Microsoft Unveils Unified Communications Product Road Map and Partner Ecosystem
New 2007 Office system products to deliver enterprise communications solution that unifies voic e, conferencing, IM and collaboration.
Unified communications will drive the next major advancement in individual, team and organizational productivity in today’s 24x7, always-connected and increasingly mobile work environment, We believe that through software, we can transform business communications (bringing down both its cost and complexity) by now integrating voice communications with the familiar and powerful communications and collaboration experiences provided by Microsoft. - Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division
Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications
Unified Communications
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, a robust, flexible, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards-based real-time communication platform that enables presence-based VoIP call management; audio-, video- and webconferencing; and instant messaging communication within and across existing software applications, services and devices.
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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 unified messaging goes beyond e-mail and today’s stand-alone voice-mail systems to deliver a unified inbox experience that includes e-mail, voice mail and faxing functionality, as well as new capabilities such as speech-based auto attendant allowing users to access their communications from any phone. |
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Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, a unified communications client that works in tandem with Office Communications Server 2007 to deliver a presence-based, enterprise VoIP “softphone”; secure, enterprise-grade instant messaging that allows for intercompany federation and connectivity to public instant messaging networks such as MSN, AOL and Yahoo!; one-to-one and multiparty video- and audioconferencing; and webconferencing. As with the previous versions, Office Communicator 2007 will be available in desktop, browser-based and Windows Mobile-based versions. |
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Microsoft Office Live Meeting, a rich conferencing service designed to help users more effectively collaborate, conduct training and deliver presentations using just a PC and an Internet connection. Improvements to Office Live Meeting include support for e-learning, enhanced audio and video capabilities including VoIP, a streamlined user interface, seamless integration with the Microsoft Office system and simpler deployment. |
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Microsoft Office RoundTable™, an audio-video collaboration device with a unique 360-degree camera. When combined with Office Communications Server 2007, RoundTable delivers an immersive conferencing experience that extends the meeting environment across multiple locations. Meeting participants on site and in remote locations gain a panoramic view of everyone in the conference room as well as close-up views of individual participants as they take turns speaking. |
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Microsoft Office Communicator phone experience, Communicator-based software designed to run an innovative set of new voice and video devices — including business-enabled IP desktop phones — from Polycom Inc., LG-Nortel Co. Ltd. and Thomson Telecom. This is a new ecosystem designed to run on dedicated communications devices in tandem with Office Communications Server 2007 to extend and enhance the Microsoft unified communications experience. |
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PC peripheral devices, such as USB handsets, wireless USB headsets, USB webcams and PC monitors with built-in audio and video components. Devices from industry partners GN Netcom Inc., Logitech, Motorola, Plantronics Inc., Samsung and Tatung Co. will work with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 to deliver a compelling communication experience on the PC.
Hopefully we'll learn more about The Power of Unified in Boston at the Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference in two weeks time, but it appears to be all about the Web!
On a rainy Saturday, the Yankee game postponed, I’m listening to Vloggercon live from that city by the bay. Thanks to Jake Ludington and LimeLight's Stream, the audio quality is so good it's just like being there!
Most of the voices I'm hearing are people I know and have met. It's also great to here from other participants who get a chance to contribute to the conversation, we gota try this format for our next Code Camp.
Podcasts are posted and will be there for you to listen when you have a chance.
1. National Anthem.
2. Tools.
3. Citizen Journalism.
4. Users In Charge.
5. Standards for Users.
6. Emotional Life.
7. Post-game show.
13. Core values.
14. Fat Man Sings
From Niall Kennedy at BloggerCon;  Marc needs to take a break, too many time zones in too little time. Check-out the Wiki.
I lived in Ireland throughout the ‘90’s during the greatest economic boom in Irish history; I would like to claim some credit for that growth, but it was the efforts of the IDA enticing high-tech companies to establish a presence there that was the engine of change. Upon entering the country at Dublin airport you would pass a big map of Ireland and in the center was the logo:
Intel Opens Third High-Volume 65nm Manufacturing Facility Intel Extends Leadership in Advanced Chip Manufacturing with Europe’s First 65nm Chip Factory in High-Volume Production
The US$2 billion factory has begun high-volume production using 65nm process technology produced on the industry’s largest wafer size (300mm), which provides the Intel fab with the potential to generate the world’s highest microprocessor output at the lowest cost. Along with Intel’s Fab 12 in Arizona and D1D fab in Oregon, the new facility (called Fab 24-2) is the most technologically advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing plant in the world building multi-core microprocessors.
Listen to RTE News as Intel's President and chief executive Paul Otellini says Ireland is still an attractive location for Intel. ![]()
All this time I thought we were living in the Information Age, imputing data into computers so they could process it and send it to our friends, RFID is now enabling machines to impute their own data.
Yesterday at SIA Conference in NYC Kevin Aston from ThingMagic gave a Keynote on RFID, Technology & Innovation Leadership. The key word is leadership, the machines are taking that.
Just last week I was running around TechEd with an RFID chip embedded in my name tag, now I can see how this technology will be used everywhere. It’s going to make our lives easier or should I say more productive and at the same time make us obsolete.
Microsoft Robotics Studio Community Tech Preview is now available for download.
Check-out the Microsoft Robotics Studio video over on Channel 9 - meet the team behind MSRS and see the robots they created
Microsoft Robotics Studio Provides Common Ground for Robotics Innovation!
Key features and benefits of the Microsoft Robotics Studio environment include these:
End-to-end robotics development platform. Microsoft Robotics Studio includes a visual programming tool, making it easy to create and debug robot applications. Robotics Studio enables developers to generate modular services for hardware and software, allowing users to interact with robots through Web-based or Windows-based interfaces. Developers can also simulate robotic applications using realistic 3-D models; Microsoft has licensed the PhysX™ engine from AGEIA™, a pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics, enabling real-world physics simulations with robot models. The PhysX simulations can also be accelerated using AGEIA hardware. |
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Lightweight services-oriented runtime. Microsoft Robotics Studio provides a lightweight services-oriented runtime. Using a .NET-based concurrency library, it makes asynchronous application development simple. The services-oriented, message-based architecture makes it simple to access the state of a robot’s sensors and actuators with a Web browser, and its composable model enables the building of high-level functions using simple components and providing for reusability of code modules as well as |