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Uniden & Microsoft Deliver VoIP for Windows IM
TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
Wireless electronics manufacturers Uniden America Corporation announced this week that it teamed up with Microsoft Corp. to develop and deliver the WIN 1200, a digital cordless phone that serves as a traditional landline phone to make and receive Internet calls via the soon to be released Windows Live Messenger phone.
The device is a 5.8GHz digital cordless phone which bundles VoIP telephony with a landline. With the WIN 1200, customers will have three calling choices with the system: free PC-to-PC calling through Windows Live Messenger allowing users to place and receive voice calls; MCI Web Calling offering Windows Live Messenger users a lower-cost PC-to-phone outbound calling option; and traditional landline phone service.
"Together with Microsoft, Uniden is paving the way to deliver a cutting-edge communications product with presence technology," said Rich Tosi, Uniden's president. "The integrated WIN 1200 will continue to raise the bar in voice communications by allowing VoIP and a traditional landline to co-exist, expanding a variety of telephony options to consumers in a single unit."
Complementing the Windows Live Messenger service, the WIN 1200 displays the Messenger contact list so users are able to see their friends' online status and Messenger icon when logged into the service from anywhere in the house and place calls to those contacts. The feature will notify a Windows Live Messenger user when another user is connected to the network and capable of receiving communication through the Messenger interface is known as presence technology. The device now extends the reach of presence technology by delivering notification options on the cordless handset, which can be used throughout the home or office, and frees users from being attached to their PCs for communication.
"This alliance will unlock the world of VoIP communications to a broader demographic of users," said Blake Irving, corporate vice president of the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform group at Microsoft. "Rounding out software and services with great devices is a key pillar of Windows Live, and the Uniden WIN 1o200 and Windows Live Messenger makes advanced voice technology feel familiar."
Using the Uniden WIN 1200 has a MSRP of US$99.99. Windows Live Messenger users will also be able to place 3-way Internet conference calls. The WIN 1200 connects to the PC via a USB cord and includes integri.sound for life-like audio, a handset speakerphone, a full color LCD screen, the ability to download the Messenger contact list to the handset phonebook, and a interface with soft key menu options and joystick navigation.
Microsoft is currently Beta testing the Windows Live Messenger, the upcoming successor to MSN Messenger. The software giant plans to officially release the full version later this year.
Uniden America Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page
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