VoWiFi it is!

Thanks to all the readers who sent me suggestions on how to solve the problem of the horrible acronym for voice over wireless networks.

The winner is in! First use goes to techdirt where on March 18, 2003 mmasnick ponders "...VoIP over WiFi (or is that VoWiFi?)..." in this post on the economics of wireless. Techdirt has used the term 15 times since that first use, most recently for this article on giving the homeless VoWiFi...

Lets keep up the momentum and make sure we aren't having to write VoWLAN in future blogs... and having to explain over and over again what it means...

Peerio Interview

Some time ago I wrote about Peerio444 as a competitor to Skype and raised a number of questions about their product and business model. This morning I was able to have a brief conversation with CEO Dmitry Goroshevsky and I have posted the interview on my IP Inferno blog. Enjoy!

Does Nokia have their COOL Back?

I recently wrote in this blog that the issue is not about how cool the phone looks and I still believe the basic premise -- that the next evolutionary step for phones is dependent upon programmability. But two announcements this week from Nokia definitely show that the good folks in Finland are hard at work to prove that they are still the thought leaders in mobility.

First is a very strange new technology which allows a mobile handset user to flash a message across a room to another person via a set of leds embedded on the back of the phone. The BBC has a good photo of the new phone, dubbed the Nokia 3220. The Register explains that this will "change the face of waving as we know it" and Joi Ito imagines what it would be like to have them in an audience, "it would be like a chorus of Hecklebots." More information is available at Nokia's web site

The second annoucement is more interesting in that the long term implications are deeper... Dan Gillmor writes just that "The project is young, but the possibilities are fascinating" while Marc Canter writes simply "This is Killer." What are they both talking about? Nokia's new initiative LIFEBLOG. What the heck is a Lifeblog? Here is what Nokia has to say:

Nokia Lifeblog is a PC and mobile phone software combination that effortlessly keeps a multimedia diary of the items you collect with your mobile phone. Lifeblog automatically organizes your photos, videos, text messages, and multimedia messages into a clear chronology you can easily browse, search, edit, and save. Nokia Lifeblog does the work of organizing the items you create and receive, and you can also add notes throughout the day, or tag and update your favorites so they're always on your phone.

The Nokia 7610 imaging phone will be the first to have the Lifeblog software. The 7610 is a tri-band phone with a megapixel camera, running the Symbian operating system. The phone also comes equipped with bluetooth, an MP3 player, and the standard Symbian productivity applications (email, web browser, etc).

Nokia definitely has a good claim on cool for this summer.

ITALK2U Final Now Available?

John Jarvis sends news that ITALK2U, the P2P VoIP Skype competitor, is now out of beta and available with "...all of its features..." -- However the link he sends still has the test version. So I assume he will be updating soon... when available I will download and post my experiences.

IP Inferno

I have been working on a new project, IP Inferno in which I attempt a new approach to the blog editorial model. Blogs seem to fall into two broad categories, either (a) regurgitated, if idiosyncratic, news feed or (b) the personal voice of the blogger (as interesting as that might be). With IP Inferno I am trying something new -- attempting a roundup of the news and comment on a particular topic, albeit with an editorial slant. I was inspired by a publication called The Week which describes itself this way:

The Week is a witty, informative, important, and completely indispensable digest of the best reporting and writing from the U.S. and international press. In just 40 pages, it will bring you up to date on what’s happening at home and abroad, and what the experts are saying about it.

With IP Inferno I aspire to this formula but with the narrow topic of advanced IP applications such as VoIP, Wi-Fi, and Wi-Max. Why "IP Inferno" as a title? IP is the inferno that is burning down the traditional telecommunications industry... Enjoy!

V oWLAN With an emphasis on the OW!

As in OW! Why are you hurting me with these terrible acronyms? Om Malik's V oWLAN coming on strong is the first time I have seen the acronym in use... stands for Voice over Wireless Local Area Network... This is a very important technology and deserves a better acronym. A google search turns up only 3 references to "V oWLAN" so it is NOT TOO LATE... VoIP is bad enough but we are stuck with that one. Here are my suggested alternatives:

• VoWIP (Voice over wireless IP - at least its close to VoIP)
  
• VoWiFi (Voice over wireless fidelity -- more consumers will understand)
  
• VWN (Voice wireless networking -- pronounce v-win)
  

More suggestions welcome -- lets just try to stop this new acronym before it gets any further...