Watch up 1 - Skype

Skype is a way to make high-quality voice calls over the Internet for free. There are already lots of ways to do voice conversations over the Net — the ubiquitous AOL Instant Messenger even does that. The key for Skype, though, is the quality, which on a good broadband connection can sound like a CD of the incoming caller's voice.

Some industry watchers think Skype or something like it could eviscerate all the world's phone companies.