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Phil Zimmerman, the man who brought us PGP, has recently released a beta version of Zfone, a VoIP client, complete with his latest encryption software.

Zimmermann, the man who released the PGP e-mail encryption program to the world in 1991 — only to face an abortive criminal prosecution from the government — has been trying for 10 years to give the world easy-to-use software to cloak internet phone calls.

…

The open-source software manages cryptographic handshakes invisibly, and encrypts and decrypts voice calls as the traffic leaves and enters the computer. Operation is simple, and users don’t have to agree in advance on an encryption key or type out long passcodes to make it work.

So if you’re paranoid that the NSA might be monitoring your illicit calls to your foreign handler grandmother, take Zfone for a spin.

[via Wired]

eBay opted for a buy now and went ahead with their purchase of Skype for a reported $2.6 billion in cash and stock (which may increase based on what eBay calls a “potential performance-based consideration”).

Skype has 54 million users in 225 countries and territories, the company said, adding that it is acquiring about 150,000 users a day. In North America, Skype has more users and serves more voice minutes than any other Internet voice communications provider, according to the companies’ announcement of the deal today.

“Communications is at the heart of e-commerce and community,” said Meg Whitman, eBay’s president and chief executive. “By combining the two leading ecommerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in Internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the net.”

With a such a sweet deal, Skype will undoubtedly be leaving positive feedback, A+++++.

[via NY Times]

In what would amount to a rather interesting, if not peculiar move, eBay is said to be in talks about acquiring internet phone giant Skype Technologies for a reported $2 - $3 billion.

The talks are highly tentative and could fall apart, these people said on the condition that they not be identified because the talks are continuing.

An acquisition of Skype would put eBay at the forefront of one of the hottest and most-watched online movements of recent times, and one that the giant online marketplace has so far not been a major part of. It would also follow moves by Microsoft and Google, which eBay increasingly finds itself in competition with on new technologies, to get into the Internet phone business.

How exactly the service would be assimilated into eBay’s online marketplace remains to be seen.

[via NY Times]

Not to be left behind in the VoIP race, Microsoft picks up Teleo, a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software and services that enable people to place phone calls from PCs to traditional phones.

Microsoft currently uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology in a number of its products, including its instant-messaging service.

The US software firm said it planned to incorporate California-based Teleo’s telephone service into its instant messaging service.

Microsoft said it hoped to achieve this by the end of the year.

[via The BBC]

Talk is cheap, but Google says that it should be free. The search giant has launched its new Talk service.

Unveiled on 24 August, the Google Talk system unites net telephony with an instant messaging network and builds on the Gmail e-mail service that was released in March 2004.

At first glance, a combined instant messaging/net phone system is a strange service to launch mainly because Google’s rivals are so far ahead in terms of users and experience.

Google has set its sights on some pretty well-established competitors, but as seen with its successful Gmail campaign, nothing is impossible. Georges Harik, director of new products at Google has remarked, “we are going to try to be the first in the world to connect everyone to everyone.”

[via The BBC]

Make free phone calls around the world. Simply download the application, register (cost is a one time fee of 1€), and off you go. You will be able to make free phone calls to any landline in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States.

Noone is quite sure how they are able to do this, or how they will make any money, but it sounds like a sweet deal — and those who are weary about fradulent credit card use can opt to pay the fee via PayPal. Hmmm, I wonder if they monitor calls…

Samsung and LG team up with Kineto to develop hybrid mobile phones that can seamlessly pass calls between cell networks and WiFi. Cool!

[via AP]