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NewsVac: News from around the Web
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Carrier Grade Linux comes of age
1 year, 1 month ago
The promise of Linux that is robust enough to be used in telecoms networks has been a long time coming, but the fourth generation of specifications for Carrier Grade Linux is now becoming well-established. -
Design Your Own PBX in an Hour or Two
1 year, 2 months ago
Geek.com demonstrates how easy it is to roll your own PBX in about an hour or two. Provided that the instructions are followed carefully, you too should be able to set up your very own switchboard/PBX system and all for the cost of the hardware of your choice. The beauty of Asterisk (Asterisk.org) is that it is free and offers all this functionality right out of the box. Asterisk is a software implementation of a hardware PBX and can run on a variety of hardware platforms. -
Android to offer application store in the future
1 year, 5 months ago
Google might offer an application store -- similar to one for the iPhone -- for its Android mobile operating system sometime in the near future. -
Interview with the Ekiga developers
1 year, 6 months ago
"Ekiga is the most popular, free VoIP software available. When I asked the Ekiga team for an interview, there was a lot I didn’t know. For example, I had no idea I’d be interviewing quite so many people (coordination was quite a challenge!), and -- more importantly -- I didn’t know that so much knowledge would have been uncovered." -
Google Android - a sneak preview
1 year, 9 months ago
"What's in it for developers? Google invited developers to its London office for one of three workshops - the others being in Munich and Tel Aviv to spread the word and teach developers how to write for their new OS. Another event will be held in Boston on February 23rd. Here's what they told us .... " -
Why Microsoft loves Google Android, take 2
1 year, 10 months ago
"Reputation bashing aside, I like high-spirited debates. My favorite quote these-days is, 'Argue as if you were right, listen as if you were wrong' by Karl Weick .... " -
Google will definitely bid for US wireless spectrum
1 year, 11 months ago
"Google is "gearing up to make a serious run at buying" a prime portion of the US wireless spectrum. And it's prepared to bid with nothing but its own money.At least, that's the word from this morning's Wall Street Journal. The soon-to-be Murdoch-ized paper also said that Google is testing an "advanced wireless network" at its campus in Mountain View, California, just in case it decides to operate the spectrum on its own."
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Motorola Releases Open Source Middleware
2 years, 4 months ago
"Motorola announced Thursday that it has released version 1 of an open source project aimed at providing a standard for high-availability middleware for telecommunications hardware manufacturers and ISVs. The company also disclosed it has taken the first steps toward turning the code over to a consortium of interested parties ... " -
Digium Takes Asterisk Upstream Sans GPL 3
2 years, 4 months ago
"Internetnews.com has learned that Digium, the commercial vendor behind the open source Asterisk VoIP PBX effort, has a new but unannounced appliance in the works..." -
Broadcast Treaty wounded and dying
2 years, 4 months ago
It's been four or five years since Electronic Frontier Foundation joined the fight against the United Nations' "broadcast treaty," and this week, just as things were looking darkest, we scored our most definitive victory, -
Is the walled garden getting worse?
2 years, 4 months ago
Here is some food for thought: In 2001, it was a lot easier to publish your mobile content such as a ringtone or wallpaper or your WAP application onto a carrier catalog. Today, only if your brand is Tier 1 such as Disney or you work through a publisher, will you even have a chance of being considered for a carrier catalog.
Linux.com : Telecomm
Voiceroute execs talk about going (mostly) open source (video)
Voiceroute, a software PBX vendor, originally started as a proprietary software company but went (at least partly) open source earlier this year. In this video, CEO Ming Guang Yong says the company should have moved toward open source "a lot sooner," and explains why. He and CTO Navin Kumar also talk about some of the specific differences between their open source and proprietary versions, including how and where they draw the line between the two, and share their thoughts about dealing with open source developers and building a successful open source development community.
Debugging Asterisk AGI with PHPAGI and Festival
Programming the Asterisk open source PBX via the Asterisk Gateway Interface (AGI) is a fun but exasperating exercise for the telephony programmer. It is fun since it can make a telephone dance, but frustrating because errors and debugging information can be difficult to catch since status information arrives on multiple channels: audible, Asterisk console, and STDERR. You can make the process of debugging a bit easier with the assistance of PHPAGI and Festival.
CEO says Sangoma cards made Asterisk great
Sangoma produces telephony cards and writes drivers that work with open source applications such as Asterisk, Yate, FreeSwitch, and CallWeaver. Sangoma CEO and founder David Mandelstam says that before Sangoma started producing cards to work with Asterisk, the open source project was "kind of a toy for hobbyists."
Junction Networks uses Asterisk to tailor VoIP to customer demands
Like many VoIP telephony companies, Junction Networks uses Asterisk and other open source software to provide its customers with highly customizable VoIP service. Junction has been able to migrate its business model from a conference bridge service provider to a full-fledged telephone services company largely because of the flexibility and lower capital requirements of open source. "We're a completely bootstrapped company," says Mike Oeth, founder and CEO. "We were never locked into a business plan that was sold to investors." He says Junction is successful because it has been able to follow its customers' desires with open source.
Set up wireless broadband access with YaST
Thanks to Linux kernel updates and newly added drivers, wireless broadband access is now easy to set up on laptops. However, some vendors, such as Verizon, don't support broadband PCMCIA adapters. A script can help, but trying to edit a script can be difficult for entry-level users, and Internet service providers (ISP) often provide little information that can help. Enter openSUSE's YaST, a graphical program that can help users configure their laptops to use wireless broadband PC Cards and other types of modems to connect to a network.
Asterisk awakens open source love in telecom entrepreneur
Marc Fribush, a former "Microsoft guy," is a telecommunications industry entrepreneur who discovered the benefits of open source when he launched a turnkey SAAS telephony business based on Asterisk. "It's really powerful stuff," Fribush says.
Open source telephony gives customers control, consultant says
Thomas Howe is a telecommunications developer and consultant who is passionate about the role of open source software in the telephony industry. He calls open source the "next generation" of telecommunications, and works with large enterprise companies to help them design phone systems that fully integrate with their business flow. "Only open source can do that," Howe says.
