Skype to start charging for calls to phones again
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Internet telephone service Skype said  on Wednesday that it would charge customers $29.95 a year for  unlimited calling in the United States and Canada, a service it  had offered free since May.
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(InfoWorld) - Asustek Computer plans to launch two motherboards complete with phone jacks able to turn common household telephones into Internet phones using Skype's popular VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) software. The M2N/TeleSky and P5B/TeleSky motherboards both come with the Asus TeleSky telecom adaptor onboard, along with 60 SkypeOut minutes, which allow users to make voice calls directly to telephones. While calls to other PCs are free using Skype, users pay with SkypeOut for the ability to make paid calls to landlines and mobile phones. Both boards will be shipping worldwide within the next three weeks, said Charles Chen, motherboard product manager at Asustek. Prices will vary by region, he said. The new boards are yet another way Skype isÂ gaining ground among usersÂ as the most popular Internet calling software. A number of companies have been marketing Skype handsets, both wireless and ones with USB (universal serial bus) plugs to hook up to computers, in addition to wireless handsets that do not require a PC to make a call. Asustek's new motherboards give users another way to make calls in a more normal way, using regular phones hooked up to its motherboards. The TeleSky adaptor carries applications for both PSTN (public switched telephone network) and Skype VOIP calls, with jacks that connect the house phone to the PC and the PC to the phone line. The boards support all Skype functions, including SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Conference, call waiting, speed-dial, and three-way calls. TeleSky supports both regular and cordless phones. The M2N/TeleSky works with socket 2 microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and run DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) memory chips. The P5B/TeleSky boards run on platform LGA775 microprocessors from Intel Corp., including Intel Quad-core, Core 2 Duo, Pentium Extreme, D, and Celeron. The boards require Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, MCE, or XP64, according to Asustek.
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Ecamm Networks revamps its Call Recorder program to support Skype 2.3.
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Mobile phone companies in Europe must start offering cheaper rates to their customers using phones abroad.
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When the Internet phone company Skype went offline for nearly two days last week, Tim Legrand was frustrated and inconvenienced. But he has no plans to switch back to a traditional telephone line.
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NEW YORK - Skype Technologies made a name for itself providing a free Internet telephone program to users around the world. Now it&#39;s time to cash in.
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VoIP service will be available using traditional handsets.
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Internet phone service provider Skype plans to start charging U.S. and Canadian users US$29.95 per year for unlimited calls to regular phones in both countries, as the end of a free trial offer looms.
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The amount consumers are charged for making mobile phone calls while abroad is to be investigated by EU regulators.
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InfoWorld - Skype&#160;is looking to a 1968 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to open up the country&#39;s mobile phone industry for &quot;unlocked&quot; devices and third-party applications -- such as Skype.
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It is now official: Sony announced yesterday afternoon that Skype calling service, including free conferencing and text chat capabilities, is due to be a feature of its PlayStation Portable, presumably with a future firmware upgrade.
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NEW YORK  - Are cellphone companies using their sway over handset makers to unfairly limit consumers&#39; choices? Skype, a pioneer in PC-to-PC calling, thinks so, and it wants the Federal Communications Commission to do something about it.  In a blistering filing with the FCC, Skype basically accused Verizon Wireless and other big carriers of holding their customers hostage because most cellphones sold in the USA are &quot;locked,&quot; meaning you can only use applications and features sold by your carrier.
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Premium rate phone-in competitions will be gradually reintroduced to the BBC in January.
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The 3G mobile phone supports free calls and messaging between Skype users.
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Fring, a mobile-phone version of Skype, uses peer-to-peer Internet technology to send calls from mobile phones over the Internet at no charge.
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(InfoWorld) - SkypeÂ is looking to a 1968 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to open up the country's mobile phone industry for "unlocked" devices and third-party applications -- such as Skype. The eBayÂ unit, a pioneer in peer-to-peer VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol), petitioned the FCC this week to affirm that the landmark Carterphone decision applies to the cellular world. That ruling, which involved an early type of wireless handset, said carriers couldn't stop consumers from attaching any device to the wired telecommunications network as long as it couldn't do any damage. Letting any device connect to cellular networks would gradually open the door to a wide range of new choices for consumers, including handsets that use VOIP for voice calls over operators' 3G (third-generation) data networks. Almost all cellphones in use on mobile networks in the U.S. are sold by the operators and locked so they can't be used on another provider's network. But Skype's proposal also would stop carriers from blocking or forbidding applications on 3G networks -- again, as long as those applications can't damage the network. The plan cuts to the heart of mobile operators' revenue stream, which still predominantly comes from voice calls and also depends on exclusive ringtone, music, video, and other services offered by the carriers. But there's no reason the earlier ruling on the wireline phone network shouldn't apply to mobile, according to Christopher Libertelli, Skype's senior director for government and regulatory affairs. In addition, preventing carriers from blocking outside applications is in keeping with the FCC's policy on network neutrality, he said. Cellular providers have always had closed networks, but the rollout of 3G makes possible many more uses of those networks, he said. "What we're trying to do is get in front of that trend so that policy is set in the correct way," Libertelli said. In addition to the new rules, Skype proposed an industry forum to determine what types of devices are harmful to the wireless network. The mobile industry promptly slammed Skype's petition. It would freeze innovation, according to a statement by Steve Largent, president and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), an industry group. "Skype's self-interested filing contains glaring legal flaws and a complete disregard for the vast consumer benefits provided by the competitive marketplace," Largent said. Skype's Libertelli said the company has a big job to do in educating cellular companies and others but believes the change would help carriers by creating new uses for their networks. It's hard to predict how the FCC may respond to Skype's petition, said Johna Till Johnson, president of Nemertes Research, in Mokena, Illinois. In recent years the agency has been alternately supportive and wary of disruptive technologies, she said. It might even drag its heels on making a ruling, not wanting to be drawn into a big political fight. It's most likely to come down somewhere in the middle, Johnson believes. Though the cost of phone calls might fall if Skype won, there could be a downside: Without the incentive of selling their captive services, cellular companies might be less motivated to upgrade their networks, Johnson said. Skype expects the agency to put the petition out for public comment and response, a process that would take several weeks.
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Continuing its expansion into the Wireless Internet Phone Market, Globe7 launched two new USB phones with a value based calling plan that is sure to make consumers take note. $120 is the total consumer outlay. Customers can make unlimited calls to 25 countries for one year.