VoIP phones

Skye, Yahoo, Vonage... just a few of the online Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone services. Call the UK for only a penny per minute, anywhere in the USA for about 2 cents. Skype or Yahoo online free! Get a local phone number for as low as $2.50. What's not to love about VoIP? It rocks!

Panasonic does Skype VoIP

Panasonic is bringing a new twist to the old-fashioned cordless phone market by announcing it will ship a set of Skype-compatible handsets in the second half of the year. The phones will connect through regular DECT base-stations into the public phone service and via a broadband internet link to Skype’s P2P network.

The KX-TG9000 series lets users choose which way outgoing calls are routed. And it will automatically relay both landline and VoIP calls through to the handset. The phones will not only support free calls between Skype accounts, but also work with SkypeIn, SkypeOut and Voicemail services.

According to Panasonic, this will “push VoIP into the mainstream”. No word on pricing, but expect this to drop in the second half of this year in “some European countries.”

Hey, Skype Me :)

Has VoIP got you feeling tied down? Stop complaining - you get what you pay for. Okay, nevermind.. looks like they’ve got a great new Bluetooth® VoIP phone coming out that let’s you wander around your house and chat on the phone with your Internet buddies afterall. Here’s the 411:

“TRENDnet’s ClearSkyâ„¢ Bluetooth® VoIP Phone Kit for Skypeâ„¢ (TVP-SP1BK) allows you to talk to friends, family or co-workers around the world at a fraction of the cost of traditional phone service. Best of all, with the long-range Bluetooth® adapter you can talk and roam anywhere you feel comfortable in your home or office without being chained to your computer.”

Now for the bad news (yea I love making you cry) it’s not available until April 2006. So, you’ll have to wait a month before you can get your grubby little paws on this ingenius little baby. Check it out at TRENDnet.  (Skip to the beat and click it to jump and see some conflicting info about this gizmo.