May 7 - 11:05am EDT   BT on Wednesday formally rolled out Total Broadband Anywhere, its own approach to merging Internet and phone service. The plan gives users both an 8Mbps DSL connection from the British carrier but also two phone offerings that promise to avoid the need for traditional cellphone or landline service. A home router known as the BT Home Hub provides the basic connection and creates a Wi-Fi connection in addition to including a cordless voice-over-Internet phone for making calls when at home; the feature allows much less expensive calling, particularly over long distances. [full story]

November 28 - 9:15am EST   Verizon today launched sales of the XV6800, its long-delayed version of the HTC smartphone. Sharing the same platform as the Bell 6800 or the Sprint Mogul, the device is the spiritual successor to the PPC6700 and runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional with Office Mobile for handling work on the road. It also brings an upgraded 2-megapixel camera with flash and 802.11g Wi-Fi to back its EVDO connection, although unlike either Bell or Sprint the company makes no mention of an expected upgrade to the faster EVDO Revision A standard. [full story]