BT Group, which virtually owns the UK telecommunications market, isn't waiting for Google (GOOG) to launch a full attack. The company probably expects to be under assault from the search engine (and advertising and e-mail) giant, so it's taking early action. Google Voice is still being tested, but words like "free" and "powerful" and "internet-based" are bound to inspire fear in even the most established of companies.

To protect itself from the eventual attack from Mountain View, BT picked up Ribbit Mobile, and testing is in progress. Ribbit's technology has some overlap with Google Voice and even beats it with a few capabilities, according to Bloomberg. Ribbit just launched its beta product this month. It allows either the user's current phone number or a new one from Ribbit -- which is no different from Google's alternative. The product suite is generally the same, with phone- and web-based voicemail retrieval and automatic transcriptions that can be sent by text message or e-mail. For an extra fee, BT's Ribbit does provide human transcription, though it is free during testing. And, calls can be taken directly from a computer, using a microphone and speakers.

Continue reading BT and Google battle over the spoken word

BT and Google battle over the spoken word originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hewlett-Packard buys European data centers from BT Group originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 May 2008 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is some news out of the U.K. that Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE)'s PSP, the PlayStation Portable, may actually get turned into a phone with BT Group (NYSE: BT), formally known as British Telecom. There is already a clip-on mini-camera available for it, and the advanced communications just takes it that much further into a PC and total communications device with video, voice, and wi-fi.

One small problem. Last weekend I was at GameStop looking for a gift for my nephew and when I asked the people working about the PSP, they told me that it was a disaster. They said the Nintendo DS was far better, and this was a bit surprising considering the sleekness of the PSP. Even a buyer at the register that owned a PSP said he wished he didn't buy it.

So maybe as a phone and full-on communications center it may be better, but if the people selling it are going to directly discourage this, then how successful can it be? Sounds like they'll need to convince at least some more of the sellers of the PSP that improvements have been made.

Jon Ogg is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Sony and BT turn PSP into a phone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 May 2007 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Correction creates buying opportunity in Ciena originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft Copr (NASDAQ: MSFT) is trying to redeem itself in the IPTV software market. After delivering broken software to telecoms, it is hoping to get things right for deployments next year.

Aside from some sales success with Deutsche Telekom, BT and AT&T, the software has not been rolled out extensively. Verizon also plans to use the product in its fiber-to-the home TV initiative.

But, that's the problem. Telecom TV is already decades behind the cable companies. And, big cable offers VoIP and fast broadband now. Even if the AT&T and Verizon fiber operations are built on time, any further delays or programming issues in the Microsoft IPTV software could delay an initiative in which the telecoms are trying to break the cable deadlock.

Research firm Gartner says that IPTV could be a a $13 billion business by 2010.

Not if the software doesn't work.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Microsoft TV: If it ain't fixed don't break it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.