Skype to acquire Qik

 
Qik is available on over 200 mobile phones running Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile, and comes preloaded on a wide variety of mobile handsets through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile networks.
Skype and Qik share a common purpose of enriching communications with video, and the acquisition of Qik will help to accelerate our leadership in video by adding recording, sharing and storing capabilities to our product portfolio.
Through this acquisition, we’ll also be able to take advantage of the engineering expertise that is behind Qik’s Smart Streaming technology, which optimizes video transmission over wireless networks.
Together, we’ll focus on providing great products that will allow people around the world to share experiences in real-time video across different platforms, as well as storing those moments so they can be viewed later.

Microsoft gets Skype, Skype gets Qik- America finally starts talking on the phone with THREE of the five senses, well assuming you listening to whom you're talking.

Well, gotta go- just found a nice new one to get onto- Google, siblings (especially older, male ones), the 1st Amm. to the Constitution, money, privacy, and jobs- all in one very long piece.  In the mean time I meant to give you a tip here.  

People love to hate VoIP phone systems- I almost don't want to say the word.  I mean does EVERYTHING have to be digital?  No, your PBX lines aren't- that's why you could very well have someone listening to your phone calls right now.  The phone system going down?  When's the last time your DSL went out?  Not that a computer wouldn't get online- but you had to have Century Link come out and put in a new modem or something, because the whole Internet was out??  Anyone- I heard that smartass- yours' went out last month........ Well guess what?  I said DSL, which 90% of businesses have, so if your DSL was out, so was your PBX or whatever phone you use- because they use the same line- the phone lines....

So what's the difference between, say Skype, Google Voice, the service I have with Charter or Century Link (or whatever they have here now).

First, let me say this- I have 6 phone lines and pay $60 a month.  If you can beat that, I'll pay your bill for a year.  Add the Direct TV and other partner lines (800 numbers, and I've got about 12- $60/ mo.)  $55 of that is my cell phone, by the way where I get Verizon with 2GB of data and unlimited talking and texting without a contract.  I'm with the ONLY nationwide carrier of Verizon's complete network- want to know who that is?  Call me- 828-MIX-PLUS or 828-919-TECH....  

Quickly here's the difference... Skype is great for home and your cellular.  But it takes very low bandwidth to use per call.  The business version is stepped up a bit, but not much.  If you used a SIP converter to a PBX system and had Skype for your service, yes- you'd throw your phone at the wall.  

Businesses- in this case...not all- need a business class service.  My favorite (and I've tried them ALL- believe me) is Ring Central, BY FAR.  Where a 1 minute call using Skype might take 20 kilobytes of bandwidth, that same call using Ring Central would take about 85 kb.  This ensures a solid connection with no fading or waning, and thus begins the platform for a virtual PBX, answering attendant and all sorts of stuff- the best part is... .It's really not Virtual at all anymore- it's here, and here to take over the market, once CFO's find that they can save a company with 25 employees thousands of dollars per month by using such a service.  How?  First, there's no monopoly with VoIP as the phone company has.  Most importantly though- the Internet and transmissions over it are free.. You're not using AT&T's creation which meshed with MCI's tangle of wires............ You're at the top- in the clouds... And it's getting less and less lonely up there, lemme tell ya... These are what is going to bring our nation out of the economic slump that we've begun to crawl away from already.   The extra funds executives will have using systems that not only save thousands per month, but offer dozens of extra services at no charge- these things will bring us back.... Out of the 90's, and into the great One- Century 21.

Free Trial of RingCentral Fax Call: 

877-929-6750

Mark Vanderbloemen

http://homePCmedia.com

Free Trial of RingCentral Fax

---

Save your money and the Earth- Keep your Phone...

You walk into Verizon and the first synapse that fires in someone's head is, "How can I renew their contract or get them into a completely new one for even more commission?"

See most people don't realize that salespeople don't make money from selling phones- it comes   from contract renewals (upgrades) and new, 2 year commitments for service.  Quickly I'll say that T-Mobile by far is the most forward thinking and helpful regarding contracts and phone subsidy, as T-Mobile tends to be far ahead of the pack in terms of brilliance across all fronts- "Wifi-Calling," having AT&T's network while the opposite is not true, no contract plans if you provide your own device, etc."

The reason they don't need you to commit to them for 2 years is because their rates are cheap as dirt, and in my case- they're the ONLY carrier with 4G service, meaning speeds 10 to 15 times faster than even Verizon's Long Term Evolution Network.  Yes, LTE should be TFN- The Forever Network.  One day they'll have 4G here... one day- you'll see... But salesmen will convince you that even though you're paying twice as much for slower service, their very slow service is quite ubiquitous.  They have towers in so dang many places, that it's near impossible to get away from the forever network.  T-Mobile wasn't going to be that- they pay AT&T each month to use their towers along with the ones they have already. 

This brings to mind what will follow (that the iPhone is God) as I sit and wonder why people have to have a slower phone (iPhones are 3G phones and wouldn't do 4G even if the forever network ever got it here.)  They cost twice as much and perform about 1/4th of the functions of an open sourced Android phone.  And mostover, they can struggle at times with what apps they DO have, because the iPhone isn't a dual core device either!  Their 8 year old technology that's overpriced, yet looks beautifully crafted, is simply like buying a Rolls Royce instead of a VW Passat and a European Vacation or two- and a couple months worth of cell service. 

Mark my words, in five years less than 50% of the US will be renewing contracts just to get a percieved discount on a new device.  I used to have customers come in  and sign 2 years to get a $50 phone that you could get new on ebay for $45- and have NO contract.  You could hook that phone up with Page Plus (initially Verizon's Pre-paid department that didn't work out, but still has complete network access at 3G/ 4G speeds).  Then that $45 slider phone would be unlimited at $39.99 per month, meaning you would be saving around $600 per year- $1,200 per contract term by paying $5 LESS for the same phone from anyone but Verizon.  An LG is an LG- Samsungs are Samsungs...---(My figures assume an unlimited, one line plan for the same device over 24 months with Verizon as opposed to Page Plus (http://homePCmedia.com)  I am a Page plus dealer, though I don't do much with it- you can ask me questions if you'd like, but they don't pay me anything to get you to sign up for their service- they can't afford to... I have Page Plus for my Droid X2 and most of my close friends save $30 - $100 a month by using Page Plus now, but I don't fly the flag outside of my office on 127.  

The iPhone is hitting the prepaid market in a big way with Cricket and Virgin Mobile offering Apple's marquee device. But can anyone afford it?
The key dilemma for a prepaid iPhone is exactly what makes the market so strong: the lack of a service contract. Consumers love the ability to jump in and out of a service, but that freedom comes at a price in the form of a higher upfront cost for the phone.
For the iPhone, that's a particularly tough pill to swallow. Cricket, owned by Leap Wireless, is charging $500 and $400 for the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, respectively. Virgin Mobile isn't even bothering to give any discounts, offering the two models for $649 and $549.

Related stories

• Sprint confirms iPhone heading to Virgin Mobile
• Virgin Mobile plans to offer prepaid iPhone
• Samsung Galaxy Appeal, a Gingerbread slider (pictures)

Now, for anyone willing to pay for a prepaid iPhone, the savings are tremendous. At Virgin Mobile, where the cheapest plan is $30 a month, the total cost over two years would be $1,369. At Leap, it's $1,868.99 (its plan offers unlimited calling). In comparison, AT&T and Verizon's closest comparable plans would cost $2,359.75 over the life of the service contract (they both offer slightly more minutes than Virgin).
So if you're not much of a talker, the Virgin plan is a nice bargain.
Still, the cost of the phone will still be a barrier of entry to many in the prepaid world. Most prepaid customers typically fall into lower income brackets, suffer from credit issues, or both. An expensive iPhone probably isn't the wisest purchase to make for many of these customers.
"The $399 and $499 price points have historically been nearly irrelevant in the prepaid landscape," J.P. Morgan analyst Philip Cusick said in a note issued last week. "Customers will need to come up with the full price on the day of sale. This is not something that traditional prepaid customers can usually do."
Prepaid executives have said in the past that their customers have been increasingly willing to pay more for phones, particularly flashier Android devices. Some are willing to forgo other necessities for a flashier mobile device.
The prepaid carriers like it because it creates a bit of buzz to draw in customers. Given the price tag, it would likely keep customers locked in despite the lack of a contract. No one is going to give up the service after shelling out $500 for a phone. Still, the iPhone is pricier than anything else in the prepaid world. The most expensive phone in Virgin's current lineup is the HTC Evo V 4G, a rebranded version of last year's Evo 3D that costs $299.99. At Leap, the most expensive phone is the Samsung Vitality for $199.99, which is discounted by another $100 if ordered online.
You get what you pay for with Virgin's plans. Despite being a unit of Sprint, it doesn't get the same access to unlimited data. Customers get 2.5GB of data before Virgin throttles, or slows down, the wireless connection.
While most of the other carriers have had the iPhone 4S for a few months, the prepaid players are just getting the iPhone now. Presumably, this will be the first time that prepaid customers will have access to the iPhone. But why buy one now when the next iPhone is right around the corner? It may be better to wait a few months to see what options are available.
Fortunately for iPhone users, there's a healthy resale market. A used iPhone 4S fetches for $389.48, while a used iPhone 4 sells for $245, according to listings found on eBay.
So if you can stomach the large upfront cost, there are some excellent benefits down the line. But shelling out as much as $649 would make anyone -- prepaid or in a contract -- reconsider whether an iPhone is really worth it.

And if you are STUCK on an iPhone and have a better reason than- my mom and sister both have one, then do me a huge favor- GET AN IPHONE! They are made for people just like you.  But don't waste your money on the 4S that talks to you (Androids have been doing so for about 7 years now), because the technology in those iThings has been the same for about 4 years.  When they release a dual core phone, with a 4G chipset- go get you one.  But you might have to do a contract to subsidize that one- My guess is $945 brand new, retail price and all over the Internet too... If you find one for much less, don't buy it......

But all technology, my friends, is going open sourced  (Android, Linux, Ubuntu, .....)  Microsoft and Apple are in real trouble when people can make software that does the same thing as the version selling for $400, $600, $1,800... And because ANYONE can contribute, it's going to grow faster than companies that have to pay their employees to work for them....

REDUCE, REUSE.... Waste not, Want not.... And when you do get a new phone, drop you old one off here to be refurbished and given to the battered women's shelter and to military programs.....

Bridge to the Never Ending 2yr Agreement

Mark Vanderbloemen, CEO

Vanderbloemen Comunications, Inc

Hickory, NC

828-212-4817

dba: Viewmont Computer Recycling

dba Home PC Media (Home automation for decreasing energy consumption, entertainment and connectivity, security camera installation and other things George Jetson invented. )

http://homePCmedia.com