Welcome to the Morning Briefing for Tuesday 28 December, where we highlight the tech stories from across the web and what we are watching here at TECHGEEK.com.au.
Here’s what we are watching:
Topic: eBay
Skype founders/eBay legal spat ends, gets 14 percent stake in new Skype
eBay has announced that it has settled a lawsuit with the co-founders of Skype around its sale of the VoIP service, allowing the deal signed by eBay with several investment firms to sell a majority stake in the company worth US$2 billion to go ahead as planned.
eBay to sell 65 percent stake in Skype
It’s confirmed! eBay has said that it will sell a 65 percent controlling stake of internet telephony and VoIP service Skype to private investors, ending a relationship that was confusing in the first place to many people in the tech sector.
NYT : eBay reaches deal to sell Skype
Internet auction website eBay is reportedly have reached a deal that would see Skype being sold to a group of private investors, months after announcing its intention of spinning off the online telephony and VoIP service, according to the New York Times, citing two people who were briefed on the plans.
Three to launch new social phone – integrates Facebook, Live Messenger & Skype
3 Australia will be releasing another phone to Australia that will integrate Skype, but will also include integration with popular IM Windows Live Messenger and social network Facebook in attempt to create a more social-friendly phone. Called the INQ1 – pronounced as “ink one”, the phone is expected to be around by Christmas.
Fring brings Skype, VoIP to iPhone
You can now use VoIP and Skype without jailbreaking your iPhone, thanks to Fring, a free mobile Voice-over-IP service, after releasing a brand new app for the Apple’s App Store. This means, basically, you can now make Skype-to-Skype calls on your iPhone.
Skype joint venture in China snags and stores users’ messages
According to a report released on Wednesday (PDF) by Canadian researchers; the Skype joint-venture in China, TOM-Skype, is recording customer text chats and then censoring them if it contains certain keywords related to topics that the Chinese government deemed objectionable.
MI6 agent sells camera on eBay, forgets to delete work records
So, apparently if you work in a intelligence agency – don’t forget to delete the data on the cameras before selling them. A 28-year-old UK man bought a Nikon Coolpix camera for £17 (US$30) on eBay and decided to use it to get some snaps from his US vacation.
eBay’s PayPal only policy makes a comeback – in the US
After failing to convince the Australian regulators, eBay has now said that it will enact its PayPal-only policy to US sellers; after changing its FAQs, under “a more consistent buyer experience to drive more sales”. Starting October 2008, sellers will be forced to use PayPal and you will no longer allowed to use cheques or money orders as a payment method.
TechCrunch : eBay selling StubleUpon
News in Brief: TechCrunch is reporting that eBay is set to sell recommendation StumbleUpon, after acquiring the site over a year ago in May 2007 for $75 million, after quoting a source with knowledge of the sale. They have hired Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for the site, but did not know the asking price for the site.
Skypephone gets redesign – now in black
Jay is going to be happy with this news; the 3 Skypephone has now gotten a redesign, and it looks better than before. Dubbed the Skypephone S2, it now offers HSDPA data, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 50MB of internal memory with a microSD slot and the same old Skype support.
PayPal to reimburse eBayers affected from collapse
After the collapse of local seller on eBay, EBS International, its subsidiary PayPal will reimburse customers that have been left out of pocket by its sudden collapse.
While there would not be a limit on how much you will be entitled to be refunded, there will be a criteria – which still needs to be worked out. It is most likely for those who bought goods from EBS International and did not receive them or haven’t receive their refund.
Reserve Bank not reviewing eBay policy
The Reserve Bank of Australia has said that it has not initiated a formal review on eBay’s move to force sellers to offer PayPal as a payment method, even though there are complaints from a group which claims to be made up of disgruntled sellers.
PayPal rival files complaint against eBay to ACCC
Paymate, a service similar to eBay’s PayPal, has lodged a compliant with the competition regulator alleging that the auction site has breached the Trade Practices Act after eBay amended its user agreement so sellers must include PayPal as one of the payment options for every listing.
eBay pushes ahead with controversial PayPal plan
eBay Australia has not ruled out taking court action to ensure its new payment policy is enforced, even though the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a draft proposal to revoke its immunity from anti-competitive sanctions if it enforces the policy last month.