Last week, Skype announced that it is going to offer the new SILK audio codec in a royalty-free model for any use. This announcement has already sparked a large number of discussions on the web, but the one that caught my eye the most was that of Marin Perez from InformationWeek: “Giving away the codec could be seen as Skype giving up a competitive advantage, but it plays into a long-term strategy of getting its service on as many devices
(read more...)
By Tsahi Levent-Levi | March 16th, 2009 | Filed under Standardization, Technology
Up until not long ago, Skype was solely a downloadable VoIP client for a PC. Nothing more, nothing less. They even allowed third parties to tap in and add their own functionality to their Skype by using an SDK for developers. One thing, however, always remained closed – the communication protocol. While the rest of the world is using H.323, SIP and sometimes XMPP to do VoIP, Skype did… Skype. What does this mean? That Skype needed to conquer the
(read more...)
By Tsahi Levent-Levi | January 29th, 2009 | Filed under Clients
[The ITU have started working on a standard called the Advanced Multimedia System, or AMS. It is a communications protocol intended to solve some of the issues that plague today's protocols and also enable functionality that is not easily achievable with current systems. I have asked Paul Jones, the rapporteur for the AMS expert group to provide some of his insights on this "standard under construction."]One of the exciting things about the technology industry is that technology is constantly changing
(read more...)
By guest | May 22nd, 2008 | Filed under Standardization
The way in which communication standards are implemented is usually done through protocol stacks. Companies will usually acquire such stacks from third parties and not implement and maintain on their own. How does one select a protocol stack? What makes a protocol stack of one vendor better than that of another? 1. Support Support is definitely the most important aspect of a protocol stack. VoIP products are complex – developers building such products will need all the help they can
(read more...)
By Tsahi Levent-Levi | January 17th, 2008 | Filed under Protocol stacks
