Telephony market to be shaken up by Internet phone calls

Internet phone calls will take a 12 per cent stake of telephony revenues in five years, say researchers. The fledgling technology enables users to plug in a standard PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) handset into a box that sends the calls over the Internet, making them far cheaper. Research group Juniper expects revenues from this techology to grow to $260bn by 2009, with traditional fixed line revenues in decline. ...more

University to set up archive of bust dot com company business plans

Budding entrepreneurs and historians of the future will be able to look back on the madness of the dot com boom. The University of Maryland has received government and private grants to archive the business and marketing plans of those companies launched between 1996 and 2002 that thought having a domain name and venture capital backing meant they could retire at 25. The University of Maryland's Robert H. ...more

Microsoft betas software locker

Microsoft is trialling a new way to buy software through its Windows Marketplace site. The new 'software locker' technology is designed to make Marketplace easier, with a single interface and checkout facility rather than having to go to individual vendors. Windows Marketplace is a Microsoft site that offers a range of Windows titles from small to medium sized vendors. ...more

Amazon leaks Windows XP prices

Amazon.com accidentally leaked the prices of the forthcoming Windows XP last week when it mistakenly started taking pre-orders for the second time in just six weeks. Amazon's error came just as Microsoft released Windows XP to PC manufacturers, ready for its 25 October release date. ...more

We never said iTunes sales are crashing - Forrester

The debate raging on the Internet about whether Apple's iTunes sales are plummeting has taken a new twist with a blog posting by Forrester Research's Josh Bernoff, whose survey prompted the discussion. Several sites - notably Bloomberg - picked up on one element of the report that said that sales had fallen 65 per cent since their January 2006 peak, and as a result Apple's share price fell by three per cent. But this is not the full story, Bernoff insists. ...more