Information Monopolies
WSJ: Do away with Google? Break up Facebook? We can not imagine life without them, and that is the problem; http://eicker.at/1e
Tagged: VoIP Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
Gerrit Eicker
FaceTime
Apple FaceTime did not launch as a killer app, but it may end up as one, providing a halo effect; http://eicker.at/FaceTime
Gerrit Eicker
Facebook Should Buy Skype
Bernström: Voice is the new black. How should [Facebook] enter the space? Buy Skype; http://j.mp/bMUD44
Gerrit Eicker
Facebook+Skype?
ATD: Facebook and Skype are poised to announce a wide-ranging partnership, including SMS, voice chat; http://j.mp/d5lHhn
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Gerrit Eicker
ATD: “You didn’t think Facebook would integrate with Google Voice, did you? – Actually, according to sources close to the situation, Facebook and Skype are poised to announce a significant and wide-ranging partnership that will include integration of SMS, voice chat and Facebook Connect. – The move by the pair – which have tested small contact importer integrations before – is a natural one for the social networking giant, which is aiming to be the central communications and messaging platform for its users, across a range of media. – Facebook’s goal, according to sources: To mesh communications and community more tightly together and add more tools to allow users to do so. … The pair called it ‘strategic unified communications and collaboration partnership,’ and is centered on business and personal videoconferencing.“
Gerrit Eicker
4G Will Change Everything!
4G, 3.9G (LTE) to be serious, will give the Internet a boost like landline broadband did before; http://j.mp/9f0PEY
Gerrit Eicker
Business: OpenSim vs. Second Life
Korolov: OpenSim business roadmap, the past, present and future; http://j.mp/balwKd (via @kohdspace)
Gerrit Eicker
Google vs. Net Neutrality?
Wired: Why Google became a carrier-humping, net neutrality surrender monkey; http://j.mp/9shFsJ (via @Siegfried.Hirsch)
Gerrit Eicker
SkypeKit
Skype opens its VoIP platform with the SkypeKit SDK and a robust set of APIs; http://j.mp/aMH1jZ
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Gerrit Eicker
Skype: “Now, we are taking Skype into new directions by empowering consumer electronic and desktop software innovators to embed Skype into their products through the availability of our new software development kit (SDK) called SkypeKit. … SkypeKit will not only include a robust set of APIs for a variety of popular Skype features, including voice and video calling and instant messaging, it will also deliver Skype’s signature super wideband audio, based on the SILK codec. In addition, developers who use SkypeKit will be able to describe them as plugged into Skype.”
RWW: “Previously, Skype’s API allowed accessories like headsets and webcams to communicate better with Skype, but those applications required Skype to run in the background. With this new SDK, apps can be built that run independently of Skype, much like the popular multi-platform chat clients available today. … It seems likely that Skype will make its SDK available on Web and mobile platforms eventually, since the company’s idea is ‘that every connected device can become a communications device, with the addition of SkypeKit.’ For now, desktop developers and hardware manufacturers have the chance to create some interesting Skype integrations with the new SDK.”
Gerrit Eicker
The Internet
Naughton: 9 key steps to understanding the most powerful tool of our age, the Internet; http://j.mp/b7puKP
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Gerrit Eicker
Naughton: “The strange thing about living through a revolution is that it’s very difficult to see what’s going on. … We’re living through a radical transformation of our communications environment. … Often, these interpretations are compressed into vivid slogans, memes or aphorisms: information ‘wants to be free’; the ‘long tail’ is the future of retailing; ‘Facebook just seized control of the internet’, and so on. … Here’s a radical idea: why not see if there’s anything to be learned from history? … So let’s conduct what the Germans call a Gedankenexperiment – a thought experiment. Imagine that the net represents a similar kind of transformation in our communications environment to that wrought by printing. What would we learn from such an experiment? … The most common – and still surprisingly widespread – misconception is that the internet and the web are the same thing. They’re not. … Disruption is a feature, not a bug. … The internet’s disruptiveness is a consequence of its technical DNA. … Think ecology, not economics. … Complexity is the new reality. … [Common] strategies are unlikely to work in our emerging environment, where intelligence, agility, responsiveness and a willingness to experiment (and fail) provide better strategies for dealing with what the networked environment will throw at you. … The network is now the computer. … The Web is changing. … Huxley and Orwell are the bookends of our future. … Our intellectual property regime is no longer fit for purpose. … The sad fact is that if there is a ‘truth’ about the internet, it’s rather prosaic: to almost every big question about the network’s long-term implications the only rational answer is the one famously given by Mao Zedong’s foreign minister, Zhou Enlai, when asked about the significance of the French Revolution: ‘It’s too early to say.’ It is.“
Gerrit Eicker
Facebook Goes Jabber
Facebook Chat goes Jabber (XMPP), adds support for Facebook Connect; http://j.mp/bJeCq7
SB: “Voice is the new black. Seems like after all the hype of apps, the world still wants to connect in real-time and in many cases is willing to pay for such value. In the battle of voice, Skype, Google, Apple, telecom operators and independent outfits are gearing up for battle. The trillion-dollar land grab is officially on. – Apple launched FaceTime video chat. Google Talk is turning into the new pay phone. Oh, and Skype has filed for an IPO as well as announcing plans to enter the enterprise space. – But besides the indie stalwarts, who’s the dark horse in the room? – Facebook. – What should it do? How should it enter the space? The answer is clear. Buy Skype. – Four reasons why Facebook should acquire Skype.“