies are doing in the emerging telephony space. read more

The sad state of Voicemail in 2007

January 22 2007

Given the changes in communication preferences it’s interesting that the Voicemail services that I use at home/work aren’t significantly different from the first microcassete based answering machines my parents had when I was growing up. Good design is good design, and I’m all for not messing with something that works,… read more

Mapping Wireless Broadband

January 17 2007

The folks over at EVDOforums were kind enough to spam me today with details about their new EVDOmaps project. The point of EVDOmaps is to allow wireless broadband users to post quality of service details to an interactive map. In their own words: We’re using the latest in “Google Mashup” technology… read more

Fring from your Mobile

January 02 2007

I just started playing with a new mobile application called Fring that lets you IM and make VoIP calls to Skype and gTalk contacts. For now the software appears to be limited to a few Nokia devices. While I don’t think this is a super new project it’s the first… read more

Fring Mer

January 02 2007

Fring is a mobile client that lets you IM and make VoIP calls to skype/gtalk contacts (for now via a limited number of nokia devices) http://fring.com/download_fring/ read more

Venice Project Beta Pics and Feedback

December 12 2006

The Venice Project has (sort of) launched via an invite only public beta. Until you get an invite from a pal checkout some official screenshots and read the early feedback to peak your curiousity. read more

Nerd Vittles Weather Station for Asterisk

December 12 2006

Just when you thought it was safe to dorkout the Nerd (aka Ward Mundy) returns with a new tutorial showing how to setup his US Zipcode Weather Station on Asterisk. Major geek props to Ward for documenting some seriously nerdy ways to use a PBX such as how to add… read more

Roving Bugs

December 08 2006

ABC News is reporting a story that claims the FBI can access and control a cellphone that is turned off, activate its microphone and transmit any audio it picks up to a FBI listening post. While these claims sound a little bit farfetched so did Project Echelon when I first read… read more

More and More Web 2.0 Celebs Breaking Tech News

December 04 2006

Recently, Stewart Butterfield was one of the first to show off the N95. Today, news is out that Kevin Rose has iPhone details! Currently, Revision Premium Members can watch his video here about it. Or, just read the same excerpt I read on macnn.com today: The new unit will ship in 4GB… read more