snom UC Edition Firmware Update Released: 8.8.2.21 Lync Qualified

 

Fixes since 8.8.2.21:

• provisioning with DHCP Option 67 fixed
• RGS improvements
• audio stack improvements
• Call list handling improvements
• presence hardening

• UCS support
• logging improvements

Get the new firmware here: (login required)

http://www.snom.com/en/your-personal-menu/snom-uc-edition-firmware-center/snom-uc-edition-front-desk/snom-uc-edition-88221-ucs/

Lync 2013 Mobile to Become Future IP Phone Firmware?

the above picture is an April fools day prank and the vendor is not snom.

I’ve wondered aloud (and joked aloud click here when IP phone vendors will just use the Lync 2013 Mobile client to bring Lync capable IP phone devices to the market quickly. It appears at least one vendor (as soon as I can release information I will) may be heading that direction.

The Pros:

• Debugged Lync signalling/media stack out of the gate
• Ability to bring full Lync functionality (video, meetings, presence, IM) to an IP phone hardware platform very quickly
• The vendor can focus on hardware and sit back and let innovation happen at the functionality level

Some Cons:

• Is Lync 2013 Mobile the experience a desk phone user wants?
• How integrated will the hardware and OS be? (reasons people often buy IP phone is for 1 button access to features or 1 glance indication of system status)
• Will hardware be too expensive if it can run Lync 2013 mobile?

At the minimum this is an interesting new development.

Build 2014: Lync, Skype, & UC Related Notes

Below are some notes from Build 2014 Keynote.

Windows Phone 8.1 will allow bumping a mobile phone call to a Skype video call in one click, with a Skype button.

Of course, Cortana. Cortana as an extensible platform. (can trigger deep app integration.)

WinJS going cross platform. And opensource.

When?

What’s in the future?

• XBox will become the next TV? (noted: avg user on xbox 5hrs a day..what?!)
• Universal apps will run on Xbox
• Kinect for Windows 2.0: 1080p, wide field of view, skeletal tracking better, low light
• Internet of Things: Intel Galileo board (piano running windows!)
• Windows for internet of things for $0 dollars
• Phones and Tablets less than 9” for $0 dollars
• All Windows Lumia 8 will get 8.1

Windows start menu…

Next Gen Lumia

Lumia 930:

• metallic around the edge
• 5” full HD display
• wireless charging built-in
• 20MP, optical stabilized
• Living Images  app – Story Teller app
• 4 digital microphones for video audio/ direction stereo recording
• $599 in June 2014

Lumia 630/635

• 4.5” clear black display
• changeable shells
• 630-3G single sim/ 3G dual sim (enabled by win 8.1)
• 635-4G
• sensor core:

Two Tiles for 2 sim’s

Sensor Core – for health /fitness

Google Apps Fail During Cisco Keynote Announcing Google Partnership? (Not that simple)

Correction/Clarification: Had a quick conversation with Peder Ulander, VP of Marketing for Collaboration at Cisco, and appreciate his clarification on what happened: The presentation was created in Google Presentation, then converted to Microsoft PowerPoint (conference requirement) and moved to conference production PC which did not have the required font which caused the simple font failure. I’ve decided to post the correction in favor of just deleting the article and I’ll markup the changes I make in the below so you can still see before/after correction article. I’ve also changed the article title by adding “? (Not that simple)” at the end. So, it boils down to: Simple font fail + brilliant example of presentation failure recovery. So now the original article with corrections:

Cisco’s Rowan Trollope had a great keynote and some very good products to demo during the Enterprise Connect 2014 Keynote today. (which I plan to write about and comment on in a bit.) Till I get time to do that I had to chuckle just a little at Rowan Trollope’s brilliant recovery on a Google Powerpoint presentation failure during, irony of ironies, a presentation announcing a Google partnership. He is even manages to let Microsoft PowerPoint be the fall man, with a super well placed one liner! (Rowan, I’m taking lessons! ) Enjoy:

Around 7 minutes into the keynote a slide comes up with garbled fonts. Trollope responds without a skip: “Looks like we have some interesting words on the slide there. I think that means there is a font problem. [nervous laugh] PowerPoint? Is there anyone from Microsoft here? [laughter] Maybe I should have put this in Google presentations. I’m not sure, anyways. [laughter, applause] I can’t blame them, I’m just kidding.” (@ ~7:30)

Zoomed in Google Presentation font fail:

Just a few minutes later an even more pronounced font failure is nicely covered by what has to be the world’s slickest presentation snafu recovery.  A slide where the main word is obviously garbled comes up.[Trollope, turns to the audience] “This is a test,What does that say? See, so I come from the security industry…so we have some code going on here…” 11:00 (speakers, this is how to turn lemons into lemon juice like a boss!)

But noting that Google Apps was used is a point of the keynote speech and so is inevitable. At about minute 27: “We used Google Apps to build this entire presentation and all the speaker notes. So we use that technology with our own technology. Working together…” 27:00 (Correction/Clarification: While Google Presentation was used to build the presentation, Peder Ulander notes PowerPoint was used to present)

“…We used Google Apps to build this entire presentation…”

If Trollope can pull this off, watch out collaboration industry! Seriously, Cisco did have some very interesting gear to talk about and I’ll try to cover that a.s.a.p. Kudos Rowan, I’m scribbling presentation tips as fast as I can!

If you want to watch the excellent keynote, here:
http://bcove.me/9hw4kh7q

Or on cisco site:
https://communities.cisco.com/community/technology/collaboration/collaboration_virtual_experience

First Sighting: snom 7EM 7xx Series Expansion Module

snom showed the snom 7EM for the first time at CEBIT 2014.

Photo posted by snom click here. In this picture we can see “Tile View” and USB connector plugged into the side of the snom 715.

Better Photo via https://twitter.com/Luca_Vitali/status/443862997732433920

Another Photo by https://twitter.com/ogerling/status/442965422334558208

“The modules extensions for snom 715, 720 and 760 presented at Cebit. Up to 3 modules positions, USB connection”

Shows that buttons can be assigned any of snom’s functions (contact search, contact list, etc), USB connection and backlit LCD.

Details from twitter photos and snom blogs:

• has a range of buttons (“…large number of self-labeling keys…” click here)
• 18 buttons, (9 per side) photo above  (compared to older snom Vision’s 8 buttons on a side plus 2 buttons buttons at the bottom)
• automatic button labeling
• Tile or Line View shows Contact Name full width or 2 Line format click here
• displays contacts & call status
• USB connection to snom phones 715,720 & 760.
• I think it can be presumed the tilt can match snom 7xx devices
• Up to 3 7EM’s can be “daisy chained” with USB click here
• will work with the $139USD MSRP snom 715 (see recent review), 720, and 760
• No ETA given

Summary

Considering this unit works with the new snom 715 (not Lync Qualified as of this posting), this will likely be the lowest cost “console” setup available for Lync at this time.