Thomson EV5203-C dedicated VoIP phone

If Thomson's EV5203-C VoIP phone is the shape of things to come, mainstream telcos are in big trouble. The EV5203-C
is one of the first dedicated VoIP phones from a big manufacturer, and is just the kind of thing needed to turn VoIP into a mass-market service. With built-in Ethernet and an embedded Linux system, the phone is designed to be plugged directly into a home network; you can be up and running on Skype or another provider without even having to boot your PC. The phone can handle two calls at once,
and a home network can handle five units, each of which can connect independently. Too bad Thomson's not selling this directly to consumers; it'll be available only via service providers, which presumably means traditional telcos trying to lock you into their own VoIP services (we assume unlocking this won't be too hard; it's getting out of that service contact that might prove challenging).