Telcos & You Developer. Our presentation at API Days Mediterranea

We were invited to speak at API Days Mediterranea event organized by apicultur (thanks a lot for the invitation).

It was a very interesting event about APIs: types of API and use cases, API management approaches, API business models and also telco APIs.

We would like to share the slides and demos of our talk about the telcos and their new role close to developers by exposing their communication APIs and RCS / joyn as a potential huge enabler for devs.


Looking forward next time event :-)

joyn location push API. The future enabler for LBS. Demo: city bus information.

We want to unveil a new call of our joyn API, the location push and want to explain how it can be a key enabler for future LBS in the fields of information, couponing, advertisement.
In this demo we are using joyn to create a real time information system of public transportation. We are using OpenData API from EMT, the local city bus company in Madrid.


The future of mobility will be creating a lot of services combining content APIs and channel API as the joyn/RCS. No need to install individual apps to access to each type of info you may require, just the phonebook will be the hub of services. Stay tunned, soon more.

IMS World Forum summary.

We attended the IMS World Forum last week and also showcased in the WebRTC pre-conference Workshop our case of WebRTC, to create ubiquitious Unified Communications in the browser combining voice and joyn and using WebRTC for media.

Alan Quayle who chaired the workshop just published a post with all the slides and demos showcased there. Once againg we could see that small companies are ahead both in vision and execution of telcos and could be very helpful if telcos approached properly.

Some points to summarize the conference:

a) Finally IMS is taking off but too linked to particular services as VoLTE, telcos are not seeing yet IMS as core container of multiple services and just wants the first case to pay the full IMS. This is not easy.

b) In case of RCS, RCS in a box and/or hosted vendors (as Newpace) are finding a very good opportunity there. RCS is getting traction as more vendors not involved till now are offering now Instant Messaging Application Server.

c) We could identify among the speakers the ones finding reasons to do and the others looking for reasons to delay and delay and delay. Some speakers talk about WebRTC as opportunity to create endpoints for IMS but they talked about the need to wait until codec issue was solved and be sure about QoS control. As the chair of the session pointed, last chain of QoS can not be controlled, it is not a real advantage.
Also, we knew about IMS based services deployment plans, for example the presented by Sebastian Schumann by Slovak Telekom Mavenir speaker slides included MetroPCS roadmap including joyn API enabled cases, sharing our vision.

d) A lot of debate about business models. Telcos did not understand yet that Say's Law is real today in the IT space. Supply created demand. It happened with OTTs, it happened with independent telco APIs  as Tropo or Twilio. Telcos may take a bit of risk to create services that can attract the demand and see how to monetize. We talk recently about that in this post.

Solaiemes to demonstrate enabling PSTN+joyn ubiquity using WebRTC in IMS World Forum.

We will be demoing at IMS World Forum 2013 (organized by Informa TM) how telcos can take the benefits of to new technologies RCS messaging and WebRTC to access to media components of devices to revamp the value of PSTN (and also mobile) lines. We would like to show how Unified Communications could be built just a mash-up of standards and APIs.

The pre-conference WebRTC Wosrshop will be conducted on Monday 22nd and will be conducted by Alan Quayle (telco analyst & owner of Alan Quayle Business & Service Development) and Jose de Castro (Voxeo Labs CTO).  You can see the list of companies and demos participating in these posts in the Alan's blog http://alanquayle.com/2013/02/webrtc-at-the-ims-world-forum/ and a further update http://alanquayle.com/2013/04/update-apidaze-io-quobis-and-telestax-join-the-webrtc-pre-conference-at-the-ims-world-forum/

We would like to say thanks for the opportunity to demo how to apply our technology to the telco world and share event with companies we know as Voxeo Labs, Telestax, Quobis, etc and meet there other amazing companies.

We will be also attending the full event and available for networking. If you also attending and want to know more about that and what we are doing for joyn/RCS and WebRTC email us to schedule a meeting.

Telcos: from cash cow farm to worker bee hive.

Telcos are in a challenging position, they have to change to adapt to the new times and new competition and it is not easy. Traditionally services providers business models were based in a few cash cows under their control or farm, and customers customed to consume milk forever. The life expectancy of a cow is about 20 years. It was quite easy till now, telcos invested in networks and they have milk for years and years to sell to their customers.

Companies using the data connectivity, so called OTTs, had cannibalized the revenues from sacred cash cows and it was a fast process when combined 3G and smartphones rise.

Net neutrality is here, it is here to stay, and it is fair that net neutrality exists. The service providers may not leave the tradidional role of providing "communication services" to become "just pipe" but they may adapt to new times and new ways of creating and offering "communication services" to their customers. It is time to compare cows and worker bees.

- Cows live 20 years and bees live about 100 days.
- Cows tend to live in a closed farm and be a reduced number (tens, hundreds in each farm), worker bees are living thousands in each hive.
- The milk from a cow is measured in litres, the honey produced by each hive just grams.

Business analogies are clear:

- Money will come from honey sweets.
- Each revenue from a worker bee will last a reduced time but new services-sweets will be replacing old ones in a very fast cycle, the same observed in OTT space.
- Big amount of bees can not be in a telco closed environment and fully under control, bees will be also 3rd parties.
- The hive will be the API and the API will keep the produced honey.

What is the new role of the telco, becoming the perfect hive, exposing their enablers (Voice, IMS, RCS/joyn) to be a good home for developer bees and also creating a model were bees also could feed themselves from their honey production.

Telcos may become hive / platforms. The sooner the better.

MWC 2013 Summary: finally joyn is taking off.

One week after MWC we would like to summarize the key topics related with the technology we do.
Finally joyn took off, announcements as America Movil launching in Mexico using the Vodafone hosted core and the brave move from MetroPCS announcing the lauch of joyn as OTT for non-customers in North America were impressive. We were visited by other telcos soon to launch using that shared joyn hosted core asking about our network API exposure and compatibility (yes, it is compatible).

Also the RCS Seminar was very interesting and we could listen from marketers from big consumer brands as CocaCola and L'Oreal talk about the need of a "multimedia" global reach way to interact with customers, and joyn could be this new global reach channel. This is what our API enables :-)

We received many visits, and visitors sent to our booth by previous visitors. We received people from 5 continents, and even were interviewed for an asian TV broadcaster and received a positive mention by a telco leading analyst, Alan Quayle. We also met potential investors and new potential partners.

After 1 week read new annoucements as Zain lauching joyn in the Middle East and Forrester starting to cover joyn and pointing its role for business comms and the API as key element and we know that more telcos are issuing RFI/RFP for RCS core solutions and requiring network API exposure, good to see they got the "as a platform" concept.

Other hot topic was Firefox OS, the new mobile platform based on HTML5 and new telcos and device manufacturers supporting it. We were the first in the world to demonstrate joyn using HTML5 in Firefox OS devices using the developer devices (1st Firefox OS device) by our friends of Geeksphone.

We could also install our joyn client in the stand of ZTE with ist Firefox OS phone, and took 1 pic :-)

As Firefox OS could be the first smartphone for most of people, telcos can leverage it by deploying joyn based on our network API, not telcos protocols, just HTML5, our product matches the Firefox OS philosophy, the backend could be telco stuff, but the front-end could be based on web technologies.

As a summary, we are positive, joyn is a kyte starting to fly, winds in favour now.

Regarding the new venue perhaps it is too big and not so well communicated by public transport, we miss the old venue for MWC.
Our photo-album of the event just here

Synchronoss to use Solaiemes RCS Thin Client Server API to deliver web based RCS with its NAB & Personal Cloud

Synchronoss (Nasdaq SNCR) today released a PR during MWC 2013 that will showcase RCS communication as part of its Personal Cloud and Network Address Book products.
The demo will show the integration of RCS (joyn) web client using Solaiemes RCS Thin Client Server API.

The Synchronoss PR
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/nj-synchronoss-idUSnBw7pC6Sva+114+BSW20130226

We are glad to see companies adding RCS capabilities to their products and check the amazing potential of RCS joyn REST API to add new use cases and applications to joyn.

joyn for Firefox OS, telco IMS messaging delivered as web

Happy to announce our solution to power joyn in Firefox OS devices. See our videodemo: joyn communication between Firefox OS client and Android GSMA accredited client.


We believe in the Firefox OS philosophy of using web standards and our solution uses the joyn API to avoid to put SIP, MSRP protocols in the device. The joyn API Server (RCS Thin Client Server product) + HTML5 frond-end is the right combination to deliver mass market rich communications in many markets where Firefox OS is forecasted to get meaningful marketshare. 


Credits: 
Firefox OS device: Geeksphone Keon
joyn Android app client: Silta Neusoft 
joyn API & HTML5 client: Solaiemes

joyn voice & videoshare between iPad WebRTC client and mobile client

In Solaiemes we are trying to help telcos to make available their communication services ubiquitously, and WebRTC philosophy fits with our aim.
In this demo you can see a iPad joyn WebRTC client based on our joyn API and LiveServe media server running using the browser "Bowser" by Ericsson Labs for iOS (the Apple mobile/tablet OS).


For this proof of concept we linked a real PSTN number to the joyn WebRTC client. A voice call is done between WebRTC and mobile app accredited client (by Silta-Neusoft).

Solaiemes to exhibit at MWC 2013

Solaiemes will be present at Mobile World Congress 2013 as exhibitor next 25-28 February in Barcelona.
This year will be the year of RCS/joyn. It took too long to be a reality in the market but finally it is. We can see live services in Spain, Germany, US & South Corea, 3 continents during the past 2012. RFI/RFQ acitvity is progressively meaningful.
Also, during 2012 our aim of RCS as a platform open & ubiquitous became a key differentiator from OTTs. GSMA launched the joyn Innovation Accelerator to engage developers with the services and experiment with the joyn network API and we were selected as API supplier.
We are working with 3 tier-1 groups and have a number of prospects we expect to convert along 2013.

We are interested in meeting during the MWC with:

- Telcos: mobile, fixed, triple play or even OTTs eager to integrate joyn in their offerings.
- Investors: yes, we are looking for some fuel to accelerate our growth.
- Partners: complementary technology providers or integrators wanting to pioneer joyn in their countries integrating our solutions.
- M&A guys from companies interested in expanding portfolio through selected acquisitions.

Our stand will be located in the Spanish Pavilion #CS60, in the corridor between Halls 4&5 (same corridor where GSMA stand will be located).

If you want to schedule a meeting contact us at: mwc (at) solaiemes (dot) com
See you there !!

joyn, the right match for M2P, the internet of people and things.

We would like to introduce the M2P (machine to person) possibilities using joyn / RCS as the mechanishm to interact the people with their devices (home sensors, freezer, oven, etc). Natural text interaction will be the best way to ask for information to "your things" and also be reachen when "your things" need to send you an important information as alert. Using joyn network API is very easy to create this type of services using standard messaging and not needing to install further apps. Your things are just contacts in your phonebook, doesn't it innovative? 


Note: this demos was recorded in a live joyn network, using an accredited mobile client by Summitech and the sensor mote by Libelium.

Firefox OS App Days Madrid summary: this platform rocks!

Last Saturday I attended the Firefox OS App Days in Madrid (it was a parallel event in a lot of cities) organized by Mozilla Hispano. Firstly I would say a big congrats to the organizers for the perfect organization: a pure entrepreneur environment venue (The Garage) in the city center, good food, working WiFi,  very good introductory keynotes, and the opportunity to show apps done during hack session and other just ported from web/js sites. Congrats to the winner of the developer devices by Geeksphone.

About 130 attendants (including web design experts, entrepreneurs, students, geeks) had a lot of fun being introduced to this new platform that could become revolutionary. Also attendedrepresentatives from Geeksphone, the first manufacturer that presented Firefox OS devices that will be available soon and from Telefonica which is a partner of Mozilla trough their Open Web Device initiative.

The concept of WebApp based in HTML5 and JavaScript having access from the web to the device resources (camera, storage, contacts) using APIs with different security hierarchy levels makes very easy to create compelling cases, even easier that in popular platforms as iOS and Android.

Firefox OS could be the leading platform replacing the feature phones because it bring-down the 2 barriers:

1) Economic as it enables full smartphone experience with more affordable hardware.

2) The IT literacy needed, the one people forgets. Today we can find people is keeping feature phones not just because they can not afford an smartphone but they fear the interface, icons disappearing, touching and arriving to screens were they can read "kill proccess", "stop service" etc. The web UI is great: more intuitive and just a button to be "at home".

We have analyzed the plarform (soon will shot the demo of our client for joyn based in network REST API) and it is what can be used by telcos to include as web their IMS messaging, RCS joyn, avoiding to include "fat clients with all protocol stacks". In several countries were Firefox OS will be the main smartphone platform telcos may try to challenge from the beginning the great OTT messaging alternatives and we want to help them to compete offering value and innovation to their customers :-)

juan

joyn for Firefox OS available as HTML5 app using Solaiemes RCS network API.

We are happy to announce that Solaiemes is already testing a joyn client based in our RCS Thin Client Server product for Firefox OS.

Firefox OS by Mozilla (based on Boot2Gecko project) and backed by an important group of telcos as Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Telenor, Telecom Italia, Sprint and Smart will be a game changer.

It is expected the first mass market comercial devices by ZTE and TCL appearing early this year. With an affordable HW it will be possible to have the power of high devices smartphones. Also the UI will be customized easily, as it is based in web technologies as HTML5.

Solaiemes adapted its joyn Web Client powered by our RCS Thin Client Server network API to become an HTML5 app, reducing needed bandwith and improving the user experience as the UI is run from the device itself. Also, it combines the advantadges of the cloud as you can have all your communication history (chat and transfered media) in the cloud. No need then to deploy SIP, MSRP and RTP stacks in the device draining battery and overloading the CPU. Our aim is to combine the powerful features of standard telco comms based on IMS as the core of the messaging and the flexibility of web technologies to deliver the best user experience in the device.

It is expected that Firefox OS will disrupt emerging markets and particular segments in mature markets, and telcos have the chance to leverage the opportunity and re-state its role by providing smoothly integrated the telco messaging features from the beginning. RCS Thin Client Server is interoperated with the leading IMS and IM AS, and RCS-e Core in a Box vendors, then, deploying the solution is plug&play.

We will be presenting it officially in the coming Mobile World Congress 2013. Any question or feedback more than welcomed.

Alpha & Telco words together? Great!

One of the CES 2013 most commented news has been the AT&T announcement of its Call Management API and Alpha API program.
Powered by Voxeo Labs Tropo API and the Ericsson IMS. The annoucement got a lot of awareness. A big congrats to those companies.
You can find an excelent post on that by Alan Quayle here.

Solaiemes always aimed telcos opening its assets to 3rd parties in an easy wat to create services on top with win-win-win value (telco, developers, and final users.
We have been listening during years from carrier people: "we are not allowed to launch in beta", "people will not accept betas from us", "impossible to launch without a final closed spec behind". Well, finally, bells were ringing, bands playing and everyone in holiday attire.

A major telco realized that beta is better than nothing, and that even "alpha" is good, as perhaps the final product needed will be adding ideas from 3rd parties as feedback. This is how technology world works and telcos are part of this world.

We invite all telcos to follow the alpha-strategy to find new use cases for their communication assets, to open their networks for external innovation, because new services and innovation will seed the future revenues. And of course, please telcos...this strategy is the good one for RCS joyn :-)