Count Almaviva in Barber of Seville, Apr 2007

When I’m in my home office I’m often tuned to Toronto’s Classic 96.3 FM which has become a classical radio station success story in southern Ontario. About six weeks ago on a Friday afternoon I picked up the last half of Alexa Petrenko’s interview with opera tenor Lawrence Brownlee who, at the time, was performing the role of Don Ramiro in Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola (Cinderella) with the Canadian Opera Company at Toronto’s relatively new Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Lawrence is the true embellishment of a Skype addict; you’ll see why when you watch the interview. Most interesting is his statement “Skype – it’s an invention that is kind of like the wheel. How did people ever do without it?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uum6CWyEqPw

These are the stories that demonstrate the true impact of Skype and its ability to build and reinforce relationships.  Sounds like Larry and his wife spend a lot of time with a Skype video connection, even if they’re not talking. And it would certainly help to relieve the tedium of long term hotel stays.

Larry’s voice will test the dynamic range of any PC, smartphone or tablet speakers. In fact, only Skype’s SILK technology would come close to transmitting the true quality of his voice were he to be singing over a Skype call. To get a sampling of Larry’s tenor voice here’s one of his previous performances in the same role:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdz6yVm2IJs

Acknowledgements:

• Background music: With Corrado Rovaris, conducting Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Tucker Gala – Avery Fisher Hall, NYC, October  26, 2008 (from multimedia page on Larry’s website).
• Photograph: Lawrence Brownlee in his Metropolitan Opera debut as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini’s Barber of Seville) on April 26, 2007. Photo by opera photographer Ken Howard.
• And a special word of thanks to Larry’s publicist, Karen Kriendler Nelson, who has been most supportive in arranging the interview and follow-up.

Ever wonder if Skype could replace your home phone line? Borderless Communicator publisher and independent Skype “statistician” Hudson Barton has outlined, with encouragement by Skype Journal‘s Phil Wolff, the complete details of how he has deployed Skype to become his home phone.

If you are considering this option here are some of the considerations:

• Skype Online should be offering numbers in your local calling area.
• Create a separate Skype account solely for the home phone configuration
  • There are no Contacts associated with the account (optionally you can create a separate set of contacts)
  • All inbound calls are concurrently forwarded to their two  iPhones (leaving one more PSTN call forwarding number available)
  • They still use their original Skype accounts for making and receiving Skype calls with their Skype Contacts

• Hudson and his wife answer ALL calls on their respective iPhones using the carrier’s voice channel
  • not on Skype for iPhone
• They also subscribed to a North American unlimited US and Canada Skype Calling Plan
  • $60 per year (vs $360 for a Time Warner home phone line)
  • Results in a 50% discount on the cost of their Skype Online number (net $30 per year)
  • Required since all inbound calls are forwarded to their iPhones on the PSTN
  • Provides outbound calling options (see below)
• Hudson has outlined the issues with respect to outbound calling.
  • Where a SkypeOut call would be the lowest cost, he uses Skype for iPhone logged into the same “home phone” Skype account.
  • However, due to battery issues he closes Skype for iPhone when not making Outbound calls. (recall that they answer inbound calls on their wireless carrier’s voice channel).
  • For outbound calls he can optionally set either his Skype Online number or a mobile number as the callerID for SkypeOut calls.
• There is no 911 service for the Skype Online number; however, it is provided by their iPhone carrier.
• Voice mails are left on the iPhones’ carrier accounts for ready access, not Skype voice mail.

With Hudson’s implementation, the Skype client is never open except when required on the iPhone for SkypeOut calls; Skype’s infrastructure works in the background to forward calls. No PC is required once the account is set up and call forwarding configured. Other than the mobile phones, no PC hardware is required for the ongoing use of the service.

Over the years I have experienced a couple of other situations where, while it may not be their only home phone service, users have taken advantage of Skype.

Use a PC-free Skype-enhanced phone. While there were once several offerings for this, the current offerings are the RTX Dualphone 3088 (cordless, landline and Skype) which can combine a landline service and Skype into one platform and the FREETALK Office Phone (Ethernet, Skype only) . Since the Dualphone works via a DECT-supported base station, you can have as many as four handsets around the home. Once again:

• create a separate Skype account for your “home phone” service
• ensure that you can obtain a Skype Online number that is toll-free to most of your callers
  • low cost unlimited calling US/Canada landline subscriptions are very common
• you have configured call forwarding options to send unanswered calls to a mobile phone
• obtain a Skype subscription appropriate to where you expect to place outbound calls
• 911 calls can be made via the landline or the user’s mobile phone.

In one instance the user is moving amongst several countries over a few months and they simply take their Dualphone with them and obtain a local landline service if needed.

My own home phone is a Dualphone equivalent; but our landline uses the Rogers Home Phone service where the plan includes 1,000 minutes of US/Canada calling and free calls to other Rogers Home Phone customers as well as any Rogers wireless phone in Canada. But a similar Skype configuration is not feasible in Canada as Skype Online numbers are not offered for Canada.

Bottom line: Yes, with the appropriate services available in your local calling area, you can replace your home phone with a Skype service. However, understand you will need a smartphone for 911 calling and you need to ensure your iPhone is kept charged to be able to receive calls.

Other posts:

• RTX Dualphone 3088: The Bloggers’ Have Their Say
• RTX 3088 Dualphone: An Ideal Home or Small Office Solution for Easy Worldwide Calling

Related articles

• Skype hits 145 million users monthly (voiceontheweb.biz)

Note: While eBuyNow (formerly In Store Solutions and producer of the FREETALK Office Phone) was a client of the author’s, this is no longer the case. The author currently has no interest in any product sales resulting from links within this post. He has been using the no longer available Phillips dual mode cordless phone for his Rogers Home Phone service.

This morning Skype released, for public feedback, Skype for Mac 5 Beta 1 with a range of new features and modifications of the legacy user interface. My first experiences with it over the past couple of days generate some interesting questions (that I’m sure many developers face when developing applications for both Windows and the Mac). Keep in mind that this is a beta and Skype is looking for user feedback; I’ve already reported a couple of minor bugs encountered in my normal use of the application.

First, what’s new? Many features from Skype for Windows 5 and then some:

Bringing it up to Skype for Windows 5 features:

• Multi-party video (beta with the 28 day free trial; no mention of charges)
  • Dan York: Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac OS X: A First Look at Group Video
  • Speaking caller’s name turns green (instead of a blue halo)
• Offline IM: so you can send and receive chat messages while the other party is offline
• Improved experience with network-compromised calls
• Recovery of dropped calls (A most useful feature in Skype for Windows 5)
• Scroll up the bottom of a conversation window to expose the chat window for the conversation
• Join an ongoing conference call
• Add phone numbers to a Contact’s Skype profile (been very handy in Skype for Windows 5)
• Integration with the native Mac Address Book (vs the native Outlook Address Book)

And here’s what’s different:

• A significantly different User Interface (which is supposed to be more Mac-like)
• A Call Control Bar that stays above any documents or other application window that you have open
• Maintain a set of Favorites in the Contact Sidebar for frequent Contacts
• Contact Profile also contains all recent conversations with the Contact
• A Contact Monitor that lets you see a list of Online Contacts (upper left corner of the above image)

Dan York has a second post that covers much of the above: Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac OS X: A First Look with Screenshots.

And here’s what’s missing:

• Call Status Bar from Skype for Mac 5 Beta 1

• Call Status Bar from Skype for Windows 5.0:

• I would really like to see the DialPad, Screen Share and Add to Call, as well as the Call Quality Information icons included in the one primary Call Status Bar as done in Skype for Windows 5.
  • at the moment they tend to be scattered around the conversation screen and not easy to find. For instance the Dial Pad is buried obscurely in the lower left corner of the call window.
• And, talking about the Call Quality Information, the new version of this in Skype for Windows 5 is a very handy tool for determining the status of hardware and network connections with a readily accessible single click:

This is one other “would-like-to-see” in Skype for Mac 5 as it has really helped with determining the cause of any call issues in real time.

The User Interface:

With the introduction of Skype for Windows 4.0 (and enhanced in Windows 5), we had to get accustomed to a new User Interface algorithm. Once I caught onto its separation of Navigation (Contacts, Conversations Directory) and Content (Chat content, call History, File transfer history, etc.) algorithm, it turns out to actually be very efficient for dealing with all my Skype conversation activity. I can easily find previous conversations, Search old chat sessions, check out Facebook New Feed, and find other content. (And if I don’t want to look at the FaceBook News Feed, I don’t have to.) Most significant is its use of Tabs to help maintain focus on the task at hand:

I still need to spend some time using the Skype for Mac 5 beta user interface; there’s something not quite so simplistic about it. There’s an attempt at separation of Navigation and Content but it’s not so obvious. Fundamentally Skype for Windows 5 has figured out how to use Tabs effectively; the lack of Tabs in Skype for Mac 5 beta is what I feel is hindering the ease of user operations. Whereas Skype for Windows 5 “hides” what you do not need, Skype for Mac 5 beta appears to be totally ‘in your face” and cluttered. I would strongly suggest having some discussions with the Skype for Windows 5 product management team along with an investigation of the use of Tabs.

In another post I ‘ll have more to say about Tabs in the Skype interface as they can be used to address another issue that is arising at this time as well (but not discussed here).

What do I like about Skype for Mac 5?

• Video call quality; in the few video conversations I have had, the video quality has been excellent
• Multi-party Calling and the way it is presented; very “Mac-Like” (acknowledgements to Dan York for the image on the right)
• The Floating Call Control Bar
• The Contact Monitor
• Mac Address Book integration
• Handling of Favorites

Finally, Dan York made a video this morning where he demonstrates many of the features of Skype for Mac 5 beta, including a multi-party Skype video call; an eight minute training video to learn about all the new features in action:

Bottom line: it’s a beta, there are a few minor bugs but it needs feedback from the general Skype user community. And I really think a usability review would be in order along the lines suggested in this post. On the other hand, finally Mac users can take advantage of many Skype for Windows 5 features; it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

P.S.: Did I mention that Dan holds a copyright on requesting upgrades for Skype for Mac?

Two posts from Skype:

• The Big Blog: Introducing the new Skype for Mac, now available in Beta
• Skype Garage Blog: Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac (including Release Notes)

Download it here.

Related articles

• Skype For Mac: The TNW Complete Review [TNW Apple] (thenextweb.com)
• Skype 5 Beta for Mac Now Available (macstories.net)
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• With Facetime Looming, Skype Outs a Better Mac Client (gigaom.com)
• Skype 5.0 for Mac Beta is now available — includes group video chat (tuaw.com)
• Skype Group Video Calling Comes to Mac (mashable.com)
• Download: Skype for Mac 5 Beta (skypejournal.com)
• Skype 5.0 for Mac beta gets group video chat, redesign (macworld.com)
• Facetime for Mac: Adding Millions to the FaceTime User Base (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac Arrives…But Where’s Facebook? (readwriteweb.com)

Over the past week I have been experimenting with two relatively new features that build out the Skype video experience:

• HD video using the recently released FREETALK® TALK-7140 HD webcam and Skype for Windows 4.2
• Skype Group calling using the beta release of Skype for Windows 5.0

FREETALK^® TALK-7140 HD Webcam

At a price point that makes it attractive even for Skype High Quality Video calls (VGA resolution @ 30 fps), the FREETALK^® TALK-7140 HD Webcam:

• Enhances the video image quality to HD’s 720p resolution at frame rates up to 22 fps, provided the Sender has sufficient Internet upload bandwidth (>1.2 Mbps).
• Requires 30 seconds to four minutes at the beginning of a call to come up to HD resolution; after some initial “network negotiation” by the connecting software the aspect ratio changes from 4: 3 to HD’s 16:9.
• Works with Skype’s High Quality Video calling where end point conditions do not provide sufficient bandwidth for HD calling.
• Falls back to lower resolutions when network conditions degrade as a result of Skype’s network bandwidth adaptation feature that adjusts video resolution to network conditions. But the image will self-restore to the maximum resolution if the network conditions recover and return to improved quality.
• Is Skype certified for HD Video and High Quality Video calling.
• Is recognized as a webcam by MacBooks and iMacs; however, currently will only operate on MacBooks at up to VGA resolution at up to 30 fps until Skype releases a new version of Skype for Mac that supports HD video calling.

The image to the right comes from a half hour, two-way HD call with TechCraver’s Jason Harris who had an upload speed in excess of 4Mbps while I was supported by a network upload speed of 1.8Mbps using Rogers recently introduced DOCSIS 3.0 Ultimate service (50 Mbps download, 2 Mbps upload). Expanding the image to a full screen display (22” in my case) gives a close-to-Telepresence experience.

Note that if only one Sender on a one-to-one video call has the upload speed to support sending HD video, the recipient, if also using Skype for Windows 4.2 or later, will be able to receive and view the full 720p HD image provided his/her download speed is above 1.2 Mbps – well below the download bandwidth maximum for most broadband Internet services.

So this brings up the issue of upload bandwidth speeds available to consumers. Om Malik had something to say on this subject in a recent post, Faster Upstream Speeds for Cable Broadband:

U.S. cable companies expect that by 2015, nearly 100 million of the nation’s homes will be able to send data upstream at speeds of around 20 Mbps. This will eventually be followed by further upgrades to 50 Mbps, by way of enhancements to DOCSIS 3.0 tech. That compares to current upstream speeds of 6-28 Mbps (shared).

So we don’t need to wait for Fibre-to-the-Home if you’re on cable. As mentioned above, Rogers now offers a 50Mbps download/2 Mbps upload DOCSIS 3.0 service for which they recently reduced the price by 1/3 to under $100 per month with a 175 GB/month cap. Bell Canada is introducing a 25/7 fibre-to-the-home service for $54 per month but with only a 75 GB cap; their current issue is coverage. Whereas it’s available in central Toronto, there is only limited availability around the suburban Toronto area. In the U.S., where available, Comcast is offering DOCSIS 3.0 services with up to 10 Mbps upload speeds but have services at 2 and 3 Mbps upload as well; also Verizon offers its FIOS Fibre-to-the-Home service. This scenario recalls the era ten years ago when broadband Internet services were rolling out sporadically over a three to four year period.

I’m still experimenting with the HD webcam and will have a more complete report once I have experience with a wider range of user endpoint conditions. The TALK-7140 HD webcam is available at the Skype Store.

Skype Multi-Party Video Chat (beta!)

In a separate post I’ll deal with Skype Multi-Party Video Calling; in the meantime check out Phil Wolff’s posts on this subject at Skype Journal and Andy Abramson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting’s Skype Multi Party Video Makes Others A Thing of The Past at VoIP Watch. As shown in one of Phil’s posts, I participated in a five party call for about fifteen minutes simply to ensure I had a configuration where it would work.

Caveat: Skype for Windows 5.0 is still beta software and needs user feedback and some work prior to any final release; it’s not suitable for ongoing production use at this time.

Bottom line: we’re seeing how far video calling can be pushed with respect to video resolution and multi-party video chat sessions; it’s still early days. For full realization of the potential of video calling we need implementation of faster Internet services for both consumers and SMB’s with reasonable pricing. Also we need more experience and development of the underlying video calling software and hardware, especially when it comes to the User Interface. In the meantime VGA resolution video calling (High Quality Video) remains a quite acceptable user experience – especially when it’s free.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions, producer of the FREETALK line of Skype hardware, has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

Some posts from the High Quality Video launch in late 2007:

• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.
• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Click here for more…

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• CableLabs announces 5Gbps cable data technology (feldmanfile.blogspot.com)

Yesterday Skype introduced new subscription or calling plan options that provide more flexibility in terms of matching a subscription option to an individual user’s specific needs. In summary:

Ongoing Plans

The previous local country, regional and worldwide calling plans remain in place with three two changes that I have encountered:

• some price increases: for instance, while “Unlimited US and Canada” remains unchanged, “Unlimited North America” and “Unlimited World” have gone up by $1.00/€1.00 per month
• acknowledgment that the Canadian dollar is now close to or at par with the U.S. dollar
  • effectively a cost reduction for C$-denominated purchases
  • in the example below C$=US$ when changing currency
• continuation of the 15% discount for a 12-month subscription
  • not changed; discount applied during the purchase process
  • also 5% discount for a 3-month subscription

New Plans

The new plans offer three new options that have the potential to reduce calling costs for specific user segments:

• select an individual (termination) country from over 170 countries (would be useful for Canadians with family ties back to one specific country outside North America, such as India, Italy or Argentina)
• time caps (for example calling to Spain offers 60, 120, 400 minutes or unlimited per month) that provide reductions from the ad hoc pay-per-minute rates using Skype credits
• addition of time-capped mobile phone subscriptions for individual “caller pays”countries (again with a reduction from the pay-per-minute rates)

Bottom line:

• There are $1.00 or €1.00 increases for some of the previous calling plans
• Choices to be made by the individual:
  • What country(ies) or regions do I want to call?
  • Do I want a “time cap” or unlimited calling?
  • Do I want to call landlines only  or “landlines and mobile”
• When my Unlimited World is renewed later this month:
  • $12 per year increase in basic 12-month cost
  • $23 increase with loss of 15% discount (no change discount applied during purchase process)
    
  • $20 saving due to exchange rate fluctuations
  • it’s still a bargain relative to legacy PSTN long distance charges for calls outside North America

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This morning Skype issued a press release, Call Your Friends and Family Anywhere in the World For Less, announcing new consumer calling plans (subscriptions) that cover over 170 countries and introduce more granularity into the choices such as calling time, termination country(ies) and plan period (1-, 3- and 12-month).

While still awaiting to see the details (the plans will be rolled out tomorrow, May 6), it will be most interesting to see what the changes will be when calling mobile phones terminated in “caller pays” countries. According to the press release:

Skype’s range of subscriptions start from as little as €0.89* ($1.09/£.69) per month and offer effective rates as low as €0.01 ($.01/£.01) per minute to almost any destination around the globe.

With the new subscriptions, Skype users have the flexibility to customize their calling plans in just three easy steps:

1. Select the countries you want to call
2. Decide whether you want to call mobile phones, landlines or both
3. Choose the plan that best suits your needs from 1-month to 12-months or 60 minutes to unlimited

Note that these are consumer calling plans. Dan York reports that we should also see some changes for Skype for Business tomorrow, according to an email he received from Skype.

Once there has been a chance to see the details when rolled out tomorrow, I’ll probably have more commentary.

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• Skype By the Numbers: It’s Really Big (gigaom.com)
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Over the past six weeks I have attended four local social media and technology events – a PodCamp, a monthly social networking seminar, an annual project management ski day and  WordCamp Toronto 2010. At each I was able to bring along a few Skype Everyman headsets to be given away as prizes.

Prior to selecting the prize winners I had two or three minutes to talk about how the Everyman worked and their affiliation with Skype; the outcome was not simply a mere handing out of hardware but rather became an opportunity to learn about how broadly and enthusiastically Skype is accepted and used across a range of personal and business communications activities. I started by asking how many in the audience use Skype – usually about 50% to 60% raise their hands but at WordCamp Toronto Saturday about 95% of the 400 attendees raised their hands; three who came up to talk with me later said they had to start using it.

But here’s the best part – it was the spontaneous emotional enthusiasm they exhibited for their use of Skype. Not only when handing out the prizes but by the questions and inquiries I received during subsequent networking breaks. It was the smile on their faces telling about the success they had experienced.

I heard stories of weekly family calls back to South Africa, Europe and the Far East, often with video. I heard stories of how small business entrepreneurs depend on Skype for weekly conference calls to manage their projects and the use of screen sharing to build business relationships around the world.

On the other hand, some conversations would become a mini-training session. Skype has so many features of which users are unaware. Editing chat messages, one-to-one screen sharing and using the FireFox and Internet Explorer Skype toolbars were some of the subjects of conversations during networking breaks at WordCamp Toronto.

As a result Voice On The Web will be introducing two new features:

• Skype in My Life: how users use Skype to support their personal and business life.
• SkypeHints: a twitter feed that will provide daily tips and hints reminding users of the many individual features that are available within Skype with links back to more details at the Voice On The Web reference guide.

If you have a story, tip or hint that you would like to share send your suggestions to me at jim dot courtney at voiceontheweb dot biz or contact me on Skype (mention Skype Hints or Skype Stories in the chat message or contact request).

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Three weeks ago Skype made available the “Gold” release of Skype 4.2 for Windows. In the interim I have had the opportunity to experience many of its new features, several of which I have found improve the call experience in somewhat subtle but very beneficial ways.

Call Quality Indicator

This is what I have found the most useful new feature; it simply provides quick access to determine the conditions under which a call is being made. Before a call you can check your audio/video setup; click on “Check Settings” to bring up the device bar; click on a device to check that each of the mic, speakers, webcam (only if the Contact has a webcam) and computer speed are appropriately configured for making a call.

During a call you can continue to track call quality in the Call Bar; the network quality indicator on the right will also become active:

Should network connection conditions change the network quality indicator will turn orange or red and the number of bars will reduce. If you get a red exclamation mark you have a serious issue with your setup that most likely needs to be addressed. (The call in this case was to Skype Test Call; thus the gray “video” icon as Skype Test Call does not have a webcam.)

Note also that, at the end of every call, there is an opportunity presented to report on call quality. Responding, especially with less than best quality calls, certainly helps Skype to get a statistical handle on their performance.

But there’s one other unannounced feature associated with the Call Quality Indicator; click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the volume control in the Call Bar and you’ll find a menu that can lead to assistance with call diagnostics.  Select “Call Technical Info” and a separate window will open up with a wide range of diagnostic information including the other party’s SkypeID, codec being used, jitter, packet loss information and, for some calls, the version of Skype being used by the other party. Some of this information has been readily available in previous 3.x versions of Skype; however, in earlier versions of Skype 4.x it always operated in a “flicker” mode which made it difficult to read. Only a portion of the information available is shown here; the “24000” sample rate means the call is taking full advantage of the 12KHz audio bandwidth supported by Skype’s SILK codec.

Skype Access

Skype Access was first introduced on Skype for Mac 2.8; now it’s available in Skype for Windows 4.2. When you enter a WiFi zone supported by Boingo (there are over 100,000 125,000¹ worldwide with the SSID’s shown at this link), a window will pop up indicating that Skype Access is available (simply by having the appropriate client on your laptop). While it’s not exactly the least expensive way to connect to the Internet (including Skype) via a WiFi access point, it does come in handy for those 15 to 30 free minutes during airport stopovers or in “urgent” situations where there is no other alternative.

(Full disclosure: the author has a Boingo account which is available at the same locations as Skype Access as it has proven to be a cost saver at hotels that have the alternative of an expensive daily fee or using Boingo. On the other hand even at these locations, the Skype Access window will pop open.)

From time-to-time Skype has a Skype Access promotion; one is occurring the weekend during which this post was published; the promotion offers free Skype Access from 00:01 GMT Saturday, March 20 to 23:59 GMT Sunday, March 21, 2010 (extended to 23:59 Monday, March 22 in the U.K. to assist travelers stranded by the British Airways labor disruption).

Ready for HD Video

Ready, yes, but we’re not there yet; the HD webcams equipped for this feature will not be available until later this spring. However, I have received some test calls demonstrating that Skype 4.2 for Windows does support HD Video calling using appropriately compliant Skype-certified HD video cameras from FreeTalk and faceVsion. To the right is captured a frame from a test call using a faceVsion camera; below is the call diagnostic information from a recent test call using a prototype FreeTalk webcam – 1280 x 720 is the key parameter indicating HD Video support. (Once again, these webcams will only be available later this spring on the Skype Store). That we are all going to love the experience of these HD Video calls is all I can say at the moment. Note the reference to the H.264 video codec that is embedded in the webcam; the associated video compression is done on the webcam itself to reduce the load on the host PC’s CPU during a call and the associated network bandwidth requirements.

Update: While the FreeTalk webcam call reported above was made Tuesday, March 16, Jason Harris reports on an HD Video call from Andy two days later using the same webcam in Coming Soon: High Quality Skype Video Calls With Everyman HD. (I did not want to embarrass Andy by showing the details of his facial stubble in the one frame that I captured during our call; recall that many actresses were wary of HD video when first introduced as it could show intimate details of facial blemishes. I’m sure the make-up industry has compensated by now.)

Call Transfer: Simply stated, Call Transfer, a popular feature of many Skype 3.x versions, has finally re-appeared in Skype 4.2 for Windows.

Brower Toolbars: Since the release of Skype for Windows 3.0 a Skype Toolbar icon for Firefox was available; concurrently there has also been available a Skype Toolbar for Internet Explorer. Basically it uses a Phone Number Recognition algorithm to locate phone numbers within a web page and Skype-enable them (essentially a Click-to-Call using Skype or SkypeOut). With Skype for Windows 4.2 this feature has finally become stable within Firefox (full disclosure – the author has been an external beta tester for this toolbar). In a subsequent post I’ll discuss how it can also be used to Skype-enable Skype contact names within a web page. Suffice it to say it has become a very handy tool, especially with telephone directory services.

Additional features: The release notes for Skype 4.2 also list several less significant but helpful changes that assist with the user call experience. For instance:

• The video call button remains available even if there is no webcam detected
• Improvements in video quality in low bandwidth conditions
• Improved contact importers, including from GMail, Facebook, Hotmail and Outlook

But it’s still not “perfect”. The Release Notes and Release Notes Document include details of not only improvements and bug fixes but also a list of known issues that the Developer team continues to assess and track down. But there’s one 3.x feature for which I still would like to see support in 4.x – namely Skype Public Chats.

Bottom Line: With three weeks of usage, Skype 4.2 for Windows definitely brings an enhanced user experience, especially with respect to providing diagnostic information to help with call quality issues. Skype Access opens up one more option for road warriors to have Internet access for short sessions at airports or ‘’urgent” situations where no other option is available. And we still have to wait a few weeks for the webcams that will support HD Video support, setting new standards for video calling, but the final outcome will be well worth the wait.

Of course, now that I have a MacBook Pro as my primary laptop, I have joined those asking when the equivalent features (Call Quality Indicator and HD Video calling) will be available in Skype for Mac².

¹Shortly after publishing this post I received my monthly email advising me that Boingo is now supporting 125000 access points worldwide.
² I can continue to use Skype for Windows on my desktop PC or via Windows 7 running as a virtual PC on Parallels for Mac.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions, producer of the FreeTalk HD Video webcams, has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

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Yesterday’s announcement that Skype will become available as a supported service on Verizon Wireless has to have sent a tsunami through the wireless operator world. To review the offering:

• A Skype client will be included on nine models of BlackBerry and Android smartphones in late March; current customers with these devices will be able to download the application
• Free Skype-to-Skype voice calling, both inbound and outbound, worldwide
• send and receive instant messaging (chat and presence) worldwide at no charge
• International SkypeOut calling; domestic calls come out of the customer’s voice plan
• Requires a Verizon voice and data plan
• Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls as well as Skype IM activity will not impact a customer’s voice plan minutes and data plan usage.

The Background. Yesterday I wrote about the market environment and technology infrastructure that led to the ability to make this announcement

• It’s Verizon’s answer to AT&T’s forthcoming Skype for iPhone over 3G; however, given that planning and development activity have been ongoing for the past year, it’s a well thought out response with a focus on the user experience.
• The client will be a customized version of Skype Lite where the voice conversation is carried over the Verizon voice channel while presence indication, chat messages, mood messages and voice call signaling will be carried over the Verizon data channel.
• Launching a Skype voice call or chat session will be the same process as launching a traditional call.
• It’s integrated with the Address Book of the device such that all contacts can become Skype or SkypeOut contacts.
• Both the BlackBerry and Android smartphones can handle multi-tasking such that Skype “data” activity can continue to operate in the background while using other applications on the device.
• Client is optimized to take advantage of any battery life conservation features, certainly one of BlackBerry’s well known strengths.
• In response to one question at the press conference, Verizon stated they will not allow network quality to erode as a result of the additional load created by this service.
• Currently no video calling, file transfer, SMS messaging or WiFi access

Show me the money! Based on information provided by iSkoot at eComm 2008 and 3′s gradual expansion of Skype availability, it would appear at first glance that the business model involves:

• Verizon receiving a percentage of SkypeOut revenues (Skype has an affiliate program that provides referrers with 25% of SkypeOut revenues – an indicator of Skype’s margin for this service; 3 has offered SkypeOut since summer 2008)
• Skype receiving software licensing revenue associated with smartphone revenues (sales or lease) and Verizon voice/data plan revenues
• No termination charges for Skype-to-Skype calls (explains why Verizon can offer this as a free service to their data plan customers)

The implications:

• Has the potential to add 90 million Verizon customers to Skype’s user base
• Verizon customers can call over 500 million Skype accounts worldwide at no cost (probably about 100 million active accounts)
• SkypeOut becomes the de facto replacement for all Verizon’s other consumer international calling activity, especially for calls to those 44 countries on Skype’s Unlimited World Calling plans.
• Provides a subtle but significant carrier endorsement of BlackBerry and Android devices.
• Multi-tasking allows an “always on” user experience; the challenge will be when and how notifications are made of a Skype activity (presence status change, new chat message, etc.) when using other applications
• the underlying architecture takes advantage of the existing robust and scalable voice architecture while exchanging data over a wireless data service that is widely perceived as the best in the U.S due to the combination of its reliability and coverage.
• requires the installation of “Skype gateway” servers within Verizon’s infrastructure to terminate Skype calls under Verizon’s management and control, offset by the fact that there are no termination charges for Skype-to-Skype calls.

The downside: The architecture does not allow for WiFi access to Skype. As a result:

• one cannot readily make calls from WiFi access points outside the U.S. without paying roaming charges which can tend to be expensive. (Skype for iPhone on AT&T or T-Mobile’s @ Home service provide this capability.)
• calls cannot be made from locations without carrier network coverage (to a large extent Verizon’s U.S. geographical coverage addresses this issue but one can also be deep in a building with WiFi but no carrier).

The Questions:

• Will Skype Instant Messaging become a replacement for SMS messaging and cannibalize SMS revenues? Skype IM messages simply go out over the data channel as one application for the data plan.
• What happens when a Verizon customer is roaming in other countries?  Can visitors to Canada or Europe continue to use Skype at no additional cost while in Canada? or will a roaming charge apply?
• Verizon is currently offering these devices with a “Buy One Now, Get One Free” feature and a two year contract at prices ranging from $29.99 (Storm 1, 8530 Curve)to $179.99 (Storm 2). Will the lack of a low cost phone, such as 3’s Skypephone2, with Pay-As-You-Go impact adoption?
• What is the level of carrier exclusivity in the deal? Will we be seeing similar offers from T-Mobile US or AT&T any time soon? What portions of the embedded Skype software in the devices are  exclusive to Verizon?
• Who will be the first Canadian carrier to adopt the Verizon-Skype model? This will be interesting to follow given that:
  • there are no network quality issues with any of the three
  • the Bell Canada/Telus networks can not only support EVDO (same BlackBerries as offered by Verizon) but also GSM/LTE supported devices with their new HSPA+ network launched in time for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
  • all three carriers now offer the iPhone; in this case Rogers was the original carrier with it.
• What level of support will Verizon provide for BlackBerry’s app store and Android’s market? Will Verizon facilitate and promote them or even provide an aggregated app store?

Final question: Skype stealthed its way onto AT&T 3G through the combination of supporting calling over WiFi access points (worldwide) and FCC lobbying; Skype is certainly helping to drive iPhone sales at AT&T. Can the combination of carrier-supported “free international calling”, full multi-tasking, a more robust and reliable network and the currently top selling smartphone brand in the U.S. sustain and build Verizon’s user base?

Bottom line: carriers are recognizing that Skype needs to incorporated into their infrastructure as a key element providing both uninhibited access and the network resources to ensure a high quality, positive user conversation experience. Most importantly they are discovering that Skype can become a marketing tool that drives market differentiation and user adoption.

For further commentary Carl Ford and I recorded a podcast conversation yesterday: Jim Courtney & Carl Ford Converse about Skype & VZW.

Update: Andy Abramson has been on-site at MWC and picked up some feedback: Skype, Verizon (and Andy) In the News

Photo: John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, and Josh Silverman, Skype’s CEO, announcing their strategic relationship to bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones during a press conference at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain earlier today. (Via Business Wire, accreditat[on not provided)

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There  was lots of lament and thrashing when Skype announced the forthcoming end to the Skype Extras program for distributing Skype software partners offerings. By the end of August, 2010 the Skype Extras item in the Skype for Windows client will go away. But does that mean the end for developing products and services that use the Skype API’s? Certainly three of Skype’s software partners do not think so; they each have recently launched either an upgrade or a new offering:

Scendix has released Pamela version 4.6, continuing the enhancement of its popular utility for managing, archiving and recording Skype calls. Pamela also lets you have some fun with its Rich Mood Message editor and Emotions player. But most importantly Version 4.6 provides the long sought recording of Skype video calls.

InnerPass last week launched version 2.0 of its Skype-enhanced document management offering. A new client, which, in addition to incorporating traditional document management features such as version management, also allows you to manage all your Skype activities – web collaboration with conference calling that also includes multi-party desktop sharing.

And yesterday, Netralia, whose Skylook and Call Burner offerings have built significant user bases since their 2005 and 2007 launches respectively, have just announced the forthcoming launch of Vodburner, “the first product on the market to create video podcasts”.

Netralia CEO Jeremy Hague, in the press release linked above, has nicely summarized the reality behind what is currently available to support development of applications that incorporate Skype:

“We are proud to announce the upcoming launch of VodBurner today, which comes at an interesting time for the Skype Developer community, given the recent announcement regarding the Extras programme.”

“I think Skype’s announcement has caught a lot of people off guard, and there may have been some overreaction in some of the media comments.   It is important to remember that the programme is only being closed in its current form.  This does not mean Skype is removing support for developer apps.”

“Skype has supported developers since 2004, with the release of the Skype Public API.  This support is continuing.”

“Extras Manager, a separate initiative, was introduced in early 2007.  The idea was great – provide new and existing apps with an advertising platform inside the Skype client, and a payment platform integrated with Skype Credits.”

“However, the implementation was lacking.  As you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear, we believe Skype has made the right choice to curtail this programme.  We are hopeful that Skype will find another way to execute on the promise of some of the great ideas of the Extras Manager dept, but providers of Skype apps do not need to rely on this.”

“What we are about is providing great applications that make use of Skype’s technology to benefit people, who will hopefully go on to be our customers.  This was our approach before Extras Manager was first thought of, and will continue to be our approach regardless of the approach Skype takes in the future.”

The important point at this time is to emphasize that developers, who make the effort to use the API’s, can be successful and continue to dedicate resources to the development of new or upgraded products.

• They have all built significant user bases; InnerPass has has over 1.5 million downloads since its version 1.0 launch in January 2009.
• They have found new ways to work with Skype as a conversation tool.
• They have all developed products which contribute to making Skype disruptive about business.

Two previous posts on this subject:

• “Skype Extras” Is Dead; Long Live the Skype API’s!
• Demythifying the Skype Developer Story

And Scendix comments on the end of Skype Extras in their PamNews blog:

• No Skype Extras System anymore

Summaries and reviews of these new offerings will follow over the next two weeks.

Question: will we learn any more about Skype’s developer and/or business programs at next week’s eComm Europe? Nobody’s saying but … there is a keynote speaker from Skype, eComm Europe’s headline sponsor.

This week Skype has released final “Gold” versions of three of their software offerings: Skype for Windows Mobile 3.0; Skype for iPhone 1.1 and Skype for Windows 4.1, their primary client.

Skype for Windows Mobile 3.0 goes Gold: From Peter Parkes:

It includes two cool new features: SMS and file transfer. Sending SMSs using Skype is a great way to reach friends and family instantly anywhere in the world – Skype’s low rates mean that you won’t have to break the bank to do it. And file transfer lets you send files quickly when you’re on the move.

Download here. Check out the Release Notes.

Skype for iPhone 1.1. While available for the new iPhone 3G S and the iPhone 3G, most important is that this release requires that you have performed the OS 3.0 upgrade to the iPhone 3G (initially sold last July); it should be offered automatically when you next connect your iPhone to iTunes on a PC. This upgrade adds features such as Cut/Copy and Paste along with many other improvements.

As for the iPhone for Skype software, it adds voicemail and SMS features as well as some improvements to the user interface. It also adds support for several languages such that the language support comprises: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish and Traditional Chinese as well as various English versions.

This one needs to be downloaded from the App Store via iTunes or as an upgrade on the device.

Canadians are still awaiting a resolution of a G729 patent issue before Skype for iPhone becomes legally available in Canada. Canadians have to be developing a syndrome about being left out of certain Skype offerings freely available in the rest of the world. And  now many of us early adopters would like to be able to take advantage of Rogers’ iPhone upgrade offer.

Skype 4.1 for Windows goes Gold. By far the most useful new feature of Skype 4.1 beta has been the screen sharing where I have easily shared spreadsheets, performed PowerPoint presentations and reviewed Word documents, as long as the sharing in only with one other Skype user. (Remember this screen sharing is done via the Skype for Video channel for which only one-to-one video calls are permitted.) It also includes sound and video quality improvements. (The screen sharing is a catch-up to a feature available on Skype for Mac 2.8 beta for several months.)

Bottom Line: incremental improvements that provide evolution, not revolution, of the feature sets. My biggest issue is a request to restore complete support for Public Chat sessions where enhanced marketing support of this feature would drive new adoptions (or is it that Skype cannot figure out a business model for Skype for Public Chat? – purely my speculations).

Other posts:

• Rogers steps for up iPhone 3G customers. Early adopters of the iPhone 3G have a significant upgrade offer until July 31, 2009. I am given to understand similar offers are available in several other countries.
• Dan York: Skype launches version 4.1… (yawn)… still only Windows… still a fragmented product strategy

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• Skype Without a Personal Computer (voiceontheweb.biz)
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“I thought you were on at 4 in the afternoon”, says a confused Manhattan Best Buy visitor. “No, we tape at 9 in the morning”, replies Oprah. “Oh, then Hi Oprah!”. Placing a Skype webcam setup in a Best Buy store found an adolescent customer who was looking for a Mother’s Day gift and waiting for the neighboring Pottery Barn store to open.

Oprah: “So, do we have permission put this on TV?”

Ashra (Sp?): “On Oprah! Hell, yes!”

With this introductory clip of Skype video-induced spontaneity, Oprah’s “Where the Skype Are You” show yesterday became the world’s longest duration, most viewed Skype promotion. During the sixty minutes the show went to downtown Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost community on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Ocean, the Palmer Station Antarctica research site about 200 miles from the South Pole, to 37,000 feet on a Virgin America flight 780 from Seattle to Los Angeles and 60 feet under the ocean to the USS Louisville submarine. Other highlights:

• Three setups were at locations where such happenstance as shown above could occur: a Manhattan Best Buy Store, Harrod’s in London and at the Oprah sign outside the studio in Chicago.
• The Oprah sign initially was missing the usual crowd of tourists taking pictures but a later return found five young ladies who were eventually invited into the taping.
• The Palmer Station Antarctica research team was going to use their Skype video equipment to do live presentations about their research activities to students at schools across the U.S. while it was still there.
• Oprah interviewed Skype President Josh Silverman from Skype’s London Corporate Office who gave a brief demonstration of setting up Skype.
• Obviously Harpo has figured out how to mix Skype video calls to come up with a video conferencing solution that allowed a ”virtual” wine tasting session to happen between a vintner at Bonny Doon Vinyard in Santa Cruz, CA, two Virgin Flight 780 passengers and Josh Silverman in London. Now if we could just get the Skype bit-to-atom converter working to virtually share the wine!
• The Virgin America flight connection was via Aircell’s recently launched  GoGoInFlight WiFi service, which as of yesterday, is now available on all Virgin America flights. However, only for this flight was Skype video calling allowed; from Wednesday’s press release:
  

  Although Virgin America does not typically allow Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) products like Skype video call in-flight due to concerns about maintaining a quiet, restful cabin environment, guests can currently use Gogo® to Skype via the instant message feature, in addition to e-mailing, tweeting, updating their Facebook pages and any of the myriad other ways the web is keeping people connected. The early roll out of the Gogo® service across the airline’s network makes Virgin America the first and only airline to offer consumers in-flight WiFi on every flight – regardless of route, aircraft type, or flight time.

• Local Toronto sketch artist Barbara Muir has taken a liking to doing sketches from Skype Video calls (that’s Barbara’s sketch on my Voice On The Web bio page). Barbara appeared on the show and drew a sketch of Oprah from her Skype video connection. I spoke with Barbara after the show; the interview experience with Oprah had overwhelmed her. She was impressed with how Oprah was up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for the show; Harpo personnel were contacting her in preparation at 6:00 a.m. Chicago time. As mentioned above the show was taped at 9:00 a.m. Chicago time; and apparently there were two more Oprah shows to be taped that day. Barbara’s biggest issue was having to look at the webcam while Oprah appeared on the her display screen below – a protocol for doing any interview is to be looking the camera “in-the-eye”.

Overall an amazingly interesting production. What would be really interesting is to see if there was any significant post-show jump in Skype downloads and account registrations. But we’ll probably never know.

• Toronto Globe and Mail: Skype connects Toronto artist to Oprah
• Check out the Oprah.com user comments related to this show; read about the request for a “modem in the sand” (#12)
• A historical note from April 2007: Skype Video for “Live On Location” Television Amber MacArthur was the original reporter using Skype video for her reports to Toronto’s CITY-TV.

Next: what I have learned from this about how Harpo produces Skype video calls.

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When attempting to “trash” a service via Comments to a post, make sure (i) you have made appropriate attempts to contact a service’s support operations and (ii) give them a chance to respond. A recent attempt to “trash” PamFax in a Comment turned out to be the result of the user attempting to fax to a number that was “not in service”.

I am starting to receive an occasional comment harshly complaining about a service whose offering has been reported in Voice On The Web. When I receive such a Comment I will forward it to the relevant vendor for a response prior to publishing the comment in all fairness to the vendor. Upon receiving a response from the vendor, I will publish the relevant story in order that all the facts are on the table.

In the next few days I will be publishing the editorial policy for Voice On The Web establishing some ground rules. But one of those is that before reporting on an offering, I will, if possible, test out the offering to make sure it works as described. There are a few vendors whose stories are currently on hold pending getting their offering to work properly.

Prior to reporting recently on the PamFax 2.0 launch I tested out the service on a laptop PC (Windows XP), a desktop PC (Windows XP) and a MacBook. In all three cases I was able to make some suggestions for minor modifications (usually text or navigation) but I did successfully send three different faxes to my All-In-One printer.

PamFax 2.0 did experience some teething problems during their first week; they were monitoring the situation via their internal dashboards and making changes to the back office servers. In addition they have released a client update which is automatically installed when a user next opens PamFax (done it on all three of my PC’s here). And then I demonstrated to InnerPass personnel how they could use PamFax as a Windows printer to send a stored document from their document management service.

A couple of days ago I received a comment (I’ll save embarrassing the sender) that, amongst other statements, claimed PamFax was “Inconsistent, poor software”. He had attempted to send a fax – three times unsuccessfully – (including his one time “Free” test fax). He concluded with:

Now I have credit with them I never wanted to give, and a useless piece of software that also takes you[r] skype user and pas[s]word. the software is a POS. I found plenty [of] other experiences online to substantiate this. Do not waste your money. The claimed repeated use in the article is the clincher. I now probably am in that category since after the useless trial page was blown by them, my two further tries would be registered as a repeat customer. Trashy, scam type software, skype certified or not, I promise if you have Vista you will be subject to frustration. [typo corrections by author]

I forwarded the comment to Dick Schiferli at PamConsult, publisher of PamFax, who investigated the user’s attempts to send a fax; I received the following response:

I’ve attached the transactions summary and the fax summary to this email. As you can see the three fax jobs originally failed with “Line hung up”. There were line costs as a connection was made and that is why a partial refund was issued. This is also clearly communicated by the system to you.

The reason is because this number is no longer in service. I called it and got a voice answer saying this number is out of service or disconnected. So, the PamFax error message is correct and also the fact that there were line costs resulting in a partial refund is correct.

This user tried to send faxes to a disconnected number. He apparently found out after three tries that he had the wrong number and then sent to the right one (see attached history).

I personally called the number where three times the user got a message “The line was hung up” and confirmed that this number is “no longer in service”.

Bottom Line #1: PamConsult personnel are monitoring their service to ensure that it delivers as promised. They have the back office systems, including call detail records, that allow them to investigate any customer service issues that may arise. PamFax also has a Help Desk system, including a knowledge base, for reporting such issues.

Bottom Line #2: Make sure you have the correct fax destination number! While “The number was properly input, +1 showed up with a US flag and the 10 digit number including area code was there” is true, if  issues you call a number that is not in service, yes there may be a small termination charge – since the call was answered by a phone system robot – but, really, get the number right!

Bottom Line #3: Don’t attempt to “trash” a service without first contacting the service’s technical support. In this case a service request had been sent in; it was investigated but such investigations are not instantaneous. Better to take time to get an appropriate response than to rush a partial or inappropriate response that only creates further antagonism and frustration.

Full disclosure: For over four years the author supervised a technical support operation for a software product where over half the support calls related to the software’s feature set reporting on either faulty (third party) PC application software or faulty PC hardware. It is important to hear both sides of the story before allowing comments that are effectively a “blasting off” rant.

PamNews, May 6, 2009: PamFax update published – Upgrade to PamFax; backend server addressed for improved performance.

Voice On the Web’s Subscription Calling Plan page has been updated. Also Skype is offering a 25% discount on Skype Calling Plans if purchased prior to May 6, 2009.

Earlier this week Skype announced the addition of an “Unlimited Country” plan to the three plans available to Skype users in the U.S. and Canada.  At the same time Skype announced the addition of seven countries to their Calling Plan Subscriptions program which now supports 42 countries. Learning of these changes triggered a review of Skype’s Calling Plans.

One of the goals of Voice On The Web is to provide longer term reference information about Skype and other IP-based communications services. This overall reference guide is accessed via the links in the light green navigation bar above or further down the first sidebar on the right. (Improving this navigation is one of the goals for the next upgrade to Voice On The Web.) Many of these pages were written a year ago and are in the course of being updated to reflect current offerings and policies.

As a result of Skype’s announcement referenced above I have reviewed and updated the Skype Calling Plans page as there have been several changes since Skype Calling Plans were first announced a year ago:

• Six countries – India, South Africa, Argentina, Bulgaria, Columbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Thailand have been added to the various Skype Calling Plans worldwide
• An “Unlimited Country” plan has been added for Skype users in North America, providing a subscription option for those who want to call U.S. and Canadian numbers plus one additional country selected from the other 42 countries participating in the Skype Calling Plans.
• Rates for Skype “”Unlimited World” subscriptions, which now provide unlimited calling to 44 countries worldwide (up from 36), have increased to US$12.95 per month from US$9.95 per month
• A 25% discount applies to these plans if purchased prior to May 6, 2006. Click here to extend your current subscription at these discounted rates during the discount’s availability.
• Mexico remains a special case. Plans provide for unlimited calling to landlines Mexico City, Guadlajara and Monterrey. Discounted rates (which vary by plan) apply to calls outside these three cities and calls to mobile phones.
• There are unique plans for calling to Brazil, India and South Africa. None of these countries are included in any basic “Unlimited World” plan.
• Skype has modified their Fair Usage policy to a maximum of 50 numbers per day, six hours of calling per day and use by one Skype account only per subscription. All this in addition to the previous 10,000 minutes per month. Don Kennedy has written a utility, Subscription Monitor for Skype, that provides an real time accounting of your subscription status so that you know when time’s up.
• The 2 million Skype users who downloaded and installed Skype for iPhone can take advantage of these plans from any WiFi hotspot supported by the iPhone (not available to Canadians, argh!!)

Of course the most effective way to reduce SkypeOut and subscription usage is to have your contacts sign up for Skype. Skype-to-Skype voice and video calling is at the best price of all – Free!

Thursday evening I was checking out Truphone’s latest release only to learn that their somewhat delayed version that provides access to Skype is still on hold. At that time I went browsing for other applications on the App Store and came across one that I have had previous experience with on the BlackBerry: IM+ for Skype for iPhone (and iPod Touch). And, on further investigation I also found an upgraded version of IM+ for Skype for BlackBerry.

From my iPhone I made a call to Ken Camp who received it on Skype on his PC. Call quality at my end was excellent, given the audio bandwidth limitations of any mobile phone. I also did some IM activity to check that it worked.

The latest release of IM+ for BlackBerry not only allows you to make SkypeOut calls but also to access the native BlackBerry address book. This is the first “Skype on Mobile” BlackBerry offering to have such deep integration. I will be looking to see what impact this application has on battery life as RIM has recently provided new API’s to incorporate battery management into third party applications. This version also has the ability to set up and participate in multi-party calls.

On initial glance, IM+ for Skype on the iPhone does not have the ability to access your Address Book for contacts’ landline/mobile phone numbers.

Given that I really need a few days to fully experience all the features and warts of these two applications, I’ll withhold further comment at this time; this situation does present a unique opportunity to evaluate how an application integrates into the iPhone and the BlackBerry platforms respectively. In the meantime, however, if you try out these applications and have some experiences to report, please post them in the Comments.

Keep in mind that, when making calls with IM+ for Skype, at a minimum you will be using local minutes on your mobile phone plan. The data channel is used for Instant Messaging activity, Contacts and setting up a voice call to a Skype or SkypeOut contact. Further information on charges. Especially be aware that calls made when “roaming” outside your home country or region may incur significant charges.

One caveat: all this access to Skype requires that you keep a handle on how many platforms are logged into Skype. At one point, being concurrently logged in on a laptop, a desktop, an iPhone, a BlackBerry and a Nokia E71 (using Skype Lite), I found that presence was not consistent across platforms and some IM chat messages were not getting to all the platforms. But then again coordination of presence and setting priorities for multiple login situations is something that I hope Skype is investigating as they roll out Skype Everywhere.

(Yes, I am aware that Skype can also be accessed on the iPhone via Fring; however, call quality has not been consistent enough to consider it a reliable service.)

Since its launch Tuesday, Skype for Windows 4.0 Gold has received some interesting coverage:

• David Pogue, New York Times: in addition to his column discussed here yesterday, he has produced an amusing video: Skype 4.0: The Cheapskate where a video starring Mr. Cheapskate shows a Skype video session with his daughter, Kim Cheapskate, obviously a student. But it also serves as a humorous introduction to Skype for Windows 4.0′s features.
• Alec Saunders: Saunderslog.com: Skype 4.0 audio: smooth as SILK:

Perhaps the biggest improvement, though, is audio quality. We all thought that Skype audio was great, right? Skype’s internally developed SILK codec slipped into the final release, despite not having been in prior betas. A wideband codec that delivers the goods at half the bitrate of prior codecs, SILK makes talking on Skype a pure pleasure.

• Tom Keating: Skype Launches 4.0 with Super Duper Weenie Wideband Codec. Images conjured up when a new codec is lauded with reduced network bandwidth. Obviously Tom has his favorite food hangouts.

Have a good weekend.

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Columnist David Pogue in a New York Time article reviewing Skype 4.0 starts with the AT&T video phone demonstrated at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and user experience from then. Not a lot of calls due to technical and psychological issues. He talks about why Skype has been so widely accepted (did he remind us it was “free”?) and why Skype has been a survivor when up against iChat, MSN Messenger, SightSpeed and others.

He goes on to mention several issues that have inhibited video calling in the past but then says:

The video quality still varies when you use Skype. Fast Internet connections and fast computers still work better than slow ones. But if you do have a good setup — wow. With certain Logitech or Philips webcam models, Skype 4.0 can deliver a picture that’s as big and sharp and smooth as a TV picture (30 frames a second, 640 by 480 pixels), with almost no delay.

In my test calls to friends in California, New York and Virginia, we were amazed at what a difference it makes when the delay goes away. (Maybe, for its next trick, Skype can lend its technology to the world’s cellphone carriers.)

He then went on to make calls using iChat, ooVoo and SightSpeed: “None of them matched Skype’s immediacy or video and audio quality.” He discusses Skype’s new level of audio quality (with the SILK codec) and reduced network bandwidth speed requirement. He mentions some features that he would still like to see and mentions what differentiates services such as SightSpeed. His closing comment places Skype video calling into a historical perspective:

….. Will we one day adjust to the idea of being on camera every time someone calls?

Nah.

In the end, video chatting isn’t a replacement for phone calls, but a supplement to them, a perfect way to check out someone’s new place, check in with distant family and friends or show off a new talent (or baby). They saw the possibilities back in 1964 — they just didn’t realize that we wouldn’t always want to use them.

Go read David’s post (free registration may be required); it’s an excellent yet objective review of the personal video calling space from the end user perspective. I guess David doesn’t watch Oprah; she seems to be using Skype High Quality Video almost daily according to reports from my wife.

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Over the past eight months 1.2 million Skype users have participated in the Skype for Windows 4.0 beta program (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3). During this beta period, not only current user feedback was sought but also feedback from new users installing Skype for the first time. The goal was to provide a user interface that was more intuitive while encouraging users to go beyond simply voice calls to experience and use chat and video conversations.

Today Skype is announcing the Gold release of Skype 4.0 for Windows. From the download page:

We’ve built this brand new Skype so you can have the conversations that make a difference to you, every day. It’s easy to use, plus step-by-step guides help you get started.

While most of the new features have been revealed during the beta period, Skype’s marketing will focus on three key features:

• New user interface; with over 25% of Skype-to-Skype calls involving video this new release has been designed with a focus on improving the video call user experience.
• Improved call quality: Skype 4.0 for Windows incorporates Skype’s new SILK codec whose features are discussed in a separate post today. Bottom line is a crisp, crystal clear audio experience, yet only half the network bandwidth of other codecs is required to support a voice call.
• Bandwidth management: a new bandwidth manager has been developed with the goal of improving overall call performance by adapting, in real time, to degraded or low speed network conditions, such as those caused by excessive packet loss and/or jitter.

The new user interface also has taken into account factors that encourage users to explore Skype beyond voice calling. Incorporating beta user feedback Skype has found that the new UI is driving up adoption rates for Instant Messaging, file transfer and video. When you open a contact window launching a voice, chat or video conversation requires a single click on the respective voice (“Call”), chat or video button. The associated text pane tracks not only chat messages but also voice and video call detail information (launch time, end time) as well as file transfer information. And, as in the past with chat, the entire record is all archived on your local PC for future recall.

Other features: You can choose to view your Skype activity in one larger screen or in individual “conversation” windows. During a call a drop down menu on the “call audio control bar” provides quick access to making any necessary audio or video settings. Single click buttons allow you to quickly change oe add conversation modes to adapt to the context of the conversation. A wizard provides assistance with testing audio and video settings. During their testing they found that these features drove new users to more quickly experience chat and video while there was an increase in usage of these modes by legacy users.

On-the-fly the bandwidth manager can adjust both video and audio transmission by making real time adjustments to parameters such as video resolution, frames-per-second or audio bandwidth. to ensure an ability to maintain a basic level of communication while enduring these conditions. Once again the goal is to improve the overall user experience with no user intervention required.

Two changes;

• The SkypeMe! status button has been removed as a result of its tendency to be used for spamming and other forms of unwanted calls. (Of course you also still have the option to only allow callers in your Contact list to call you.). Along with this Skype has introduced “abuse reporting” which is monitored by Skype personnel for dealing with undesirable calling activity.
• While you can still participate in Public Chat sessions launched or joined from Skype 3.8, there is still no ability to launch or join a Public Chat from Skype 4.0 for Windows. This is my primary complaint about the new user interface. We have had a Skype 4.x Public Chat discussion ongoing since May, 2007; it has provided an interesting dialogue amongst Skype users and Skype personnel, including some feedback on features in Skype 4.0. And is has supported many other informal “water fountain” conversations amongst special interest communities of Skype users. Skype for Windows Product Manager Mike Bartlett claimed yesterday, during an interview, that Skype was reviewing how to embark on “public conversations” in today’s messaging world where services such as Twitter and Friend Feed also provide ongoing dialogues. However, Skype Public Chat has its own “space” in terms of user community; it needs to be brought back as soon as possible.

Over the next few weeks, with more experience using Skype 4.0 for Windows we may cover some features in more detail. In the meantime you can download it here. We look forward your feedback in the Comments. Release Notes are here.

Yesterday Skype went past 16 million concurrent users around 1830 GMT. It will be interesting to monitor both the concurrent user number and Hudson Barton’s “real user” indicator as Skype 4.0 for Windows installations grow over the next couple of weeks..

Of course, the best news is that Skype-to-Skype calls (including multi-party calls), chat and video calling remain free. And there are calling plan subscriptions available for low cost calling to landlines worldwide.

Other Posts:

• Mike Bartlett Discusses Skype 4.0 Beta on Squawk Box
• Skype’s videos about the 4.0 beta limited release
• Mike Bartlett Comments on Skype 4.0 User Feedback
• Mike Bartlett on Skype 4.0 Beta 1 Feedback

At MacWorld’s Showstoppers event this evening Skype announced Skype for Mac 2.8 beta, with two major new features as well as several minor ones.

Screen Sharing

The most impressive feature is a form of basic screen sharing. Either a segment of your screen or the full screen is converted into a virtual webcam such that the screen can be viewed in any Skype client via the Skype video channel. While only a Mac can currently be a source for this screen sharing it can be viewed on any Windows, Mac or Linux client as video.

Skype for Mac’s screen sharing feature is sufficient to support discussion issues as a complement to a voice and/or chat conversation; it is NOT by any means a replacement for fully featured desktop or application sharing offerings such as Yugma, Inner Pass or IBM’s Lotus Sametime Unyte. It’s “just” screen sharing. In fact, it is one of two options on the Skype for Mac’s “Share” button, the other being file sharing/transfer.

Below is an example of a full screen image of a shared MacBook screen as seen in a detached Skype video window on my Windows laptop.

Skype Access

The second major feature, Skype Access, provides WiFi access for your MacBook or MacBook Pro via any Boingo access point. While I’m told it has been tested at many of the over 100,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide, I could not get it to work at a local Canadian Starbucks listed as a Boingo hotspot location. But then, this is still beta (and the problem may be with Boingo’s interface with Bell Mobility). ([Update: on a March 19 visit to the same Starbucks, Skype Access worked with no problems.]

More importantly is to look at the “use case” for Skype Access. Cost for using Skype Access over Boingo is US$0.22/€0.16/C$0.23 per minute using Skype credits.

Within a user’s home country, Skype Access is probably more expensive than local alternatives; this is certainly the case in Canada. However, I can see the value if I am outside the home country and wanting to make Skype/SkypeOut calls, check email or do some web browsing at airports, restaurants, coffee shops and other Boingo hotspots as an alternative to much higher cost roaming wireless calls (for instance roaming U.S. to Canada on Rogers runs at $1.75 per minute) or $40 per day Internet access charges at some European hotels.

With unlimited use Boingo subscriptions at $21.95/month for North America or $59/month Global, Skype Access is more appropriate for the occasional traveler as opposed to the hardened road warrior.

It reminds me of the use case for PamFax where you can send faxes directly from, say, your hotel room for about $0.20 per page while avoiding a hotel’s much higher $1.00/page charge for faxing. One other common feature between Skype Access and PamFax: both use Skype credits as the primary currency.

Other features in Skype for Mac 2.8 beta:

• Skype for Mac 2.8 continues the use of a “drawer” attached to a Skype chat window; from the list of active chat sessions shown in the drawer you can select which session you want to view. But now there are three levels of prioritization available for those chat sessions. In addition chats can be sorted by name or date/time.
• The process for adding contacts to a chat session now simply involves clicking the “Add a Contact” button and entering the added contact’s name.
• Your Contacts’ Mood Messages can be tracked via a “Mood Message” chat session. While this can currently only be initiated on Skype for Mac 2.8, your mood message chat session will show up as a chat session on, say, a Windows client logged into the same account. Neat for keeping up-to-date on mood message changes, especially when a mood message provides location or reference URL information; it provides a Twitter-like experience.
• Add notes to contacts: when you go into a Contact’s profile there is a separate tab for entering personal notes about that contact.

Dan York, with a lot more Skype for Mac experience than I have had (I just acquired a MacBook ten days ago), has provided a much more detailed review of all the new features He has also produced an excellent You Tube video for his Emerging Tech Talk series:

Skype for Mac 2.8 beta can be downloaded here January 6. Full Release Notes

Skype Posts: Share Skype Blog, Skype Garage Blog

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This afternoon I came across this article by reporter Chris O’Brien in today’s San Jose Mercury News: “Video Chat has entered the mainstream“. It appears that the worlds of Oprah viewers and Silicon Valley geeks and reporters have more than six degrees of separation. The story starts out by talking about an email he received from his mother:

Seemingly out of nowhere, this note from her landed in my inbox: “Have you heard of Skype? Apparently you can use it to do free video calls on the computer.”

My mother, who lives just outside Kansas City, tends to be a reliable barometer for when a technology is gaining adoption outside the hermetically sealed bubble that is Silicon Valley. Well, my mom, and Oprah. As one of only a handful of people on the planet who don’t watch Oprah’s show every day, I had missed the fact that she’s recently begun using Skype to make regular video calls with her audience.

Chris goes on to report on a brief interview with Skype President Josh Silverman whom he quotes with:

And Skype has a new version in beta that will make video calling much more central to the service, according to Skype President Josh Silverman.

…. And in its new release, Skype users will be able to enlarge the video to fill the entire screen without degrading the picture quality.

Well we now know what Chris is giving his mother for Christmas. For his benefit, listed below are previous Skype Journal posts on both Skype High Quality Video and our reporting last March on Oprah’s use of Skype Video.

• Skype Sponsors Oprah’s “A New Earth” Web Event
• Three Big Milestones in Skype’s Fifth Year
• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Expanding the High Quality Video Experience and Observations
• To Be Restored: Camera Flexibility for Video Hackers
• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.

Chris, keep up with Skype Journal and you won’t be learning about how Skype is used from your mother.

By the way, how did I know to follow up on Chris’s interview with Skype President Josh Silverman last Wednesday? He set it up via Twitter messages with Skype PR. At the time Twitter was their sole available source of contact information.

A final question: will we be seeing a new version of Skype High Quality Video (or better) introduced at CES in January?

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