The Chat Cable™ is an inexpensive, lightweight, portable computer voice headset. This airweight, high-quality earphone and microphone work with any desktop or notebook computer! You can now voice chat for free using Instant Messaging or VoIP software such as Skype®, MSN® Messenger, MySpace®, Yahoo!® Chat, AIM®, ICQ® and Google® Talk.
PBWiki offers one of the best easy-to-use, everyone can edit, free-hosted Wikis.. and they are constantly updating their features… They just recently announced an awesome new feature today: voice chat on your wiki. You can talk to anyone (using voice) for free. This works for 1-20 people with no software download needed — and it’s ready to use today.
From Gizmodo - One of the knocks against Skype, the free VoIP service, is that you need to use a special phone that either plugs into your computer or acts as a standalone device. While this may work perfectly for people who have ditched their landline, the rest of us probably wouldn't mind seeing some way to incorporate regular phones into Skype phones. The VoSKY Call Centre (yes, the Queen's English spelling and all) from Actiontec functions as a mini switchboard (or "call center") of sorts that lets the user plug in any phone and start making Skype or SkypeOut calls.
From TechWeb - Over the last nine months, the number of adults in the United States and Britain who have heard of voice over Internet protocol has increased to about half from just over a third, but a substantial number remain ignorant about the technology, a research firm said Tuesday.
The percentage of adults familiar with VoIP grew to 46 percent from 37 percent in Britain, and to 51 percent from 36 percent in the United States, according to a survey of about 2,000 adults by Harris Interactive.
From InformationWeek - Anything that reduces the number of dangling wires from our computers, phones, and even our heads is okay in my book, and the VoSky Call Center by Actiontec is making a small contribution toward that end. The Call Center is a Skype-certified device that enables you to make and receive Skype calls with a regular telephone rather than a cheap headset dangling from your computer.
For the uninitiated, Skype is a peer-to-peer internet telephony (VoIP) network where you can call other Skype users for free, call land or cell numbers for a fee (SkypeOut), receive calls from traditional phones (SkypeIn), and receive voicemail messages for a small fee. The only other requirements for Skype use is that both ends have high-speed internet connections, and up until now, you have had to use a headset, or a Skype-specific phone such as the LinkSYS CIT200 to make Skype calls.
From Business 2.0 Magazine - For millions of users, voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, is lowering phone bills for calls they make from their PC or land-line phone. But soon VOIP could cut cell-phone bills, too - most of all for international users.
It's a hard concept to get your head around: Many customers already pay a flat monthly fee for a bucket of calling minutes within U.S. But for business travelers, international students and immigrants, calling abroad can add up quickly. However, if they're already paying for a data plan, routing international calls over their phone's data connection — using VOIP — instead of a carrier's voice network, they can save considerable money.
From Gizmodo - Your small business looking for a good portable speakerphone to use with Skype? Jim Courtney over at Skype Journal got the US Robotics Speakerphone we told you about a while back. He says the setup's a breeze (plugs into USB port, no power adapter or software drivers) and audio quality is high.
From TMCnet - Skype, eBay Inc.'s Internet telephone subsidiary, is extending its reach with "Skypecasts" — free audio conferences for up to 100 participants. Skype is used mainly for person-to-person calling but also has a conferencing feature for up to 10 people, who can all speak at the same time. A Skypecast, however, will be moderated by a host who controls when someone can speak.
From Gizmodo - Polycom cut its teeth on conferencing hardware, and now it's teamed up with the oh-so-free Skype VoIP service for hands-free full duplex speakerphonage via a USB connection. There are two microphones strategically placed inside the unit, letting multiple people join in on the conversation. Controls on the front let you launch Skype and initiate and hang up calls. There's also a headphone jack, and then there's the 22kHz sound quality which Polycom calls "CD-quality conferencing.
From Gizmodo - ClearOne has come out with surprisingly nice looking, multi-faceted speaker phone that is compatible with a variety of devices. The Chat 50 is a full-duplex (which means you don't have to take turns speaking to and listening to the other person on the line) USB speakerphone that is usable with VoIP software such as Skype and Vonage, Web conferencing software, IM software and PC gaming chat software like TeamSpeak, perfect for all the fraggers who wear ties during the day. It also has a headphone jack so you can listen to your cellphone or iPod through its speaker.
From InformationWeek - Two appliances for Skype phoning – a speakerphone and a PC-less Wi-Fi phone – were announced Monday as the eBay VoIP unit stepped up its drive to spread the free service deeper into business markets.
The USB speakerphone carries a suggested retail price of $129 and is the first of a planned series of Skype-approved devices slated to be developed by Polycom and Skype. The hands-free Polycom Communicator is the size of a typical PDA and is available for additional PC functions like audio and music presentations.
