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This week, Network World's John Fontana broke the news that Google has reserved 1 million phone numbers with Level 3 in anticipation of the upcoming launch of Google Voice.

"Sources could not say when the 1 million numbers may be assigned," Fontana notes. "Level 3 has been supplying Google with phone numbers since the introduction of Google Voice, so the 1 million numbers are an indication Google is close to adding a significant amount of users... Google Voice has a number of unique features including call transfer between a user's devices, multi-party conferencing, conversion of voice calls to text messages, cut-rate international calling, and call transcription."

"The primary sell with Google Voice allows a user to have one phone number people can dial to reach them regardless of where they are located, whether at home or mobile," notes Voxilla's Lonnie Lazar. "Google Voice uses VoIP to link users' collections of phone numbers. Other recent reports have indicated Google might be enabling number portability, which would allow users to keep an existing phone number as their Google Voice number."

CTI Group this week announced a partnership with CommPartners Connect to bring CTI's SmartRecord IP hosted VoIP call recording solution to the small and medium sized business markets.

"By partnering with industry leaders like CommPartners Connect, we believe we are providing our solution, SmartRecord IP, with the very best backbone possible to reach the VoIP market," says CTI Group chief technology officer Sid Rao. "Our hope is to make the solutions that have previously only been available to the biggest companies available to every company."

"SmartRecord IP is a hosted voice over IP call recording application," explains eWeek's Nathan Eddy. "With its white-labeled and multitenant architecture offering geographic redundancy and infinite scalability, the solution offers network operators, such as CommPartners Connect, the ability to offer call recording directly from the switch, rather than as an afterthought. SmartRecord IP also makes all recordings available on the Internet through the use of a user-friendly point-and-click Web interface."

More here from TMCnet ... and the press release is here.

According to GigaOM's Jennifer Martinez, Skype unfortunately has no plans (for now, at least) to jump on the Palm Pre bandwagon.

"When Skype launched its mobile app on the iTunes App store in March, it quickly rose to the top of the charts, indicating that people had been thirsting for a mobile version of the Internet phone service... So when Palm released its much-awaited Pre device, we wondered if a Skype app would soon find its way into Palm's app store, too, especially since the addition of a Skype app would make the Pre more attractive in an already crowded smartphone space," Martinez writes. "But according to a Skype spokesman, the company doesn't have any plans to develop a Skype app for the Palm Pre."

"Skype has lofty goals, but they're just not willing to commit to the Pre before they know whether or not it's going to be a successful platform," writes I4U News' Robert Evans. "Palm's new smartphone has seen fairly impressive sales so far, but it's doubtful their success will continue once the iPhone 3GS hits stores next week. If the Pre is still doing well in a month or two, we might see Skype start giving them a little more consideration..."

More here from FierceVoIP ... and more here from Skype Journal.

VoIP provider sipgate launched in the U.S. this week, with the intention of competing directly with landline telephone services - and with Skype.

"Sipgate, which has operated a successful VoIP business in Europe since 2004, launched a new free VoIP calling play in the U.S. that aims to disrupt the landline telephony business," writes FierceVoIP's Pete Wylie. "The service, called sipgate one, assigns users a free telephone number that allows them to receive calls from VoIP phones or softphones for free."

The service boasts a number of attractive features, including the following:

- Need to write down a number while driving? Record any phone conversation by pressing *6

- Want to customize your voicemail? Upload an mp3

- Want your calls to follow you? Have your home, office and mobile phone ring in parallel

- Left your mobile phone at home? Simply go online and divert calls to your office line

- Want to talk to friends in an ad-hoc conference? Bridge them with the touch of a button

- Missed calls while on a flight? A list is waiting for you in your email

"There is simply no barrier to people disconnecting their old phone lines anymore," says company CEO Thilo Salmon. "Phone and cable companies have long been pushing voice plans in the region of $25 to $40 per month - which end up being as much as $60 or more with extra charges - and that's just ridiculous. Even with calls to other landlines and mobile phones, most users will spend less than $5 a month using sipgate one. And for those people only receiving incoming calls on their VoIP phone, the service is completely free."

More here from PHONE+ ... more here from VoIP News ... more here from TMCnet ... and the press release is here.

I published an article today at VoIP Planet looking at BroadSoft and Acme Packet's recent announcement of a series of enhancements to their joint SIP trunking solution for large enterprise customers, which integrates BroadSoft's BroadWorks VoIP application platform with Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controller to deliver advanced IP communications services.

"The lack of SIP trunking solutions specifically designed for large enterprises has been a limiting factor in adoption and market growth," says BroadSoft CEO Michael Tessler. "With the BroadSoft/Acme Packet solution, service providers can ensure business continuity for their customers, as well as provide a host of revenue-generating services as an 'overlay' to their connectivity offering."

The relationship between BroadSoft and Acme Packet, which dates back to 2001, has led to an offering that now supports products from more than 40 different IP PBX vendors. "It's really about taking whatever services you have today as an enterprise with your IP PBX or PBX and building on top of that through our joint solution, so you're never behind from a technology standpoint," says Leslie Ferry, BroadSoft's vice president of marketing.

The full article is here.

Oprah dedicated her show today to singing the praises of Skype.

"On the show, titled 'Where the Skype Are You?,' Winfrey conducts video chats - via Skype - with people in weird places," writes the WSJ's Geoffrey A. Fowler. "Those places include a Canadian town near the North Pole, and from a submarine. She also talks to somebody flying in a Virgin America plane that offers Wi-Fi service - although Virgin warns they don't allow us normal people to use Skype and other voiceover ip services to make calls while in the air (so that folks don't annoy other passengers with noisy calls)."

"Winfrey has a solid track record of endorsing not just books, but technology products as well," writes DailyFinance's Anthony Massucci. "She
named Research in Motion's BlackBerry as one of her 'favorite things' in 2003 and did a show on YouTube in 2007."

"I don't think Skype will get the boost that Kindle did from its Oprah debut, as the technology is much more established," writes Technologizer's Ed Oswald. "However, it certainly won't hurt either..."

More here from AHN ... more here from the LA Times ... and more here from CNN.

Star Trek fans can now purchase a $43 replica Communicator (also available here and here) that can actually be used to place VoIP calls... as long as you're willing to stay connected to your PC via a USB cable.

"It's basically a glorified speakerphone with 21 built-in sound effects and lines that may or may not have been legally licensed," writes CrunchGear's Doug Aamoth. "It plugs into your computer via a six-foot USB cable, making it exponentially less portable than the communication devices that Kirk and Spock used back in the day."

"The built-in microphone and speaker connect to your computer via USB — they apparently haven't heard of Wi-Fi — and you'll be able access Skype, AIM, and iChat," according to Jaunted. "Just plug in the retrodork dohicky, flip it open, and you are living your dream of mimicking Captain Kirk. Too bad you'll have to be tethered to your laptop to use it..."

More here from Coolest Gadgets ... more here from Crave ... more here from The Inquisitr ... more here from Stuff ... and more here from I4U News.

Truphone this week released Truphone 3.0, a significant upgrade to the company's free mobile VoIP app for the iPhone.

"Truphone leverages Wi-Fi networks to provide free voice calls - worldwide - to other Truphone users and to your Google Talk and Skype contacts," writes CNET's Rick Broida. "In other words, if you're in range of a hotspot, you can gab all you want without spending a penny."

"The latest version of Truphone allows for VoIP calls to be made on 3G networks as well as over Wi-Fi," writes VoIP News' David Masters. "Other updates for the free-to-download app include improved call quality, single screen instant messaging, and interface improvements. IM communities - including Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger, and Skype - can now all be managed from a single screen interface. Presence icons let you see which of your friends are online at any given time. Call rates can now be seen before numbers are dialled, call history is available, and credit top ups can be purchased from within the app."

More here from IntoMobile ... more here from FierceVoIP ... more here from Voxilla ... and the press release is here.

Over at VoIP Planet, I published an article today looking at Global IP Solutions' new white paper entitled How to Select the Best Codec for HD Voice. The white paper examines the strengths of the company's iSAC codec in comparison with other wideband codecs, and discusses the importance of subjective listening tests in evaluating audio quality.

"HD voice improves the overall experience, quality and intelligibility of communication," says Joyce Kim, Global IP Solutions' chief marketing officer. "The end-user experience is the most important part of communication. Fricative sounds are easier to distinguish and different accents have clarity, which further enhances the life-like communication experience. As innovation pioneers in audio processing for more than 10 years, we see an industry eager to learn more about the potential and tangible economic benefits that HD voice offers."

The white paper is available for download here ... and the press release is here.

Reuters' Sinead Carew reports this week that the Verizon Hub is getting an app store.

"The Verizon Hub, a new kind of home phone with some Web add-ons like weather and traffic reports, will soon come with an applications market, following a trend among cellphone makers such as Apple to open up to third-party apps," Carew writes.

"For now, every widget will come from Verizon, like a Flickr screensaver app or a pretty swell Rhapsody app that lets you stream music," writes Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan. "But! The Hub is built on Linux and will eventually be opened up for anybody to develop for, which is obviously when it'll be able to reach its full potential..."

"The idea seems to be about moving the Hub more towards a role as another connected device for a kitchen or living room, and less about trying to sell it as a fancy phone, and that's definitely a step in the right direction," notes Engadget's Joshua Topolsky.

More here from MobileBurn ... more here from DailyTech ... and more here from the WSJ.