Skype has been heavily criticized after it was discovered that communications of Skype users in China were being monitored by the Communist Chinese government.

In China, Tom Online is the majority partner in a joint venture that brings Internet communications to Chinese citizens. The software developed and distributed by Tom utilizes Skype functionality, and Tom implements their protocols to meet the rules and regulation of China government authorities.

The idea that the Chinese [government] might be monitoring communications in and out of the country shouldn’t surprise anyone, and in fact, it happens regularly with most forms of communication such as emails, traditional phone calls, and chats between people within China and between people communicating to people in China from other countries.

Nevertheless, we were very concerned to hear about the apparent security issue which made it possible for people to view chat information among mainly Tom users, and we are pleased that, once we informed Tom about it, that they were able to fix the flaw.

Skype updated their initial statement from the above to the one below:

In 2006, Skype publicly disclosed that Tom operated a text filter that blocked certain words on chat messages but that it did not compromise Tom customers’ privacy. Last night, we learned that this practice was changed without our knowledge or consent and we are extremely concerned. We deeply apologize for the breach of privacy on Tom’s servers in China and we are urgently addressing this situation with Tom.

We confirm our strong belief that Skype to Skype communications, enabled by our peer to peer architecture and strong encryption, remain the most secure form of publicly available communications today.

The same listening to Skype communication can be accomplished anywhere. What is needed is an independent software encryption that can be used over Skype for truly secure communication.

At 9 Inches, 2 pounds, 5 hours of battery life, the Cloudbook comes with Surf, email, blog, IM, Skype, compute. The Everex / Packard Bell / FIC Nanobook / Cloudbook / CE260 will be selling at (of all places) Wal-Mart as of January 25th.

With 1.2GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, and a 800 x 480 display — and all for $399.

Installed software includes: Mozilla Firefox, gMail, Meebo, Skype, Wikipedia, GIMP, Blogger, YouTube, Xing Movie Player, RythemBox, Faqly, Facebook and OpenOffice.org 2.3 (includes WRITER, IMPRESS, DRAW, CALC, BASE).

3 Mobile and Skype have teamed up with their 3 SkypePhone, a new phone that allows people to use Skype just like they would on their home computer, but now they will not be ties to that computer. Just login to Skype on your phone and do your thing.

Looking more like a remote control device, Motorola has unveiled its landline phones named MOTOLIVN. With location-free bases, these can be placed anywhere you have an electrical outlet.

The MOTOLIVN features:

* Location-free base enabling maximum flexibility in positioning the phone
* Special eco-mode operation
* The ability to store a minimum of one hundred phone numbers
* High-quality speakerphone for hands-free conversations
* Ten different polyphonic ringer melodies
* A multi-language setting
* Up to ten hours of talk time
* One hundred hours of standby time
* The D8 range features enhanced phonebook capacity, a SIM card reader to allow users to transfer contacts, headset socket, and high-definition sound, providing natural, high quality audio
* The D8 Skype product offers easy access to Skype services including buddy lists, SMS and Skype chat (IM)
* The D7 MOTOLIVN range, available in silver, features a blue backlit two-line mono display
* The D8 MOTOLIVN range, available in black/silver and also white/black offers consumers a 3.6cm full-color display

The D7 starts at €49.99 ($70), the D8 will be €69.99 ($97).

Nokia just released an update to their Internet Tablet OS 2007 Edition which brings Skype client support, Flash 9 browser support, 8GB memory card support, and longer battery performance when surfing bits over wireless.