Internet phone company Vonage Holdings Corp. said Thursday that its Chief Executive Officer Michael Snyder stepped down and that it would cut costs, amid growing worries about its future after setbacks in a patent lawsuit by Verizon Communications Inc..
Ah crap. This can only be a bad sign. Now, are the corporate officers dumping shares?
Tags: Vonage, VoIP, Michael Snyder
As the VoIP technology spreads ever quicker we see companies such as Vonage gaining ground on the Ma Bells of the world. One of the best clients out there is the Skype client. Now they have released the latest version of their client for the Windows platform.
Skype now has browser extensions for Internet Explorer and Firefox. You can choose at install time if you want to install these or not. They automatically convert phone numbers on web pages into Skype links. You can simply click them and Skype starts a SkypeOut call to that number.
FINALLY! Skype now has support for video! I’ve been waiting for this for sometime now.
Now you can make video calls to anyone else on Skype, no matter what kind of computer they are using. Smile, wave, laugh or pull funny faces with anyone, anywhere in the world with Skype video calls. All for free of course.
The folks at Skype are quick to point out that this is a “preview” version. In other words they’re still working on it.
UPDATE: OK, well I’ve installed the new “Beta” version for Mac and I have some gripes. First off there is no way to accept and incoming call. WTF? The video portion works well on my MacBook but, the inability to accept a call is really useless. Also the skype no longer resides in the menu bar. Hopefully they will fix this shortly.
Tags: Skype, Mac VoIP Client, Video Support, Skype for Mac
Here is a very cool announcement. Skype has announced free calls for user in North America to call people in UK, Mexico or Japan.
“This free international calling offer is yet another way Skype is making it easy and affordable for people in the U.S. and Canada to try Skype and discover the benefits of being able to easily stay in touch with friends and family all over the world,” said Don Albert, general manager, Skype North America. “We think free calling to these three major countries is a great reason for people to try Skype and is a special thank you for our existing U.S. and Canadian customers.”
Tags: Skype, VoIP, International Calls, Free Calls
The Vonage USB delivered soft phone is now available for purchase!
The Vonage V-Phone comes with Vonage Talk software pre-loaded – there’s no need to install it on your PC and no need to restart your computer. Simply insert the Vonage V-Phone into any available USB port, plug the earpiece microphone into the side of the Vonage V-Phone and you’re ready to make and receive calls! Remove the drive when you’re done and the phone and all your important contact information goes with you.
Sadly this is only set to run on Windows. Mac is not available yet according to the website. Ah well, I’ll have to wait then.
Tags: Vonage, V-Phone, USB VoIP, Vonage to go
One of my favourite companies in the telecom space is easily Vonage. Anything that causes Bell Canada heartburn is fine by me. Now, Klausner Technologies Inc. has filed suit against the VoIP provider alleging patent infringement.
Klausner said the patent in question was used in Vonage’s voicemail services. It recently granted a license under the same patent to Time Warner Inc. subsidiary AOL
It’s interesting to note that when companies become successful in the US (see: Blackberry) that other companies spring into action and speed dial their lawyers. There might be a legitimate claim in this case. However we have seen that, as in the RIM case, there was no infringement. What happened to innovation? Has is died at the hand of the grey suited lawyer?
Tags: Vonage, Lawsuit, Klausner, Patent Case, Blackberry