Michael Graves

The Freetalk Everyman Webcam For Skype

August 6, 2010
Michael Graves
Skype, Video, VoIP

For the past month or two I have been experimenting with the Freetalk Everyman Webcam for Skype. I must admit that upon hearing about the Freetalk Everyman Webcam for Skype I was a little slow to generate any enthusiasm for the device. After all, it’s just a webcam. I’ve used webcams for a decade or more.

Eventually, I found myself interested in the novelty of the on-board H.264 encoder so I acquired a sample of the little Freetalk Everyman Webcam from In-Store Solutions.

Series: Gigaset Cordless SIP/DECT 2010 Overview

August 3, 2010
Michael Graves
Gigaset, VoIP, Wideband

This series presents an overview of the Gigaset SIP/DECT systems offered in North America for 2010. Part 1: Features common to the entire famly Part 2: The entry-level A58H handset Part 3: The C59H handset Part 4: The middle-of-the-range S67H…

Doug Mohney Presents On HDVoice AT DEFCON 18

August 1, 2010
Michael Graves
VoIP, Wideband

Doug Mohney is spending this week in Las Vegas at DEFCON 18. I understand that today he was to give a presentation entitled "HDVoice - The Overdue Revolution." I surely do wish that I was able to attend DEFCON and…

Initial Experience With Southwest Airlines In-Flight Wifi

July 27, 2010
Michael Graves
Broadband

This past week I was called upon to give a demonstration at a TV station in San Diego. The exercise involved flying from Houston to LAX and spending a day in our Burbank office getting the demo gear ready to roll. The next day an associate and I would drive down to San Diego to make the presentation.

For various reasons I don’t often fly Southwest Airlines, but it just happened that they were the best choice this time around. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the outbound flight was equipped to offer in-flight wifi.

Gigaset SIP/DECT Handsets For 2010: Part 6 – SL78H

Introduced in early 2009, the Gigaset SL78H is the top-of-the-line cordless handset that they offer in North America.

Like the C59H and S79H, the SL78H is only being offered as an expansion handset with respect to the IP-capable A580IP and S675IP systems. You may see it offered as part of the SL780 or SL785, but these are not IP-capable systems.

As I’ve moved up the product range there has been a natural progression in features and physical attributes. Each better model builds logically upon the previous, but adds certain improvements in hardware or software.

At the top of the range the SL78H is physically a very different device. To start, it’s heavy. Unlike the prior models there is a lot of metal in the SL78H. Even the keypad itself has a brushed-metallic finish.

FaceTime Over 3G….Kinda

iPhone 4 with mocked up image on-screen This past week I worked a few days with our west coast salesman who is the proud owner of a brand new iPhone 4. A long time user of the iPhone 3 GS, he’s thus far very happy with iPhone 4. Both he and his wife carry new iPhones.

One of the things that they’re been enjoying is the new FaceTime application. While I was there he used it to call his wife who was spending some time with family in Las Vegas.

He also used it to show her how their dog was feeling much better after having been ill for a few days. Clearly, to see the dog wagging his tail for herself is a lot more convincing that merely being told he feels better.

This was for me a revelation. I’ve known this gentleman a long time and know that he is not drawn to techno-gadgetry for its own sake. He’s not an early adopter, but he appreciates stuff that works well. In this regard he’s squarely in Apple’s target market.