Peter Sisson, the founder and chief executive officer of Toktumi , a San Francisco-based VoIP startup, is elated. He was jumping with joy when I spoke with him earlier today. Why? Because Apple just approved the latest version (2.0) of his company’s mobile VoIP app, Line2. The app, which costs 99 cents, allows you to call and receive phone calls over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks. What Toktumi has done is build a back end similar to that... 

Skype and Verizon are likely to announce a brand new partnership tomorrow at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), currently being held in Barcelona. The two companies are keeping mum about their plans. Just not quiet enough. The Verizon-Skype partnership isn’t going to mimic the relationship between Skype and 3 U.K, a division of Hutchison Whampoa . The result of that partnership was the launch of Skypephone. In that specific case, 3 U.K.... 

When it comes to mobile, time is literally money. Carriers like AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and the rest make us pay based on how many minutes we use — or in the case of prepaid plans, expect to use. If we want to talk more, we can expect to pay more. But VoIP over 3G networks could drastically change that. Callers could place calls for little or no fee with VoIP apps and in the process, opt for less expensive plans with less... 

Apple and AT&T have come under continued criticism for not allowing VoIP over today’s 3G mobile broadband connections when using the iPhone. So much so that the matter got the attention of the FCC back in August, leading to explanations  from Apple and Ma Bell . A few weeks ago, we had wondered why there were still no VoIP-over-3G connections. More recently, others asked that very question. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski  sidestepped... 

When a crappy economy meets VoIP, cheaper IP telecommunications win, according to research out today from TeleGeography showing that Skype is taking market share from the international calling market. TeleGeography found that the projected growth of international telephone traffic was almost halved in 2009 — to a mere 8 percent — while Skype’s growth accelerated by 51 percent. TeleGeography also notes that over the past 25 years,... 

Customer service is an under-appreciated component of the mobile business, as Google is learning the hard way with the launch of its Nexus One. And its importance will only grow in the next few years as connectivity expands beyond phones and laptops into consumer electronics, health care apps and the automotive world, to name just a few. Those offerings will require carriers to become a part of complicated new business models with multiple players... 

Skype , a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.” The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on preserving an open Internet and strongly supports…  Read More →

Google is “just scratching the surface” with Google Voice, Bradley Horowitz, VP of Product Management, said today on eWeek.com , and will move aggressively next year to further blur the line between telephony and the Internet. And as the search giant turns voice into an application and dives deeper into carriers’ domain, network operators will have to find ways to leverage their networks and provide competing apps and services... 

O2, a division of Telefonica, a Spanish telecommunications company, is in talks to acquire Jajah, a VoIP startup, for about $200 million, Reuters reported today. The company had raised $35 million from various investors including Deutsche Telekom, Intel Capital and Sequoia Capital . According to some rumors, Microsoft and Cisco Systems were also bidding for Jajah, which has had its shares of ups and downs. The company is over 4 years old and... 

With the spin-out from eBay complete , its legal troubles with founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis settled , Skype is looking to the future where it wants to become a ubiquitous real-time communications platform. And that means thinking about the next generation Skype architecture and also hiring a lot of smart people, said CEO Josh Silverman in a conversation earlier today. “We are looking to hire engineers,” he said. “Especially...