Yahoo introduces calls via IM
The San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that Yahoo is to expand a service to the US that lets people make phone calls using its instant messaging (IM) software.
The "Phone Out" service has been available in several countries since December. The service puts Yahoo in competition with Skype, as well as AOL and Microsoft.
Like Skype, Yahoo`s service leverages voice over Internet protocol technology to allow users to make calls from a PC to another PC, or a traditional or mobile phone. Yahoo will not charge to receive calls, and PC-to-PC calls are free.
Pay by text
Online payment company PayPal is preparing to offer a service for consumers to make purchases or money transfers using simple text messaging via mobile phones, Reuters reports.
The move by PayPal, a unit of online auctioneer eBay, marks a big step in bridging the worlds of e-commerce and the physical world of brick and mortar stores by giving consumers a pay as you go option via phones, analysts said.
The service, known as PayPal Mobile, will be launched in the next couple of weeks in the US, Canada and Britain. Other markets worldwide will follow for the world`s biggest online payments service.
UK gets self-destructing SMS service
Designed for those who tend to send ill-advised SMSes in error or in the heat of the moment, a new service in the UK allows for SMS messages that self-destruct in a specified time.
TechDigest says the service, StealthText, works by sending the SMS recipient a text notification showing the sender`s name and providing a link to the message. Once opened, the message disappears after a short period of time - enough time for that person alone to read it.
'Varsity unhappy with discount drink texts
The DesMoines Register reports that the University of Iowa has withdrawn support from a student-run company that sends cellphone text messages alerting students about drink specials.
Business students Ian Jacobson and Kane Johnson have used space in the university`s Entrepreneurial Learning Laboratory to develop businesses that involve a student discount card, a Web site promoting Iowa City nightlife and a company that sends subscribers regular text messages with exclusive deals on alcoholic beverages and bar admission.
However, the university has decided to withdraw support from the text messages, since it has long tried to fight excessive drinking by students.
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