Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Fischofer who wrote (59943)	7/17/2001 10:48:15 AM
From: The Duke of URL©	Respond to of 74651

Windows XP puts a call on Net phones By Wylie Wong Special to ZDNet July 17, 2001 4:41 AM PT Gavin Cowie isn't in the Net phone business, but it didn't take him long to figure out why the technology has never taken off. "It's worth it because it's so cheap, but sometimes it sounds like I'm underwater," said Cowie, a 28-year-old San Francisco Web consultant who uses Net2Phone's service to call his family in the United Kingdom. "You need a headset or microphone, and I don't think people will be happy talking into a computer screen." Five years after Net telephony promised to revolutionize the way the world communicates, the same roadblocks to mass adoption remain. Voice quality is still sketchy, and using a PC to reach out and touch someone is unnatural for people who grew up with traditional phones. Today, however, Internet phone companies like Net2Phone, Deltathree and Dialpad Communications are pinning their hopes on an unlikely player in the telecommunications market: Microsoft. Telecommunications executives and analysts say recent moves by the software giant into Internet telephony may be the last chance for the technology to reach the mainstream. The new Windows XP operating system includes communications software that promises to make the quality of Net-based calls comparable to that of traditional phones. More important, struggling Net phone companies believe that the software giant's mere presence will provide a much-needed boost to the long-dormant market. "People spend so much time in front of PCs. And... zdnet.com