* VoiPster to offer corporate challenger to Skype: Amsterdam-based Voipster will introduce a corporate competitor to Skype, the popular free VoIP client, by next month. The Dutch company is targeting business users and will charge a monthly fee for unlimited calls. The service will be avalaible for Windows, Linux and MacOSX. (via Broadband Reports)
* Moblogging At First SightWell, first people were getting dumped by SMS, but what if camera phones can help them find their one true soul mate? picturephoning.com points us to one entrepreneur has decided to take this to the next level. (via Techdirt Wireless)
* Cordless phones, just like Cellular: New York Times has an interesting article on how cellular phones business is inspiring radical changes in the cordless phones – you know those devices we use at home – which are becoming more cellphone like. This is particularly good round-up of all the phones on the market and the best one they say is from Panasonic. With a glut of Wi-Fi phones on the horizon, I think the cordless renaissance is on cards.
* IDC says Nokia slipping, well Duh!: Last Thursday it was Strategy Analytics and today it is IDC. In its preliminary analysis, the numbers look very similar to what we already knew, so this is not new news. Based on 152.7M total handset shipments for the quarter, IDC put Nokia’s share at 29.3%, Motorola’s at 16.6%, Samsung’s at 13.1%, Siemens’ at 8.4%, and Sony Ericsson’s at 5.8%.
* Level 3 goes VoIP in 50 states: Current Analysis says that Level 3 is bringing a “very valuable service to the table for wholesale partners such as IXCs, cable providers and ISPs.” Any impact on the consumer VoIP market is going to be low since Level 3 is selling to the big guys. It is not a slam dunk for the company. Time Warner Cable’s partnership with Sprint and MCI to deliver VoIP service to its base of cable TV and broadband Internet subscribers, shows it is a messy business with too much competition.
* Scottsburg, Indiana wireless network saves the community: Without a single Powerpoint slide, Mayor Bill Graham of Scottsburg, Indiana delivered the most compelling presentation New America Foundation’s Pervasive Connectivity conference last April 16, 2004. Esme says that anyone who still believes that wireless networking is for spoiled urban geeks needs to hear his story.
I saw the Voipster presentation at Hotspot Event 2004 in Amsterdam where I was also speaking. Totally underwhelmed, me-too technology. I make Skype calls for free, why should I pay? Skype also has conference calling already and the Skype guys have VC money, Voipster will be blown out of the water. Sharing documents? Sounds like WebEX. The only interesting thing about Voipster is that it works also on a Mac (I work on both platforms). However, since they are charging right away for the service, it is highly unlikely that all of my friends and business relations will sign up for it. Thus, back to Skype and iChat.
Correction to my last comment. Voipster got VC money from Prime Technology Ventures, a Dutch VC.