Vonage Announces V-Phone

Vonage is about to stick it to the phone industry. The Washington Post says that Vonage has announced the V-Phone, which puts the power of Internet telephony on a USB stick.

Just plug the unit into any PC's USB port and start dialing. It works on any PC, as long as it's running include Microsoft 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 or Windows XP; it even works wherever Wi-Fi hotspots are found. Mac and Linux users are out of luck -- at least for now.

As an added convenience, the V-Phone can also track call history and contact information, and comes with an easy-to-transport 2.5mm stereo earpiece microphone. -- Rachel Cericola

• $39.99 (plus $9 activation fee)
• 256MB flash drive with Vonage software preloaded
• Software will automatically update via the Web
• Includes 2.5mm stereo earpiece microphone
• Vonage plans range from $14.99 to $34.99