voip

The Real Deal 166: Phone communications

We cover why you would or would not want to keep your landline and what the best and newest technologies are for telephony over the Internet.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video)… Read more

CNET Live - Episode 104

It's speculation day. We speculate on the successes of the new Microsoft search engine called Bing, the new Google e-mail and IM thingy called Wave, and whether the Palm Pre will end up on AT&T.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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FlightAware is being used to ferret out news stories Video question

Can I get a 3G data card that will work in USA and Brazil? … Read more

SF Giants bring new tech out to the ballpark

SAN FRANCISCO--Could changing phone systems pay a big-league baseball player's salary? To hear Bill Schlough, the CIO of the San Francisco Giants tell it, the answer is a definite yes.

Last winter, the team migrated to a new $1 million-plus VoIP telecommunications system from ShoreTel for its ballpark, AT&T Park, abandoning its legacy system, which--ironically--was provided by AT&T. According to Schlough, the old system cost $490,000 annually, while the new setup for the 457 phones at the ballpark run the team just $135,000 a year.

Given that the minimum salary for Major League … Read more

Truphone 3.0 improves call quality, unifies IM

A new version of popular voice over IP app Truphone just hit the App Store, offering better call quality, single-screen instant messaging, and various interface improvements.

In case you're unfamiliar with it, Truphone leverages Wi-Fi networks to provide free voice calls--worldwide--to other Truphone users and to your Google Talk and Skype contacts. In other words, if you're in range of a hotspot, you can gab all you want without spending a penny.

Truphone also lets you call landlines and cell phones at low rates--great if you routinely burn through your allotted AT&T minutes and don't … Read more

AT&T cuts cord on VoIP service

AT&T has pulled the plug on its CallVantage voice over IP phone service, according to letters from subscribers this week.

The service competed with other VoIP services like Vonage. VoIP services use broadband networks to place phone calls. These services are much less expensive than traditional landline phone services and cost between $20 and $30 per month. But even this price is proving too high for consumers who are cutting their traditional phones to use their cell phones or are signing up for voice services with their cable providers, which are bundling the phone service in with broadband … Read more

Verizon updates VoIP phone

Verizon Communications is trying to keep customers tied to the old idea of a home phone with updates to its new Verizon Hub.

The Verizon Hub, which was introduced earlier this year, is essentially a souped-up voice-over IP handset. It's designed to be the main phone and communication "hub" for the household, providing not only phone service, but also sports, weather, and other news.

But given the device's hefty price tag of $199 with a two-year contract, it seems a bit steep for consumers who can already get that information and functionality from their cell phones. … Read more

eBay to launch a Skype IPO in 2010

eBay announced Tuesday plans to spin off its Internet phone and video-conferencing service, Skype, with an IPO in the first half of next year.

The decision comes four years after online auction giant eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, with the plans to offer customers the ability to discuss their transactions in real-time. But over the course of the four years, eBay found its acquisition failed to provide the synergies it sought.

John Donahoe, eBay's chief executive, said in a statement:

Skype is a great stand-alone business with strong fundamentals and accelerating momentum. But it's clear that … Read more

Report: Financial backers join founders for Skype buyback

Skype's founders are reportedly encountering turbulence in striking a deal with eBay to buy back the Internet phone service, despite the financial backing from a group of large private equity firms, according to The Wall Street Journal.

KKR, Warburg Pincus, Elevation Partners, and Providence are reportedly teaming up with founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who reportedly are interested in repurchasing their company from eBay.

But eBay and the founders' group face a wide gap on price, the Journal reported, and a deal involving the private equity firms appears unlikely.

The private equity firms are reportedly interested in kicking … Read more

VoxOx offers points deal to CNET readers

Update: VoxOx has extended the deal from Thursday, April 9, at 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT. Also, $5 normally buys 500 VoxOx points, not 250 as previously stated.

Multiprotocol chat client VoxOx is offering a deal to CNET readers until 2:30 p.m. PST on Thursday, April 9. If you buy $5 worth of VoxPoints, instead of the usual 500 points, CNET readers will get 1,500 points. This is triple the number of points VoxOx is offering readers who sign on through VoxOx's own site. Each point converts to 1 minute's worth … Read more