Skype is finally relieved from the lawsuit that Joltid had held against it and that had potentially put its own existence into jeopardy. Skype creators Friis and Zennstrom, who are behind Joltid, and who sold Skype to eBay, had lodged a lawsuit against the latter for using technology it was not allowed to use, a technology that is the very core of the Skype communication system.

Now the conflict is resolved, with the lawsuit dropped in exchange of 14 percent stake given to Friis and Zennstrom in the new Skype venture, as well as a seat for each of them on the board. This event results in Skype having full ownership of the software, so that it can concentrate on building what Skype president Josh Silverman terms as "the world's greatest communications software".

Faxing over IP isn't as developed as voice communication, and VoIP faxing devices are rare. As Mike Oliszewski, CTO for FaxBack puts it, "The issues associated with connecting fax machines via SIP T.38-based ATAs still pose a serious challenge for carriers seeking to migrate their internet connected customers to VoIP." They have therefore introduced an ATA (commonly known as a phone adapter), for faxing over IP using the T.38 protocol. The difference between this ATA and non-fax ones is that, beyond the VoIP functionalities, it embeds the necessary software and intelligence for reliably connecting fax machines and computers to a range of common networks. Read more

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Many put a question mark to this phrase, because many are still skeptical as to Skype becoming open source. Developers inside Skype (namely Stanislav Karchebny, a.k.a Berkus) announced that Skype is definitely going open source. Olivier Faurax also shares on his blog his correspondence with Skype on the matter, confirmation the information. However, we still ask whether it will be the complete Skype we know, including its core protocols and algorithms, or simply its user interface. This is the reason for the skepticism. Berkus says, "Having an open source UI will help us get adopted in the "multicultural" land of Linux distributions...".

Why only an open source 'UI' (user interface)? This is most probably because going open source might prove to be rather uncomfortable for Skype. Firstly because if we believe Joltid, the main underlying Skype communication technology doesn't belong to Skype but to them, which is the reason for their lawsuit against Skype. This tempts us to say that besides its GUI and billing service, Skype doesn't own much of its application. Secondly, an open source Skype will nurture potentially serious security issues. With thousands of hands able to make surgery into the app, the prejudice to Skype might potentially stem from simple network attacks to stealing calling credit. In the best case, it's going to be harder for Skype to manage the application.

On the bright side, that is the users' side, open source Skype will be most welcome, especially by Linux users. The app would be far richer that what it is now, with a worldwide cohort of developers free to add any options and features they want to the app. This will also make it more accessible to platforms other than Windows - the actual Linux version of Skype severely lags behind the Windows version.

Who said VoIP was dead? An Infonetics research showed that for the first half of 2009, the VoIP services services worldwide generated a whopping $21 billion. Above that, demand for VoIP keeps being on the rise, while that of other services accused a slowdown, mainly due to recession.

A breakdown of the study reveals the following main points:

• Residential VoIP has the majority of paid VoIP revenue and subscribers are 14% more numerous over last year;
• IP connectivity services amount to a third of the total VoIP business revenue;
• North America is the biggest VoIP market;
• More details...

The number of rather positive reviews on Windows 7 that flooded the Internet since its launch, and even before, make us think that it is poised to replace the XP celebrity. But, on the other hand, I can't help thinking that Vista also had many positive reviews when it was launched, but that didn't prevent it from being a flop.

The question that brought you here is whether it is VoIP-friendly. Why wouldn't it be, given there was no problem with Windows XP? But Microsoft being Microsoft, you don't what works and what doesn't, and who'll be blocked. At times, commercial battles overshadow technology. But Windows 7 promises to be open, and even shows sign of a warmer welcome towards VoIP. What remains is for third-party developers to readjust their applications accordingly. Read more

If you have used or tried to use VoIP on Windows 7, share your views and experience with us.

Image (c) microsoft.com

Here is a handy tool for those with the responsibility of assuring security of a network handling voice and video over IP. UCSniff is a free VoIP and IP video security assessment application that runs on Windows and Linux. It has interesting features, including the targeting and location of VoIP users, verification vulnerability to eavesdropping, and a dozen of others. It also has the ability to record whole voice conversations, which makes it an interesting voice recording tool. UCSniff supports most VoIP codecs and therefore can work in a lot of places and deployments. There is a good overview of the product and the download link on sourcefourge. There is also a set of nice and smart examples of where and how you can use UCSniff, such as locating an IP Phone.

Besides, this weekend, a couple of researchers of Viper Lab at Sipera Systems want to show us that if we use VoIP-based mobile devices over Wi-Fi or over IP video phones, we'd better be careful. At ToorCon this Saturday, UCSniff will be used to demo that a conversation on an iPhone over an unsecured wireless network can be broken into. Read more on that.

The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 just released deserves some mention here because it is VoIP-friendly, at least to some extent, relative to most BlackBerry machines. The Bold 9700 is equipped with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. The two telcos that will provide the service are AT&T and T-Mobile. Again as per its unpopular habits, AT&T isn't very generous with allowing free connectivity. But the T-Mobile version, on the other hand, even supports UMA. Users can make cheap or free VoIP calls via T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots or a business-flavored version of the service called the Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice. A range of 3G frequencies are also supported by the BlackBerry Bold 9700, and also Bluetooth.

Browsing through the list of communications applications for the BlackBerry Bold 9700, in view of finding which VoIP apps are around, I came across the following: MO-Call 3005, a free way to make cheap international calls; the famous Yahoo! Messenger; Google Talk; and IM Plus All-in-One. Besides, there are many other VoIP applications that support BlackBerry. These applications allow BlackBerry users to make free or cheap international calls while on the move.

Image (c) BlackBerry.com

TringMe is a complete VoIP service suite that comprises of the traditional and very popular PC-to-PC calling feature through a softphone, with its PC-to-phone calling option for calls to landline and mobile phones worldwide. There are two things that demark TringMe from other services. First, it is web-based, i.e. users do not have to download and install any application - it works on a web browser. Secondly, it offers a complete package of application development tools for users and enterprises to develop their own VoIP applications. Read Review

Using voice on Facebook is a means to make communication more fluid between you and your buddies or business contacts, and also to save on cost. TringMe is a rich VoIP service that has the particularity of offering Internet calls through a softphone that is web-based; meaning that you don't need to download and install any application. It is loaded in a web page, over Flash. This makes it easy to integrate into Facebook.

The application is rather rich with features that are quite handy for a place like Facebook: it lets you make and receive phone calls, send SMS, allows callers to leave voicemails, and gives you TringMe widgets to place on your profile page on which your contacts can click to call or SMS you. These widgets are commonly referred to as click-to-call widgets.

How to set up TringMe for Facebook? It is rather simple. Go to this page. It first asks you to log in your Facebook account if you are not logged in yet, then on your request, it rather automatically configures the Call and SMS service. You first need credit, for buying which a direct link if offered. You can buy for as low as $5 and pay via PayPal. The TringMe page on your Facebook account has all the features on it, with the softphone and SMS interface. Share your views with us on how best to use voice on Facebook.

Yahoo Voice is the Voice over IP service implementation of Yahoo!, with its messenger as base. Its main strength is that it is cheaper than Skype on international calls. However, in our recent poll, 2 over three persons say Skype is better than Yahoo! Read my comparison of Yahoo Voice with Skype, and share your opinion on the subject. You can still take the poll.

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