FemtoJack Archive

MagicJack Plus = FemtoJack Replacment

By
FemtoJack Mack
Published: June 8, 2011Posted in: Magic Jack Plus, magicJack plus
MagicJack Plus = FemtoJack Replacment

Along with the cancellation of the femtoJack Ymax/VocalTec announced that they would still be coming out with an upgraded version of the original magic Jack. And no this new one doesn’t work with cell phones but it does have some interesting features that make it a definite and immediate upgrade over the original magicJack.

This new device has been tabbed the magicJack plus and it is being designed as a standalone device that doesn’t require the help of a computer to operate. Instead the magic Jack plus hooks directly into an USB AC adapter on one end and directly to the phone cord on the other.

The biggest hangup with the original magicJack was that some many people ran into problems when involving their computer. Problems ranged from certain computers lacking compatibility all the way to some people simply hating the idea of having to keep their computer on 24/7.

The new magicJack plus solves all of those problem since, as stated above, it doesn’t have to be hooked up to a computer. Instead it works via Wi-Fi. That is actually the only catch I could find. You can’t just have Internet, you have to have Wi-Fi that the magicJack plus can tap in to.

Besides this awesome upgrade it has also been reported that the plus will have several upgrades that are suppose to drastically improve voice quality.

All in all I was pretty excited about this site being the leader for femtoJack information on the web but since its cancellation there isn’t much of a point to the site but I figured I’d at least give visitors an update. For a more in-depth look at the magic Jack plus you can head over to the Everything magicJack Plus site.

No FemtoJack Afterall

By
FemtoJack Mack
Published: January 24, 2011Posted in: FemtoJack
No FemtoJack Afterall

Back in late 2009 we reported that magic Jack was planning to come out with the femtoJack sometime in 2010 and of course this never happened. We have been waiting forever to get and provide you all with an update from Ymax and today was the day we got updated and the information we got was very disappointing and unexpected. The info that we got came from the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show and it was that Ymax has decided to cancel its plans for the femtoJack.

We were very disappointed by this but they actually had a pretty good explanation for why. The reason they canceled femtoJack plans is because it’s simply no longer a relevant product with smartphone based apps being a much better solution. As such Ymax has plans to come out with a magicTalk App for Iphones and Droid based phones that will function in a similar manner as the femtoJack except without needing a device. Another reason that hasn’t be publicized but that we suspect contributed to the femtoJack’s cancellation was Ymax’s inability to jump the legal hurdles it faced with the way the femtoJack operated.

At the 2011 CES Ymax also announced that they have developed an enhanced version of the magic Jack, called the magic Jack plus. This enhanced version comes with the ability to be used with a USB port, Ethernet, WiFi, or 4G. It also comes with echo control and HD voice which is suppose to drastically improve call quality.

If you were planning on getting the femtoJack we suggest that you get the magicJack plus or the magicTalk app. The magic Jack plus is suppose to be released sometime during the first quarter of 2011 with the magicTalk App coming at a later date in 2011.

Can Ymax Negotiate Seamless Handoff Deals For Its FemtoJack?

By
FemtoJack Mack
Published: January 20, 2010Posted in: FemtoJack
Can Ymax Negotiate Seamless Handoff Deals For Its FemtoJack?

One of the major concerns with the femtoJack is in regards to seamless handoff. More simply put the concern is in regards to what happens when someone is talking on their cell phone by way of the femtoJack and then they jump in their car and pull away while continuing their phone conversation. When doing this there are two possible outcomes. The first outcome will be that their phone call is dropped as they leave their femtoJacks range. In this case they will have to call the person back and be connected through their cell carriers signal in order to continue the conversation. The second possible outcome will be that as they leave their femtoJacks range they will be able to continue their phone call without noticing any changes. In this case their cell phone will work with the femto Jack and their cell carrier to switch networks through a process called seamless handoff.

Seamless handoff is a common occurrence among cell phones that happens millions of times each and every day. During normal day-to-day use of cell phones seamless handoff happens as people move from one cell towers signal to anothers. When doing this the new cell tower that someone come into range with grabs their call just as the cell tower they are moving away from drops their call, all in a split second without any notice from the user.

For cell carriers seamless handoff is a no brainer because they can handoff signals between their own towers or even between other carriers towers that they have shared service agreements with. For Ymax Corporation and the femtoJack seamless handoff will not be as simple. In order from seamless handoff to occur cell carriers and Ymax will have to come to some sort of agreement, an agreement that benefits both parties. We don’t see this agreement coming to fruition with easy though since there is little benefit to the cell carriers in agreeing to allow seamless handoff. Ymax and the  femtoJack are targeting cell carriers as their direct competition and attacking a huge source of revenue for these cell carriers. Seamless handoff for the femtoJack doesn’t help the cell companies at all and it makes no sense for them to help their direct competition.

Seamless handoff for the femtoJack would be awesome but we just don’t see how any agreement for such occurrence could be reached. Maybe we are missing something?

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