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Google Nov. 12 confirmed that it had acquired Gizmo5 for an undisclosed sum. Gizmo5 makes Web-based calling software for mobile phones and computers. Specifically, it provides a Web-based VOIP client that lets users make phone calls over the Internet, similar to programs such as Skype. Some speculate Gizmo5 will evolve into a new version of the Google Talk voice and video chat application, supporting Google Voice and its many voicemail management features, including automatic voicemail transcription. Many industry watchers agree this deal puts Google Voice and Skype, which Google reportedly tried to acquire earlier this year, on a collision course.
eBay, Skype Settle IP Suits with Joltid, sans Index Ventures
eBay settles lawsuits with Joltid and Joost in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of investors to acquire the majority of the company. Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who had earlier tried to buy Skype back from eBay, will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. Silver Lake and fellow investors Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will grab 56 percent of Skype, with eBay retaining the remaining 30 percent.
VoxOx Is Legitimate Alternative to Skype, Google Voice
VoxOx from TelCentris lets users make calls from PC to PC, as well as from PCs to landlines and mobile phones. The Web application, geared to compete with Skype and Google Voice, also enables video, instant messaging and two-way text messaging, file sharing and social networking into one platform. Unlike Skype or Google Voice, VoxOx lets users send instant messages to other social networks, including Skype, Facebook and MySpace. Users may also reply to Twitter tweets and surface friends with a & hover effect,& which lets them mouse over any contact to see their Facebook status updates and learn how to contact them.
Google Voice Blocking Fewer Lines to Quell FCC Concerns
Google Voice is now blocking calls to less than 100 numbers it believes are adult chat lines or free conference call services looking to exploit traffic-pumping schemes, Google told the Federal Communications Commission. The question remains whether this will satisfy the FCC and quell the grousing from Google's new telecom nemesis AT T, which in September accused the Google Voice service of blocking calls to certain rural areas and asked the FCC to look into whether Google was violating network neutrality rules.
ATandT Tells FCC Google Voice Blocks Calls to Convents, Health Clinics
ATandT tells the Federal Communications Commission that Google Voice blocks calls to health clinics, congressmen, and nuns. The telephone carrier alleges Google Voice does enable PSTN-to-PSTN calls, so regardless of how Google Voice is ultimately classified, the Commission has ample jurisdiction to order Google to stop blocking. Despite the efforts of Google and its supporters to obfuscate this issue, Google's call blocking is directly related to network neutrality, ATandT claims. Google shrugs its broad shoulders.
EFF Challenges VOIP Systems Patent
As part of its Patent Busting Project, the Electronic Frontier Foundation claims it has discovered a prior patent and published reference material that should invalidate a patent granted to Acceris for implementing VOIP using analog telephones as endpoints.
Google Voice Muddies Network Neutrality Debate
The Federal Communications Commission's decision to launch an inquiry into the Google Voice service is being welcomed by more than AT T. However, the controversy has little, if anything, to do with network neutrality and everything to do with inter-carrier compensation rates.
Google Voice Service Now Under FCC Scrutiny
Google finds itself under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission over its Google Voice service, which allegedly blocks calls from consumers to certain rural areas with inflated access charges. AT T sent a letter to the FCC in September calling out Google on the situation, while Google has responded that it falls outside of traditional carrier regulations.
LABS GALLERY: 8x8 Virtual Office IP PBX Offers Range of Options
Hosted IP PBX systems have become a popular option for small and midsize businesses because they provide all of the functionality of a corporate PBX but with much lower upfront costs. They also allow geographically dispersed workers to share the same phone systems and take advantage of traditional office features such as extension dialing and easy conferencing. 8x8’s Virtual Office provides a solid hosted IP PBX system that can be set up with little hassle and that is competitively priced. 8x8 also provides its own line of full-featured IP phones to give businesses corporate-oriented phones to work with their hosted IP PBX system.
REVIEW: The Time Is Right for 8x8 Virtual Office
The current economy, business climate and technology trends have combined to make this a perfect time for hosted IP PBX systems. 8x8's Virtual Office is a turnkey system that provides all of the functionality of full-featured corporate PBX systems, without the upfront implementation and management costs. However, much of Virtual Office's Web-based interface is unintuitive, making ongoing management chores more difficult than they need to be.
ATandT VOIP Decision Benefits iPhone Users, but Leaves Questions
AT T is now allowing iPhone users to place VOIP calls over its wireless network, instead of just Wi-Fi. Will the move jam up an already busy network — and force Apple and Google to play nice?
ATandT Opens Network to iPhone, Skype Internet Calls
In a reversal of its previous network management policy, AT T decides to stop blocking VOIP calls on the iPhone that bypass AT T's own voice service. The decision opens the door for the Skype iPhone application, which AT T previously provided connectivity only over Wi-Fi.
Tense Times for Web Phone Apps Google Voice, Skype
The Google Voice Web calling application and Skype VOIP service are being threatened. The Federal Communications Commission is looking at Google Voice as a potential network neutrality disruption. Meanwhile, courts are looking at whether Skype's intellectual property is being abused by Skype owner eBay, Skype and investors attempting to buy the bulk of Skype. These are tense times indeed for our beloved Web phone applications.
LifeSize to Release Passport amid Cisco-Tandberg Deal
As Cisco looks to extend the reach of its high-definition video conferencing capabilities by buying Tandberg, rival LifeSize Communications is unveiling Passport, a device designed to bring HD video conferencing to small and midsize businesses, teleworkers and mobile employees. The Passport device is sized to fit into a small work environment, and the $2,499 price is designed to attract SMBs. LifeSize is also working with Skype to enable HD audio communications for Skype's 480 million registered users.
Verizon Wireless Dumps the Hub
Less than a year after Verizon Wireless declared the Hub as the landline of the future, the nation's No. 1 carrier quietly drops the VOIP phone.
ATandT Tells FCC Google Voice Violates Network Neutrality Laws
AT T sent a letter to the FCC protesting Google's blocking of telephone calls from consumers that use its Google Voice service to call phone numbers with inflated access charges in certain rural areas. By blocking these calls, Google reduces its access expenses, giving it an advantage phone carriers are prevented from enjoying and thus skewering the competition principles in U.S. network neutrality laws, AT T claims. Google argued that Google Voice must not be accorded the same treatment as services from phone carriers.
Skype Plots Business VOIP Course with Cisco
Skype's Skype for SIP software cleared its interoperability certification with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the latest step in the VOIP provider's plan to hedge into the market for business communications. Skype for SIP will help the company expand its revenue streams into enterprise markets, something it has been unable to do under the aegis of parent company eBay to date.
FaxBack Rolls Out Partnerships, Programs
VOIP fax specialist FaxBack announces a beta of a fax ATA device, an alliance with voice over IP services company Epygi and a partner program offering to add Microsoft Fax capabilities into VOIP telecom offerings for free.
Sybase Partners with Siemens for Mobile Device Management
Sybase has partnered with Siemens Enterprise Communications Group to bring a platform to the enterprise that allows for streamlined management of mobile devices and fixed-line voice and data. Other Sybase partnerships throughout 2009 have shown the company’s drive to expand its mobile-management software into the enterprise and across a broad range of devices, including the Apple iPhone.
Jajah Enables VOIP Calls from Twitter
VOIP provider Jajah launches an application that lets users make free 2-minute Web phone calls via Twitter. While this beta application is aimed at consumers, Jajah@Call could open the door for business users as well. Twitter is proving to be as much an effective marketing tool for businesses as it is an efficient, real-time messaging platform for consumers.