AOL is set to offer its instant-messaging users a free phone number to use for incoming calls, and for a fee, the ability to call regular phones from the software. The move brings AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, closer in functionality to voice-oriented applications like eBay Inc.'s Skype and so-called voice over Internet services from Vonage Holdings Corp. and others. Skype last week reached 100 million registered users. AOL has 80 million registered users of AIM and ICQ, a similar program

In a move to help recover sagging revenues, AOL is stepping into new territory. The company told internetnews.com that, for the first time, it has struck a deal with a wireless carrier to roll out a broadband service in the hopes of holding onto its dial-up customers as they migrate to broadband. Modesto, Calif.-based Clearwire is the latest partner in a broadband initiative that AOL announced earlier this year that already includes Bell South, Verizon and Time Warner Cable

Anti-spyware activist Bed Edelman is leading a new round of charges that search and portal player Yahoo deployed clickfraud with the help of spyware in its dealings with Web advertising clients. The portal giant has been slapped with a class action lawsuit spearheaded by Edelman and a mom and pop Web site called Crafts by Veronica

Some 694 million people worldwide over age 15 are now using the Internet, about 14 percent of the total population in this age group, according to a survey released Thursday. The report by research firm comScore Networks claims to be "the first true estimate of global online audience size and behavior" using consistent methodology. The estimate was based on a survey of major markets including China and India

Microsoft Corp. introduced its Internet auction for advertising Thursday in a bid to compete with California's Google Inc. Known as adCenter, it lets advertisers bid against each other online to have their ads displayed alongside search results. Whenever an Internet user searches for specific keywords, like "digital camera," the system displays a related ad for, say, a camera retailer

QUALCOMM Incorporated and Microsoft Corp. today jointly announced a collaboration to enable the porting of the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system to QUALCOMM’s Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets. The companies’ collaboration will enable device manufacturers to develop affordable, feature-rich and attractive Windows Mobile-powered phones with MSM chipsets while shortening their product development times

The music industry, which has sued Internet users for downloading songs illegally, is shifting its focus to pirates in 12 cities who copy CDs and DVDs for sale at street corners, flea markets, family-run shops and even mainstream record stores. Executives identified the cities as Miami; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles, New York; Philadelphia; Providence, R.I.; San Diego; and San Francisco

Two years after conceding his company erred in failing to develop its own search engine, Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer boasted Thursday of progress in fighting industry leaders Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Microsoft has, in a relatively short time, advanced in two key areas by creating its own search engine and online advertising platform. But the software maker still has plenty of work to do - and Ballmer admits that he'd have preferred to have gotten started sooner

World's leader in VoIP Internet communication services, Skype announced that the company has released a beta version of Skype 2.5, the newest edition of its software that allows anyone with an Internet connection to make free worldwide voice and video calls, introducing a series of new and enhanced features

According to Sophos, Sergey Kazachkov, a Russian science university student from Voronezh, was found guilty of making available thousands of pieces of malware via two virus exchange websites. He was also said to have created and spread his own malicious software. "Kazachkov was playing a dangerous game by running a website which helped spread viruses designed to cause harm to the data of innocent computer users," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos