Carl Weinschenk

Government communications experts and other insiders have long been concerned about the critical systems supporting vital infrastructure in the United States. For instance, some power installations have vital command and control data flowing through the same channels as non-mission-critical business communications. The situation is exacerbated to a very high level due to the use of […]

The telecom industry in general and the wireless sector in particular have a long-term plan based on the Internet Multimedia Subsystem. The IMS is a packet-based system that uses the advantages of the Internet protocol (IP) to erase the demarcation lines between wired and wireless networks. Not only does IMS rely on ubiquitous IP, but […]

Life is dramatic for Research In Motion and its iconic BlackBerry phone. Currently, the aging dowager is planning a comeback amidst a general feeling that the times have changed. Unlike “Sunset Boulevard” — in which it was clear that Norma Desmond was in denial and headed for a heart-breaking end — RIM might be able […]

The way forward for unified communications is clear. Indeed, many segments benefit from the development of the cloud, but perhaps none as much as UC. The reason is simple: In the pre-cloud days, operations were limited, inefficient and cumbersome. Companies would need to have equipment from the same vendor at all locales. Challenges, such as […]

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg created a tempest in a teapot — or its social networking equivalent — last month when he elaborated at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Jose on why the social networking giant had pulled back from HTML5. Here is the comment (transcribed from the TechCrunch video of the event) of the part of […]

There is no clear delineation between modern augmented reality — what Google is hyping with high-profile glasses — and rudimentary uses of the technology with which the public already is quite familiar. Superimposing street names and routes on a GPS device is augmented reality (AR). The more modern version of the technology, however, will be […]

Things seem to be going pretty well in the mobile health sector, so it is reasonable to wonder if the government getting more fully engaged will be beneficial or not. Or, in other words, if it isn’t sick, don’t treat it. The feds of course are involved in mobile health care in a number of […]

Mobile payments and near-field communications are getting a lot of attention. It’s a confusing sector, and GigaOm provides a great service by outlining the attributes of each. The post — the chart icon has to be clicked on to open it — looks at six competitors: Google Wallet, Isis, Pay with Square, PayPal, Starbucks and […]

There is bad news for Intel on the ultrabook front. IHS iSuppli this week radically reduced its sales forecast for the product, which are small notebooks. Just how radically? This just about sums it up: An estimated 10.3 million ultrabooks will ship worldwide in 2012, according to an IHS iSuppli Compute Platforms Topical Report from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS). This is […]

The full promise of unified communications is enormous: The ability to connect to any number of people seamlessly — for instance, from within applications that currently are being used — via any number of communications channels, such as voice, text or IM and from any device is compelling. As usual, something that seems so easy […]

The health of the cable television industry matters a lot to businesses. The overall modernization of the industry’s infrastructure during the past couple of decades, including its recent moves to embrace IP, has made it a player in business services. The industry historically has focused on small- and medium-sized business prospects. Increasingly, however, it is […]

Fierce Telecom this week posted a story on an interesting report that highlights something that people who follow fiber networks have known for a long time: Some of the most exciting news in the sector is happening at smaller telcos. Added to that is the ongoing Google Project in Kansas City. Now, some exciting work […]