VoxOx has baked a Universal Translator directly into is Web communications platform, providing foreign language messaging translation for text messages, instant messaging, e-mail and messaging communications via Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The neat trick here is that only one person need be using VoxOx to have a conversation that is translated between two parties, making it a boon for efficiency. Such translation capabilities should help VoxOx pick up a number of users, which is important for a product competing with Skype, Google Voice (which will likely offer Web calling capabilities this year) and other VOIP solutions such as BT's Ribbit.
- VoxOx, which fancies itself as an alternative to Skype and Google Voice by letting users make phone calls via the Web, has integrated a language translation capability directly into its service. VoxOx gives users a dedicated number and lets them make calls from PC to PC, as well as from PCs to...

Snow Leopard, the new version of Apple's Mac operating system, is sufficiently short on new user features that Apple wouldn't have hidden one of the more significant additions. But that's exactly what they've done, presumably because it conflicts with the company's marketing message.

Snow Leopard contains a component that checks for the "signatures" of known malware alerts users when a Web download, e-mail attachment, iChat instant message contains code that the system thinks is malicious. This File Quarantine feature is not mentioned in the Snow Leopard Reviewers' Guide nor could I find any reference to it in the discussion of Snow Leopard on the Apple Web site. It was discovered by testers putting the released version of Snow Leopard through is paces and officially acknowledged by Apple on Aug. 26 as an extension of technology first introduced in Tiger (OS X 10.4).

I just received an e-mail invitation to a Sept. 10 Motorola event in San Francisco. The invite provides no details on the mysterious event, but it features the fun little robot that represents Android, which is software for mobile phones created by a coalition of companies led by Google.

Clearly, it's not a stretch to call this invite what it is: An invitation to the launch of Motorola's first Android-based phone.

This launch is a huge deal. The ailing handset maker, whose market share has dwindled precipitously in recent years on failure to come up with best-selling products, has effectively bet the company on the success of its new line of Android-based devices. Its first phone's design and capabilities will offer a glimpse at whether Moto has succeeded or failed in that mission.

Blogs are already full of pictures of the phone Moto will supposedly announce; here's a link to one of the more credible ones. Is this phone for real? Will it impress analysts, carriers and consumers alike? We'll have to wait until Sept. 10 to find out.

Starting on Sept. 6, AT&T will require all new smartphone users to subscribe to the carrier's wireless data plans, the company confirms to BusinessWeek.com.

Today, some of AT&T's smartphone customers can chose not to buy a data plan, or they can subscribe to MEdia Net, a cheaper service that offers wireless e-mail and news access for as little as $2 per Megabyte. Currently, AT&T's data plans range from $5 to $60 a month.

While I suspect that most people who buy smartphones subscribe to data plans already, there's probably a hefty percentage that get smartphones for voice calls and good looks. They figure they might use them for data later. That's the category of users AT&T is now hoping to rope into buying more services. And the move likely means increases in data revenues for the carrier -- and slower sales growth for smartphone vendors.

Heavier monthly charges could deter some people from buying smartphones. For AT&T, that's no great loss. The carrier spends a lot of money on subsidizing handsets so consumers get them at a lower price; and those subsidies may not pay off when expensive, feature-rich smartphones are not being used for data services, as intended.

The move, which is likely to be copied by other U.S. carriers, could slow down smartphone sales, however. So far this year, handset makers Apple, Research in Motion and others have booked double-digit revenue growth on smartphone sales. Well, that sales growth should come down as service plan prices go up, and consumers that only want the handsets for voice may opt for a cheaper option: a feature phone.

When eBay bought Internet calling service Skype in 2005, Jeff Bonforte believed the company had made a serious oversight. The entrepreneur, who at the time was president of voice-over-Internet startup SIPphone, noticed that the $2.6 billion deal did not give eBay ownership of the core, peer-to-peer technology that makes Skype work so efficiently.

“’Insane’ was the word I used,” says Bonforte, who is now CEO of e-mail startup Xobni. Should the day come when eBay lost its ability to license the peer-to-peer technology, he predicted the company would face vast difficulties replacing it.

That day may soon be upon us. In a 10-Q regulatory filing on July 29, eBay disclosed that it’s in the process of building a replacement – an admission, many interpreted, that the company may lose its right to license the original technology in an ongoing court battle with Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. EBay has sued their company, Joltid, to prevent them from ending the licensing arrangement.

So with a planned public offering for Skype in 2010, lots of people want to know: How hard would it be to rewire the entire service?

“The complexity of the change is hard to overestimate,” Bonforte says. “They could just screw it up – which is completely likely.”

If you're an e-mail pack rat like me, you let your inbox fill up with thousands of messages of varying degrees of importance knowing you will need to refer to some old conversation or contact at some point down the road. The problem is, the e-mail client used by a vast majority of businesses, Microsoft Outlook, does a poor job of managing all that mail.

In May 2008, San Francisco startup Xobni ("inbox" spelled backwards) released a free add-on for Outlook that indexes e-mail messages for speedy searches. I'm one of the two million people who have downloaded it, and it's proven so useful that I wouldn't think of launching Outlook without it. Companies, executives, co-workers, topics, attachments -- anything that's passed through my e-mail is all there for me to pull up with a nearly-instant search.

On Wednesday, Xobni announced a premium version of the software that adds extra features, like the ability to fine-tune searches, search through calendar appointments, and to include Xobni's automatic suggestions when you're typing the names of e-mail recipients. The company is charging a one-time fee of $29.99.

This is not likely to catapult the company into profitability any time soon, since co-founder Matt Brezina says he would be happy if more than 4% of existing users signed up for the premium version. But he tells me that this is the first of several revenue sources Xobni hopes to draw from in the future. The company will release a version of Xobni for Research in Motion's Blackberry some time in the near future. Brezina says he's also interested in exploring web-based mail.

Cisco IronPort has partnered with RSA to integrate its e-mail gateways with data loss prevention technologies to prevent critical information from being lost in transit.

Google is rolling Google Voice out to users who signed up for the service. The VOIP management system assigns users one number to ring their home, work and cell phones. Though not to be confused with Skype's universal VOIP platform, analysts praise the service. Is number portability on the way?
- Google is opening up its Google Voice VOIP management service to more invitees June 25. Users who requested an invitation on the Google Voice site or previously on GrandCentral can expect invitations via e-mail, according to this post from Google Voice product managers Craig Walker and Vincent ...

A new survey shows that a lot of consumers who buy netbooks may be dissatisfied with their purchases. In late spring, consultant NPD surveyed 600 online consumers to gage their impressions of the popular mini-laptops called netbooks.

The survey yielded some suprizing results: Sixty percent of consumers thought that netbooks would function exactly like regular laptops. As a result, only 58% of consumers who purchased a netbook instead of a laptop were satisfied with their purchase (as a point of reference, about 70% of regular laptop buyers were satisfied with their purchases).

One of the reasons is, consumers aren't using their netbooks as intended, for light Web browsing and e-mail via Wi-Fi or 3G wireless networks outside the home. Some 60% of the netbooks purchased never leave the house, according to NPD. After making their purchase, many users realize the netbooks' chips aren't as fast and capable as those of laptops, and don't support video as well.

Clearly, PC makers and retailers need to do a better job explaining the differences in capabilities between netbooks and regular laptops to consumers. After having played with an HP Mini netbook for the past couple of months, I can attest to the fact that netbooks are great -- if used for what they were intended. I loved using mine to quickly check Hotmail or to watch a video off of YouTube. But try multitasking, such as downloading a photo or a document while streaming a video off of YouTube, and their performance falls off the cliff. Consumers need to be made aware of this before they make their purchases.

Don’t look now but Cisco is poised to make a big play in the e-mail cloud computing and collaboration market.

On Wednesday morning, Amazon confirmed reports that had been circulating about the company’s upcoming release of a large-screen version of its Kindle electronic book reading device. The Kindle DX, now available for pre-order and expected to ship some time this summer, boasts a stunning, 9.7” electronic ink screen that rotates horizontally. It retails for a staggering $489.

Aside from a reconfiguring of the keyboard, the basic hardware design and menu navigation is unchanged, as our video below shows.

Amazon Kindle DX Hands-On from Arik Hesseldahl on Vimeo.

So, who’s going to pay nearly $500 for an essentially one-purpose device? With the Kindle DX, Amazon appears to be beckoning professionals. While introducing the device to the press, CEO Jeff Bezos displayed Kindle versions of SEC filings, sheet music, pilot charts, and cookbooks. Clearly, he thinks the e-reader can change how many people do their jobs.

Amazon is also giving a kick-start to two potential markets for the DX: college students and newspaper readers. As previous reports predicted, the company is partnering with six universities to subsidize the cost of the device to select students; and the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post plan to offer discounts on Kindle DX’s to certain subscribers. Amazon and these partners will be watching and testing to see if these pilot programs are worth expanding.

Aside from these specific types of consumers, it’s doubtful the general public has much appetite for such a costly device. For $489, you can currently buy a high-end netbook with features the Kindle lacks, like surfing the Web and sending e-mail, or a smart phone.

“Typically when you broaden a product line, you try to expand the audience that you can attract,” says Avi Greengart, analyst with IT researcher Current Analysis. “Amazon has expanded up market, and actually come out with a product that’s considerably more expensive than a product that was already rather pricey to begin with.”

I spoke with Lauren Albert, a dedicated Kindle user who has purchased both previous versions. She was excited when she heard about a new, larger device but was a little taken aback by the price tag. Will she buy it? “I’m on the fence. I will probably pre-order it so I have the option, and save up my pennies this summer.”

By the way, BusinessWeek launched on the Kindle today - click here for more information.

One of the most common networking questions I get asked is, “How do I generate referrals for other people?”  Well, this same question is exactly what I was asking myself in the early ’80s when I was just starting my consulting business. I came up with a technique that had a huge impact on my ability to provide quality referrals to others–which, of course, led to me getting referrals.

I realized that I needed to be the person whom people came to if they needed a referral for anything–the “gatekeeper” of referrals . . .  the “go-to guy.”  So I composed a letter that I sent out to my client list several times a year.  Today you could send out a quick e-mail to your database, but you should send it at least once a year as hard copy just to stand out from everybody else who’s e-mailing your clients.  Here’s a sample letter:

Dear________:

I really believe in the process of referrals, so part of the service I provide is to be sure to refer my clients and associates to other qualified businesspeople in the community.

Attached is a list of areas in which I know very credible, ethical and outstanding professionals.  If you’re looking for a professional in a specific area I’ve listed, please feel free to contact me.  I will be glad to put you in touch with the people I know who provide these services.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ivan Misner

Notice when you read this letter that I just listed professions; I didn’t list names and phone numbers.  I wanted my clients to contact me so I could put the referral and the contact together–so I could build business relationships through being the go-to guy.  What began to happen was that others would ask someone on my client list, “Whom do you know who does XYZ?”  If they didn’t know anyone, then they would send that person to me.

The importance of becoming a gatekeeper is huge for anyone seeking to grow a business with word-of-mouth marketing.  It’s a strategy that gets people not only to contact you for a referral, but also to open up a dialogue with people about what your business is all about and how you can help them.  This, in turn, leads to more business with existing clients and new business with prospects.

Allow this to open the door for reciprocal sharing and giving.  You’ll be amazed at how much more business you’ll find you’re able to do as a result.

BlackBerry users who get their e-mail from a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) may have trouble using the new BlackBerry AppWorld store. Of course, many enterprises prohibit the installation of any unapproved apps on corporate BlackBerrys and users who fall into that class are just out of luck.

But there is a problem with how BlackBerrys connect to AppWorld through a BES, and depending on just how the server is configured, even users who are allowed to install programs may find themselves blocked. The symptom is that the AppWorld application installs properly on the handheld, but eventually generates a message saying it cannot connect to the AppWorld server.

Reaserch In Motion is working on a fix and hopes to distribute with with a new version of the AppWorld software "soon."

A start-up called Wrike has announced an important product today that could make Android-based smartphones more attractive to business users. As you'll recall, Android is an operating system for smartphones and other devices that was developed by Google and other companies.

Wrike's ContactsCalendarSync application offers two-way syncronization with Microsoft Outlook e-mail and calendar for users of T-Mobile G1 and other Android-based devices. While Android gadgets are mainly aimed at consumers, the app could make them more appealing to business users as well. That's crucial to Android's success, as most smartphone users today are so-called pro-sumers: They use the devices for both business and entertainment. The app will become available on March 26 on Android Market for $24.95.