Skype is upgrading its popular internet telephone service to add video calling and a toolbar for Microsoft Outlook to find and dial contacts with a click.
The long-promised 2.0 edition was launched by Skype, which was acquired last month by internet auctioneer eBay for $2.6 billion.
While the Windows download is available to any user, the application is still in beta testing. Skype did not provide a timetable for the final edition or the planned release of a version for the Macintosh operating system from Apple Computer.
The video feature will not cost extra, so Skype's trademark computer-to-computer calls will remain free (fees apply to calls to traditional and cell phones).
Users would need to have their own camera in order to place a video call. To that end, Skype also announced partnerships to sell webcams made by Logitech and Creative Labs.
The new edition of Skype also features a new search box to type in names or numbers and pull up matching entries in the user's address book, as well as an installable toolbar to perform the same function within Outlook.
The upgrade also includes more features and personalization options such as ring tones and special icons to let others see a user's mood on their buddy lists.
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Gateslist: Microsoft is developing an online classified service to compete with the likes of craigslist and becoming the latest company to capitalize on growing consumer interest in buying and selling everything from cars to baby-sitting services on the web.
Microsoft is hoping to distinguish its service, code-named Fremont, from rivals by tying in functionality with other Microsoft products. For example, people will be able to have Microsoft's instant messaging service alert them if items they seek come up for sale, or if someone is interested in buying something they are selling.
The company also is developing ways that people can limit who can see their ads, such as by offering goods only to people on their messenger "buddy list." The service also will enable users to limit sales to those attending the same university or working at the same company, based on e-mail addresses.
The service will seek to be even more geographically personalized than craigslist's city-oriented sites by asking sellers to provide a ZIP code for searching purposes, said Garry Wiseman, an MSN product unit manager. For example, users could say they only wanted to find jobs, apartments or garage sales within a five-mile radius of where they live.
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Chip cheats: Samsung, the world's largest maker of computer memory chips, has pleaded guilty to a charge it conspired with other companies to fix the price of chips used in personal computers and other electronic devices, boosting the cost to consumers.
After accepting the plea and a previously arranged deal with prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton ordered Samsung and its U.S. subsidiary, Samsung Semiconductor, to pay $300 million -- the second-largest fine in a criminal antitrust case.
It was the culmination of a three-year investigation into price fluctuations in the dynamic random access memory market from April 1999 to June 2002. Prosecutors said Samsung, which is based in Seoul, South Korea, and other companies engaged in price fixing through emails, telephone calls and in-person meetings.
Earlier this year, Seoul-based Hynix Semiconductor agreed to pay a $185 million fine; rival Infineon Technologies of Germany agreed to pay $160 million last year. A fourth chip maker, Micron Technology of Boise, Idaho, has been cooperating with prosecutors and was not expected to face charges.
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TRL to go: Qualcomm said it is working with Verizon Wireless to broadcast live television service to cell phones using a network that Qualcomm unit MediaFlo is building.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ) and Vodafone, plans to introduce the TV service in more than half the markets already covered by its high-speed wireless network.
Verizon Wireless will be the first U.S. provider to offer the MediaFlo service when it is commercially available. Qualcomm (QCOM) had said it expected to launch MediaFlo in October this year.
Qualcomm, a provider of wireless technology licenses and chips, plans to invest $800 million to build its own network, using its own airwaves, and provide the service to the cell phones of existing mobile services.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
