Communications Briefs

Boston — The DECT Forum said that sales of DECT 6.0 phones represented 17.9 percent of dollar sales for the cordless-phone category through September of this year. Citing data from The NPD Group Retail Tracking Service, the DECT Forum noted that sales of DECT-enabled devices notched a 100 percent growth in share since the first products launched in early 2006.

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Broadband households have a clear preference for bundling their mobile and fixed communication services, according to a recent report from market research firm In-Stat. Surveying broadband households, In-Stat found that "despite the fact that PSTN voice services are the least valued of all household communication services, a significant portion of service bundle consumers would migrate to another supplier to obtain converged voice services (CVS)."

In-Stat found that converged voice appealed to a broad age range and even included those who had cut the cord and were using only their cell phone for voice. Converged voice could be generating $8.6 billion annually in the U.S. by 2011, the firm predicted.

"All the necessary technology is available today. All it will take is for one major service provider to embrace CVS, and the voice communications market will be forever changed," says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst, in a statement announcing the findings.

San Jose, Calif. — VoIP phone maker Ipevo said that it had made its line of Skype phones Mac compatible. The line now includes the PC/Mac-compatible products, such as the Free.1 USB phone; the Free.2 USB phone, which builds off the first model with a back-lit LCD display and a call-record function; and the Trio, a business-oriented speakerphone and handset system.

Luxembourg — Skype will embed its VoIP communication software into the social networking Web site MySpace thanks to a new partnership.

Starting this month, consumers who use MySpaceIM will have the ability to place Skype calls from within the IM software as well as link their MySpace accounts to a Skype account. MySpace boasts 110 million monthly active users while Skype counts 220 million registered users globally.

Skype will also appear in a 3G Internet phone from European mobile operator 3. The phone doubles as a traditional cellphone or a Skype phone, capable of accessing all of Skype's calling features and Skype instant messaging. Calls placed over Skype's network will be free of charge.