Tech Briefs

Next call for Net phoning: Regulation
As phone calling over the Internet takes off around the world and as the services become richer and more complex, regulators are beginning to give it a harder look.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/25/business/netphone.php


When outsourcing loses human element
Tata Consultancy Services, the largest software and information technology services company in India, is pursuing an experiment in automating the activities of many of its employees.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/business/tata.php


Egyptian investor gains control of Wind
The Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris agreed to pay 3 billion euros to take control of Wind, one of Italy's leading phone companies.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/business/enel.php


A quiet new tech boom emphasizes substance over dreams
Jim Breyer, one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capitalists, was so taken with thefacebook.com, the website of a 21-year-old student, that his firm, Accel Partners, was set to announce a $13 million investment in the start-up Thursday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/business/facebook.php


In music, laptops are 'new garage'
Music recording is being downsized and democratized by an array of computerized digital sound loops and simulated instruments, as well as by the means to record them on a laptop.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/yourmoney/music.php