2010 – Page 18 – Graves On SOHO Technology

There’s an App For That: But Why?

As I’ve been using the new HP 5102 netbook these past few weeks I’ve been surprised at just how much I am able to accomplish with very few applications loaded to the machine. I have DropBox, Seemsic Desktop and FireFox loaded, also ThumbsPlus for managing images…and that’s about it. Even so I’m spending a lot of very productive time with this little machine, mostly reading (Google Reader) and writing (Google Docs & WordPress.)

So much of what I do these days is “in the cloud.” Actually, I suspect that “in the cloud” is a mischaracterization of things. Let’s just say that they’re based upon web services as opposed to locally installed applications. I suspect that the same could be said of many iPad users.

Panasonic KX-TGP5x0 Series Now Asterisk Certified

May 5, 2010
Michael Graves
VoIP

I read by way of TMC that Panasonic’s news-ish KXTGP-5×0 range of SMB SIP/DECT phones are now Asterisk certified. These phones look and feel very nice, and they do have support for G.722 allowing for wideband calling over SIP trunks.

As has been noted elsewhere the firmware for these devices has been a little strange, and Panasonic themselves don’t seem to have been quite prepared to support the phones in the field. Early adopters have had a difficult time obtaining support.

AskoziaPBX v2.0 Released

You just know that I'm a sucker for embedded Asterisk distributions. It's true. Combine this with my long time use of m0n0wall and pfsense and you'll see that I can help but be drawn to AskoziaPBX. AskoziaPBX combines the web…

Power To The People: Without Interuption!

Earlier this evening Leo Laporte of TWiT fame tweeted the following:

Power is out in Petaluma. TWiT Live is down until it returns but no ETA. Thank goodness for the iPad 3G. http://j.mp/dt8Oii

I must admit that I am surprised and a little shocked that such an incident would take TWiT Cottage off-line. Leo Laporte is unusual amongst the online media community. His TWiT related endeavors are an unparalleled success. His transformation from traditional to online media is the stuff of future textbooks.

An enterprise such as TWiT should not be taken down by something so simple as a power outage when standby generators are sold at every Lowe’s and Home Depot across the country.

Revisiting The Ipevo X1-N6 Internet Conference Station

April 29, 2010
Michael Graves
Audio, VoIP

Late in 2009 my quest for a portable conference phone lead me to try the Ipevo X1-N6 Internet Conference Station. On the surface the X1-N6 has an attractive set of capabilities and a very attractive price point. Unfortunately, the unit that I purchased from my local Fry’s Electronics did not meet my expectations, so after a few weeks I returned it for a refund.

When I posted my experience with that device it caught the attention of the manufacturer. They had some theories as to why the unit I had behaved as it did. They asked me to return to the unit to them for investigation, but by then I had already returned it to the retailer. Since they could not pursue that situation further the manufacturer promised to send me a sample unit when their next production batch arrived from the east.

Gigaset One: Bluetooth-Based Cell-to-PSTN Interface

April 26, 2010
Michael Graves
mobile, VoIP

A couple of weeks ago friend Tony up at Gigaset promised to send me a couple of the newer Gigaset DECT handsets that they’ve started to sell in the US. The box arrived and true to his promise there are a couple of handsets..but this is not about them. Left with a little space in the box Tony threw in a Gigaset One Bluetooth interface device. It’s proven to be a curious and interesting little device.

Let me be completely clear about this….it’s not often that manufacturers just send me stuff (disclosure statement). After almost 600 posts to this blog I’ve managed forge a few good relationships with manufacturers, but in most cases I simply buy whatever hardware I truly need, and that’s what I get to write about.