eComm organizer Lee S. Dryburgh has named Fonolo "Best New Product" and posted CEO Shai Berger's eComm presentation online. As Lee says, "What Shai and his company debuted last month at eComm is 
what everyone has been wishing for over the past decade," namely a way around frustrating corporate phone menus.
Here's Shai's eComm presentation. Slides follow.
Slides for Shai's presentation:
Online Voting Poll for Winners is Open to the Public at
http://www.webware.com/100
MONTREAL, March 6, 2008 - MOBIVOX today announced that their calling service has been selected by the editors of Webware, a CNET site, as a finalist in this year’s “Webware 100” Awards for Communication. The Webware 100 Awards recognize the best Web 2.0 sites, services, and applications that are leading the next wave of innovation. Finalists are selected by the editors of Webware, but the ultimate winners will be picked by the public. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 21, 2008.
Webware (www.webware.com) provides the latest information on Web 2.0 sites, services, and applications. Its timely and relevant blog entries about hundreds of web-based services, such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites, help users determine the best products for them to use in their daily lives. Webware is led by veteran tech journalist and CNET Editor-at-Large Rafe Needleman, with additional entries from the CNET editors. Webware editors received and reviewed thousands of entries. Voting is open to the public beginning Monday, February 25, 2008 at noon PACIFIC and closes on Monday, March 31, 2008 and can be accessed at http://www.webware.com/100.
MOBIVOX makes it possible to call family and friends around the world for free, from ANY phone. MOBIVOX members simply dial a local access number and say the name of the person they’d like to call. No calling cards and long numbers to remember. No need for a computer, special software or complex downloads. Calls between MOBIVOX members are free to over 40 destinations. For all other calls, MOBIVOX offers affordable rates starting at 1.9 cents per minute.
“We set high standards when we launched MOBIVOX last year. We are proud to offer a free and low cost, high quality, international calling service that can be used from any phone, anywhere.” said Nitzan Shaer, COO MOBIVOX. “We’re honored that Webware has recognized our efforts as we continue to build out our services and extend our user network.”
The ten categories include Audio (music, podcasts, and audiobooks); Browsing (browsers, start pages, RSS readers, widgets, and runtime engines); Commerce and Events (retail, auctions, travel, real estate, concerts, and conferences); Communications (e-mail, chat, and voice); Productivity (app suites, to-do lists, and groupware); Publishing and photography (blogging, content management, and photo sites); Search and Reference (search engines, encyclopedias, and mapping); Social (social networking, family sites, recommendations, online worlds, and contests); Utility and Security (infrastructure providers, storage, and online protection); and Video (video storage, playback, streaming, editing, and animation).
Winners will be invited to celebrate at Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco (http://www.web2expo.com/) held April 22-25 at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco. Web 2.0 Expo is the official partner of the 2008 Webware 100 Awards.
More than 480,000 votes were cast in the 2007 Webware 100 Awards. Last year’s winners can be seen here: Http://www.webware.com/html/ww/2007.html
Cast your vote for MOBIVOX today at http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/vote_comm.html?compid=103377
About MOBIVOX
MOBIVOX is an international calling service that makes it possible to call friends and family around the world for free from any phone. Calls between members are free to more than 40 destinations and members can save up to 98 percent on all other international calls to non-MOBIVOX members. Mobivox is a privately held company whose investors include IDG Ventures Boston, IDG Venture Investment China, IDG Ventures Vietnam, Brightspark and Skypoint.
For more information, please visit http://www.mobivox.com.
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Media Contact:
MOBIVOX
Sue Huss
bizpr@mobivox.com
1 + (619) 379-4396
SightSpeed Named a Finalist for “Best Communication Solution” and “Best Collaboration Solution”
BERKELEY, Calif.–Feb. 13, 2008—SightSpeed, the leading provider of Internet video communications and operator of a fast-growing network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints, is proud to be named to the Software & Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) list of finalists in two separate categories for the trade group’s 23rd Annual Codie Awards. The SIIA nomination is the latest of several tech industry accolades SightSpeed received in 2007 and now 2008.
SIIA, the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry, has chosen SightSpeed 6.0 among five finalists in the “Best Communication Solution” and the “Best Collaboration Solution” categories. The finalists resulted from the first round of SIIA judging late last year by representatives from the software and information industry trade press, mainstream technology writers, analysts, consultants and subject-matter experts. Category winners will be selected in upcoming voting by SIIA members.
“Competition is tough this year and that makes selection as a CODiE Finalist a real achievement,” said Ken Wash, SIIA president. “All the companies on this year’s list should feel justifiably proud of their recognition.”
Established in 1986, the Codie Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and vision in the software, digital information and education technology industries. More information about the SIIA Codie Awards finalists is available at http://www.siia.net/codies/2008/finalists.asp.
“We set the bar high when we launched SightSpeed 6.0 last year, making it better, more flexible and functional, yet easier to use than ever before,” said SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy. “With 6.0, we made the best quality video experience significantly better and instituted a highly scalable and robust SIP architecture, which has opened up exciting new possibilities of interoperability and flexibility for both our partners and users. We’re honored that the SIIA has recognized these efforts as we continue to build out our services and extend our SIP network.”
About SightSpeed
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs); and SightSpeed Light, SightSpeed Free and SightSpeed PLUS, the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant and run on SightSpeed’s fast growing reliable network of SIP videoconferencing endpoints. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of research and development originating out of Cornell University.
Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information about SightSpeed, visit www.sightspeed.com.
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Cited as an emerging technology company creating new business opportunities
NEW YORK–Jan. 22, 2008—Vringo™ today announced it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the OnMedia 100 winners. Inclusion in the OnMedia 100 signifies the designees’ major developments in the creation of marketing tools, services and venues, as well as advertising, branding and public relations campaigns.
Vringo was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and other industry experts spanning the globe based on five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value and media buzz.
Vringo and the OnMedia 100 Top Private Companies will be honored at the OnMedia conference scheduled for January 28-30 at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York. This two-and-a-half day executive event will feature technology CEOs from Silicon Valley leading presentations and high-level debates with the global advertising and media establishment, about disrupting user behavior and creating new opportunities in marketing, branding, advertising and public relations.
Fifty of the top CEOs from the OnMedia 100 will present their market strategies to a panel of industry experts in a “CEO Showcase.”
“The OnMedia 100 winners have excelled in key strategic areas in the advertising, marketing, public relations and promotion industry,” said Tony Perkins, founder and CEO of AlwaysOn. “We congratulate them for their success in introducing new tools, services, and venues for marketers to have at their fingertips and for use to take their business to the next level in innovation.”
The OnMedia 100 was selected from hundreds of companies nominated by a panel of industry experts in the online ad service, technology, community platform, mobile advertising, marketing and Web analytic sectors from around the world.
Vringo was nominated for inclusion in the OnMedia 100 because it is ushering in the era of Mobile Personalization 2.0. Vringo gives users the ability to individualize and enrich their mobile experience by taking any content from anywhere and turning it into visual ringtones. Vringo then enables users to share this content during every phone call. Vringo has combined all aspects of online sharing and community with the central part of the mobile experience—the call.
A full list of all the OnMedia 100 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn Web site at http://www.alwayson.goingon.com/.
“We’re extremely pleased that AlwaysOn has recognized Vringo’s leadership in pioneering the sharing of video ringtones,” said Vringo CEO Jonathan Medved. “AlwaysOn has had an uncanny ability to select and highlight game changing companies when they are still young, and we are delighted to have been chosen as one of these companies.”
About Vringo
Vringo is creating the world’s first video ringtone sharing community. The company is making Personalization 2.0 a reality by enabling users to experience rich media ringtones on a wide variety of mobile devices and for the first time to share that media with others within a community. Vringo is backed by Warburg Pincus and by private investors. More information can be found at www.vringo.com.
About AlwaysOn
AlwaysOn ignited the open-media revolution in early 2003 by being the first media brand to launch a community blog network. In 2004, AlwaysOn continued to lead the industry in innovation by engaging its bloggers in a social network. AlwaysOn is also revolutionizing the media business by applying its open-media principles to its executive event series (OnMedia NYC, Venture Summit East and West, On Hollywood, The Broadband Digital, Stanford Summit, and Going Green) and quarterly print “blogozine.” No other media brand has dared to create such open interaction with its readers and event participants.
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SightSpeed 6.0 and onSIP Recognized for Outstanding Innovation
New York and Berkeley, Calif.–Jan. 7, 2008—SightSpeed and Junction Networks announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC®) INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has named both companies as a recipient of its 2007 Product of the Year Award. INTERNET TELEPHONY has been the VoIP Authority Since 1998™.
SightSpeed, the leading provider of Internet video communications, launched version 6.0, a major release, in 2007. Version 6.0 was designed to be more flexible and functional, yet easier to use than ever before. One of the main features included the conversion to a SIP-based platform that would allow members to use SightSpeed to make Internet calls to, and receive Internet calls from, SIP-enabled hardware devices like telephones, video phones and even mobile phones.
“We’ve worked hard to make SightSpeed 6.0 the best personal video service and overall communications suite available anywhere, and it’s gratifying to be recognized by INTERNET TELEPHONY for our efforts.” said Peter Csathy, SightSpeed CEO. “The SIP conversion has opened up a whole new world of interoperability and is consistent with our unique open and standards-based approach to Internet video communications.”
Unlike typical PBX hosts, which offer all-or-nothing feature bundles and charge $20, $30 or $40 per user line per month, Junction Networks charges its customers only for calling minutes that go off its network, at low voice-over-IP rates. One monthly $39.95 network fee covers the entire “onSIP Complete” plan, including a comprehensive suite of advanced features.
“Being chosen for this award is an honor and solidifies that the three-year investment in developing and testing the onSIP service was well worth the wait,” said Robert Wolpov, Junction Networks president. “We take this award seriously and will continue to keep innovation top of mind as the onSIP service evolves to fill the changing needs of SMBs.”
“Junction Networks and SightSpeed have proven they are committed to quality and excellence while addressing real needs in the marketplace. INTERNET TELEPHONY is pleased to grant a 2007 Product of the Year Award to SightSpeed 6.0 and onSIP,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and editor-in-chief of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. “We’re proud to honor their hard work and accomplishments and look forward to more innovative solutions from SightSpeed and Junction Networks in the future.”
A full list of Product of the Year winners will be published in the February, 2008 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. For more information about TMC, please visit www.tmcnet.com.
About SightSpeed
SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer. The company offers the broadest portfolio of industry-leading Internet video communications services, including SightSpeed 6.0 and new SightSpeed Light, the most widely praised consumer-focused video chat services, which turn a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world; and SightSpeed Business, the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs). SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s revolutionary human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of research and development originating out of Cornell University.
Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information about SightSpeed, visit www.sightspeed.com.
About Junction Networks
With more than 3,500 customers, Junction Networks is one of the largest providers of business-class VoIP services to small and medium-sized enterprises. Using the most innovative applications available, Junction Networks provides high-end, multi-functional, Internet-based communications options that are easily adaptable to the needs of the growing business. Junction Networks' unsurpassed ability to leverage open standards, such as SIP, enables it to seamlessly integrate new functionalities into existing, scalable platforms. In this way, it can offer the benefit of enterprise-class broadband voice and data communications at a fraction of the typical cost. For more information, visit www.junctionnetworks.com.
About INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine
INTERNET TELEPHONY has been the VoIP Authority since 1998™. Since the first issue in February of 1998, INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has been providing unbiased views of the complicated converged communications space. INTERNET TELEPHONY offers rich content from solutions-focused editorial content to reviews on products and services from TMC Labs. INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has a circulation of 225,000 including pass-along readers. For more information, please visit www.itmag.com.
About TMC
Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) publishes Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Unified Communications, and IMS Magazine. TMCnet, TMC's Web site, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. Ranked in the top 6,000 most visited Web sites in the world by alexa.com*, TMCnet serves as many as three million unique visitors each month. TMC is also the first publisher to test new products in its own on-site laboratories, TMC Labs. In addition, TMC produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, and Call Center 2.0 Conference. For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com. (*alexa.com is an amazon.com company that ranks Web sites by their traffic levels. Neither alexa.com nor amazon.com is affiliated with TMCnet.) For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.
• Video Ringtones from Vringo Win Award for Best Use of Phone Functionality
• Sony Ericsson Says Vringo “Adds New Dimension to the Consumer Experience”
NEW YORK–Dec. 19, 2007—Vringo, the pioneer in video ringtone sharing, has won the Special Recognition award in the Sony Ericsson Content Awards ’07—the company’s first-ever awards for development of outstanding content and applications for mobile phones. Sony Ericsson made the announcement in an online awards ceremony. Vringo won for “Best Use of Phone Functionality.”
Vringo was selected for its video ringtone-sharing application that enriches and personalizes the experience of users of Sony Ericsson mobile devices, as seen in this video clip.
In selecting Vringo, the Sony Ericsson judges said: “Vringo is a rich and deep application that makes extremely good use of the capabilities available in Sony Ericsson Mobile phones—from voice, video, camera and buddy lists. And with its community features, it adds a new dimension to the consumer experience.”
Subscribers to the Vringo service use their buddy lists to deliver personalized, 2- to 10-second video ringtones (“Vringos”) announcing callers to the people being called or to identify incoming callers. Users select their personal Vringo video clips through their mobile handsets or online, or they can make their own. Subscribers can share Vringos with any other subscribers in the Vringo community who have compatible wireless phones.
“Winning this award is especially meaningful to all of us at Vringo because of Sony Ericsson’s stature as one of the world’s top mobile-handset providers,” said Vringo CEO Jon Medved. “We’re extremely proud to have this recognition from one of the true giants in our industry.”
This award from Sony Ericsson is the latest for Vringo, which also received the award for “Best Mobile Service for Social Community & User Generated Content” at the 23rd Annual MIPCOM conference in Cannes, France, in October.
Vringo recently added Agence France-Presse, WeeWorld and Discovery Channel to its growing catalog of content partners that already includes Universal Music Group and Meez, an online animated avatar service, among others. Vringo subscribers now have access to a wide variety of video ringtones ranging from comedy to sports to cartoons and more.
For further details about Vringo, to preview video ringtones or to see a list of supported handsets, please visit www.vringo.com.
About Vringo
Vringo is creating the world’s first video ringtone sharing community. The company is making Personalization 2.0 a reality by enabling users to experience rich media ringtones on a wide variety of mobile devices and for the first time to share that media with others within a community. Vringo is backed by Warburg Pincus and by private investors. More information can be found at www.vringo.com.
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Contact:
Sue Huss
Comunicano
619-379-4396
sue.huss@comunicano.com
Truphone is a "Red Herring 100 Global" Award Winner
Red Herring Magazine has announced that Truphone has won a Red Herring 100 Global 2007 award. Some 1800 companies - Red Herring 100 winners and finalists from North America, Europe and Asia in the last three years - were eligible for the awards, which celebrate the world's most promising private technology ventures.
James Tagg, Truphone's CEO, said: "Truphone is on a mission to create the mobile operator for the internet age. This award is a welcome acknowledgment of what we're doing and how we're going about it."
The Red Herring editorial team used a very competitive process to whittle down the pool of 1800 eligible promising companies to the 100 winners of this first-time award. Evaluations were made on both quantitative and qualitative criteria such as financial performance, innovation, management, global strategy, and ecosystem integration. The winning companies were announced and celebrated at the Red Herring Global event in Seattle, USA, between December 3-5.
About Red Herring
Red Herring is a global media company uniting the world's best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine; an online daily technology news service; technology research, and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider's access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. For more information, visit www.redherring.com .
