Microsoft selects Telefonica

Microsoft has chosen Telefonica as the exclusive carrier to provide VOIP services to Windows Live Messenger-users in the US and some South American countries, says cnet news.

With the service, dubbed Voype, people using Windows Live Messenger can make calls directly from PCs to any landline or mobile phone in the world, according to Telefonica.

The service's rate list reveals relatively competitive pricing; calls made in the US are cheaper on Voype than those made on Skype.

A VOIP application has been released for Google's Android operating system, states The Telecom.

The software, called iSkoot for Skype, enables owners of the new T-Mobile G1 Android handset to make low-cost international telephone calls.

iSkoot calls can be made whether or not WiFi or 3G network access is available.

Digital phone services provider Vonage has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for its invention, "Method and Apparatus for Enhanced Internet Telephony", reports TMCnet.

Vonage applied for the patent in 2003. The patent relates to Internet telephony enhancements especially those that involve network address translation. Using the new technology, Vonage will be able to use VOIP across a variety of residential routers.

The patented technology reduces the incidence of dropped calls, incomplete attempted calls or other communication hitches.