December 5, 2005

By Staff

Would Internet users want to pay US$0.05 every time they visit Google.com, Yahoo.com or any other Web site? That's one possibility if the U.S. Congress fails to include strong "network neutrality" rules as it debates a comprehensive telecom reform bill, a group of open Internet advocates said Friday.

A more likely possibility: Broadband providers such as Verizon Communications and Comcast block access to services such as competing VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) services or video downloads, said panelists at an open Internet forum for congressional staffers in Washington, D.C.

While charging users a fee to visit some Web sites may be an unlikely scenario, large broadband providers could slow down access to Web sites or services with which they have no distribution agreements, said members of consumer groups and two consumer-focused technology companies.

December 4, 2005

By David Ho

The dreaded Internet pop-up ad is a dying breed, but as record numbers of consumers shop online this holiday season, a new arsenal of advertising technology awaits.

From ads that float, sing or dance to video commercials that seem straight from TV, the hot online ad market is evolving quickly as faster Internet connections spread and Web surfing goes more mainstream.

To keep up, advertisers are experimenting, often with mixed results, as they walk a line between attracting eyeballs and annoying the consumers they covet.

"The Web has become a mass medium," said Greg Stuart, president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau industry group. He said that with more than half of U.S. households with Internet access now using high-speed connections, "it opens up the creative palette in a bigger and broader way."

December 1, 2005

By Tom Ham

Vonage F1000 Integrated WiFi Handset

Imagine making phone calls when others can’t.

So you’re at the airport. Your cell phone is getting horrible reception and calls are being dropped. What do you do? If you had the Vonage F1000 Integrated WiFi Handset, all you need to go is get to an access point (which are nearly everywhere nowadays) and make your calls, Vonage, the world’s leading voice-over IP provider; brings users a single-line VoIP phone that looks and functions like your regular cell phone.

Dan Tynan States His Craving For All Things Wireless With Some Nifty Wi-Fi Gadgets

December 1, 2005

By Staff

I admit it. I’m addicted to the Internet. If I go for more than a few hours without checking my e-mail I break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, thanks to WiFi networking, I rarely have to go cold turkey.

WiFi (or “wireless fidelity”) networks use radio signals to make high-speed Internet access available to anyone with the right gear. Public WiFi networks (“hotspots”) are becoming common features in airports, hotels, coffee shops, bookstores, and burger joints, among other locales. Already standard in some new laptops and handheld computers, WiFi is now finding its way into devices like digital phones and cameras.

November 27, 2005

By David Wichner

In a recent survey, consumers said they thought "VoIP" could be a hybrid European auto or a low-carbohydrate vodka.

But VoIP - which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol - may soon become a household term as major telecom providers such as Verizon, America Online, AT&T and even Qwest are taking such Internet-based telephony services to mainstream consumers.

VoIP is available to anyone with a broadband, or high-speed, Internet connection - about 420,000 Arizona households, based on industry estimates.

November 24, 2005

By Cliff Joseph

PC users have long been able to make free calls through instant messaging services such as MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, but many were dissuaded by the idea of having to buy and wear a headset and the inconvenience of having to make sure that friends and family were online when they fancied a natter.

Well, things have changed since we last wrote about making telephone calls using a broadband connection. A number of services now enable you to use a proper telephone handset to make cheap or free calls by placing an adapter between the broadband modem or router and a standard telephone.

December 1, 2005

By Staff



December/January 2006

Holiday Gift Guide

HOME SWEET HOME – Update your family’s pad with these modern conveniences

(5) Your sister is a talker. So give her broadband Internet phone service that saves her cash. And if she lives in Canada or Puerto Rico, all her calls to you are free when she signs up for the unlimited “won’t shut up” plan. $100 @ Vtech.com;

November 20, 2005

By Simon Dumenco



Work on the Road? New technology can lighten your load.

Never miss a call. Consider connecting to Vonage (www.vonage.com, from $15 a month), the leading Internet phone company. (Your calls travel over the Web, just like e-mail.) It has an easy-to-set-up SimulRing feature that’s ideal for mobile professionals:

November 19, 2005

By Charles Mathewson

The biggest sources of complaints for Americans are the government, the cable company and the phone company. Their bigness makes it nearly impossible to satisfy customers. Without their bigness, they have no business.

Ma Bell, Baby Bell, Nynex, Verizon. The name changes. It's still the Phone Company. Generations of corporate conditioning have made us all humbled by the telecommunication giant.

For those of you too young to know, or too old to remember, The Bell System had a vise grip on its customers. The Phone Company (the name popularized in the great anti-hero flick "The President's Analyst") owned the lines, the switchboards and the telephones it installed in homes.

November 17, 2005

By Liz Lipton

Podiatrists, like all businesspeople, are always looking for ways to reduce their overhead. One suggestion is to consider Voice Over Internet Protocol or VoIP, which allows you to use the Internet as a telephone service, and avoid paying fees to a local and/or long distance telephone company.

Two podiatrists in New York State decreased their phone bills by more than 50 percent each by switching to VoIP phone service. Martin G. Miller, DPM, was paying $3,600 annually for conventional phone service. Since he switched to VoIP, his annual phone expenses were reduced to $838.80. Walter Perez, DPM, was paying about $7,200 annually for traditional analog phone service. His annual phone expenses were reduced to $3,000 after he started using VoIP.