As Bill Gates buys Skype for ￡5bn... Is it just hype, or does it mean the end of phone bills?

When transatlantic telephone calls first became available in the Twenties, a three-minute call from London to New York cost close to £10 — almost a month's wages for the average working man.
Today, the same call can be made for nothing. You can stay on the line for a week if you like.
And not only will the sound quality be as good as if the other party was sitting right next to you, but you will be able to see across the ocean as well, in full-colour video — for no cost beyond a penny or two in electricity.
Such endless, free global communication has become possible because of Skype, the oddly-named computer service which software giant Microsoft bought this week for more than £5billion.
Launched in 2003, this free and simple-to-use computer programme turns any broadband-connected computer into a phone for both speech and video calls to hundreds of millions of other Skype users.
It works because even basic broadband internet connections can carry a vast amount of information ('data') and a Skype call (technically known as VOIP — Voice Over Internet Protocol) piggy-backs on broadband.
You must download Skype (free, of course) from www.skype.com to the computer. You then choose a Skype name for yourself — your name or nickname, or a number if you prefer — and you're a Skype user.
Not a penny need change hands. And you're ready to go — simply type in a normal phone number or another Skype user's name and the computer will dial for you. The microphones on your computer should pick up your voice, and the person you're chatting to can be heard through its speakers.
And there is no catch whatsoever; no secret charges; no intrusive advertising; no nasty surprise when you pay your monthly broadband bill.
You can even dial normal phones and mobiles worldwide from Skype — not for free, but for a tiny charge compared with normal phone charges. I pay just under £50 a year for unlimited calls from my laptop to any UK number, from anywhere in the world.
Under new ownership: Skype is known for its simplicity - but will this be ruined as Gates tries to turn it into a profit-making service?
When travelling, which I do a lot, I used to spend £50 a day or more on rip-off hotel phone charges. Today, those calls from hotels cost nothing, as many hotels don't even charge for broadband any more, especially in the Far East, where it is normally included in room charges.
There are now other versions of Skype, like Apple's high definition FaceTime. But, just as the Hoover brand name is synonymous with vacuuming, Skype-ing has become the catch-all word for VOIP calling.
The only complaint anyone has about Skype is that the calls sometimes 'drop out' — jargon for being cut off — and you need to interrupt a conversation to redial. But since you're paying nothing, you can hardly demand your money back.

How to use Google Music Beta for Android

Google Music Beta launched, allowing you to upload your entire music library to the cloud. For now, the service is free, and songs you upload can be accessed on any computer or Android device (actually,it's iOS-compatible, too).
Invitations will roll out over the next few weeks, but the Android app is available for download immediately. Here's how to use it:

Use Google Music for Android
Request a Google Music account. You don't need one to use the Android app, but go to music.google.com/music/ and request an invite so you can upload your music library on to Google's servers for mobile access. You'll be able to populate your library through Google's desktop app, Music Manager.
Get the app. Download the Music app from the Android Market. Once installed, select the Google account you'd like to associate with the app--it should be the same one you used to request an invite. The app will pull songs from your internal storage and any music you've uploaded to your Music Beta account (requires an invite).
Play music. Tap a song to play it, or hit the arrow to the right of any song and select Play. Shuffle and repeat options can be found in the "now playing" screen, while skipping, playing, and pausing are always available in the bottom bar.
Make an Instant Mix. Tap the arrow to the right of any song and select "Make an Instant Mix." Google will automatically create a playlist with similar songs in your library.
Create a playlist. Select the arrow next to a song, artist, or album and select "Add to Playlist." You can add the music to an existing playlist, or create a new one.
Listen when you're offline. In the Artists, Albums, or Playlists tab, press the Android menu button (on your phone) and select "Make available offline." Tap the pushpins next to the items you want to listen to when you're not connected to Wi-Fi or your cellular network. Hit "Done," and the music will be cached onto your phone. You can deselect the pushpins later to remove the songs from your device.
Tip: To monitor the progress of your downloads, go to Settings > Download Queue. The number of songs you can download for offline listening is based on your device storage capacity.

Oil Rises to One-Week High as U.S. Floods Counter China Concerns

Oil climbed tothe highest in a week in New York as speculation flooding on the Mississippi River will disrupt U.S. fuel supplies countered concern demand may falter in China, the world's second-largest crude consumer.

Futures rose as much as 0.7 percent as the flood moved south from Memphis, threatening refineries and shipping traffic, and after a report showed U.S. gasoline inventories fell to the lowest since September 2009. Prices earlier fell as much as 0.5 percent after China's inflation exceeded the government's target, stoking speculation the central bank will raise interest rates to cool the economy.

"The market has been rallying the past two days and now may be in a consolidation phase so with the China data coming out that sparked a sell-off," said Serene Lim, an energy and commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. "The markets remain very jittery and traders will err on the side of caution."

Crude for June delivery gained as much as 72 cents to $104.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $104.03 at 3:09 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose 1.3 percent to $103.88, the highest since May 4. Prices are up 37 percent in the past year.

Brent crude for June settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange increased as much as 80 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $118.43 a barrel. Yesterday, it gained 1.5 percent to $117.63, the highest settlement since May 4.

China Inflation

China's consumer prices climbed 5.3 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau in Beijing. That's higher than the government's 4 percent full-year target and above the 5.2 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

The country's central bank will increase interest rates once more this year, adding to four since mid-October, another Bloomberg News survey showed. Officials have boosted banks' reserve requirements and reined in credit growth from record levels in 2009 and 2010.

U.S. gasoline futures climbed 3.1 percent yesterday as flooding on the Mississippi River threatened refineries and shipping. A total of 11 plants, accounting for 13 percent of U.S. fuel output, are located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, according to Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.

The river is holding just below 48 feet (14.6 meters) in Memphis, Tennessee. Three million acres, an area almost the size of Connecticut, may go under water as the flooding moves south, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said at a press conference in Baton Rouge, the state capital.

Morganza Spillway

Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. refiner, reduced operations at its Memphis plant to between 80 percent and 85 percent of capacity because of flooding, according to people familiar with operations. The plant has a capacity of 195,000 barrels a day.

To relieve the threat to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Army Corps of Engineers may open the Morganza Spillway. Opening the spillway halfway would inundate a swath of central Louisiana along the Atchafalaya River with 5 feet to 20 feet of water.

That would affect two refineries, according to Jindal's office. One plant on the river may have capacity cut to 75 percent for two weeks, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources yesterday. Anna Dearmon, the DNR's communications director, said she couldn't release the names of the refineries because of security reasons.

Alon USA Energy Inc.'s Krotz Springs plant will be affected if the spillway is opened, Lisa Vidrine, director of the St. Landry Parish office of emergency preparedness, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Refinery officials said May 9 that they were doing engineering work on the possible building of a levee to protect the refinery, according to Vidrine.

Gasoline Stockpiles

The 104,532 metric-ton tanker Zaliv Baikal was prevented from delivering crude to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Baton Rouge refinery because of concern the ship wouldn't fit under the Interstate 10 bridge spanning the Mississippi River.

U.S. gasoline stockpiles probably fell 750,000 barrels in the week ended May 6, according to the median estimate of 17 analysts polled by Bloomberg News before an Energy Department report today. Supplies have fallen 11 weeks, the longest stretch of decline since April 2007. Yesterday, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said inventories shrank 1.8 million barrels to 209.5 million. Supply disruptions after May 6 won't be reflected in today's report.

The peak gasoline demand period starts after the Memorial Day holiday in late May and ends on Labor Day in early September. The holidays fall on May 30 and Sept. 5 this year.

U.S. crude stockpiles climbed 2.95 million barrels last week to 367.2 million, the API said. The Energy Department's report may show supplies rose 1.5 million barrels, based on the Bloomberg News survey.

July $115 Call

The most-active oil option was the July $115 call, which gives investors the right to buy crude for July delivery at $115 a barrel. The contract rose 15 percent to $1.44 after more than doubling on May 9. Oil presents a "short-term buying opportunity" because of constraints to supply and growing demand, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Brent, the European and African benchmark, has rallied 25 percent this year as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, disrupting exports from Libya.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets intensified strikes on the Libyan capital of Tripoli, including what the alliance identified as "command-and-control" bunkers from which Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is carrying out a campaign against rebels.

Brent traded at a premium of $13.97 a barrel to U.S. futures, the highest since April 18. The difference between front-month contracts in London and New York surged to a record $19.54 on Feb. 21. It averaged 76 cents last year.