Auction site eBay is flooded with listings for Google Nexus One, which went on sale on Jan. 5. While Google sells the phone without a contract for $529, dozens of optimistic eBay sellers are trying to resell the gadget for as much as $1,000.

As of Jan. 14, a number of eBayers were peddling these smartphones for a much more realistic $300 or so, and I've even seen a price as low as $212. There were more than 300 Nexus One devices listed for sale. By comparison, the site offered 1,519 listings of iPhone 3GS devices that were also not tied to a carrier contract. Some of the more reasonably priced Nexus One offerings have garnered more than 10 bids; I'd counted a total of about 100 bids for the phones that were listed today.

The take-away: When the iPhone, for example, came out, it took expense and some effort for people to unlock it prior to selling it via eBay. So the iPhone typically sold for a premium to the retail price for weeks after coming out (with the exception of damaged iPhones). Nexus One discounts -- on new, undamaged phones -- seem to have arrived much more quickly. And it's unlikely resellers will be able to make an extra buck. I wouldn't expect to see an extensive resale market for the Google phone.

The relatively low number of bids may also indicate low interest in the device from shoppers from other countries. Google plans to make the phone available in other countries later in the year. Currently, the smartphone is only available in the U.S., and I suspect most of the people bidding for it on eBay live elsewhere.

Skype has made Miles Flint, former president of Sony Ericsson Mobile, its new chairman, and former Thomson Reuters exec David Gurle the vice president of its business unit. The new placements arrive in time for Skype to begin deploying video calls on HDTVs.
- Skype has named Miles Flint, former president of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, its new chairman, according to reporting from Bloomberg. Flint is an adviser to the private-equity firm Silver Lake, which in September purchased 70 percent of Skype from eBay for approximately $2 billion. ...

Traditional telcos are showing healthy appetite for Web calling start-ups. On Dec. 23, European carrier Telefonica acquired Jajah for $207 million. The acquisition comes on the heels of Google's November acquisition of Gizmo5 and British Telecom's 2008 purchase of Ribbit for $105 million. So, what does this mean for Skype?

The recent slew of deals may offer insight into where the largest Web-calling outfit in the world, Skype, is heading. Earlier this fall, Skype regained its independence from eBay, and is now the largest stand-alone Web-calling provider. While its private equity investors have told me in the past that they are in no hurry to offload Skype, they'll need to exit their investment at some point, either through an Initial Public Offering, or a sale. The Jajah deal indicates that the world's traditional telecom players want in on the Web-calling game. One of these telcos may want to acquire Skype in the future.

By purchasing Skype, a telco would gain the service's 521 million registered users as well as global presence: Anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection can make Skype calls. A U.S. telco may be able to compete with carriers in Europe and Asia. It may also be able to expand its portfolio of services, and to provide them for less. Telefonica, for instance, plans to market Jajah's services under its O2 brand in the countries where Telefonica's carrier O2 sells its services, Jajah CEO Trevor Healy told me this morning. The charges will be added to O2 subscribers' wireless bills.

The new owner may help Jajah expand quicker. The start-up will be able to market its services, under O2 and Jajah brands, to more than 268 million Telefonica customer access lines worldwide. With Jajah in its holster, Telefonica may, in fact, be hoping to build up a major competitor to Skype.

Jajah expects to remain based in Silicon Valley and Israel, and to expand its 100-person staff under the new ownership, says Healy, who will continue to head Jajah as it becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefonica.

That said, Skype's value is in the billions, so not many telcos will be able to afford to take it on. BT and Telefonica are less likely to be in the running now that they have acquired their own Web-calling businesses. Still, there are lots of other service providers out there with deep pockets.

Now that the Obama Administration has named the person who will be charge of national cyber-security issues, the question will now turn to what that person will need to do to ensure that the nation's digital infrastructure is protected.

President Obama today named Howard A. Schmidt, a former chief security officer at Microsoft and a former chief information security officer at eBay to the position of Cybersecurity Coordinator. The position was recommended after a 60-day review of the nation's computer and network security needs.

That review produced a report finding that the nation was "at a crossroads," where digital information permeates national life, but using infrastructure that is inherently vulnerable to disruptive attacks. The report also called for creating "public-private partnerships" intended to bring government agencies and the private sector together in cooperation to share information and resources to fend off attacks before they happen, and coordinate responses when they occur.

That will be Schmidt's job. Computer security industry experts said Schmidt has the unique combination of experience in law enforcement, government administration and private industry to navigate the job. Currently president and CEO of the Information Security Forum, a nonprofit computer security industry organization based in London, he served as vice chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as a special advisor for cyberspace security under President George W. Bush. He's also a former agent with the Federal Bureau of investigation, where he led the Computer Exploitation Team at the National Drug Intelligence Center. He also served in the US Air Force, working in its Office of Special Investigation Computer Forensics Lab.

"Howard knows how Washington works, he has a strong career in the information security arena, and understands firsthand the issues involved," says Richard Forno, principal consultant at KRvW Associates, an information consulting and training firm based in Alexandria, Va.

Forno, who has lectured at the National Defense University on information security, says he's skeptical about the ability of anyone in the new position to carry out the job given. "While I remain cautiously optimistic about the ability of any cybersecurity coordinator to meet their mandate given the historic nature of the position, Howard's appointment certainly gives an opportunity for a well-qualified person to try and make a real difference and bring us one step closer towards a meaningful and more importantly, effective, national cybersecurity posture."

That sentiment was echoed by others in the security field. Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT, and a widely sought expert on information security, has criticized the idea of appointing a "cybersecurity czar." As he wrote on his blog: "Schmidt is good, but I don't know if anyone can do well in a job with lots of responsibility but no actual authority. But maybe Obama will imbue the position with authority -- I don't know." In a Dec. 11 blog post, Scheier criticized the concept of a cybersecurity czar position: "If you're going to appoint a cybersecurity czar, you have to give him actual budgetary authority -- otherwise he won't be able to get anything done."

Ken Silva, CTO at Verisign, the company that operates much of the infrastructure that underpins the Internet, praised Schmidt, saying the White House "Couldn't have picked a better man for the job than Howard."

"Security has to be a top-of-mind issue, both in the private sector and in government, from the board of directors level all the way down to the level of individual contributors," Silva said. "Howard knows the issues, and now he's going to have to go about tackling them."

Schmidt recorded a short video message for the White House Web site after his appointment was announced. I've embedded it below.

More users will access the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years, according to a Dec. 16 report from Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker, one of the analysts who predicted the original Internet boom. "The mobile Internet is ramping faster than desktop Internet did," according to the report.

Smartphones, e-book readers, connected in-car electronics and wireless home appliances like gaming consoles would sell more than 10 billion units by 2020. That's ten times more devices than there are desktop PCs, according to the report.

Here's one interesting observation from the report: Meeker believes that the mobile Internet revolution will produce a new crop of winners, whose ranks won't include today's giants. Microsoft, Cisco and Intel benefited from proliferation of PCs. Desktop Internet computing lead to the birth of Google, eBay and Yahoo. Mobile Internet computing winners are yet to be defined, she writes. "It's notable that, after years in the backwaters of global mobile development, American companies (led by the likes of Apple, Facebook, Amazon.com and Google) are becoming mobile Internet innovation pacesetters," according to the report.

On Nov. 24, Skype's chief operating officer, Scott Durchslag, announced he'll be leaving the Web-calling company. Chances are, this announcement is just the first of many executive changes to come now that new owners have taken charge of Skype.

The new owners include Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom, who likely has his own ideas about how to run the company and who should do the running, believe analysts. Some industry insiders believe Zennstrom would like to get into the driver seat himself. In the past, other Skype investors have told me they are happy with work current CEO Josh Silverman is doing, however.

But as six-year-old Skype tries to make it on its own again, instead of growing as part of the eBay conglomerate, its staff will inevitably change as will its culture. Its execs have long prided themselves on running the Web-calling enterprise as a start-up; now, however, they will have to live that start-up life for real.

You wouldn't think the world would need another place for people to buy and sell used media such as DVDs, books, video games, and CDs. eBay and Amazon.com, along with innumerable smaller e-commerce Web sites, dominate a multibillion-dollar market that obviously provides a satisfactory experience for a great many people.

Glyde, a startup created by former eBay Motors founder and chief Simon Rothman, is betting there's plenty of room left for newcomers that can make the whole buying and selling process much faster and easier. On Nov. 16, the Palo Alto-based company is debuting the site, which it promises will provide single-click purchasing for buyers (after the first one, during which you have to fill in your credit-card and shipping information) and 10-second item listing for sellers.

eBay settles lawsuits with Joltid and Joost in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of investors to acquire the majority of the company. Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who had earlier tried to buy Skype back from eBay, will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. Silver Lake and fellow investors Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will grab 56 percent of Skype, with eBay retaining the remaining 30 percent.
- The future of voice-over-IP service Skype looks bright again for its more than 500 million users. eBay Nov. 6 said it has settled lawsuits with Joltid and Joost in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of in...

For year I've been waiting for the day when I can pay for something with my wireless phone. Technically I guess that day has been here for awhile -- you can certainly buy things like music and ringtones and let the charges roll over to your wireless bill -- but not in a way that I would actually use.

Zong, the mobile payments startup the specializes in selling virtual goods on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace as well as online gaming sites like Gaia Online has today kicked it up a notch, with a service called Zong+.

The idea is to link your cell phone number to a credit or debit card, and then make payments buy giving your phone number. So if you want to buy a cool outfit for your avatar in the virtual world IMVU, you can do it more easily by just using your phone number and instead of seeing the charge on your wireless phone bill, see it on your debit card instead. The point, the company says is to make it easier for consumers to make the purchase.

I talked to Zong founder and CEO David Marcus and he told me that merchants like the new approach because it reduces their transactions fees, which in turn expands the markets that Zong can go after. Also, by making the transactions simple to executive, conversion rates go up: People who are looking at virtual goods, but not buying, tend to buy more readily.

It may sound like small potatoes, but Zong has processed payments for 10 million users. Compare that to the 50 million accounts on eBay's payment service PayPal. Additionally Zong and has relationships with more than 100 wireless carriers around the world.

And virtual goods is no market to disregard. As my colleague Rob Hof reported last year Gaia Online was doing up to $1 million a month in revenues selling virtual clothes and jewelry and accessories for its users' avatars at prices of a few pennies to a $10 apiece.

How's it work? After you link your card to your phone number Zong sends a unique PIN code to your phone via a text message for each transaction. That provides the security. If you try to buy something using someone else's phone number they see a text message with a PIN code that tells them someone is trying to use their account. And surprisingly, adding a phone number alongside a payment card number increases the security because the person trying to pay is offering two forms of authentication instead of one.

Personally I don't buy many virtual goods, and so I don't see myself using Zong yet. But give me chance to use my phone number to buy real-world goods from a merchant like Amazon without having to go through all the contortions of digging out my credit card, entering all the updated information and the little three-digit code on the back, and I just might spend more online generally. And why not make pay-by-phone-number available in traditional retail stores? I could walk into Best Buy, pick out a plasma screen TV, give my phone number and address to a sale associate, and walk out with a delivery appointment. I suspect something like this has got to be part of Zong's long-term plan.

The Google Voice Web calling application and Skype VOIP service are being threatened. The Federal Communications Commission is looking at Google Voice as a potential network neutrality disruption. Meanwhile, courts are looking at whether Skype's intellectual property is being abused by Skype owner eBay, Skype and investors attempting to buy the bulk of Skype. These are tense times indeed for our beloved Web phone applications.
- News Analysis: What is happening to two of our favorite Web phone applications? They're being threatened, but in markedly different ways. First, Google Voice, the Web calling management application. Google Voice gives users a phone number that can forward calls to any other number they want, inclu...

Skype's Skype for SIP software cleared its interoperability certification with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the latest step in the VOIP provider's plan to hedge into the market for business communications. Skype for SIP will help the company expand its revenue streams into enterprise markets, something it has been unable to do under the aegis of parent company eBay to date.
- Skype Sept. 23 said its Skype for SIP software cleared its interoperability certification with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the latest step in the VOIP provider's plan to hedge into the market for business communications. In beta since March, Sky...

Recently, eBay has become more social. In July, the auction giant had begun to allow employees to collect stories from users and to post them on an internal Web site. Eventually, the site may become open to the public, according to eBay's partner, Tokoni, which powers the stories site and announced the collaboration today.

The idea is for eBay to try to replicate Barak Obama kind of success in using social Web to grow its brand and to increase its users' loyalty. Users can write and submit stories about anything: One entry I've seen talks about what it's been like to move to, and fall in love with California. Perhaps people will start coming back to eBay not only to trade goods, but also to get to know other people. That must be eBay's hope, at least.

To date, Tokoni has created similar stories communities for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman’s gubernatorial campaign and for political organization WomenCount.

Bernstein Research's Jeffrey Lindsay says new litigation filed by Joltid against eBay, Skype and its pending investors stems from the Joltid owners' failure to buy back Skype from eBay. Joltid is looking to enjoin Skype from operating in the United States and seeks $75 million-plus per day in damages. Joltid's owners earlier this year tried to buy back Skype but balked at what they believed was too high a price from eBay. Lindsay says the suit is designed to thwart the current eBay sell-off until the Joltid owners get a payout.
- An analyst from Bernstein Research said new litigation filed by Joltid against eBay, Skype and its pending investors stems from the Joltid owners' failure to buy back Skype from eBay. Joltid, the peer-to-peer software company owned by Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zenns...

Four years ago, Swiss venture capital firm Index Ventures became one of the first backers of Skype. Now, just two weeks after Index and a group of private investors agreed to buy 65% of the Internet calling service from eBay, the VC firm has been drawn into a messy legal battle with Skype's founders.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in California court, entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis allege eBay and Skype’s new investors are in violation of copyright law and seek damages that could total more than $75 million for each day they operate Skype. Experts say the suit could delay eBay from closing the $1.9 billion sale – which still awaits regulatory approval – or scare off Skype’s new investors altogether.

Allegations from Zennström and Friis have been a monkey on eBay’s back ever since March, when the pair’s company Joltid filed a lawsuit that would prevent eBay from using the core technology that makes the Internet calling service work, and which eBay had been licensing from Joltid since purchasing Skype in 2005. That lawsuit is scheduled for trial next year in a British court. “The first suit said ‘every time somebody downloads the Skype program, you are stepping on our intellectual property.’ Now they are saying ‘we’re going to charge you for it,’” says Randy Katz, partner of law firm Baker Hostetler, which is not affiliated with any of the plaintiffs or defendants.

Earlier this year, eBay disclosed in a 10-Q regulatory filing that it was in the process of building a replacement to the to peer-to-peer technology it licenses from Joltid, a sign it may be prepared to lose the court battle. No further details about the status of that project have emerged, and it’s unclear what eBay and Skype’s buyers would be left with if the substitute doesn’t come to fruition and Zennström and Friis prevail.

The legal uncertainty surrounding Skype was enough to cause eBay to stipulate in the sale agreement that it will be responsible for half of any fees that result from the court battle, even after Skype officially changes hands. “They sold 65% of the company and retained half of the liability,” says Todd Wade, partner of St. Louis-based law firm Bryan Cave.

But if damages end up being $75 million per day, eBay’s promise to foot half the bill may offer little solace to Index Ventures and co-investors Silver Lake Partners, Andreessen & Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. EBay’s SEC filing on the deal says the consortium can back out at any time for a fee of $300 million.