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Making free phone calls just got easier through Google(www.google.com) (so long we all remember that “free” is not really free, but subsidized through someone else’s money) via “Voice Calls from Gmail.” More specifically, you need a Gmail account and calls through your computer to American and Canadian numbers are free through “at least” January 2011. [...] In the usual terse manner that all companies end up with, Skype (www.skype.com) has announced it has filed a S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed IPO of its “ordinary” shares. The SEC prospectus can be found here on www.sec.gov. Be interesting to see what skeletons come out. One [...] AudioCodes (www.audiocodes.com) has gone SIP wild over the past two weeks, announcing support for Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and Skype for SIP. Last week, the company announced its SIP Phone Support (SPS) for Microsoft Unified Communications, enabling “economically affordable” connections to Microsoft OCS via standard SIP IP phones. A direct connection to OCS is supported [...] Down in Miami last week, all the buzz was around FREETALK Connect, an PBX solution built to leverage Skype. FREETALK Connect is schedule to roll out in March and will allow SBs (two to 49 users) to enable Skype calls from supported office phones, including the “free” Skype-to-Skype calls, mange Skype contact lists, and get inbound [...] According to TechCrunch, Google has shelled out around $30 million in cash to scoop up Gizmo5. Of course, the rumor mill last month had Gizmo5 being bought by Skype as a SIP backup plan if they couldn’t get JoltID and various other proprietary technologies secured. The timing of this rumor/impending announcement is, shall we say, interesting [...] The New York Times is reporting that Ebay has formally settled the litigation around selling Skype. Terms of the blackmail, er deal include that the founders of Skype will drop their lawsuits against eBay and the investment consortium who planned to buy 65 percent of Skype in exchange for 14 percent in the “new” company, [...] Glendale AZ & Washington DC – As Digium celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Asterisk IP telephony platform this week at the AstriCon developer’s conference with cake and funny hats, this year’s keynote presentation by IBM CTO Mike Smith drifted into the mundane and dull — a very good thing. Smith, brought in to talk about [...] AT&T, trying to avoid a FCC dope-slapping, announced that yes, it would allow Skype to make lower cost phone calls on the iPhone. Interestingly, this comes on the heels of Vonage’s iPhone client last week. Regardless of the outcome, don’t expect AT&T to rollover and play dead when it comes to net neutrality. Allowing Skype and [...] Every year for the past couple of years, the folks at Digium have rolled out a nice little surprise at the annual AstriCon event connected to the keynote speakers. Two years ago, Digium announced it had purchased Switchvox (Hello Tristian!). Last year, Skype and Digium announced a working relationship and a beta of a channel [...] Skype is now going to be an independent company like it always wanted. Owner eBay “unloaded” Skype for $2 billion in cash, but still holds 35 percent of the company. (Remember this, we’re coming back to it shortly). The buying consortium is made up of Silver Lake Partners, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada [...] |
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