Ebay has purchased the VoIP provider Skype for $2.6 billion. Half of which will be in Ebay stock.

How this fits into Ebay’s plan remains to be seen. Many companies including Google and Microsoft have made in roads into the VoIP arena.

The message boards are a buzz over the recent report that China may block Skype. And at least one Chinese Telecom has already blacklisted the free VoIP software. Skype allows users around the world to make really cheap calls using their PC or special Skype phones.

A call from China to New York using Skype is 0.3 yuan per minute while a call through China Telecom costs eight yuan per minute, the paper said.

It added that the Shenzhen operator will seek to fine users of VoIP products.

This is probably more of a bid by China to control the means of communication rather than a monetary decision. Currently only six Telecom companies are allowed to operate VoIP. Or it could be a high ranking Chinese official got caught this in little Skype prank and now it’s payback time.

Welcome to Communism everybody!

I currently have two Chinese users on my Skype directory who still seem to be online. If I get a chance I will have to ask them about this.

This report comes hot on the heels of news that Ebay is in talks to buy Skype.

This is the best prank ever! Or pretty close to it. Warning: Most of these can be very explicit.

A profile is put up with a girl’s name and picture, and put in “Skype me” mode. Within minutes some seedy guy will invariably try calling/chatting, and there’s a little program I made running the whole time which will partner up people 2 at a time, and send messages from the first person to the second, & vice versa. This way both people think they’re talking to a girl, when they find out, well, they’re not normally too happy about it… It’ll also accept and receive all files sent, and if someone tries to call, it’ll accept the call with an answerphone message and log what the person says.

On occasion this site becomes unavailable.

NOTE: This server is connected via a heavily saturated 128kbit connection, so be patient with it…

Now for sale, in the USA, is the world’s first cordless 2-in-1 Skype Internet telephone.

This cordless phone will connect to your PC via USB and your landline, at the same time! And fully supports SkypeIn and SkypeOut. The Cordless DUALphone will let the user move up to 300m from the base stand and still allow you to chat with your Skype buddies. It will show you when Skype users are online and allow you to talk to them for free.

The bad part is the DUALPhone currently only supports PC, no OSX. The company doesn’t offer any clue whether that would be available in the future.

You can purchase the DUALphone direct for a mere $139.99.

The marketing pitch:

Go wireless with the Cordless DUALphone
Untie yourself from the PC to make Skype™ and SkypeOut calls. See who’s online with one push of a button on the handset.
Make and receive regular calls using your standard phone number. It’s a cordless Skype™ phone and ordinary landline phone in one.

Box contents:

• Box Contents: One Cordless DUALphone Handset
• One Cordless DUALphone Basestation with fixed USB cord
• Basestation stand (removable)
• One power supply for the base station
• One telephone line cord
• One Handset battery pack (rechargeable)
• Handset battery compartment cover
• One Handset belt clip
• Two (2) click-on display covers in different colors
• One software installation CD-ROM (including Skype™)

The Google Talk site is now live. It was reported yesterday that Google would unleash it’s IM client some time this week. It turns out that you can download Google Talk beta today. (isn’t every Google service beta?)

Google Talk requires a Gmail account as this is how you authenticate. So if you been holding out and don’t have a Gmail account you are out of luck. If you need an GMail invite post a comment to this thread. Between Derek and I, we have a hundred.

Google also went the extra step of not forcing their proprietery client on you. According to their site you can use any client that supports Jabber/XMPP. They even give a list of alternate IM clients. Since I use Trillian for everything, including Sametime, this is great.

The Google Talk client itself is very clean looking and lightweight. Cheers to Google!

From the site:

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

* Choice: Get in touch how and when you want to–over email, IM or a call

* Quality: Talk through your computer but hear your friends as if they were in the same room

* Convenience: Your Gmail contacts are pre-loaded into Google Talk so inviting or talking to your friends is just a click away

UPDATE:
Google Talk Articles and Hacks:
How to Broadcast MP3’s, Podcasts and other audio over Google Talk
Google Talk and Gizmo Project interoperable
Game in Google Talk
HOW TO use Google Talk (now) with iChat

As we all know Skype is a great secondary/replacement for your home phone. What’s that? You didn’t know that? Well in the past year Skype has added SkypeIn and SkypeOut. For a fraction of what you pay to your (cry) baby bell Skype will give you a phone number, which anyone with a phone can call. And SkypeOut lets you call any phone number (globally) for around .02 cents per minute. Calling other Skype users is still free.

The only downside is you have been tethered to your PC when making Skype calls. That will all change with the Linksys Skype Phone.

I have been waiting for a solution just such as this. The phone is wireless and recharges in a base stand which connects to your PC via USB. I can only hope a Windows and Mac version of this phone arrives. But in all likely-hood it will be Windows only.

From Tom’s Networking:

Despite the rumors about Skype being purchased or done in by competitors, it appears that Linksys thinks Skype will be around for at least a little while longer. Using information from the FCC website, I’ve pieced together a quick look at the upcoming CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit.

In their effort to promote SkypeOut, Skype is offering the service free for today. You can talk for 10 minutes free just for today. For those who don’t know what SkypeOut is, let me explain.

Skype allows you to call another Skype user, for free. SkypeOut let’s you call a non-skype user or an actual telephone number. This normally costs around .02 cents per minute. It costs this amount whether it’s local or long distance. But today you can do 10 free minutes of calling.

Additionally, Skype has a service called SkypeIn. Which gives your Skype account a phone number. So non-skype users can call you from any telephone. And it even includes a voice mail account. This service costs around $25 per year.

Due to the number of people trying to take advantage of the free SkypeOut day, the server can be difficult to get to.

What if you had a portable phone line that cost you just $4.95 a month which included unlimited incoming calls and outgoing calls for 2 cents a minute regardless of your location? A company called “Teleo” is introducing a portable VOIP phone service that will do exactly that.

CEO Peter Sisson, you may recall, was the founder and CEO of WineShopper.com, the outrageous attempt to end-run the wine establishment which crashed after the Internet bubble burst, and which burned through $180 million in venture capital. According to Sisson, You should be able to integrate VoIP with cell service as “…cell service is the future. We need to turn VoIP into a feature, not an application.” He also believes in plug-and-play portability. “You should be able to receive your calls from anywhere,” says Sisson. “The trick is to use SIP and get through firewalls.” Apparently they have a split-client design that is patent-pending.

Also, according to scoopster Om Malik, a deal is in the works between Microsoft and Teleo. Apparently Microsoft wants a piece of the VOIP action. It makes sense, everyone else is buying VoIP (Yahoo bought Dialpad), so why not?