over

Truphone, which has an App Store application that enables iPhone and iPod Touch users to make cheap international phone calls via a Wi-Fi connection, now can be used by iPhone users to make cheap calls from anywhere.

Previously, Truphone, which launched as a free application in Apple's App Store in July, worked only when … Read more

Equifax on Thursday introduced it's first information card or I-card, Equifax Over 18 card. I-cards are envisioned to be the online equivalent of a driver's license, passport, or similar ID. The basic idea is that customers would have an electronic wallet with various information cards that would allow customers to bypass typing in user names and passwords.

In this case, the Equifax card proves--via a trusted third party--that you are over 18 when accessing specially marked Web sites. "With fraud and identity theft on the rise, companies need better, more secure ways to conduct transactions online and … Read more

IBM has been hired to help rural Americans get broadband access using power lines.

On Wednesday, Big Blue announced it has signed a $9.6 million contract with International Broadband Electric Communications to bring the technology to rural America where it hopes to deliver high-speed broadband connectivity to millions of people who otherwise wouldn't be able to get it. IBM and IBEC, which will build and manage the networks, are working with over a dozen electricity cooperatives in seven states, The Wall Street Journal reported.

For years, people have hoped broadband-over-power line technology, or BPL, would allow power companies … Read more

Verizon Communications suffered a major blow in its patent battles on Monday, when a federal court ruled that cable company Cox Communications had not infringed on its patents.

The telecommunications giant has accused Cox of violating six of its patents related to Internet telephony. But a jury for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided against Verizon on all six patents.

Verizon settled a similar suit against digital-phone service provider Vonage last year, squeezing about $117.5 million from the troubled provider of voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. Against Cox, it had been seeking … Read more

Intel's remote wake-up chip could finally turn PCs into phones.

One of the biggest drawbacks of current PC-based Internet phone services like Skype, which allow people to make phone calls from their computers over the Internet for free or for reduced fees, is that you can't receive calls when the computer is turned off. But that is changing with a new chipset introduced by Intel Thursday that allows computers to wake from "sleep" to accept calls and do other tasks like accept downloaded content.

Intel has teamed up with JaJah, a California-based voice over IP start-up, … Read more

Global IP Solutions, a company well recognized for its media-processing expertise in IP communications, announced on Monday its SDK, which enables Voice over IP applications to be made for Apple's iPhone.

This means that developers can now use GIPS' VoiceEngine Mobile, to create real-time VoIP applications, such as games, social-networking applications, and, of course, applications for making calls to regular phone lines over the Internet. Soon enough, you will be able to use instant messenger to voice chat with friends on the iPhone, just like you've been doing on your computer for ages now.

Though this is exciting … Read more

With this Jenn-Air 30-inch microwave oven you're paying a little more than rival models for more features and a roomy interior for cooking larger dishes.

This oven, model JMV8208BAB, doesn't have speed cook or convection, but it offers a generous 2.0 cubic feet of cooking space and lots of functionality.

The oven's features include a halogen work surface light so you can keep an eye on food as it cooks, preprogrammed one-touch electronic buttons, more/less pads for adding or reducing cooking times, and a warming mode. A 30-second pad lets you heat in short increments. … Read more

The Whirlpool Velos SpeedCook oven/microhood is a big, powerful appliance that taps the latest technology to let you cook four ways with one oven.

With 2 cubic feet of space, this oven is also roomy enough for large family or group use. (However, it weighs a whopping 88.9 pounds, something to think about if you are considering an over-the-range option.)

The SpeedCook is versatile, functioning as a microwave, an oven, a convection oven, and a steamer, so it does everything from defrosting meat to making popcorn to baking cookies to speed-heating a roast for dinner.

Different power levels … Read more

Internet calling provider Skype said Tuesday that it has hired Scott Durchslag, a former Motorola executive, to become its chief operating officer.

Durchslag spent more than five years at Motorola where he was most recently corporate vice president of global product and experience invention for the mobile devices business unit. Skype said that while in that position Durchslag "led product strategy, innovation, intellectual property, design, user interfaces, consumer experiences, partnerships, product marketing, and customer care."

The fact that Durchslag was in charge of "strategy" and "innovation" for Motorola's device business at a time when the company lost significant market share to competitors, … Read more