Jon Arnold

SPOTLIGHT: Nortel Buys Again

Doug Mohney — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:58:54 -0400

Nortel has purchased 3D positional voice technology company DiamondWare. It's the second Nortel acquisition in as many weeks.

Nortel gets 3D audio technology to help create "real life" virtual communication experiences on the web and in conferencing. DiamondWare's technology uses wideband, stereo capabilities and custom spatial positioning. The technology lets each individual "hear" other participants in relation to how far away they are in a virtual space. It also allows participants in a virtual game or meeting to engage in private conversations.

Nortel is going to incorporate DiamondWare's technology across carrier and enterprise portfolios to enhance its multimedia, voice conferencing and VoIP solutions, plus cook it into "advanced research projects" such as a 3D web networking solution as part of the company's incubation program.

Bottom line is, Nortel gets some very cool strategic technology it can put into anything that uses audio. The DiamondWare buy also highlights the fact Nortel is not shy these days to spend some cash to acquire software when they need it, a la the Pingtel acquisition a week ago.

Under the terms of the agreement, DiamondWare gets $7 million in cash up front. Nortel will put out up to another $3 million to DiamondWare security holders based upon meeting future business milestones over the next 40 months.

For more:
- Nortel buys DiamondWare announcement
- Analyst/Blogger Jon Arnold all over the Nortel/DiamondWare relationship

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SPOTLIGHT: Arnold Handicaps VoIP Service Platforms

Doug Mohney — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:41:18 -0400

Over at TMCnet, Jon Arnold discusses Ribbit, Jajah and Ifbyphone and how they fit into the broader VoIP service platform arena. His discussion of Jajah is timely given the company's latest-and-greatest deal with Intel using Remote Wake technology, but pondering Ifbyphone's future is also relevant, given that Jajah seems to be wrapping up the big play deals.

For more:
- Arnold's Ribbit-Jajah-Ifbyphone blog piece

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The Nortel Energy and Charm Offensives

Doug Mohney — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:29:30 -0400

Last month, Nortel launched its "ruthless" Cisco Energy Tax campaign at Interop. More recently, the company has engaged in a sustained charm campaign to woo the analyst and press communities in order to generate positive buzz.

Nortel says that, kilowatt for kilowatt, its data center gear outperforms comparable Cisco equipment in 50 percent lower energy consumption; not to mention it's faster, more reliable and less expensive. The Tolly Group has backed Nortel's claims and has over 50 testimonial claims from customers who have ditched Cisco and gone over to Nortel. And Nortel wants to buyers to know that its LAN gear is purpose-built for unified communications (UC).

Nortel's charm campaign started last month at the grass roots level, rolling in a group of bloggers to Ottawa to let them see the latest R&D they have going on. Last week, a larger group of press and analysts were flown into Dallas to engage in a larger set of briefings outlining Nortel's UC strategy. The backdrop opulence of the Gaylord Texan Resort didn't hurt matters much; but a first-day separation of analysts and media did raise some eyebrows.

During the Dallas presentations witnessed by this reporter, the Energy Tax campaign was highlighted, complete with slides showing what happens if you put "Cisco Energy Tax" into Google (the exercise is left to the reader).

For more:
- Jon Arnold's blog posting on The New Nortel
- Nortel Buzzboard tells you which bloggers they wooed

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