OBi110

[lcompton]

nailgunner:

What gave it away? The message on the Google Voice page indicating "Enjoy free calls through 2011"?

They also said in 2010 that it was going to end at the end of that year and then extended it another year. Sorry couldn't resist.

Yep, they might do that again this year, too.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[dtm]

I have little doubt that Obi is a fine product. But my personal opinion, and it obviously is only that, is that if you look at the issues that people have getting a fairly simple product like MJ and NetTalk (yes they have issues too) to work right, I think it's beyond reason to think that something more complicated (and it is more complicated and expensive, at least in the short-term) is going to kill off MJ (I know you didn't suggest it would).

Actually the Obi110 is easier to set up using their web portal or wizard than MJ is. Just type in your area code, GV name, and password. That is one of the ingenious features of it. Do you own an Obi nailgunner? If so, then you know what I mean. Plug it into the router, run the wizard at obihai's website, talk on the phone. All you need is a GV account.

The power of this product is not Obi vs MJ. It is Google Voice vs MJ. Like I said before, if Google lets this fly, it is an MJ killer. Time will tell.

[lcompton]

Dennis:

I have little doubt that Obi is a fine product. But my personal opinion, and it obviously is only that, is that if you look at the issues that people have getting a fairly simple product like MJ and NetTalk (yes they have issues too) to work right, I think it's beyond reason to think that something more complicated (and it is more complicated and expensive, at least in the short-term) is going to kill off MJ (I know you didn't suggest it would).

Actually the Obi110 is easier to set up using their web portal or wizard than MJ is. Just type in your area code, GV name, and password. That is one of the ingenious features of it. Do you own an Obi nailgunner? If so, then you know what I mean. Plug it into the router, run the wizard at obihai's website, talk on the phone. All you need is a GV account.

The power of this product is not Obi vs MJ. It is Google Voice vs MJ. Like I said before, if Google lets this fly, it is an MJ killer. Time will tell.

You completely left out the part about not needing to leave a P.C. on.

OBi110 is brilliant. I wish I'd thought of it!

[nailgunner]

Actually the Obi110 is easier to set up using their web portal or wizard than MJ is. Just type in your area code, GV name, and password. That is one of the ingenious features of it. Do you own an Obi nailgunner? If so, then you know what I mean. Plug it into the router, run the wizard at obihai's website, talk on the phone. All you need is a GV account.

The power of this product is not Obi vs MJ. It is Google Voice vs MJ. Like I said before, if Google lets this fly, it is an MJ killer. Time will tell.

No, I don't have one but would certainly look at it with the death of MJ. But do a search on here for the people that have problems with just basic GoogleVoice, one of the easiest things out there, and you may see where I'm coming from.

The concept is very straightforward. But just the fact that people will have to run a "wizard" from the web-site first makes me skeptical of wide spread usage. Forget about the fact that you can pick a MJ up at a dozen major retailers and as far as I can tell the Obi can be had basically on-line. Also, you are assuming that MagicJack Plus, with it's cell phone interface, is not going to happen.

I've made a bet or two in my life and I would put my money on NetTalk killing off MJ way before Obi. But as you say, time will tell.

[nailgunner]

And to be clear, I'm not saying MJ is superior to any of these other products. I've only used MJ, and from other's I get the definite impression that MJ is way down on the list, although it works perfect for me.

But as some of you "older" folk remember, BetaMax was considered the clear better choice than VHS units. And I clung onto mine until you couldn't even rent the tapes anymore. Better doesn't always win.

[nailgunner]

OBi110 is brilliant. I wish I'd thought of it!

I wish I had thought of MagicJack. I would have stopped after I had sold a few million units, sold the company, and retired to the Caymans and lived happily ever after surrounded by cabana girls.

[Kif Kroker]

And to be clear, I'm not saying MJ is superior to any of these other products. I've only used MJ, and from other's I get the definite impression that MJ is way down on the list, although it works perfect for me.

But as some of you "older" folk remember, BetaMax was considered the clear better choice than VHS units. And I clung onto mine until you couldn't even rent the tapes anymore. Better doesn't always win.

Sony developed both VHS and Betamax, but only licensed VHS to other manufacturers and kept the Betamax standard for their own products. Thus VHS systems from various manufacturers became very inexpensive compared to the Sony Betamax units. More VHS units were sold, many more than Betamax, thus content providers focused on the market with the most users and that is what killed Betamax. It was better technology, but the marketing plan Sony had for it was flawed and caused the standard to die.

I think a Dan's efforts to kill using mJ's SIP credentials with other devices and the blocking of many small exchanges may be his Betamax moment.

Dave

[nailgunner]

Sony developed both VHS and Betamax, but only licensed VHS to other manufacturers and kept the Betamax standard for their own products. Thus VHS systems from various manufacturers became very inexpensive compared to the Sony Betamax units. More VHS units were sold, many more than Betamax, thus content providers focused on the market with the most users and that is what killed Betamax. It was better technology, but the marketing plan Sony had for it was flawed and caused the standard to die.

I think a Dan's efforts to kill using mJ's SIP credentials with other devices and the blocking of many small exchanges may be his Betamax moment.

Dave

Okay, I will officially be quiet after this, maybe (insert smart-alec comment here Joe ).

If anything you make my argument for me. MJ is the VHS, and OOMA/Obi are the Betamax's. What % of MJ users have ever heard of SIP in connection with voip, let alone know what it means? I didn't until I became a regular here. I understand that for a LOT of visitors here that it's an important part of the equation for their voip experience. For the general public, IMO, it's a complete and total non-issue. There is certainly a niche market for it, but I can't see it being the downfall of MJ. The way he runs his company being the downfall? Certainly possible. But because SIP is an issue? Hmmmm.

He somehow has sold 7 million of these things apparently being an idiot and not knowing what he was doing. If Plus does what they are "advertising" it wouldn't surprise me if he sold 7 million of them too.

[sabresfan]

A few providers that give a did for free are sipgate,ipcomms and ipkall(if used with a free account like callcentric). Also localphone has free incoming but the did costs .99 cents a month and $3 to setup. They do have some of the best international rates I've seen beating other providers I have looked at. I hope the obi continues to work but if google does not want to be considered a phone company then there is a good chance that they will eventually block this and other methods to make free calls.

[dtm]

It is good to see Google voice promoting the gmail chat application. Since that is the same technology that the Obi110 uses, it makes it less likely that Google will kill it. The Obi is basically a small computer running a firmware implementation of Google chat. This is a concept that is sure to be copied by others and could also be placed inside a net talk type unit as well. It can also be rapidly changed as needed!
---
@nailgunner: If people can use MJ's website portal they can certainly use GV. Not much difference in complexity. You ought to get an Obi and try it out. Having used both, I'd bet that MJ of yours would be gathering dust in a drawer after a few days.

[lcompton]

Good morning, Dennis.

@nailgunner: If people can use MJ's website portal they can certainly use GV. Not much difference in complexity. You ought to get an Obi and try it out. Having used both, I'd bet that MJ of yours would be gathering dust in a drawer after a few days.

I think nailgunner is afraid that we might be right.

I dare nailgunner to try an OBi110.

Hehe.

[VaHam]

Good afternoon, VaHam.

I suspect Google will start to charge for their service after 2012 no matter how it is used.

What gave it away? The message on the Google Voice page indicating "Enjoy free calls through 2011"?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!

Good Morning, lcompton.

Actually I said "after 2012" meaning I think they will wait until after 2012 when they have increased their market dominance before springing direct charges; if ever.

It would be hard to build a case that GV is a phone company (an hence fall under those regulations) as long as they don't charge for their service

There may be some other means of deriving income before that ala (voice adds) like whistlephone or targeted advertising based on usage.

Many folks like myself enjoy the excellent answering machine functions of GV and this is a great opportunity for Google to make income by delivering targeted ads along with voicemail messages delivered either by voice or email. Given Google's fixation (update also: GV/Sprint) on getting your cell number (currently you can port your cell number but not your land line to GV etc.) and the fact that you have established a business relationship with them (and hence the do not call list does not apply) then voice or SMS ads could also be in the future.

The targeted part may well be why GV exists, since Google can data mine both incoming and now outgoing calls, they can easily target consumers. Outgoing calls provide a better source for data mining since incoming calls are someone else's choice but outgoing calls are your own choice and thus provide better patterns regarding your interests. So there are many ways for GV to derive income other than by conventional usage charges. The OBi expands the number of folks who will make use of GV and thus only assists Google in building it's user base so I would think they would embrace it (or more likely bid to purchase it); unless their interest is really only in cellphone traffic.

Also remember that companies collect termination fees when they deliver the final leg of a call; and they also have to pay when another company terminates a call from one of their users. That is how companies like IPKALL derive profit. Since they only accept incoming calls, they pay no fees for outgoing termination but receive termination fees from other companies for each call they deliver.

Of coarse calls to and from their own users neither encounter no fees; which is why you see thing like calls between OBi's OBi number network (and many other similar services) being free.

In fact as long as a user receives more calling minutes than they place, then a company still makes a small profit from them. Perhaps we will see in the future a new pricing model where you only pay when your outgoing minutes exceeds your incoming minutes by some amount offset derived by the data mining value.

It is this aspect of income which has puzzled me regarding Google's actions. In the beginning Google allowed forwarding to a sip address but later stopped that feature. I could never understand why they stopped allowing the sip destinations; since it would add income unless they thought that folks could start sending them bills for termination fees since in reality your ATA is terminating the call. Perhaps they were worried that some company would start grabbing blocks of their DID's forwarding them to their PBX's and sell service and charge them for termination fees, hard to say.

Then they acquired GIZMO which essentially gave them the same feature via GIZMO. They of coarse also got GIZMO's block of DID's in the process as well. Now they have announced the end of GIZMO; perhaps so that they can make use of the DID's for GV. It appears they have been testing sip access again lately so maybe they will open sip back up after they kill GIZMO.

[VaHam]

Actually the Obi110 is easier to set up using their web portal or wizard than MJ is. Just type in your area code, GV name, and password. That is one of the ingenious features of it. Do you own an Obi nailgunner? If so, then you know what I mean. Plug it into the router, run the wizard at obihai's website, talk on the phone. All you need is a GV account.

The power of this product is not Obi vs MJ. It is Google Voice vs MJ. Like I said before, if Google lets this fly, it is an MJ killer. Time will tell.

I hate to belabor this but the OBi is not married to only GV. They have devised an easy way to provision the device. Provisioning an ATA could be a daunting task for novices; but OBi has made it easy.

Services other than GV can also be easily provisioned on the OBi device; which is why I call it open source. If your using the Betamax vs VHS analogy OBi is the VHS because it is not tied to a specific VOIP provider.

[lcompton]

Good morning.

Has anyone actually had an outbound call in excess of 30 minutes with the OBi110 through Google Voice?

LOL

I was on a conference call this morning and the call terminated at 30 minutes on the button. First was a fast busy signal and then a dial tone. I was able to dial back into the conference bridge, but gee whiz, please tell me that there aren't call caps with the OBi110! I can't stand it!

I'm totally laughing at myself because I think I may have found a chink in Obihai's armor.

Rats!

EDIT: Okay, I'm on a test call that is already at 33 minutes and counting. Whew! It looks like my conference call experience earlier may have been a fluke. Gosh, that was scary!

[bitstopjoe]

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I am actually thinking of trying the OBi110 myself when my MJ 3rd year expires this Aug.. That is if Amazon lowers their price back to $50 ( right now it is $84.94). I have about a $30 credit there so I MIGHT just go for it at the $50 mark.. I mean it sounds so easy even a caveman can do it, HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

[nailgunner]

I think nailgunner is afraid that we might be right.

I dare nailgunner to try an OBi110.

Hehe.

Afraid? No, I just don't have any need to try one. MagicJack works great for me. Since I'm retired with no life to speak of, I spend almost all day on the net playing games and harassing people in a few forums. At night, I forward my calls to my cell and shut the computer down. So I won't be saving any money on electricity. I can't beat it and have no incentive to try something else unless I get more bored than I am and want to throw money away.

I have no issues with Obi (for the 10th time). I'm sure it's an OUTSTANDING product. And I thrilled that you like it. I'm sure I would like it too. But by the time they sell enough units to get close to killing off MagicJack we will all be using something other than MJ or Obi or hell will have frozen over. And that is the only point I tried to make.

[nailgunner]

HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

And WHAT did I ever do to you to deserve that cheap-shot? Oh yea, I forgot.

Well, for the record, I hope that the week AFTER you receive your Obi that they announce a recall of them because they apparently fished them out of the water downstream from one of the Japan nuclear plants.

Edit: For the record, I DON'T want it melting in his hand or exploding in the middle of the night. Or even give him a tingle in his left hand. It was a joke, and Joe knows it. Right Joe? JOE?

[nailgunner]

@nailgunner: If people can use MJ's website portal they can certainly use GV.

You would think so wouldn't you? I know of posters in here that took days to figure out GV. And while I can't recall any, I'm sure people have given up on MJ's portal.

You still seem to miss my point. My neighbor can walk into WalMart, OfficeMax, Staples, Target, Walgreens or Radio Shack and pull a MagicJack off the shelf. If someone gets on the web and does research MagicJack will not be their pick. If they watch TV and shop at WalMart it probably will. Despite how much people hate MJ, it's not going away soon, unless Dan has really f**ked things up internally, but certainly not because of Obi.

[bitstopjoe]

Well, for the record, I hope that the week AFTER you receive your Obi that they announce a recall of them because they apparently fished them out of the water downstream from one of the Japan nuclear plants.

Edit: For the record, I DON'T want it melting in his hand or exploding in the middle of the night. Or even give him a tingle in his left hand. It was a joke, and Joe knows it. Right Joe? JOE?

WOW what a sad state of affairs when you have to put a disclaimer after your comment huh? Of COURSE I know you are only serious

[nailgunner]

WOW what a sad state of affairs when you have to put a disclaimer after your comment huh? Of COURSE I know you are only serious

That wasn't for your benefit goofball. There are one or two knuckleheads who will read that and report me to PITA, NSA or Homeland Security. I was making a preemptive attempt to stop the 3 a.m. knock on the door. Not that there aren't other reasons for the knock to happen.

[jeffnyc]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

Not sure if this was already addressed but sipgate is an alternative to gizmo5, I currently use it with Google Voice and the GVOut tool I mentioned earlier. You can even buy 911 service with them for <$2 a month.

Nailgunner - I sort of disagree that the Obi's are limited to voip forum readers. Slickdeals and Fatwallet are two sites I follow that have huge followers of general deal seeking consumers. Both have huge threads on the Obi hence one of the reasons why Amazon can't keep them in stock when Obihai (as the seller) stocks them.

I follow SD and FW, I am sure there are similar sites like it that I don't follow or even know about.

But I do agree its generally the Sunrocket type audience that will go for the Obi but since the days of Sunrocket that group has grown exponentially.

I have yet to open my Obi - thinking of selling it on ebay with the masses. I do think its a great product, I just find it unnecessary for my needs. I am still using an antiquated Spa1001 but I love it and it serves my needs.

I want to sell my magicjack too with three years of service left and a hard to get 212 number but I'd have to transfer my account on my own, without MJ knowing, thus the account would still be tied to my personal information.

[lcompton]

Good afternoon, Joe.

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I'd rather die.

It looks like I'll be filling in the write-in oval next year and adding Ron Paul's name once again. I wish millions of Americans weren't stupid enough to keep voting for the same riff-raff year-in and year-out.

I am actually thinking of trying the OBi110 myself when my MJ 3rd year expires this Aug.. That is if Amazon lowers their price back to $50 ( right now it is $84.94). I have about a $30 credit there so I MIGHT just go for it at the $50 mark.. I mean it sounds so easy even a caveman can do it, HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

LOL @ "HECK even Nailgunner"

Nice one!

Seriously, the OBi110 is pretty neat. I called one of those dial-in-and-listen telephone numbers for a radio broadcast and it ran for exactly two hours before being forcibly terminated. I don't know if Google Voice cut the call or the broadcaster. It was a toll call.

Right now, I'm dialed into another conference bridge (toll-free) and the call has been live for 40 minutes. So, I'm not really certain if a call cap exists or not. I haven't found anything definitive at this point. One thing is certain, continued usage in the coming weeks will flush out any call caps that may exist. I just did the full cut-over this past weekend so the OBi110's will be getting a real workout in the coming days and weeks.

EDIT: One more thing... The call quality of calls through the OBi110 and Google Voice completely blow away the performance on Gizmo5. I can't believe it. It's like having my old Verizon landline back. It's simply awesome. I'm minding less-and-less with each passing day the demise of Gizmo5.

[nailgunner]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

Nope, that's what retired life is all about, blowing up forums.

Nailgunner - I sort of disagree that the Obi's are limited to voip forum readers. Slickdeals and Fatwallet are two sites I follow that have huge followers of general deal seeking consumers. Both have huge threads on the Obi hence one of the reasons why Amazon can't keep them in stock when Obihai (as the seller) stocks them.

That is again missing the forest for the trees, so to speak. Huge threads on Obi in forums on the internet compares to stocking at WalMart, Target, and TV advertising? So okay, I amend my statement to Obi's audience for the foreseeable future will be limited to voip, slickdeal and fatwallet forums. It's like saying a great regional/designer beer is going to kill off Budweiser because it tastes better (not hard to do). There is room for all these products, but to make a statement, like someone did, and all I did was respond to that comment, that Obi is going to kill off MJ, is wishful thinking and naive at the least.

[lcompton]

Good afternoon, Joe.

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

Yes, I work. I work very hard so many other Americans don't have to.

I wouldn't have strolled in here this morning except that my conference call terminated at 30 minutes. It made sense to float the idea of call caps in here to see if anyone else had any similar experiences to share with respect to the OBi110 and Google Voice.

So, don't worry, your taxes aren't paying my way.

[nailgunner]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

It's not as bad as it seems. Half of the 3 pages are those stupid, obnoxious "AWESOME" WOOT WOOT lights.

[sabresfan]

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I am actually thinking of trying the OBi110 myself when my MJ 3rd year expires this Aug.. That is if Amazon lowers their price back to $50 ( right now it is $84.94). I have about a $30 credit there so I MIGHT just go for it at the $50 mark.. I mean it sounds so easy even a caveman can do it, HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

Keep your MJ and get an obi. We can't have the future MJ CEO jumping ship. Besides nobody has a nicer way of telling people to search.

[bitstopjoe]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

It's not as bad as it seems. Half of the 3 pages are those stupid, obnoxious "AWESOME" WOOT WOOT lights.

ZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG...........
Made me laugh out loud...........

[sabresfan]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

I work nights.

[bitstopjoe]

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I am actually thinking of trying the OBi110 myself when my MJ 3rd year expires this Aug.. That is if Amazon lowers their price back to $50 ( right now it is $84.94). I have about a $30 credit there so I MIGHT just go for it at the $50 mark.. I mean it sounds so easy even a caveman can do it, HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

Keep your MJ and get an obi. We can't have the future MJ CEO jumping ship. Besides nobody has a nicer way of telling people to search.

Awwww they like me they really like me No Sally Boniva really likes you

If the Obi works there would be no need for my MJ ( gasp)...I have till Aug to make a decision. Chances are by then Lisa ( lcompton) will have killed it off anyway

[lcompton]

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

It's not as bad as it seems. Half of the 3 pages are those stupid, obnoxious "AWESOME" WOOT WOOT lights.

ZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG...........
Made me laugh out loud...........

Hummpf! I didn't think it was all that funny.

You guys are just jealous of my awesome Woot!-off lights.

[lcompton]

Good afternoon, Meanie.

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I am actually thinking of trying the OBi110 myself when my MJ 3rd year expires this Aug.. That is if Amazon lowers their price back to $50 ( right now it is $84.94). I have about a $30 credit there so I MIGHT just go for it at the $50 mark.. I mean it sounds so easy even a caveman can do it, HECK even Nailgunner... hehe

Keep your MJ and get an obi. We can't have the future MJ CEO jumping ship. Besides nobody has a nicer way of telling people to search.

Awwww they like me they really like me No Sally Boniva really likes you

If the Obi works there would be no need for my MJ ( gasp)...I have till Aug to make a decision. Chances are by then Lisa ( lcompton) will have killed it off anyway

You're probably smart to wait. The OBi110 <-> Google Voice solution is so awesome it probably won't make it to August.

[nailgunner]

You guys are just jealous of my awesome Woot!-off lights.

Not so much jealous here, I am curious though if the Woot!-off lights actually turn OFF. Need my sunglasses on to read the posts in here.

[lcompton]

Nailgunner:

You guys are just jealous of my awesome Woot!-off lights.

Not so much jealous here, I am curious though if the Woot!-off lights actually turn OFF. Need my sunglasses on to read the posts in here.

Yes, they do turn off. There's a tiny on-off switch on each one of them.

[bitstopjoe]

Hummpf! I didn't think it was all that funny.

You guys are just jealous of my awesome Woot!-off lights.

Hey it could be worse as someone could have said "hey nice headlights".
A WHOLE other kind of compliment, or maybe not ( he says ducking).....

[lcompton]

Joe:

Hummpf! I didn't think it was all that funny.

You guys are just jealous of my awesome Woot!-off lights.

Hey it could be worse and someone could have said "hey nice headlights".
A WHOLE other kind of compliment, or maybe not ( he says ducking).....

Ooooooooooooooooh, you're in need of a punishment!

[bitstopjoe]

Promises promises promises.....................

[nailgunner]

Yes, they do turn off. There's a tiny on-off switch on each one of them.

Doesn't seem to be working, can't get the damn things to turn off. (And you guys wonder why some of us are better off sticking with MJ..geeze)

[lcompton]

Nailgunner:

Yes, they do turn off. There's a tiny on-off switch on each one of them.

Doesn't seem to be working, can't get the damn things to turn off. (And you guys wonder why some of us are better off sticking with MJ..geeze)

Oh, well, you have your sunglasses, right?

LOL

[nailgunner]

Oh, well, you have your sunglasses, right?

Yes. Sigh. Carry on.

[dtm]

Good afternoon, Joe.

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I'd rather die.:

I'll second that!

EDIT: One more thing... The call quality of calls through the OBi110 and Google Voice completely blow away the performance on Gizmo5. I can't believe it. It's like having my old Verizon landline back. It's simply awesome. I'm minding less-and-less with each passing day the demise of Gizmo5.

That is a fact. Better than MJ's beeps and clicks too.

--------------

I have a question about those Wooters. The left one appears to have a little hitch in its gittyup. Why is dat?

[lcompton]

Good evening, Dennis.

Good afternoon, Joe.

See??????????? It started already....
Do me a favor and come out and openly support Obama so this way we know he will be gone soon

I'd rather die.:

I'll second that!

Obviously, we're among the more sensible members present here.

Joe's okay, too, even though he's being mean to me.

I have a question about those Wooters. The left one appears to have a little hitch in its gittyup. Why is dat?

Yes, that's correct. The story goes like this... (I think there's a post somewhere on the forum that I wrote years ago explaining this.) I've always wanted to make my own animated GIF and I decided to give it a try one day. I needed something to animate so I shot some digital video of my Woot!-off lights running on my dining room table. The lights are plugged into the USB port of my work laptop on a white laptop table in the background.

Anyway, after I shot the digital video of the lights, I transferred it to my desktop computer (via a 1394 Firewire port) and then used some freeware tools to grab some frames of the video to setup an animated GIF loop. When I was setting up the picture loop, I wanted to use one complete cycle of the lights in the GIF loop so it wouldn't be too obvious where the loop begins and ends. This actually shows well in the right light, which turns without a perceptible beginning and end. It was at this point that I discovered that the left light rotates at a different speed (slower I believe) than the right light. After creating the picture loop for the animated GIF, there wasn't anyway to compensate for the slower turning left light relative to the right light. So, when the picture loop runs in the animated GIF, the left light skips forward when the loop cycles.

[jeffnyc]

Nope, that's what retired life is all about, blowing up forums.

That is again missing the forest for the trees, so to speak. Huge threads on Obi in forums on the internet compares to stocking at WalMart, Target, and TV advertising? So okay, I amend my statement to Obi's audience for the foreseeable future will be limited to voip, slickdeal and fatwallet forums. It's like saying a great regional/designer beer is going to kill off Budweiser because it tastes better (not hard to do). There is room for all these products, but to make a statement, like someone did, and all I did was respond to that comment, that Obi is going to kill off MJ, is wishful thinking and naive at the least

I dont think I said Obi was going to kill off MJ. I do agree that they lost a lot of business as someone else pointed out by cutting off ata usage. I do think magicjack, netduo and google voice have brough down voip prices - its becoming more competitive - hence the voipmyway specials

I also agree that the mainstream market is not going to jump on this. I do however have mainstream friends who know nothing about technology google voice using it on their cell phones etc and saving money by playing with the call to home, and friends and family stuff.

But the Obi's pretty simple even for a newbie - it may attract some former on the borderline of being technology competent to use one of these things like prior Vonage users

Good afternoon, Joe.

Good afternoon all! Don't you people work - this thread grew 3 pages today alone.

Yes, I work. I work very hard so many other Americans don't have to.

I wouldn't have strolled in here this morning except that my conference call terminated at 30 minutes. It made sense to float the idea of call caps in here to see if anyone else had any similar experiences to share with respect to the OBi110 and Google Voice.

So, don't worry, your taxes aren't paying my way.

I work too and for the govt so your taxes are paying my way

[dtm]

So, when the picture loop runs in the animated GIF, the left light skips forward when the loop cycles.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks.

[nailgunner]

I dont think I said Obi was going to kill off MJ.

You didn't, someone else did, as I mentioned in my post to you.

[lcompton]

Good morning.

Check out this episode of Nightly Business Report, which aired last night (21 March). The video link will change to tonight's episode (22 March) sometime
overnight tonight so try to watch the video today (Tuesday) if you can. The A.T.& T./T-Mobile story was the lead so it appears at the beginning of the episode.

Here's a direct link to the transcript for the report.

They talk about the A.T.& T. acquisition bid for T-Mobile and also about how A.T.& T. and Verizon are vying to avoid becoming pipes-only (Internet access-only) companies as content continues to drive technology and everything becomes an I.P. application. (Sound familiar? Hehe.) The report mentions Google Voice, too.

Anyway, for all of our speculating in these forums, I thought some of you might find it interesting to learn that industry analysts, insiders and the industry itself isn't quite sure how all of this technology will play out in the future.

Enjoy!

EDIT: Oh, and the report never mentioned magicJack — not even once. But, with the Google Voice mention, how many viewers do you think will Google search Google Voice and stumble upon the OBi110? Hehe.

[bitstopjoe]

Joe's okay, too, even though he's being mean to me.

Who moi???

[VaHam]

I noticed that Amazon's price for the OBi110 has jumped from $50 to $85 and that is the Amazon price not a third party. Glad I got mine when they were $50 but still great device even at $85.

[lcompton]

Good morning, Joe.

Joe's okay, too, even though he's being mean to me.

Who moi???

LOL @ the little ol' me innocent act.

[lcompton]

Good morning, Virginia Ham.

I noticed that Amazon's price for the OBi110 has jumped from $50 to $85 and that is the Amazon price not a third party. Glad I got mine when they were $50 but still great device even at $85.

I noticed that, too. I'm glad I got my two OBi110's for the price of what one nearly goes for now.

The performance continues to be awesome. I had another conference call this morning and not a single problem.

Bye-bye Gizmo5!

On a sad note, you just know Google is going to kill this solution. It's just too easy and functions too well to be free. If we were in an office together (and weren't busy killing each other) I'd start an OBi110<->Google Voice demise pool. Five dollars per square and you get to pick the week of this solution's demise.

[dtm]

If anyone is interested here is my DigitMap for the OBi (set in the ITSP Profiles):

(*xx|<411:18002464411>S0|[235678]11!|<:1@@@>[2-9]xxxxxx|1xxx[2-9]xxxxxxS0|<:1>[2-9]xx[2-9]xxxxxxS0)

Replace the @@@ with your 3 digit area code.
------------------------------------

This only works if you set the Obi up via the wizard or manually. The web portal method overwrites this setting.

This does 7, 10, or 11 digit dialing as well as 411 and 911. It connects very fast due to a short interdigit wait time. It uses bing 411. On my configuration, 911 is sent out the line port to my dry DSL line.

This was adapted from my PAP2 dial plan. The OBi uses the same syntax as the old Linksys devices.