Unified Comms

DAS Keyboard gets quieter; portable speaker lets you groove on the road

Shaw reviews Das Keyboard's latest high-performance mechanical keyboard and AccessoryPower.com's GOgroove BlueSYNC SRC Portable Bluetooth Speaker and Receiver.

By Keith Shaw | 16 May, 2013 20:07

Tags: Configuration / maintenance, high performance keyboard, Das Keyboard, quiet keyboard, hardware systems, Data Center, Bluetooth portable speaker, Bluetooth speaker, skype, Google, portable speaker, GOgroove BlueSYNC

Facebook and Minnovation

Facebook's big announcement was a big "so what?" and minimal innovation at its finest

By Mark Gibbs | 05 April, 2013 14:11

Tags: unified communications, Internet-based applications and services, LANs & Routers, applications, Networking, Web 2.0, software, collaboration, internet, social media, Facebook, Microsoft

Wireless audio enhances two new gadgets

Shaw reviews Roku's Roku 3 Internet streaming TV box and Jabra's Revo wireless headphones.

By Keith Shaw | 25 March, 2013 12:07

Tags: Revo wireless headphones, Configuration / maintenance, Hulu, Networking, Pandora, wireless, hardware systems, PBS, internet tv, Data Center, wireless headphones, Jabra Revo, Spotify, jabra, Roku, netflix, Roku 3

Cautionary tale from a Twitter 'share-cropper'

Twit Cleaner is a popular web app that has been used by hundreds of thousands of Twitter users to clear deadwood from their accounts.

By Paul McNamara | 25 March, 2013 06:16

Tags: unified communications, Internet-based applications and services, LANs & Routers, applications, Networking, wireless, software, twitter, collaboration, internet, social media, mobile apps, Web 2.0

Review: TelyHD Business Edition

A group of my colleagues from different offices recently attempted a multi-party videoconference, brutally showing the continued need for a better method of video communication.

By Keith Shaw | 13 March, 2013 15:01

Tags: unified communications, SXSW, TelyHD, Networking, telepresence, TelyLabs, videoconferencing, HD Telepresence, HD videoconferencing

How we manage our social networks

Gibbs analyzes the results of his "How do you manage your social networks?" survey

By Mark Gibbs | 28 February, 2013 20:10

Tags: unified communications, Internet-based applications and services, LANs & Routers, applications, Networking, LinkedIn, Web 2.0, software, collaboration, internet, social media

LinkedIn open sources its database change capture system

OK, lots of interesting stuff for you this week. First up, LinkedIn has open sourced a system called Databus, a real-time database change capture system that provides a "timeline-consistent stream of change capture events ... grouped in transactions, in source commit order."

By Mark Gibbs | 27 February, 2013 15:25

Tags: unified communications, Configuration / maintenance, Internet-based applications and services, network storage, applications, storage, Networking, LinkedIn, hardware systems, Data Center, internet, Storage Management, Web 2.0, software, collaboration, social media

Opinion: Predicting the tech future

For my recent column of predictions for 2013 I polled a huge number of IT people to see what they are expecting, and ended up getting more than 400 responses.

By Mark Gibbs | 15 February, 2013 23:19

Tags: marketing, unified communications, communications, social networking, internet, IT management, business intelligence, analytics, services, Cloud, productivity, predictions, business, advertising, business issues, IT, Internet-based applications and services, open source, applications, storage, Networking, hardware systems, big data, mobile, industry verticals, cloud computing, Data Center, management, virtualization, security, it strategy, software, collaboration, Development, Configuration / maintenance, Blog, infrastructure management, data mining

WD ups its streaming TV game with WD TV Play

Shaw reviews Western Digital's WD TV Play, by Western Digital.

By Keith Shaw | 12 February, 2013 14:13

Tags: Configuration / maintenance, Hulu, Pandora, Apple TV, hardware systems, internet tv, Data Center, youtube, Facebook, Spotify, WD, WD TV Play, CinemaNow, Roku, netflix, western digital, Vudu

Outlook 2013 ... Even more interesting than 2012!

Gibbs reviews his predictions from last year and surveys the more than 400 predictions that he's been sent by IT professionals

By Mark Gibbs | 02 January, 2013 17:04

Tags: survey, unified communications, IT industry, outlook 2013, internet, business intelligence, fraud, Facebook, consumerization of IT, Anonymous, analytics, Cloud, Web 2.0, predictions, legal, future, Internet-based applications and services, net neutrality, applications, Networking, IP theft, wireless, big data, cloud computing, privacy, BYOD, hacktivism, security, fcc, software, collaboration, social media, cybercrime, cybersecurity

What does SDN mean for telecom infrastructure?

Software-defined networking (SDN) has the potential to transform the telecom industry by improving the ability of carriers (both wired and wireless) to flexibly deliver bandwidth "on demand." It is critical that carriers improve both their network flexibility (improved customer value) and reduce their high operational costs as over-the-top providers (e.g., Google, Amazon, Skype, etc.) challenge the carriers' ability to grow their revenues and impact their margins.

By Lee Doyle, principal analyst at Doyle Research | 11 December, 2012 20:17

Tags: Configuration / maintenance, hardware systems, SDN strategy, Data Center, software defined networking, VMware, LAN & WAN, enterprise SDN, OpenFlow, skype, SDN, Google, at&t

Collaborating and videoconferencing over the cloud with OmniJoin

Shaw reviews Brother's OmniJoin Web and videoconferencing service.

By Keith Shaw | 03 December, 2012 11:59

Tags: unified communications, Internet-based applications and services, applications, Networking, web conferencing, audioconferencing, brother, collaboration, internet, social media, videoconferencing, Web 2.0, OmniJoin, software

Taking 'Internet answers' for granted

That there is nothing unusual about either of these anecdotes is what makes them so remarkable.

By Paul McNamara | 03 December, 2012 06:03

Tags: unified communications, Internet-based applications and services, reddit, LANs & Routers, applications, Networking, Quora, collaboration, internet, social media, youtube, Google, Web 2.0, software

What comes next as Facebook and Twitter slowly die?

Gibbs follows up on his column from two weeks ago wherein he claimed " I think I know just what might be the smart [social media] tubes of the future.

Cell service bogus charges and limitations

If there's one thing that chaps everyone's butt it's how the cellphone carriers seem to just keep grinding away to extract a few extra cents from their customers through bogus charges and ridiculous limitations.

Why we don't need Internet rights but do need a level playing field

On July 2 this year a manifesto appeared called the "Declaration of Internet Freedom," which you can find at internetdeclaration.org/ (I quote the URL for reasons that will be clear in a minute).

Preston Gralla: June 2012: The month the cloud got real

Microsoft, Apple and Google have long seen that their future is in the cloud. Now they see their present there as well.

Who owns your tweets?

Both corporations and their employees who tweet on the company's behalf must clarify the question.

Security Manager's Journal: Information rights management: Magic bullet or dud?

Our manager seeks a way to protect information on a network whose perimeter is blurring in the age of SaaS.

Personal cloud server needs work; MovieNite streams movies & more

If Akitio can bundle this with a hard drive and make those performance improvements, consumers might be impressed with a device that can provide them with centralized storage for their media content.