November 27th, 2009
Ouno can be used with a mobile phone in two more ways than a standard phone line. One you can SMS text message “ouno” and the i-Name you would like to reach to 41-411 and the call will be connected (first to you, then the other party). Otherwise you can browse to “http://m.ouno.com” on your mobile phone, enter the i-Name you would like to reach then it will look up the i-Name and provide a link to call (using only your phone minutes) and skipping a possible SMS text messaging charge. The number you call must be public to connect the call, and you also reveal the number you are calling from, when you use the internet option. Even though sometimes it may be more convenient or cheaper than using SMS text messaging.
However if you verify your phone using SMS text messaging under the account menu. Then Ouno will send you a SMS message with a specially encoded link to click to verify your phone number. While doing that we can also associate your phone browser with a phone number. This means that instead of a “find” button when using the mobile internet option, you will be provided with a “call” button.
When you use the “call” button your call will be connected just as if you had used the SMS text messaging option. First you will be called, then your party will be connected. It will be almost as if you are using the native dialer. No SMS text message, just enter the i-Name and press call. This week we are releasing the new iPhone web-based dialer. No apps to download or search for, if you like you can bookmark, “http://m.ouno.com” and it will act alot like a native app. Pretty cool stuff if you ask us.
Check out the mobile site… it’s a free and easy way to keep the people you contact in a device, operating system and however you wanna use it independent way.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
October 13th, 2009
Welcome to the new ouno. We’ve updated our interface for interacting with your i-Name. However the biggest change you’ll notice is that we now offer OunoContext as a new service! OunoContext is a new way of keeping your contact numbers, email addresses and even postal mail addresses at your finger tips; where you can use it from any phone, any email client or send postal mail from anywhere.
Just add another persons i-Name or contact information, contextually, so you can easily recall it. This can be a name like, “Sue” or a NickName like, “SuzyQ” or any other way you’d like to recall the contact information, like, “red.lipstick.girl”. Then use that context you’ve set up to contact the person as you wish over email, postal mail or telephone.
Tags: main
Posted in Introduction, Ouno | No Comments »
December 13th, 2008
The @ and = symbols are two of four context symbols, we’ll briefly go
over the other two at the end of this entry. What they symbolize is a
organization( or business) entity and personal entity respectively.
Thus if I have an =nika on my name tag at a conference, everyone can
instantly know that it’s me, nika the person that I’m representing.
Just as if having @ouno*nika on my name tag, is akin to giving out my
business phone number.
The reason the main distinction was made was for contract and other
legal purposes that may or may not currently exist. Because a business
entity may be subject to different rules and regulations that a person
in similar or the same circumstances. So having the distinction will
be important. However things don’t always seem so so clear cut.
For example could Google or Yahoo! ever own =google or =yahoo? They
aren’t people right. And could nika ever own an @nika. Also what
about .com, ,biz, .gov, .jp and etc. These questions usually throw
confusion in the mix, so here’s the way to think about the @ and =
signs. They symbolize “representing” a business interest or
“representing” a personal interest respectively. Usually the owner and
the thing it’s representing is one in the same. Which is to say that
when I personally buy =nika it is representing me.
However if Google or Yahoo! were to buy an =google or =yahoo, it would
a business entity representing a personal interest. Which is basically
what Google or Yahoo! do when they offer a service to the public, say
email, then throw their (collective business) hands in the air and
say, we have nothing to do with what happens on this service. It’s a,
“Yes, we as a *business* provide this service, but our interests are
not inherently aligned with the *person* using this service. So don’t
sue us, sue the person using us if you’re gonna sue” statement.
Another way to look at is as if for example @google represents to
corporate credit card. When it’s time to use the corporate card to pay
for dinner, the business interests were represented during dinner, and
not personal ones.
@google*brian is a guy who works at google
=google*brian is a guy who uses google services
So that covers it. @ is for organization entities and related
interests and = is for personal entities and related interests. The
other two symbols are the $ Which can be system (like government) and
the + symbol which is public and used like a publicly agreed upon tag.
When used properly together and with standard delimiters like the (*
symbol) an i-name can present an much better representation of of what
it’s identifying than some current methods (say, telephone numbers!).
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
December 13th, 2008
Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve written on the blog, but not for
lack of progress with Ouno, rather quite the opposite. We’re proud to
be moving into a limited beta phase. Sign up at www.ouno.com with your
email address, and watch for an invite. We’re going to be looking for
feedback on all of the services we offer.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 19th, 2008
Here at Ouno we’re about simplifying contact, and at first glance you may ask, “what exactly do you mean?”
It means that we want to help you figure out a way that people can contact you without barriers, all at the same time giving the spammers something to contend with. So what’s an easy way to do this.
Well, we think we’ve found a way using a new technology called XRI or branded as i-names. We’ve started to develop products around i-names and related technologies such as OpenID and OAuth. Now these terms maybe unfamiliar to many, but that’s our job. To make all of that technology tech stuff disappear.
However this can’t be a one way road, where we do all the work, there needs to be acceptance of new ways of doing things. One question that pops to mind is how will i-names be perceived. Is there much of a difference between:
John.Doe@example.com
and
@example*John.Doe
The main parts are the same, just missing a “.com” and added a “*” so it’s technically faster to type! How’s that for making things easier. With our help the i-name becomes much more of an interface for things other than email addresses. It can still interface with email, it’s just a different syntax to many, but much more technically adaptable.
Well you’ve seen a first-hand example of an i-name, which we plan on rolling out soon. So get ready to do some learning! Really, it’s not that hard, and as we pointed out, it’s even shorter.
Posted in Email, XRI | No Comments »
January 28th, 2008
Well, over the last few days, I spent a little time trying to figure out, how this blog should feel. Should it be like a corporate soapbox of sorts, just relaying marketing concepts and new products we introduce. Should it be technical, and explain how and why things are done. Or should it be a personal blog, one that I link to things that I like in the hopes that you’ll like and learn from them too.
Well, the best thing seems to be a mix of personal and marketing. So when we have something new or on the horizon you can expect to hear(see) it here first. As well as be able to find out things that are going on in the communications industry that I personally think are important or cool. However I will try and keep this blog as non-technical as possible and give links and references to places that go into more technical depth when possible.
So without further ado, I’ll introduce myself, “My name is Nika Jones, and I’m president of Ouno, LLC.” We here at Ouno (with the silent oh) are striving to help people communicate with less barriers, less cost and less hoops. We are working hard now to provide the best interface for you, and plan on releasing products in the upcoming months. Until then I’d like to take this time to help you understand us, and what we are trying to do. And if you have any questions I invite for you to call me directly. In the spirit of easier communications and inspired by Jason Knight at Wesabe I’ve set up a direct contact line where you can reach me at for questions and/or comments. Starting tomorrow, the number you can reach me at is 1-866-490-6411 and I will be available between the hours of 8am – 12pm PST. I look forward to hearing from you.
Posted in Introduction | No Comments »
January 21st, 2008
Ouno is a new communications company which has plans to help change the way we look at communicating with each other. We’ll use this blog to introduce new products, new concepts, talk over things and solicit some your feedback. We currently have not released our products but we plan on doing so the first quarter of this year. Keep looking.
Posted in Introduction | No Comments »