In spite of its global popularity, internet telephony (voice-over-internet protocol, or VoIP), which is almost free for users, has not become a gold mine for its pioneers such as Skype and Vonage. Popular online auction firm eBay, which bought Skype two years ago for ,6-billion, affirmed that message in a costly way on Monday.
No image available
/ 27 September 2007
Social networking site Facebook, which signs up more than a million new fans every month, has changed tack and begun to list publicly members’ profiles on search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. It is, in fact, aiming to get in early in the race to build a global — and potentially lucrative — online people directory.
No image available
/ 24 September 2007
Need an alibi for a tricky situation, something to get you out of the house, or into someone else’s? Just log on to one of the increasingly available internet sites that offer the latest in e-business, an alibi service. Already up and running in the United States, Britain and Belgium, sites are now being launched in Switzerland and France.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
Apple may bid for the rights to a wireless spectrum auctioned by the United States Federal Communications Commission, a risky but intriguing move that would help carry the consumer electronics company into the telecommunications realm. The auction will take place in January.
No image available
/ 13 September 2007
Fuelled by last year’s Nobel Prize for a man nicknamed ”banker to the poor”, microlending to small businesses in the world’s poorest countries is booming as individuals discover they can be their own mini World Bank. And you don’t have to be Bill Gates to get in on the act.