Can a Coffee Table Change the World?

Microsoft has been working on a project, that they claim can change the world. This product, which is probably the best kept secret they have ever created, a coffee table.

But this is no ordinary coffee table, this coffee table has a built in touch screen display spanning the whole top of the table. This is the ultimate computer for anyone who enjoys entertaining, for anyone who enjoys a clean computer. Surface has not a single cable. You cannot plug into the computer any keyboards, mice, digital cameras, or any peripheral for that matter. So how do you use it? With your fingers.

Place a digital camera on top of your "coffee table" and watch pictures spew out onto the screen. Place your finger on one and drag it over. Take two fingers, place them on opposite corners and drag away or towards each other to increase or decrease the size. Place your cell phone on the table, drag the same photo to it and watch it magically download into your phone.

Open your music player, view the album covers of 20 or so albums, touch one, view the song list, touch a song and enjoy.

Microsoft Surface received its name from "surface computing", which is basically converting a traditional GUI to one that has everyday objects and the user interacts with those objects with a touch screen display.

This new product from Microsoft, is definitely a major innovation on computing as we know it. Probably one of their greatest accomplishments to date.

For more information on Microsoft Surface, see Microsofts website at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/. To read more about how it works, see this article by Glenn Derene, Microsoft Surface: Behind-the-Scenes First Look (with Video). The above picture was taken from Glenn Derene's article, created by Intoaroute.

Nuvio Posts Directions to Provision Gizmos for their Service

Nuvio, a provider of PBX voice service, has setup a section of their website for SunRocket customers. They have posted how to unlock the AC-211-SR, AC-211N-SR, Linksys SPA 2102 and InnoMedia 6328.

Please note, they have not solved the no longer working password problem:

Note: If you have a Linksys SPA-2102, please try to unlock the device using these instructions before signing up for Nuvio service. A small number of customers are reporting difficulty unlocking the Linksys SPA-2102. This is likely due to TeleBlend, in a effort to retain a portion of the SunRocket Customer base having likely reconfigured passwords on the Linksys SPA-2102. Nuvio is currently working on a solution for this issue. Please check this page for updates.

This information can be found at http://direct.nuvio.com/sunrocket/devices.html

Teleblend Claims No Password Change

Mihir Gandhi has spoken with Lisa Bickford from Teleblend. She claims that she is unaware of any changes to the admin passwords that unlock the Gizmos. She stated that the devices were provisioned for use on Teleblend's network, but that passwords were not changed.

So if Teleblend did not provision the password change, then who did? Personally I seem rather skeptical.

Nuvio, another VOIP service provider, has made this statement on their website regarding converting SunRocket customers:

Note: If you have a Linksys SPA-2102, please try to unlock the device using these instructions before signing up for Nuvio service. A small number of customers are reporting difficulty unlocking the Linksys SPA-2102. This is likely due to TeleBlend, in a effort to retain a portion of the SunRocket Customer base having likely reconfigured passwords on the Linksys SPA-2102. Nuvio is currently working on a solution for this issue. Please check this page for updates.

So I guess I am not the only person who feels this way.

Chris

Configuring 2 lines with Innomedia MTA6328-2re & Viatalk

This article was written by Mihir Gandhi, a link to the original post can be found at the bottom.

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Adam Nollmeyer commented on my previous post about the 2-line feature offered by Viatalk. I tried it out, and I am glad to report that I have a step-by-step guide on how to get this working.

Before I start - one caveat: for me, line 2 seems to take precedence over line 1. In other words, when someone calls me, the phone connected to line 2 rings, but the phone connected to line 1 does not! Same thing happens for call waiting - only line 2 gets the call. However, I am able to make calls from both lines simultaneously. This may be a Innomedia issue, but I am not certain.

Anyways, here is the step-by-step:

Step 1: Enable line 2 on the Sunrocket/Innomedia MTA6328-2re Gizmo.

a) Enabling the 2nd line is not available via the web interface - it is only available from telnet. Telnet to 192.168.251.1 (in windows, you can do this by going to START -> Run. Type in “telnet 192.168.251.1″ and click OK)
b) Log in using the username ‘admin’ (all lower-case) and password ‘7UprUtew’ (case-sensitive).
c) Type in ‘Mp’ (without quotes, case-sensitive). This option will allow you the configure the phone ports.
d) Follow the on-screen prompts to enable both the ports. When prompted whether you want to save the configuration permanently, select ‘y’.
e) Power-cycle the gizmo by unplugging the power cord, wait 20 seconds, and plug the power cord back in the gizmo. At this point, your gizmo should have both lines up and running.

Step 2: Configure the second line

a) Go to http://192.168.251.1/Voice_adminPage.htm and login using ‘admin’ and ‘7UprUtew’ as the username and password respectively.
b) From the menu bar, go to VoIP -> User Account. For line 1, your ‘username’ must be set to your 11-digit phone number (starting with country code 1). The password was sent to you by viatalk in the activation email. All other fields must be blank (user name, authentication ID, Hot Phone number). Select ‘No’ for the ‘Use hot phone number’ option, and ‘Yes’ for the ‘Fax T38′ option. Click the “Save” button.
c) Repeat step (b) above for line 2 and click the “Save” button.

Step 3: Reboot/Reset/Power-cycle everything

a) Power cycle your cable modem
b) Power cycle your gizmo (If the gizmo is behind a router, then power cycle the router, then the gizmo)
c) Power cycle the phone connected to Line 1
d) Power cycle the phone connected to Line 2

Now everything should be working! Try it out and let me know how it works. One forewarning: For the first few calls, both my phones were ringing. This issue auto-corrected it self after a few calls. So if this happens to you, just wait 10 minutes or so and try again.

ENJOY!

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The original post can be found at Mihir Gandhi’s Blog @ http://gandhi.wordpress.com/

Google, is its Future Up or Down?

To take a break from the tragedy that is SunRocket, Google(GOOG) has seen quite a bit of attention lately. Wall Street is in a disarray with the recent posting of earnings. Google missed estimates by one penny per share, the penalty for doing so? Stock price plummets $40 in two trading days.

Personally, I do not see what the big deal is. Many financial analysts are confused whether to say buy / hold / or sell, but I think its quite simple really. Buy, buy, and buy some more.

Since Google has become public, they have acquired 28 companies, that is an average of .8 companies per month. With those companies comes brilliant products and services, not to mention many many patents. So why is Google on a acquisition binge? Quite simple really, they want to revolutionize the way we find information and they want to do it while maintaining strong growth.

Now we all know, that a company that reaches $10 billion dollars in annual revenue in just 10 years of operation needs to keep feeding. If they slow down spending money, slowing down the intake of intellectual property (patents), then they give their competitors (Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL to mention a few) a chance to catch up and steal back some market share. If Google continues this path of obesity, they may very well just drive some of that competition to the ground.

If there is only one thing that history has ever taught us, is that mighty empires never last forever. And in respect to Microsoft, you are witnessing its demise.

Microsoft is standing tall, Google just keeps pushing and pushing, all the while Apple is hiding behind Microsoft on all fours waiting for Google's last push. And collapse, Microsoft is no more.

Bank of America Sympathizes with SunRocket Customers

Supposedly, if you payed for SunRocket's service with your Bank of America Visa, then you are in luck. On your monthly statement you should find a section called "Important Information About This Account". In this section should be a form titled "Customer Statement of Disputed Item".

Fill out the form as follows:

1) Name, Transaction Date, Posting Date, Amount $, Account Number, and Merchant Name should be filled in specific to your info.

2) Disputed amount is calculated by taking your situation to a monthly rate and multiplying by the months remaining on your contract. For example, if you paid $200 for 2 years and have 10 months remaining it would be (200/24)=8.3333333*10 or $83.33

3) Reference number: If you do not know your reference # log in online and click on the specific transaction.

4) Check box #9 and write a short letter explaining the situation, how many months of service you've had and how many months of service remain un-rendered.

5) Sign, Date and list your contact #'s.

6) include the signed form, your letter and any back-up info you feel may apply in an envelope and send to: Billing Inquiries, P.O. Box 15026, Wilmington, DE 19850-5026, USA.

Don't forget, make copies of whatever you send in.

Recoup funds paid to SunRocket

I read on another site that many people are calling their credit card companies and disputing the charges to their account from SunRocket. If your purchase with SunRocket was within 90 days, there is a good chance you will recoup your funds. If it is over 90 days since your purchase, you may have a little bit more work to do, but it still may be possible. Contact your credit card issuer and discuss with them what would be required.

SunRocket will inevitably be going bankrupt so the sooner you report a dispute for services not rendered, the better chance you will be getting your money back.

SunRocket's Network Being Liquidated?

There are rumors spreading, and I wouldn't be surprised, that the major stakeholders that funded SunRocket originally were the ones that cut the executives off from more funds. They then proceded to take control of the company during its unforeseen demise and begin making deals with Packet 8 and Teleblend. Its interesting because SunRocket is now spamming me this message of how they have a deal with Packet 8 and Teleblend, in fact if I switch to Teleblend, there is no need to port my number? Why is that you ask, because they now run the network...

Which brings me to another thought. If a new service provider has snaggled up SunRocket's assets, that puts many users of the Gizmo (Linksys SPA-2102) in deep water. Chances are the first thing the new owners did was provision the gizmos and change the password. I will keep my ears open on the web to decipher if my theories are correct, and if I discover a new password I will post it here.

There is still hope.