Facilitating Personal and Business Conversations Across a Voice 2.0 World
Two years ago at CES 2010 Skype announced Skype for TV with two partners (Samsung and LG). It was only available on very high end Internet-enabled TV sets and required vendor-specific webcams. Effectively the cost of adoption was over $1,500. CES 2011 saw an expansion of the number of TV set vendors (Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, [...]
Last week I provided a review of my experience with a recent production model of the FREETALK® Connect•Me Adapter for Home Phone, initially available in the U.S. and Canada. To quickly recall its primary feature, the Connect•Me Adapter allows you to make PC-free Skype and SkypeOut calls and, optionally, landline calls from an existing home [...]
While the FREETALK® Connect•Me Adapter for Home Phone became available in late August, I only received a production hardware version three weeks ago. I have now had a chance not only to verify the operation of all its features but also to observe some of the reviews. But before talking about its operation I want [...]
Overnight Microsoft announced they had closed their acquisition of Skype, following the final EU Commission regulatory approval last week. Key points: Skype will remain as an independent business unit within Microsoft under the leadership of former Skype CEO Tony Bates who becomes President of Microsoft’s Skype Division. It’s a new tact for a Microsoft acquisition. [...]
Today the Skype Store launched two new ways to place and receive Skype calls, including SkypeOut calls, from your home phone. Each also has an option to continue using your landline. The options are: Make and receive Skype calls on an existing home phone using the FREETALK® Connect•Me Home Phone Adapter for Skype. Make and [...]
Today marks the 8th anniversary of Skype’s launch as a free voice calling and instant messaging service running on Windows PC’s. Within the first month Skype had over 500,000 users; today Skype can boast of 170 million active users with as many as 30 million users online concurrently. Skype’s Jennifer Caulkin, in her post, Celebrating [...]
At the beginning of July, Skype released Skype for Android 2.0 with Video calling and support for four Android phones. Today Skype announced support for 17 additional Android phone models from Acer, HTC, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. More details are at Mark Douglas’ post: Skype 2.1 for Android enables video on majority of Android [...]
Skype for iPad launched two days ago and has become an instant hit at the Apple App Store. In fact, according to AppiAnnie, which tracks sales at online stores, Skype for iPad was #1 download on the Apple App Store in 86 countries on launch day. This lead continued into the next day. This response [...]
Not without its launch hiccups, the much-anticipated Skype for iPad was apparently in the Apple App Store for a while last night and then disappeared accompanied by a Tweet from Skype that said: “To ensure your best Skype experience, we’ve temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today.” I went to the Apple [...]
Today Facebook announced three new changes that empower its users with significant real time communications features: Group Chat, a site redesign and Facebook Video Calling powered by Skype. For Skype it’s a major awareness builder of the power of video calling. As suspected by the inclusion of new Facebook features in Skype 5.5 beta for [...]
