It looks like Jeff has sprung another one on the Phone industry. By linking Asterisk servers he has created what looks to me to be a IAX clearing house. Not sure where the P2P is here apart from the servers being linked by Bellster. "The Bellster challenge for 2005 is to find out whether or not there are still people in the world who would let total strangers place noncommercial phone calls for free in exchange for the ability to do the same thing themselves," Pulver said in an e-mail. This sounds a little reminiscent of the MicroTelco concept introduced by many including Quicknet and others several years ago. At any rate it's always good to see disruptive technology put to good use :) more...

Well I guess it was inevitable, Google has seemingly alluded to its plans to get into VoIP and IP communications. It would make perfect sense for the big G to build and IM client with VoIP, Video and Presence. Their massive appeal could amount to tens of millions of end points will little effort. Another competitor for Skype, let's hope they choose to go with open standards! more...

Belkin Partners with Xten Networks to Implement callEverywhere Broadband Phone Service SoftPhone COMPTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2005--Belkin Corporation, in conjunction with iNuntius, a provider of VoIP technology, announce their collaborative partnership with Xten (OTCBB:XNWK), a provider of Advanced VoIP, Video, Instant Messaging and Presence SIP softphone SDKs (Software Development Kits). Belkin and iNuntius, codevelopers of callEverywhere(TM) Broadband Phone Service, have licensed a private-label version of Xten's X-PRO SIP softphone SDK for integration and deployment with Belkin's recently announced callEverywhere SoftPhone. The callEverywhere SoftPhone is software that allows users to make calls with just their broadband Internet connection, PC microphone, and PC speaker. "We are excited to be working with Belkin to further expand their callEverywhere service," comments Erik Lagerway, President and CEO of Xten Networks, Inc. "Belkin's vast distribution channels reach into the largest retail chains, which will give them the edge in the broadband telephony market." "As a leading provider of soft clients for VoIP solutions, Xten delivers a robust quality of service and feature set that are required to serve our customers," says Eric Tong, VP Marketing and Product Development. "We're extremely pleased to be involved with them in this partnership." The SoftPhone, the newest addition to Belkin's callEverywhere Broadband Phone Service, offers free calls to callEverywhere customers along with free email and voice mail. And, for an additional charge, users can upgrade to a service plan that allows you to make and receive phone calls to and from any phone number in the world. The SoftPhone is currently available as a free software download at www.everywhere.net. With callEverywhere, users can receive, forward, and store voice mails, emails, and faxes in one convenient web location, accessible from any web-connected computer. callEverywhere requires no annual contract and no cancellation fee, and provides customers with 24/7 technical support and a 30-day, risk-free trial period. The callEverywhere service is presently available in 34 metro areas in the United States. About Belkin Corporation Belkin Corporation, the global leader in connectivity solutions, offers a range of innovations for the computer, electronics, and mobile consumer. With a diverse and far-reaching product mix consisting of home and enterprise networking, audio video solutions, KVM (keyboard/video/mouse), power protection and cabling, as well as USB and FireWire(R) devices, Belkin extends its reach to Bluetooth(TM), cellular, PDA, iPod(R), and other solutions for mobile computing. Belkin has introduced multiple types of messaging services that allow users to send or receive email, voice mail, faxes, and mobile text messages through one IP-based portal, from any computer and web-enabled device. Belkin products are available through www.belkin.com as well as through a network of major distributors, resellers, and superstores. About Xten Networks, Inc. Xten is a developer of award-winning, high-quality, carrier-grade SIP softphones for service providers, cable operators, Internet telephony service providers, IP PBX manufacturers and OEMs. Xten's SIP softphones are available either pre-configured or as a software development kit (SDK), and provide VoIP (Voice over IP), Video over IP, IM (Instant Messaging), and Presence functionality. Xten has a feature-rich FREE SIP softphone dubbed X-Lite, in addition to the fully featured X-PRO commercial softphone and eyeBeam, a SIP Video over IP softphone with IM and Presence. Through its deployments with leading service providers, Xten has more than 750,000 IP endpoints deployed worldwide. For more information please visit www.xten.com. About iNuntius, Inc. iNuntius, Inc. provides a comprehensive suite of VoIP-based telephony and enhanced messaging services to carriers, enterprises, and service providers. Leveraging its hosted solutions, or licensing its products, iNuntius implements branded turnkey VoIP services for its customers. The company prides itself on providing cost-effective solutions to its customers that can be rapidly deployed, which cater to the consumer, and small and medium business. For more information, please visit www.inuntius.com.