VoIP

Skype users got a proverbial dead line when trying to dial out, or receive, a call on Thursday because of a software glitch with the VoIP service, according to a notice on Skype's Web site.

The notice begins: "Some of you may be having problems logging into Skype." So it's not yet entirely clear how many users are being denied service. The engineering staff at the Internet phone company expects to have the problem resolved within the next 12 to 24 hours, which would put a fix in place sometime Thursday or as late as Friday … Read more

Internet Protocol telephony player Vonage is still hanging on, but the company, which has been mired in a nasty patent battle with Verizon Communications, is teetering on disaster as it struggles to sign up new customers.

Vonage said Thursday during its second-quarter conference call that it has completed the necessary work-arounds for the Verizon patents that a court found it infringes, but the legal drama has cost the company dearly in terms of recruiting new customers.

Jeffrey Citron, the company's interim CEO, told investors and analysts the company had substantially completed deployments of work-arounds for two of the three … Read more

Update: I clarified some wording in the last paragraph to make it clear that the subscription price includes the hardware, not just support.

I confess that, years ago, I was one of those people who was skeptical and somewhat uncomprehending when Linux seller Red Hat changed its pricing to a subscription model, charging for software updates and support over a set period of time. Traditional software companies charge for a license to use a particular piece of technology, but that doesn't work as well in the open-source domain, where getting access to the software itself is easy and free. … Read more

I spent about 90 minutes Monday night trying to set up an Ooma, a phone system that piggybacks both on your broadband Internet connection and land line. My experience: it was a pain to install, but now it works pretty well.

I've griped to acquaintances about how ordinary folks have had to become first system administrators and now, with broadband and multiple computers per household, network administrators. Setting up a review model from Ooma raised these hackles anew.

There was nothing seriously newbie-deterring like command-line utility, or even setup software. The Ooma system setup had two other afflictions instead. … Read more

What do Ashton Kutcher and voice over IP technology have in common?

Kutcher, best known for his role on That '70s Show and MTV's reality show Punk'd, is "creative director" for a Silicon Valley start-up called Ooma, which has developed a device that will allow users to make free VoIP calls to any phone in the U.S.

The company, which has $27 million in funding, officially announced itself Thursday.

Unlike Vonage, which requires users pay a monthly flat rate for domestic calling, or Skype, which charges users a low-cost fee to make or accept calls … Read more

New legislation has been introduced in the Senate to make it easier for people to keep their current telephone numbers when they switch carriers.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), vice chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would expand the number portability rules.

The legislation would help expedite the number portability process, which allows people to transfer their existing cell phone number to another provider. Specifically, it proposes that the Federal Communications Commission establish timelines for cell phone operators and other voice providers to follow in porting phone … Read more

Late this afternoon Skype announced a deal that puts the Internet calling software on select laptop models across Toshiba's four notebook lines (Qosmio, Tecra, Satellite, and Portege). According to the release, the Skype software will come preloaded on Toshiba laptops that include a built-in Webcam; the marketing agreement also includes a Skype logo on the laptops' display bezel and a desktop icon that links to a cobranded Skype/Toshiba landing page. The deal initially applies to four of Toshiba's notebooks: the Satellite X205, Tecra M8, Qosmio F45, and the just-announced, AMD-based Satellite A215 series.

While we find it … Read more

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:20 a.m. PST.

WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court weighing the patent case that Verizon filed against Vonage heard arguments on Monday for an hour without reaching an immediate decision.

After a federal jury ruled on March 8 that Vonage did infringe patents, the Internet phone company has been fighting for its life through the legal process. No injunction is currently in place, however, and Vonage has claimed to have a work-around.

One hint about what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may be thinking came from comments … Read more

So, I know we all get on lists, and our names are stored in databases. It's annoying, but it's a fact of life.

But I was reminded of that Thursday in a particularly annoying way.

A friend of mine, who shall go unnamed, is a Vonage subscriber. Presumably, at one point in the past, she put my e-mail address on the company's Refer-A-Friend list. If I signed up, she would get something, maybe a month of free service or somesuch. I really don't remember if this had happened, but it's certainly possible.

What I do … Read more