INTERNET TELEPHONY — October 2015

The APIs Have Landed

API used to be a term reserved only for the most esoteric conversations at tech companies. Now everybody from Adidas to Campbell's Soup is using APIs. ... More>>>

Departments

Video

Google Boosts Smart Home Chops with Bandwidth-Shaping Wi-Fi Router
Google is solidifying its place within the connected home with the launch of a sleek new Wi-Fi router. Its main differentiator is being smart, and giving consumers the ability to shape their own bandwidth.

Industry Giants Align to Create a Video Compression Alternative to HEVC
Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix have come together to form The Alliance for Open Media in a move to produce a royalty free video codec that will be a more affordable option than the current next-generation video codec known as H.265.

Wireless

An Attack on Wi-Fi at CTIA
The world is full of new and improved solutions that seem to come in clusters. At CTIA last month, the Low Power Wide Area folks had their turn in the spotlight.

Wi-Fi and the Rise of Smart Cities
Smart cities like Songdo in South Korea are being built from the ground up to embrace smart devices and constant connectivity. These smart cities connect everything - buildings, lights, meters, and streets - to the Internet through the power of Wi-Fi.

Ingenu, Semtech Say Low-Power Wide Area Technology is the Best Match for IoT
The disparity between what IoT needs and what cellular delivers grows wider and wider as cellular network operators move from 2G and 3G networks to 4G LTE and beyond.

Unified Communications

Vonage Continues Its Expansion Strategy with iCore Acquisition
Vonage in April completed the acquisition of Simple Signal, a provider of unified communications-as-a-service and collaboration solutions to small and medium businesses. The deal closed with a price tag of $25.25 million, comprised of approximately $20 million in cash and about 1.1 million shares in Vonage common stock.

Special Focus

TMC Announces This Year's INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award Winners
TMC Announces This Year's INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award Winners

Security

The Problem with Security & What You Can Do About It
Writer Paula Bernier synthesizes the best practices of internet security in an ever-connecting world.

Covisint Aims to Be the Go-To Source for IoT Identity-Centric Security
This summer a report that two hackers were able to remotely wrest control of a Jeep Cherokee from its driver captured headlines and raised alarms about the lack of security relative to the Internet of Things. More recently, John Gleeson explained how Covisint can better secure the IoT by acting as a central authority for access to such devices and solutions.

Roundup

PBXs
Here's a look at some of the companies in the PBX space and what they offer, both in the hosted, on-premises, and SaaS arenas.

Network Infrastructure

The Contranym of Software-Defined Networking
Contranyms are a curious feature of the English language. These are words that can have two contradictory meanings. Lately I've noticed an emerging contranym in technology: software-defined networks.

FCC Makes New Ruling Regarding the Transition to Fiber
Copper-based telephone lines are a source of dismay for technologists and consumers alike, since fiber-based telephony is less expensive and brings added benefits over the older copper technology. The transition to fiber must be orderly and a net positive for consumers, however, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

On Rad's Radar

How to Benefit By Helping Businesses Plug Their Security Holes
Security holes in software are everywhere - in Android via text messages, in operating systems of all kinds. The hacks are piling up with Anthem, Premera Blue Cross, Target, the federal government, and so many more. Digital security is not a priority for businesses. It should be.