Net phoning starts to win friends

1. Net phoning starts to win friends

Awareness of net calling technology is steadily growing among Britons, suggests a survey.
Almost half of those questioned said they knew that they could make cheap phone calls via the net using so-called voice over IP (Voip) technology.

For more on this:
- read full story from BBC News, Sept 29 2005


2. Snapfish: Photo Sharing Made Simple

As photo-sharing Web sites proliferate, at first glance it's hard to spot the differences among them. Virtually all of them let you upload, print, order and send digital photos.

For more on Snapfish:
- read full story from businessweek.com, Sept 29 2005


3. Skype Upgrades VoIP Software, Services

Skype has upgraded its VoIP software to version 1.4 for the Windows platform, touting new features like call forwarding and customized ringtones. The new free call-forwarding feature, for example, lets users configure the VoIP service to forward calls to up to three other phone numbers or to another Skype software client.

For more on Skype:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Sept 29 2005


4. Some Web Telephones Can't Re-Use Numbers

Kirsten Dixson was proud to be an early adopter when she signed up her career coaching business for Internet-based telephone service earlier this year.

She soon came to regret her tech savvy when bad sound quality made her long for traditional phone service. Then the other shoe dropped — she couldn't take her number with her to another provider.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Sept 29 2005


5. F-Secure Security Suite Tackles Spyware, Rootkits

Finnish anti-virus specialist F-Secure has dived headfirst into the crowded anti-spyware market, rolling out a new consumer-facing security suite that promises to detect unwanted programs before a PC becomes injected.

For more on F-Secure Security Suite:
- read full story from eweek.com, Sept 29 2005


6. Does the ITU get the internet?

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is angling for a wider role in running the internet, to the extent that it is hosting the WSIS meeting taking place in Geneva at the moment.

Situated in the United Nations' Palais des Nations and just over the road from the ITU three-building complex, delegates from across the world have been complaining about the low-tech environment featuring unrecordable audio and a severe shortage of power sockets.

For more on ITU:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Sept 29 2005


7. Internet advertising soars in the US

Online advertising revenues in the first half of this year soared to a new high of around $5.8 billion in the US – up 26 per cent over the first half of 2004, according to figures released yesterday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

For more on this:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Sept 28 2005


8. BitTorrent Lands $8.75 Million in Funding

The creator of the popular online file-swapping software BitTorrent has lined up $8.75 million in financing from a venture capital firm in a bid to build his software into a commercial distribution tool for media companies.

For more on BitTorrent:
- read full story from Washington Post, Sept 29 2005