Om Malik has a posting on Skype's new took for Outlook, a toolbar that lets you use Skype directly from Outlook. Skype users will like the fact it appears easy to connect Skype IDs with Oulook contacts. You have to admire Skype's chutzpah for essentially tweaking its nose at Microsoft. The new tool should encourage people, who rely on Outlook and intrigued by VOIP, to at least give Skype a test-run. The newest Skype product is also a nice strategic counter-move to the buzz created by Michael Robertson's Gizmo application, which is taking direct aim at Skype. In light of Skype move on Outlook, you wonder how much longer it will be before Microsoft unveils its own VOIP application or IM add-on.

FatPort, which bills itself as Canada's largest Wi-Fi provider (a dubious claim given there are few rivals) is now selling pre-paid cards through retailers such as Best Buy, Future Shop, London Drugs and Wireless Wave. The cards can be used at more than 300 FatPort hotspots. While FatPort gets credit for trying something new, its long-term prospects are, at best, modest given Telus Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility have joined forces to push Wi-Fi service through a common branding campaign and expansion into 500 HotSpots. At the end of the day, I believe Wi-Fi will thrive as a low-price option offered by wireless service providers. Sure, there may be room for FatPort or a Boingo but they are likely destined to be marginal players.