IT EXPO West - A look at ooma's Telo and future plans

It will be rolled out through ooma's retail channel rather pell mell. Best Buy will, Costco won't, Radio Shack will, but later than Best Buy. Release date has been pushed back before, as the story notes, so it's anyone's guess.

Will the 1st gen telo support bluetooth?

I think that is a mistake by Ooma. They aren't established enough to burn the customer base by releasing a product early then releasing an update 6 months later with more features.

Up until now Ooma relied on customer experiences to sell products. Early adopters are going to feel slighted when they find out about Bluetooth plans that aren't in the Telo just because Ooma wants holiday sales. A slighted customer base will not be kind online.

Ooma is too small to play the greedy Apple game and come out with happy customers. Those early adopters will be less likely to buy another Ooma product at release. Ooma isn't as big as Apple where the loss of early adopters can be absorbed.

Ooma knows they need bluetooth and has it planned. But they just want the revenue so they are rushing the release.

I'm crossing Ooma off my holiday list. No way will I feel good about paying $250 for a device that has a better one around the corner. A device that can tie into my cell or allow for a headset. It's not as if I would run out to buy a second Telo months later because they added bluetooth so I'll be waiting for the full device as Ooma promised at CES last January.

Anyone's guess. Rich Buchanan has stated one of Ooma's revenue streams is through current users buying new products. Ooma is not yet profitable so its unlikely they will cut into those revenue streams by giving discounts to upgraders.

In companies like Ooma most hardware upgrade discounts are for long time hardware owners so the company can keep those customers. Look at TiVo as an example. They don't give upgrade discounts to new customers. There is no reason to give an upgrade discount to a Telo 1 owner when the Telo 2 is dropped a few months later.

I wouldn't think there will be any discount to upgrade hardware. Especially those that just want Bluetooth and bought the Telo a few months too early. If Bluetooth is important the safe bet is not buying Telo 1 until we see what Ooma plans with Telo 2. Ooma will be tight lipped on Telo 2 until early 2010 because they want those holiday sales.

Why would someone buy a device to save on phone bills only to buy a new device when they break even? That defeats the purpose (and the major selling point) of buying an Ooma if someone is going to be replacing it before they see any savings.

It will take me 16 months to break even on the Telo before I start saving on not having a land line. To buy a second Telo after 16 months would make it so I don't see any savings over my current phone for the next two and a half years. We know they have held back on the hardware with an update planned within 4-6 months after release.

I wouldn't buy a laptop without bluetooth knowing an update to correct that is about 4 months away. I wouldn't be happy with an iPod I paid top dollar for just to see a new one released within a month. That's why I don't buy iPods around the 2 times a year when Apple releases new products. For that same reason I will be holding back 4-6 months to see what happens with the Telo hardware.

The only reason the first gen Telo is being released is so Ooma can make money off early adopters during the holiday. The second gen Telo is what Ooma originally planned to release and will be out after the holidays. I guess I have patience to wait a few months for the better version and not the one that is rushed to market so the company can bank a couple dollars.

Cell phone integration is what Ooma pitched at CES last January. Its anyone's guess what that could mean.

Maybe calls could be taken on the Telo handsets that come in on a paired cell phone near the base.

The cell phone address book could pair with the Telo stored addresses and allow a person to dial their entire phonebook from the Telo handset.

Its possible a cell phone paired with the base unit could display incoming SMS messages on the Telo handset. Ooma already plans on allowing premium users to view incoming Google Voice SMS messages on Telo handsets so this is very possible.

The Telo hub is a powerful Linux computer. Pairing Telo with a cell over Bluetooth could give the user more options than they get when pairing it with a high end car. Address books, sending and receiving calls, displaying SMS messages...

I think you are right assuming second gen Telo will be released late. Ooma is almost a year behind on releasing the first gen Telo. It's no wonder they needed so many venture capital infusions to stay alive this year.

I'm waiting to hear more about the bluetooth version. The details should be out at CES. The possibility to send and receive cell calls or SMS is too temping. And there is no way I will pay another $250 to upgrade from first gen Telo to a second gen Telo within 2 years of buying the first gen. As another commenter noted, all my savings would be wiped out by upgrading so soon.

Its not just on display. At some stores you can buy the Telo now. Official release is Oct 1. You can't port your number or start using the Telo until Thursday even if you buy today.

Its not just on display. At some stores you can buy the Telo now. Official release is Oct 1. You can't port your number or start using the Telo until Thursday even if you buy today.