Internet and VOIP phones

SIP-based VoIP phone supplier snom Technology AG has added Epygi Technologies Ltd. and Pandora Networks as two more partners with which its solutions can interoperate.

As Michael Knieling, CFO and executive vice president at snom, noted, the small and medium business customers that snom caters to want ease of use in their VoIP solutions, and that means plug-and-play gear that doesn’t require a bunch of integration.

CSR plc today launched UniVox, a VoIP phone based on the company’s UniFi single-chip WiFi technology. CSR has designed UniVox to enable manufacturers to produce wireless phones for residential use at the lowest cost, and lowest power with up to 20 hours talk time and 400 hours standby time from typical handset batteries, using latest generation access points. CSR is providing UniVox customers with schematics, layout and bill of materials (BOM) as well as royalty-free design software. To ensure the lowest cost, CSR has designed UniVox to be highly integrated, so the total cost of components listed in the BOM is under $20 with electronic bill of materials (eBOM) totalling less than $15. CSR is demonstrating and sampling UniVox today, and expects a full production-ready UniVox example design by the end of the year.

“Untethering VoIP calls from PCs is exactly what consumers want, and for wireless VoIP phones to succeed both power and pricing have got to fall”, said J. Gerry Purdy, Frost & Sullivan’s VP and Chief Mobile Wireless Analyst. “Only lower prices and long battery life will drive widespread adoption; CSR’s UniVox handset reference design should help ODMs achieve those goals.”

CSR has built UniVox around its UniFi-1 Portable chip to provide a design for a low cost, low power VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi) phone. UniFi-1 is CSR’s 802.11b/g single-chip WiFi silicon and offers the industry’s lowest power consumption whilst in a chip-scale package that allows a very small footprint (6×6mm). CSR has also designed its own MAP (Multimedia Applications Processor) into UniVox, combining a low power RISC based applications processor with high performance DSP function, audio CODECs and echo cancellation; as well as intelligent power management. To ensure high voice quality, UniVox supports 802.11e and WMM-SA to provide optimised and prioritised quality of service (QoS), eliminating potential latency or jitter. UniVox also supports 802.11i to add enhanced levels of security.

Source and more info: consumerelectronicsnet

Broadband provider Covad Communications Group Inc. is launching an inexpensive Internet-based phone system for very small companies that is compatible with conventional telephones.
The new service targets a market segment with limited options for affordable office communications technology.

Covad ClearEdge Office, to be announced Wednesday, is designed for operations with up to 20 employees. The price is $40 (€31.47) per month per user for unlimited U.S. calling, or $10 (€7.87) less than Covad’s higher-end business service, plus a one-time fee of $250 (€196) for onsite installation, a router, an analog phone adapter and any new wiring that might be required, though in most cases existing cables would be used.

The service is only available through a bundle with Covad’s broadband DSL or T1 connections, ranging from $66 (€51) to $270 (€213) a month — a requirement the company stresses as a benefit that allows it to ensure better sound quality by prioritizing voice traffic over computer data such as e-mail and Web page downloads.

Source and more info: sci-tech-today

Broadcom says its Wi-Fi phone chipset has been selected by Samsung for use in its consumer Internet phones.

“Broadcom’s Wi-Fi phone chipset offered Samsung a compelling solution for our next-generation families of consumer and small business IP phone products,” said W.S. Cho, v-p for the Internet Infra R&D team at Samsung. “Broadcom provided us with a solid roadmap that will enable us to incorporate advanced functionality for features such as video and multimedia into our phone designs.”

Broadcom’s Wi-Fi phone chipset is featured initially in two Samsung Wi-Fi phone models: the SMT-W5100 for small businesses and the SMT-W6100, a multimedia phone for consumers.

The SMT-W6100 for residential customers is currently being sold in North America and will soon be offered globally.

Source and more info: electronicsweekly

The Pleasanton, Calif.-based said the SoundPoint IP 650 provides good quality, clarity and richness beyond the capabilities of existing traditional and VoIP phones.

Polycom HD Voice solutions incorporate leading technologies including wideband audio, enhanced signal processing, acoustic clarity technology which includes next generation technologies for transparent full duplex, echo cancellation, dynamic noise reduction, automatic gain control and microphone management and specialized system design to deliver good clarity and richness.

Source and more info: thestreet