Yesterday Skype announced the availability of Skype 3.6 for iOS (iPhone, iPad) with three key updates:

• Chat improvements: Copy and Paste & URL links now work
• UI improvements: Edit button reinstalled in Messages
• Stability improvements and various bug fixes

I installed the upgrade on my iPad (original version) and found the last item is the most important. The initial screen comes up much more quickly showing recent conversations in the left sidebar and “All Contacts” for your account. Go to “Online Contacts” and watch the Contact images “dance around” as Contacts come online or go offline.

Chat sessions with individuals now open up almost instantly when you select a Contact; new messages arrive immediately (at the same time I see them in Skype for Windows). The one remaining “laggard” is bringing up Group Chat sessions where Skype for iPad may take a while to initialize the session as it catches up with all the Contacts in the Group and brings in recent chat messages (in one case for my setup over 300).

I also checked out the Copy and Paste as well as URL links within a chat session; they both work fine. Touch on the message to get the “Copy” icon; touch within the message window to get the “Paste” icon.

Bottom line: Skype 3.6 for iOS is a “must do” upgrade due to these speed improvements. Normally I don’t get pushy about upgrades but this one makes such a performance improvement it is highly recommended. It makes Skype for iPad much more useful as an “always available” Skype platform; for that reason alone it’s worth the upgrade (done via the Apple App Store).

P.S. – When I find my “lost” iPhone I’ll do the upgrade there as well. (“Find my iPhone” did an update a few days after I lost it that would have helped immensely.)

Applicable to both Skype for iPhone and Skype for iPad, a Skype for iOS5 3.5 hotfix released to the Apple App Store earlier this week restores Skype chat sessions on the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad to pre-version 3.5 performance.

While Skype on my iPhone or my iPad is not my primary platform for using Skype, it has become an important backup for monitoring Skype chat threads when I don’t have access to a PC. I could at least follow a thread and make a short response, if appropriate in context. (Full disclosure: I have over 500 Skype contacts which challenges the performance of Skype on these devices due to presence and other ongoing “tracking” issues.)

While the iPhone’s processor speed limits performance relative to responsiveness on a PC, chat sessions with individuals had usually been fairly quick in responses while a little bit of patience was required to follow group chat sessions, especially with more than 50 participants.

However, the release of Skype 3.5 for iOS5 in late September, while introducing some new features and modifying the user interface, also degraded the performance of chat activity. Going to a group chat session would totally freeze the application on either device; even one-to-one chat sessions were unforgivingly slow to follow and respond to. Launching Skype for iPad had long durations bringing up the most recent conversations. I had reported these issues (and I’m sure amongst many others) through Skype’s bug reporting channels; this issue is also raised in several reviews at the iTunes App Store.

Earlier this week I found a new hotfix version 3.5.454 of Skype for iPhone/iPod Touch and Skype for iPad available on the Apple App Store. I have downloaded it and tested it. On a couple of occasions when away from the home office the past few days I found that Skype chat activity on both devices has returned to its pre-version 3.5 performance levels and can once again be a resource for monitoring Skype chat activity while away from a PC. As for group chats, they still take a one to three minutes to catch up but once the content is there, it is fairly responsive.

I have tested Skype-to-Skype calls and SkypeOut calls; for the few times I use this feature, it seems to be working fine.

One caveat: I notice some reviews of this upgrade report that Bluetooth functionality, initially available with Skype for iOS5 3.5, is broken. Update: on my own testing with my car audio by calling Skype Test Call, the Bluetooth connection always attempted to connect but only held the connection to the actual call on one out of three calls.

Bottom line: if you have not done so already, go to the Apple App Store and upgrade your Skype for iPhone and Skype for iPad (it should automatically be offered as an upgrade). It’s not yet at the point where it can take over for Skype on your PC but at least it’s workable for those times when you’re away from a PC. Skype still has some work to do to get to a PC-level of performance at least in terms of chat operation.

For further performance improvement I would still like to see an option to create a subset of my Skype account’s Contacts via the “Category” feature of Skype for Windows or “Tags” feature of Skype for Mac¹. These can then become the Contacts followed on an mobile device. (At least until we see dual core 2.0 GHz processors on these devices.) This would also assist in addressing the ongoing battery drain issue, especially on the iPhone/iPod Touch. (I will continue to monitor this upgrade to see if there is any improvement in the battery drain.)

¹Note that “Categories” in Skype for Windows become assigned as “Tags” in Skype for Mac.

(Note there is a hotfilx upgrade for this version; more information here.)

Yesterday afternoon, for the first time, I was able to make a Skype-to-Skype call from my car using Skype for iPhone over a 3G/HSPA+ wireless service and the Bluetooth connection to my car audio system. I held a (legal) hands-free conversation with a contact in the U.K.; in fact at one point, while waiting to make a turn, I was able to use the rear-facing video camera for a few seconds where he saw, referring to the video quality, a “very fit” lady running down the sidewalk and across the intersection.

Yesterday Skype released new versions of Skype for iOS devices, namely Skype for iPhone and Skype for iPad. The main features promoted by Skype include anti-shake technology and the Bluetooth connectivity mentioned above. However, I also found a couple of additional changes:

• restoration of the ability to access the dial pad during a Skype-to-Skype call; this is necessary to work with PBX’s that can be called via a Skype for business SkypeID using Skype Connect.
• a new call management bar on Skype for iPhone that is more consistent with the call management bar on Skype for iPad and Skype for Mac.

While most of these are self-explanatory, the anti-shake technology probably is best explained through this video; basically it compensates for small movements of your hand while showing a video via the rear camera on the device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLKE58eA-S8

As mentioned above I made a Skype-to-Skype call from my car to a U.K.-based contact where:

• the Bluetooth connection using my car’s audio system for the speaker/mic worked quite well
• there was crystal clear audio due to the use of Skype’s SILK codec technology
• the other party confirmed that the anti-shake technology appeared to be working for the ~30 seconds when I could use the rear webcam while managing hands-free driving (that’s the law in Ontario)
• one could access the dial pad

Three screen shots to show how the new call management bar works:

• Clicking on the blue “+” icon, second from the right, provides access to the dialpad and chat session
• Selecting the dial pad brings up the dial pad shown
• Clicking on the video camera icon allows selection of the front- or rear-facing camera on the device.
• Clicking on the center icon, initial image above, allows selection of the device’s internal speaker/mic or an external earpiece/mic connected via the 3.5mm audio jack

Four other points to note:

• The new version delivers advertising if you don’t have Skype credit or a Skype Calling Plan subscription; this expands a policy launched with the release of Skype for Mac 5.4 two weeks ago.
• A security issue on Skype for iPhone has been addressed; probably the one reported last week.
• This upgrade supports iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, 2nd and 3rd Generation iPod Touch, and both iPad and iPad 2, running iOS 4.
• During an earlier call to the same Contact between his iPhone and my Skype for Windows, the video transmitted from my PC started out at VGA resolution but dropped down to 160 x 120 resolution, probably to match more closely the 192 x 144 resolution that the iPhone delivers for video calling.

Bottom line: Skype for iPhone 3.5 addresses some user feedback issues, especially when it comes to the Bluetooth connectivity as well as a couple of housekeeping issues that had arisen with previous versions. The new Call Management bar also provides more consistency although it would also be useful if one could see call connection quality information, such as has appeared in previous versions.

It’s not quite at the point where I could say “Call James B. on Skype” whereas, using my BlackBerry, I can say “Call James B. mobile” in a totally hands free way. I had to park the car to launch the call via the
Skype client; for most of the call the front-facing camera showed the retracted windshield shades. It would also certainly be useful to have a mounting bracket above the dashboard to hold the iPhone such that the rear camera can show where you are going during a video call; otherwise one needs a passenger to hold the phone safely.

Note: A few hours after the release was announced Skype came out with a notification that there were a couple of issues with respect to loading Skype contacts – which I’ve noticed – and showing Skype credit. While Skype has provided a work around involving uninstalling and reinstalling the application, we should be expecting a hotfix release in the next couple of days to address these issues. Update – 28/9 evening – the hotfix update that resolves the contact sync issue is now available.

Three months ago Skype and TELUS announced an agreement whereby TELUS Mobility, a Canadian carrier, would become proactive in supporting Skype through several initiatives:

• Providing full platform and customer support for the use of Skype on iPhones and Android phones
• Offering a Skype edition LG Optimus Black phone powered by Android with a pre-installed Skype client, support for Bluetooth connectivity and 60 minutes of SkypeOut calling
• Purchase of Skype credit in $5, $10 and $20 amounts charged to the customer’s TELUS account
• Offering Skype with TELUS’ Data Flex Plan whereby data charges are automatically incremented with increased usage. For instance, using <500MB in one month will cost $35 but using 1MB to 2MB in the subsequent month would cost $55.

Late last week I received promotional emails from Skype (in fact, one email for every Skype account registered in my name) that would appear to be going to Skype’s Canadian users. This is the first indication that TELUS is now executing on their agreement with Skype.

On scanning the TELUS Mobility website:

• Skype is proactively being promoted on any iPhone with iOS 4.0 and any Android phone with at least Android 2.1
• Skype credit can be purchased either from a telusmobility.com web page or via a text message that delivers the link for purchase.
• Skype effectively becomes the recommended international long distance service for any of the supported phones
• TELUS is deploying Skype on their 4G network with 21Mbps speeds, being upgraded in many locations to 42Mbps and LTE over the next few months. However, they expect users to see download speeds of 4-6 Mbps in practice.
• Skype is also being heavily promoted on their recently released Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate 4G running under Android 2.3. A $29.99 purchase price requires a minimum $50/month voice and data plan.

The one cautionary note is battery life. As mentioned in a previous post covering Skype for Android,  when running Skype, battery life can be shortened to as little as 3 to 4 hours. This is reinforced on some otherwise very favourable TELUS user comments on the Samsung Galaxy S phone (click on the Reviews tab):

It does have a good battery life, as long as you are closing your apps and other programs properly. Leave stuff open, watch too much video, use the camera, and other battery-draining apps, and yes you will run your battery dry in 1/2 a day. Use it in moderation, along with your casual texting and communication tasks and you will be fine for a day’s worth.

The combination of a 4G Samsung Galaxy S Android phone with Android 2.3 should be sufficient for making Skype video calls on the Fascinate 4G. However, as TELUS is effectively pre-installing a Skype client on these phones, they need to complete some testing and Android software upgrades before confirming that video calling works. In the meantime, if you are able to have a video call experience with either of these phones, please enter a Comment below. TELUS did inform me that video calling will work with the forthcoming 4G Samsung Galaxy S II X .

Skype’s support by TELUS is different from its previous offerings with Verizon in that TELUS is supporting a full Skype for Android peer-to-peer Skype client delivering Instant Messaging, participation in Skype multi-party calls and mood message – and it works over an LTE network. Based on other Skype for Android features it should include native address book integration; as discussed above it certainly has the potential to work with Skype video calling.

The initial Verizon service is a voice and Instant messaging service over a 3G network with no potential for video calling due to its underlying calling architecture which also requires gateway server overhead. On the other hand Verizon did announce plans, at CES, for offering new Android phones that would run Skype, including video calling, on their forthcoming LTE network. (But Andy Abramson seems to be having difficulty with video calling of any kind specifically on Verizon.)

Bottom line: TELUS is now offering full support of Skype on iOS devices and designated Android phones, where the latter is providing customers with a seamless path to both acquiring and sustaining Skype services. Provided they have an appropriate data plan users can make free voice (and video?) calls worldwide to their Skype contacts and low cost international calls to landlines and mobile phones worldwide.

For Skype it becomes another contribution to SkypeOut revenues; there is no mention of any royalty arrangements when it comes to revenues generated associated with the purchase of Skype-enabled Android phones. TELUS, as Canada’s third wireless carrier in subscriber base, demonstrates its aggressiveness once again through a unique offering in the Canadian market. While making it available to their existing customer base, time will tell if Skype support becomes a primary reason for adopting Skype; I have yet to see any TELUS advertising promoting  Skype.

Related articles

• Skype joins forces with TELUS to bring affordable international calling rates to customers in Canada (blogs.skype.com)
• Skype 2.1 for Android enables video on majority of Android devices (blogs.skype.com)

Today I came across a post by Tom Keating at TMCnet advising of a security vulnerability in Skype for iPhone 3.0.1 and possibly Skype for iPad if it is a full iOS issue. Dan York has subsequently written about it, including a statement from Skype:

We are working hard to fix this reported issue in our next planned release which we hope to roll out imminently. In the meantime, we always recommend people exercise caution in only accepting friend requests from people they know and practice common sense Internet security as always. [Author’s bold]

Both posts include a video demonstrating the vulnerability posted by the initial reporter of the vulnerability at the SUPEREVR Security Blog .

Bottom line is “know your contacts”. As Dan states:

Skype’s mitigation recommendation is a good one as the default privacy setting is typically that you can only receive chat messages from people on your Contact list. Therefore, the attacker would have to be someone who you have authorized and added to your contact list.

Hopefully we will see a new release of Skype for iPhone any day now and, if also affected, Skype for iPad. In the meantime “practice safe Skype” by knowing your contacts.

Recently a couple of acquaintances who were leaving for Europe asked me whether they could use Skype for iPhone for “free” calling. The bad news: with high data roaming charges when outside the country on “foreign” 3G/LTE carriers, using Skype for iPhone  has the potential to double the cost of their trip and create “bill shock” on returning home. The good news: put the iPhone (or iPad) in Airplane mode and take advantage of the rapid and pervasive growth of WiFi access points worldwide.

Skype for iPhone (and Skype for iPad) over 3G/LTE uses the carrier’s data, not voice, channel. At a minimum of $3.00/MB (if on a roaming data plan), one needs to make use of the stealth carrier, WiFi. And, if free WiFi is not available, use a service with a per minute connection charge without any data limit.

But how to find a WiFi access point?

Hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, airports, train stations and offices will tend to have WiFi access points. Some will be free, some will require a subscription service such as Boingo and some hotels may charge daily fees for WiFi access. Some airports will provide access via wireless services, such as T-Mobile WiFi at Frankfurt and Munich airports, at an hourly or daily rate.

One alternative, if you are a Skype user and have bought Skype credit, is to check out the availability of a Skype WiFi access point (formerly called Skype Access).

The bad news – yes it has a charge starting at US$0.06/4p/€0,05 per minute (may vary by WiFi operator) but you are only charged for connected minutes with no limits on the amount of data transmitted. Instead of being charged for 20MB of data for a 10 to 15 minute Skype call at, say, Rogers’ @$5.00/MB data roaming charge (total $100), you can pay as little as under $1.00 for the same call.

And Skype WiFi can also be used to check out Twitter, Facebook or some web browsing activity.

But where does Skype for iPhone/iPad come into play? Skype has announced the launch of an iPhone/IPad application, Skype WiFi, which will provide access to Skype WiFi access points at the same rate. Skype WiFi, the application, is available via the Apple App Store. Simply login and Skype WiFi is active; you will see a notification if you are near a supported access point – along with the charge for using the access point.

As stated by Skype WiFi Product Manager, Shadi Mahassel:

With the new Skype WiFi app, you can go online on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (running iOS 4.1 or above with multitasking) at over 1 million WiFi hotspots around the world, including hotels, airports, train stations, convention centres, bars and restaurants. And with Skype Credit you only pay for the minutes you use. So, there’s no need to buy an hour or day WiFi voucher if you’re only looking to check your email or make a quick Skype call.

One caution: be careful to only open Skype for iPhone when you really need it; otherwise, especially if you have a large number of Skype contacts, you could drain your battery in 3 to 4 hours. (With experience to date, battery drain has not been an issue when using Skype for iPad.)

Bottom line: The service now called Skype WiFi (formerly  Skype Access) provides not only a “last resort” WiFi access service but also can significantly reduce the cost of making “otherwise free” Skype-to-Skype calls while bypassing wireless carrier roaming charges. The iOS application called Skype WiFi extends this access service to use on iPhone and iPad.

Note that from 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, August 19 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, August 21 you can try out Skype WiFi for 60 minutes at no charge. Otherwise you will need Skype credit to use the service.

When will we be seeing a similar application for Android phones?

And with a 6GB per month data plan, I’ll continue to use Skype for iPhone or Skype for iPad on my “home” Rogers 3G/HSPA+/LTE service.

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 is certainly a measure of the intensity of anticipation; “Skype for iPad” has been a popular search term on Google for that past several months.

And a few comments based on my experience over the past two days:

• Voice quality – definitely as good as the experience using the iPhone.
• Collaboration – as a participant but not as a host! While you can follow a Group Chat or be a participant in a multi-party voice call via Skype for iPad, you cannot create any form of multi-party conversation. There is no “Add to call” feature anywhere; you cannot add/remove participants to/from a chat session. You must create and host the multi-party conversation in Skype for Windows or Skype for Mac.
  

  3 Party Call

• Video calls – while you cannot send video on the original iPad you can receive video calls on it. Have had a couple of good call experiences with it. Of importance is that video calls be received from contacts using Skype for Windows, Skype for Mac, Skype for iPhone/Android or Skype for TV.
• Notifications: once I had installed Skype for iPad I started receiving an iPad notification every time someone put a message into a Chat session. When you have over 400 Contacts, this can quickly become annoying. Go to the iPad “Settings”, scroll down to Skype (and make sure you select Skype for iPad – showing as version 1.0.1273 until there is an update), select Notifications and turn Sounds and Alerts “Off”.
• Battery drain: more than 24 hours after my last recharge with Skype for iPad open throughout, my battery is down to 55%. Certainly more than acceptable than the iPhone experience if you charge your iPad overnight on a daily basis.
• USB Headset – No! while Dan reported success using a USB headset via the Camera Connector when using the original Skype for iPhone on the iPad, I encountered an unacceptable level of choppy audio when attempting to use a USB headset. If you need a headset for, say, privacy reasons, use the 3.5mm headset jack on the iPad.

Bottom line: With battery life more in the background as an issue, the challenge now is determining under what circumstances I would use it:

• when out of the house and have a WiFi connection, whether via a WiFi Access point or the Personal Hotspot feature of my iPhone¹
• in my office as a backup when my PC is not available (rebooting or running too many other programs such that call quality deteriorates)
• as a speakerphone where maybe 2 to 4 people are listening
• (with iPad 2) as the default video phone, provided the iPad 2 can be located appropriately for capturing the video image (probably using one of the “stand” type covers)

But only ongoing experience will demonstrate where I end up using Skype for iPad. Certainly it adds to the “attache case” content I discussed when iPad was first announced. After all we often carry a mobile phone in a brief case.

¹Using the Personal Hotspot feature of the iPhone helps to consume the 6GB monthly data plan available on my iPhone – which otherwise never gets over 1GB – and saves the monthly fee for an iPad data service – especially since I seem to use well over the minimum level Rogers offers in its iPad data plans.

Related articles

• Skype for iPad: Creating a Default Video Phone for Consumers? (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype Now Optimized for your iPad (blogs.skype.com)

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 App Store around 8:30 EDT this morning and found nothing. Fifteen minutes later I found an application identified as “skype software S.A.R.L.” and presto, I was able to download the Skype for iPad application. Shortly afterward Skype provided a blog post: Skype Now Optimized for your iPad.

Skype Journal’s Phil Wolff, in  Skype for iPad is like Skype for iPhone, with elbow room, has gone through many of the installation steps and launch features. We did an iPad 2 to iPad 1 video call this morning while he was preparing breakfast and cracking some eggs; it confirmed that you can receive a video call on an original iPad but, of course,without a camera, you can only place a voice call (or chat).

This image also provides an overview of the user interface, in landscape mode, during a call: access to the user’s Skype profile, a Contacts button, the “Current” call and a “Recent” list of Contacts with whom you have had recent chat, voice or video conversations. You can click on any of those items during a call; the call will continue with the video freezing and you can then return to the Call screen by clicking on the “Current” item (and the video goes “live” again).

Contacts: When you initially launch the application you get a  4 x 5 matrix display of all your Skype account’s Contacts at the beginning of the alphabet. My first intuition was to scroll down the screen to find a contact I wanted to call but, with over 400 contacts, that gets tedious. I wondered if there was a Search capability – there is, but you need to pull down at the top of the Contacts screen to show the Search bar. Over on the left again are avatars for all the “Recent” Contacts. (Skype for iPhone at least shows the alphabet on the right side of the Contacts screen with a search icon before “A”, making it much easier to find the Search bar.)

Tags, Categories and Groups – there’s a bit of confusion! Especially if you have been using Skype on a Windows or Mac. When you first launch Skype for iPad you will see an embedded “Tags” arrow in the upper left of the ribbon bar. This takes you to a page where you will see icons for “All Contacts”, “Online Contacts” and each of the “Categories” of Contacts you have created in Skype for Windows. The confusion arises through the lack of a consistent term for what are called “Categories” in Skype for Windows, “Groups” in Skype for Mac and “Tags” in Skype for iPad. Someone has to take charge as Uber-Product Manager for Skype clients and get the terminology consistent.

One issue that was consistently noted by several who installed it was that, if you have a large number of Contacts, it would take some time for all the Contacts to be loaded. Also it would capture recent chat sessions that had originated on, say, Skype for Windows; I found some sessions that went back three or four days. Again this delays getting to a point where you can really start to use the application.

Profile: Clicking on the Profile icon in the upper left brings up the My Info screen from which you can select “My Profile” as shown on the left.

As Phil noted, there is no way to buy Skype Credit through the application, clicking on Skype Credit simply brings up an information screen. This is probably a result of Apple’s recent policy change about “in app” purchases that significantly impacted how various book stores operate on the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. (Does this mean we will see a new version of Skype for iPhone to replace the current one that allows you to “Add Credit”?)

The application inherited my Call Forwarding information, Skype Credit amount and Skype Online number.

Making Calls: from the Contacts screen, select a Contact, select the “Call” or “Chat” button and, if “Call”, select whether you want to make a Skype call or a SkypeOut call to one of the Contact’s listed phone numbers. Note that there is also an option to launch a chat session or send an SMS message. (The Video button is shaded as I am using an original iPad with no video camera.)

The dark call screen will appear (note its similarity to the call screen in Skype for Windows 5.5), When answered, as shown above, it includes a call control bar for showing the chat session, going to a full screen display, muting the mic, a dial pad (even in a Skype-to-Skype call) and ending the call. If you select one of the Recent contacts you will see the chat session screen with a “phone” icon in the upper right; tap the phone icon to launch a call. There is no option for make multi-party calls hosted on the iPad.

Voice quality during my calls today was indicative of using Skype’s SILK codec. By making a call to a Skype for Windows client I was able to confirm, via the Call Information screen in the Skype for Windows client, that Skype’s SILK codec was, in fact, deployed.

At this point there is not enough experience to comment on battery drain, a significant  issue with Skype for iPhone. I have also tried to make a call using a USB headset via the iPad Camera Connector; while you can hear something, it’s a very choppy audio that is not suitable for a call. On the other hand, using a 3.5mm plug headset, such as the FREETALK Handsfree, provides the crystal clear audio associated with SILK.

Initially I had an issue with my iPad mic not working; however, a search on Google provided the solution: sometimes it is necessary to fully power down the iPad and reboot it to make the mic work.

Bottom line: Skype for iPad takes advantage of the larger display format to manage Skype calling; however, there is a learning curve that could be enhanced through more consistency with making calls on a Windows or Mac PC (or even the iPhone). It offers outbound calling to landlines and mobile phones, it works over either 3G or WiFi, it delivers a new dimension in video calling on mobile devices (supporting both the front- and rear-facing iPad cameras), it supports instant messaging.

It’s certainly a more suitable platform for video calling than the iPhone. There still needs to be some longer term experience to see how battery life will impact using Skype for iPad as an every-day “phone” and whether it can become a “default” platform for Skype calling. The processor speed on the iPad 2 vs the original iPad may also become a consideration.

Related articles

• Hands-On With Skype’s Web Phone App for iPad (wired.com)
• Hands on with Skype for iPad, a killer video chat app (venturebeat.com)

Check out the statistics that arose out of last week’s panel discussion: Skype call information; Skype for TV – coming soon to a family room near you and the change in Skype’s employee per lawyer ratio over the past year.

My previous post, Skype: Evolution from “Wildly Popular and Deeply Troubled”, covered a recent panel discussion, held last week at the Fortune Brainstorm event, on the subject of the transition of Skype as it passed through three owners: eBay –> Silver Lake consortium –-> Microsoft. I highlighted several topics where three key players, including Skype CEO Tony Bates, gave their perspective on why various business decisions were made that resulted in these ownership changes.

But there were also some interesting statistics and other information re Skype’s ongoing operations that came out during the discussion:

• Skype released five products over a six week period in June/July this year, more than had been released in the previous two years.
• It appears that, while Tony Bates was announced as CEO in early October 2010, he actually started becoming involved with Skype operations in August (an advantage of being a private company – you don’t have to announce key executive changes when they actually occur). This information came out during the discussion about the release date for the Skype for iPhone video calling upgrade .
• Skype had over 7 million downloads of Skype for iPhone 3.0 with video calling on its December 30, 2010 release date.
• When Tony joined Skype he found as his favorite statistic: “Five people who actually touched product and wrote code for every lawyer in the company.” Today that ratio is now 25:1 and rising, according to Tony’s comment. This explains why several issues have persisted over the years including:
• the lack of Skype Online numbers for Canada (which could easily be resolved to address a Canadian regulatory issue),
• the delay in releasing Skype for iPhone to Canadians due to an intellectual property issue
• the tight credit policies such as the fact that a credit card can only be used with one Skype account. If I want to use a credit card with my wife’s Skype account, I need to use a different credit card.
• the constant concern over U.S. regulatory issues as Skype rolls out a Skype for Business program in the U.S.
• Skype expects to see “Monthly Active Users” (“MAU’s”) rise to over 200 million by year end from its current 170 million MAU’s in the last quarter.
• Skype active users average over 100 minutes of engagement (in a Skype voice or video conversation) per month.
• The average video call lasts 27 minutes and is rising; an interesting statistic that helps to confirm what Skype Chief Technology Strategist Jonathan Rosenberg pointed out in his “The Rise of Real Time Social Sharing” presentation at eComm America 2010.
• Will Skype be in your family room soon? Skype for TV has already been embedded into over 50 million TV Skype-enabled TV sets (and BluRay players) worldwide, including high end models from Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and Vizio.
• In spite of the occasional service interruption, over 35% of Skype’s user base is small business that uses Skype as their primary communications service “with the fall-back that the cost piece is so compelling”.

Bottom Line: It’s a bit of a hodge-podge of information but it all contributes to a better understanding of not only how Skype is ending up as an autonomous business division of Microsoft but also what developments are happening on the business side that have contributed to the variety of new products and releases that have appeared over the past six weeks.

Related articles

• Skype CEO Tony Bates talks about making Skype video calling ubiquitous (blogs.skype.com)
• Microsoft’s Skype acquisition expected to close by October (winrumors.com)

Last week Skype and TELUS Mobility announced an agreement, where Canada’s third largest national wireless carrier will be closely working with Skype for free Skype-to-Skype and low cost SkypeOut international calling. While Canadians can use Skype for iPhone and Skype for Android on any Canadian carrier offering iPhone and Android phones, this agreement represents the first formal agreement between Skype and a Canadian wireless carrier with value-added services.

To give some background, both TELUS Mobility and Bell Mobility were spinoffs of legacy landline carriers where TELUS covers British Columbia and Alberta while Bell covers Ontario and Quebec. Since their respective cellular networks commenced operations back in the mid-1980’s , both have expanded to cover the entire county for wireless services; in TELUS’ case they acquired a major Bell/Rogers competitor who covered Ontario and Quebec.

However, whereas Rogers, the leading national carrier has always supported GSM protocols, TELUS and Bell both launched their services using the CDMA protocols (a la Verizon and Sprint in the U.S.). The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, where Bell Canada was the “official carrier”, was the stimulus for Bell Canada to upgrade their network to GSM-compatible HSPA+ service in November 2009.

But this is a large country, 90% of the Canadian population lives within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of the 6,000 km (4,000 mile) U.S.-Canada border. So the capital cost for a new network infrastructure, so long yet so narrow, runs up quickly. As a result Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility partnered to build one 4G/HSPA+ network infrastructure to support the two retail operations. One ironic twist is that, at the time of the network’s launch in the fall of 2009, Bell and TELUS both launched an offering for the iPhone 3G S (and later iPhone 4) which already had support for HSPA+.

Launch of this network broke not only the Rogers Canadian monopoly on the Canadian iPhone franchise but also its monopoly on international roaming for visitors to Canada (since most of the world’s carriers supported GSM). There also occurred some legal and regulatory battles (Bell/TELUS vs Rogers) over the promotion of each network’s speed ; effectively they ended up in a draw. (Note also that Canada’s two legacy CDMA carriers were offering iPhone a year before Verizon could launch a CDMA-compliant iPhone in the U.S. market.)

From its launch in late 2009, TELUS has called their network a 4G 21Mbps network, with a speed increase to 42Mbps this year and plans to go to 4G/LTE “coming soon”. So they certainly have the data speeds required to support Skype calls over a data network using a native carrier-agnostic Skype client.

Under the leadership of CEO Darren Entwistle TELUS has been noted for aggressive, “outside-the-box” marketing initiatives that appeal especially to a younger demographic . The most recent example occurred earlier this week when, following release of a OECD report pointing out that Canadian carriers had some of the highest international roaming charges anywhere, TELUS came back immediately announcing they would be reviewing their roaming plans with a view to lowering roaming costs.

Upon reviewing the Skype/TELUS press release, along with responses to some questions I posed to Skype’s PR agency, here is how I see the positioning of the service:

• TELUS customers will be using Skype for iPhone and Skype for Android installed on the relevant devices via downloads from the respective application stores or via the web at skype.com/m.
• TELUS will be reinforcing the customer experience by providing enhanced customer support for TELUS customers using Skype on their smartphones
• Skype Credit can be purchased directly from the TELUS customer’s mobile phone with the transaction billed to his/her TELUS account
• A Skype edition LG Optimus Black phone will be launched in July by TELUS to give customers easy access to Skype through a pre-installed icon on the home screen, a detailed “getting started” guide, and Skype Credit to begin making calls to landline and mobile phones immediately
• TELUS customers will be able to make free Skype-to-Skype calls worldwide as well as use Skype’s Instant Messaging presence and chat features.
• TELUS  customers will be able to make calls to landlines outside Canada (and mobile phones in countries where phone owner pays for inbound calls) using either Skype Calling Plan subscriptions or Skype Credit on a pay-as-you-go basis.
• Carrier data charges will apply when used over the 4 G network. TELUS recommends a Data Flex plan or Wi-Fi connection when making Skype calls (according to the TELUS website)
• The Android-based LG phone will support Bluetooth connectivity (not available with Skype for iPhone currently)

Here’s my take on the announcement:

• This is Skype’s first carrier arrangement involving carrier-endorsed support of the native Skype client on a mobile smartphone as compared to the carrier-specific “Skype mobile” arrangements with Verizon and 3.
• It’s a major marketing move by TELUS to associate itself with leading edge services without the need for any major capital equipment costs (such as “Skype mobile” gateway servers) other than those already planned for their 4G evolution.
  • There are ongoing operations costs for TELUS involving marketing and customer support.
  • Skype does not have to develop a carrier-specific application for these services
• Skype’s significant data requirements will drive demand for TELUS data plan subscriptions and ARPU when the customer is making calls, including Skype-to-Skype calls, from within Canada.
• For the supported smartphones Skype basically takes over TELUS’s responsibility for managing TELUS Mobility’s international calling with Skype revenues coming from Skype Calling Plan subscriptions and Skype Credits required to make international calls to the PSTN.
• One would have to assume the above two revenue drivers would incorporate revenue sharing between TELUS and Skype.
  • Question: are there any Skype software royalties involved based on customer revenues?
• Will the LG Skypephone support Skype mobile Video that was announced for Verizon at CES 2011 or an equivalent service?
• When roaming internationally, it would be wise to turn off 3G/4G and only make Skype calls from WiFi connections in hotels, airports, restaurants, offices and other WiFi hotspots – which are quite prevalent in Europe from my own experience over the past two years.
  • Is WiFi growing as a Stealth Carrier? Can it be a viable alternative to roaming charges?
• Skype-to-Skype messaging will certainly impact TELUS revenues for SMS text messaging services but Apple’s recent iMessage announcement will probably have an even larger impact on carrier SMS messaging revenues
• With no native Skype for BlackBerry application, TELUS’s Skype service will not be available to their BlackBerry customers.

One final but very important concern: will the supported phones have enough battery life to support this initiative? I have covered this issue previously with some suggestions.

And one irony: While there are no Canadian Skype Online numbers available due to a conflict between a regulatory issue and Skype’s past policies re e911 services, TELUS Mobility customers can now set up as many as ten Skype Online numbers in any of the 26 countries (U.S., U.K. included) where Skype Online numbers are available. Calling a “local” Skype Online number in those countries, an “expat” relative or overseas customer can reach a TELUS Mobility customer via Skype on a call that would have no termination charge revenue for TELUS.

Bottom line: Skype is once again being endorsed for its ability to be a marketing tool that attracts a younger “always-on” demographic seeking lower cost communications and new communications services. Skype is a service that has a low implementation cost for TELUS while taking advantage of their higher speed network, yet expands TELUS’s appeal to a country where international communications plays a significant role not only for business but also for the various ethnic communities that want to keep in touch with relatives and friends in their country of ethnic origin.

We look forward to following its actual implementation, especially the launch of the LG Skypephone and its feature set, over the next couple of months.

Yesterday Phil Wolff at Skype Journal brought our attention to an “infographic” from the financial due diligence-minded Credit Score Blog for Focus.com. It attempts to provide a history of Skype both from the technology and financial performance perspectives. But, in addition to Phil’s Quibbles, I have found some others.

Click on the graphic to see a larger image.

Research and Design by Credit Score Blog for Focus.com

Accounts and Users – there’s a difference!

Skype now has registered somewhere beyond 700 million accounts, increasing by over 500,000 every day. But, as has been pointed out often over the past few years, this number in meaningless since over 75% of the accounts have not been used for quite some time for at least three months. Users die, they try out Skype and give it up, a business will register new business accounts for employees who resign or are otherwise terminated. The list of reasons for not using an account can go on forever. (Unlike direct mail lists that can lose 20% of their accuracy every six months, users who move geographically can continue to use their Skype accounts provided they have an Internet connection.)

Starting with the IPO filing last year, Skype finally started to give out a more realistic number – the number of users who actually made at least one call or participated in at least one chat session in the previous calendar quarter. Whereas there were about 125 million in the April – June quarter of 2010, this number has risen to over 170 million for the January to March quarter 2011. In other words this is the number of active users.

So while Skype had registered over 100 million accounts in 2006, they did not reach the level of 100 million users until late 2009 or early 2010. It’s those active users whom become interesting to Microsoft as they work with their Skype team to develop plans for Skype’s (and Microsoft’s) growth.

Skype’s history with Video Calling – Sorting Out High Quality Video and HD Video

Yes, Skype introduced video calling in early 2006; it first came of out beta with Skype for Windows 3.1 in early 2007 delivering 320 x 240 images @15frames-per-second . However, in November 2007, Skype showed it got serious about taking the lead in video calling with the introduction of High Quality Video which required a new line of Logitech webcams, new video codecs from On2 (since acquired by Google) and a new version of Skype for Windows (3.6) that could deliver VGA resolution (640 x 480) at 30 frames-per-second and over a 384 kbps upload speed Internet connection.

With its superior quality that delivered in-your-face real time video, Skype video took off to the point where today video calling represents about 40 per cent of all Skype calls.

In 2010, with the launch of Skype for Windows 4.2, Skype announced support for 720p HD video calling; at the time it only supported webcams from two vendors: the FREETALK Everyman HD and Facevsion N1 webcams. HD video was off to a rocky start; it required at least 1.2 Mbps upload speed on the Internet connection (above the upload speed of most broadband connections) and there were call reliability and stability issues. With a firmware upgrade in December (FREETALK, Facevsion) and the release of Skype 5.0 for Windows, HD video calling has become a much more reliable service. Recently Logitech released a line of webcams that support HD Video calling. Over the past few weeks I have received HD video calls from Logitech webcams where callers had only a 1 Mbps upload speed.

With respect to the Infographic:

• Skype released High Quality Video in late 2007; they did not release HD Video until 2010.
• A major milestone for Skype video calls was the introduction of video calling on iPhones at the end of 2010.
• Finally, in early 2011, Skype took Group Video Calling out of beta, increased its capacity to ten participants and offered it as one component of its revenue generating Skype Premium service.

Microsoft Anywhere Graphic – What Happened to Outlook and Office?

The infographic attempts to illustrate all the potential Microsoft products that could benefit from embedding Skype technology and services. But what happened to Office and, especially, Outlook? At the press conference there was, to say the least, a strong emphasis placed on how Skype could be integrated with Outlook for both consumer and business use.

For Windows users, Outlook has become the core resource for managing users’ contacts; many products’ address books and scheduling features rely on the user’s Outlook Contacts and Calendars as the primary source of contact and calendar information. Outlook is critical for synchronizing a mobile phone address book, keeping the user’s schedule current and integrating Outlook information into third party collaboration services as well as many other Microsoft and third party offerings.

Full disclosure: the author’s first association with Skype involved beta testing of the Skype Email Toolbar, an Outlook plugin that allows you to make Skype calls directly from Outlook. However, the Skype for Windows client now incorporates an optional feature for importing Outlook contacts into a user’s Skype contacts, so this plugin has become a secondary offering.

I’ll place my bets on Outlook being the first or second Microsoft product to find Skype embedded into it.

Skype and Its Competition

That competition bar misses a couple of key aspects of Skype:

• Internationalization: Google Voice really only works  if you live in the U.S.; after all these years it still has no offerings for the rest of us around the world. Personally I have set up a Google Voice account during a recent visit to the U.S. but it’s of no use to me when at home in Canada.
• Technology: Over time Skype has developed some very unique technology that delivers a unique conversation experience; for example,
  • the SILK codec provides crystal clear voice on Skype-to-Skype calls, even when calling from/to iPhones and Android phones.
  • Video: Skype is unique in providing 640 x 480 video calling @ 30 fps via a simple user interface. Since its introduction in late 2007, there has been no competitive service with such a large network of users that can deliver this quality of real time video calls. And now HD video capability is starting to penetrate the user base.
  • Network connection: Skype has introduced features that monitor and adjust to the conditions of a call’s network connection such as to minimize the chance of call failure.

Bottom Line: While the infographic is a good attempt at outlining both Skype’s financial background and user experiences, it is missing some key elements that have the potential to contribute significantly to Microsoft’s ability to benefit from a $8.5 billion acquisition.

The key risk lies in how effectively Microsoft’s various product teams can work with the Skype teams to develop world changing communications-enhanced offerings. It’s a challenge to Microsoft’s ability to support real innovation. This represents the best opportunity for demonstrating Alec Saunders Voice 2.0 Manifesto where talk is the baseline, the meter is “off” and communications-enhanced applications are the value creators.

Related articles

• Microsoft Acquires Skype – The “Amber Mac Test” (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – A Most Interesting Marriage (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – Steve Ballmer Does Skype Europe (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Microsoft Acquires Skype – An Investor’s Perspective (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Skype’s Rollercoaster History [INFOGRAPHIC] (mashable.com)

Toronto has always had this “peskily convenient” second airport, on an island in Lake Ontario a few meters from Toronto’s waterfront. Political wars have been waged over its commercial operations; endorsement for building the short bridge to the island changed the direction of a mayoral campaign a few years back (ca. 2004). So passengers must still take a two minute ferry ride from the lakeshore to get to the terminal.

Several airlines have operated short haul flights over the years, more recently often using short take-off and landing aircraft, mostly produced by Bombardier at a local aircraft production facility; these aircraft operate on many commuter airlines worldwide. The most recent Toronto City Airport passenger airline has been upstart Porter Airlines flying to cities such as Montreal, Ottawa and New York.

Today Air Canada enters the fray again, having contracted with Sky Regional Airlines to operate as Air Canada Express to Montreal, initially. A story appeared today in the Toronto Star, Plane, check. iPad, check. The pilots on this service are replacing their briefcases that carried over 50 lbs. of manuals with iPads loaded with weather and other flight information prior to the flight. One more application of the iPad as an electronic briefcase.

But there was also one interesting line from the story:

On the ground, the pilots can link up to head office with instant updates and information and even hold Skype conversations on Bluetooth equipment. But once in the air, they turn off wireless connection like other passengers, and use information that has already been downloaded.

For now they will have to operate with Skype for iPhone on the iPad and its inconvenient display format; I’m sure they would be delighted to have a version of Skype for iPad that adapts well to the iPad’s display format. But this story is interesting on several fronts:

• It’s a classic adoption of a tablet as a replacement for a briefcase loaded down with paper.
• The “green” factor: every pound counts when it comes to fuel costs; in this case the load is reduced by over 50 pounds on each flight.
• A unique application for using Skype in business activity
• Pilot documentation can be updated to the time of take-off
• Even pilots cannot operate wireless devices during a flight in Canadian airspace.

One can speculate about one question: this is a Canadian flight service operating on Canadian-built aircraft. With all those internal systems, there must be some QNX involved. Would it not be more appropriate, at some point in the future, to use a Canadian-produced PlayBook with its Canadian-developed QNX O/S to become a more interactive tablet for supporting flight operations?

Warning to the Air Canada Express pilots: to optimize battery life ensure that the Skype is closed during flights. While the iPad has a somewhat longer battery life than an iPhone, I would still take any cautionary measure that lengthens battery life during a flight.

Photo credit: The Toronto Star

Related articles

• Can you run Skype on an iPad (wiki.answers.com)
• FAA Approves iPads for Charter Pilots (cultofmac.com)

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.

When entering the BlogHaus suite over three years ago at CES 2008, I quickly learned I had to be careful with my activities as Robert Scoble was running around with a Nokia N95 recording short video clips(and sometimes “instant” interviews) using a newly launched service called Qik. The basic idea was that (1) you could record a video on a smartphone for archiving on the web and (2) during the recording period the video was also being live streamed via the Qik website.

Fast forward three years later when Qik supported a broad range of smartphones, had probably millions of video clips archived and was developing an comprehensive iPhone offering.  At the Skype press conference at CES 2011, Skype announced the acquisition of Qik. This past two weeks has seen the launch of two iPhone apps: the premium ($2.99)  Qik Connect Video PLUS (at SXSW 2011) and, last week, the free app Qik Video Connect.

Over the past couple of days I have been checking out Qik Video Connect PLUS with Dan York and Phil Wolff. Basically the (Free) Qik Video Connect  offers three services:

• Video Chat: a one-to-one video calling service over WiFi, 3G and 4G
• Video Streaming: Live stream a video to the net via the Qik website with promotion via Twitter and Facebook
• Video Mail: record and email a video message.

All videos are also archived at Qik for private or public viewing. And, within the iPhone app, their availability can be sent out over Twitter and Facebook; they can also be sent to the iPhone’s Camera Roll (video/photo library). In fact, there is even an option to send it to YouTube.

Qik Connect Plus adds:

• Real-time effects: Customize and enhance video chat and live video streaming with seven effects and filters.
• Video editing: Use simple video editing tools directly from your device to share the best moments.
• HD quality: Upload and share true HD quality videos captured on your phone.

The Real-time effects are created by using the image bar at the bottom of the picture to turn the video being seen to full color, black and white, sepia and five other “effects”. When you End a Video Chat session, an editing bar appears across the top of the screen; it can also be recalled for later editing from the My Videos icon on the Home screen menu.

Some screen shots:

Qik Video Connect Contacts are those amongst your iPhone Contacts who have the same mobile or iPhone number as they have registered with their Qik account; a green webcam indicates that the Contact has Qik Video Connect installed and is available to receive a call. (You can receive a call while in another iPhone application.) Note that as I already had a Qik account, I did not have to use the registration procedure available on the application yet I could pull up and view previously archived videos.

In the center image, Phil Wolff was receiving the call and used his rear facing camera to catch our simultaneous Skype video conversation on his PC screen. I was using the “front” facing camera on my iPhone 4. The right image shows not only the option to do further editing but also the many ways a video can be shared or distributed.

And a short clip on YouTube:

If there is one concern, it’s about the user interface, not for the screens, but rather for the random way in which some screens come up. For instance, sometimes when I asked for the Connect screen (showing the Contacts) I would get a screen asking me to Invite contacts – and it would act as if I had no Contacts. Touching other Home menu items and then going back to the Connect screen would bring up the Contacts but there appeared to be no logic as to why this was happening. Also the process of showing webcam presence in the Contacts screen was sometimes not in accord with what I knew Phil was doing at the other end (for instance, I knew he was trying to call me, yet I would see his webcam as gray). Also I have yet to discover what is meant by “HD Quality”; certainly the video was not 720p HD resolution (1280 x 720).

Bottom line: While Qik certainly has developed an appealing application that demonstrates not only video messaging, streaming and archiving but also the video technology that Skype acquired with the Qik acquisition.  Questions have to arise as to where Skype will apply the technology. Will it be used to improve the resolution of Skype video calling on the iPhone and Android? Will Qik Video Connect add Skype contacts to its “Connect” contacts list? What does Skype gain in terms of transmitting video at top quality over 3G and 4G networks? Will Qik’s technology be used for recording Skype video calls? (And I’m sure there lots of other questions.)

And one other note: There are now at least three video calling offerings for the iPhone: Facetime (calls over WiFi to other iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac users); Skype for iPhone (calls to Skype clients on multiple platforms over WiFi and 3G but at lower resolutions than Facetime) and Qik Video Connect’s video chat (calls over WiFi and 3G/4G between iPhones and iPod Touch where also video “mail” messages can be left and calls are archived).

Related articles

• Qik Free available in the US iTunes store (skypejournal.com)
• Handheld HD with Qik Video Connect Plus (insideview.ie)
• Qik unveils Qik Video Connect for iPhone, offers real-time filters and effects (thenextweb.com)
• Qik technologies should flow to Skype users (skypejournal.com)

A few days after CES 2011 and its announcements re Skype on mobile devices and Skype on TV, the daily maximum of Skype users concurrently online has quickly risen from 25 million to just shy of 29 million. Hudson Barton’s meticulous tracking demonstrates the long term growth of this statistic.

Last summer, when Skype filed for an IPO, they announced that, during the April to June, 2010 quarter, over 125 million unique users had made at least one call on Skype during the quarter. Today, with via a press release announcing a major expansion of the Skype Access WiFi service, Skype announced that over 145 million users had made at least one Skype call during the quarter ending December 31, 2010.

The number came with one caveat: “excluding users connected via joint venture partners”. One would have to assume this number does not include calls made via the carrier-specific services that use Skype, namely, Skype mobile on Verizon (with over 80 million subscribers to whom Verizon’s Skype mobile client was “pushed” to all supported phones) and the nine 3 services in Europe, Hong Kong and Australia.

Two questions:

1. What is driving this growth acceleration? Is it simply an outcome of the announcements at CES 2011? or is it virally driven by more awareness of Skype’s services? Is Group Video Calling contributing to this increase? Or, with over 10 million downloads in the first two weeks of its release, is it the launch of video calling on Skype for iPhone?

2. How many of these new subscribers are buying Skype’s revenue generating services? This was a major concern that arose out of the IPO registration document, where only 8% of Skype users were actually buying services such as SkypeOut, Online numbers and Voice mail?

Bottom line is that two different measurements confirm that Skype usage is on an accelerated growth path, at least during the first quarter of 2011. And, finally, it appears that Skype is measuring its growth by a more realistic statistic of  “active” users rather than the total number of Skype accounts (now over 600 million) which appears to have resulted in about 80% of all Skype accounts created since 2003 having gone stale over time.

Related articles

• Skype for Mac 5, Skype for iPhone 3.0.1 – Upgrade Wednesday (voiceontheweb.biz)

Yesterday Skype issued two “hotfix” upgrades.

Skype for Mac 5.0.0.7994

The latest Skype for Mac upgrade addresses an issue where Skype was taking over ownership of the video camera such that it could not be used with other software. Other issues addressed are outlined in this Skype Garage Blog post along with some known issues.

Skype for iPhone 3.0.1

The latest Skype for iPhone 3.0.1 upgrade (available via the Apple App store) provides support for video calls between Skype for iPhone and Skype for TV or Skype for Nokia N900. Skype for TV only supports the H.264 codec; as a results Skype video calls can only be completed with clients that have support for the H.264 codec, such as Skype for Windows 5.0, Skype for Mac 5.0 and, now, Skype for iPhone 3.0.1.

Of Interest

The Skype for iPhone 3.0.1 release blog post mentions the item “Support for iOS 4.3”. My iPad and iPhone (currently at version 4.2.1) say the next check for an iOS 4 upgrade will occur tomorrow (Feb. 11); probably coincidental with today’s launch of the Verizon version of the iPhone. While Skype has announced support for the “Verizon” iPhone, there must be an iOS upgrade coming to support the Verizon version of the iPhone but wonder if iOS 4.3 will also support, for all iPhones, the WiFi “personal hotspot” feature that is supposed to be available on the Verizon version of the iPhone.

As stated previously, while Skype for Mac 5 brings users closer to the Skype for Windows 5.x client, there still seems to be a learning curve for some users in terms of the “Contacts sidebar” and “conversation pane’ algorithm that has been employed in Skype for Windows 4.x and 5.x for over a year now. It takes some adaptation to the thinking; however, my personal experience has demonstrated that this is a much more effective and productive interface in terms of tracking activity with each of my Contacts. Full disclosure: I probably do more searches in Skype Chat windows than Google searches even though each addresses totally different user needs.

But, since the launch of Skype for Mac 5 Gold, there is one additional Skype for Mac UI issue that I would like to see addressed. Skype for Mac 5 allows you to narrow the Skype client window. However, whereas narrowing the Skype client in Skype for Windows 5.x stops the narrowing of the Contact pane at a width such that you can still see most Contacts’ full name, narrowing the Skype for Mac 5 window crunches the width of the Contact pane to the point where it becomes useless for access contacts.

Bottom line: Yes, it’s a Skype for Mac hotfix but there are still some outstanding features of Skype for Mac 5 required to have the full feature set of Skype for Windows 5, especially with respect to the issue of introducing the complete call bar feature set in Skype for Windows 5. And as for video calls between iPhone and TV sets, another Skype first – definitely not available with FaceTime.

Note: This headline, Skype for iPhone adds HDTV support, is incorrect for two reasons: Skype for iPhone video currently supports 160 x 120 resolution and Skype for TV supports, at best, High Quality Video’s 640 x 480 resolution (or lower if network conditions deteriorate). But it’s definitely not HDTV. Furthermore the H.264 codec  supports lower resolutions that 720p; it’s not always synonymous with HD resolutions. (And somewhere today I recall seeing a headline about “HD” becoming a useless term as it becomes used for anything that might be the “latest” in video — or even audio)

• Skype Journal: Download: Skype for Mac 5.0.0.7994 Hotfix; Download: Skype for iPhone 3.0.1. Video calls to Skype for TV
• Disruptive Telephony: Skype Adds H.264 Support to iPhone App And Supports Skype TVs

Related articles

• Skype for iPhone now lets you make video calls to TVs (thenextweb.com)
• Skype 3.0 for iPhone: New Dimensions in Smartphone Video Calling (voiceontheweb.biz)

With the launch of a limited multi-tasking capability in iOS4, many applications can be suspended in background or even triggered back into operating if they receive a “push” notification. One common complaint from many Skype for iPhone users has been the excessive battery drain caused when it is running in background. In fact, I have seen statements to the effect that there is no way to “exit” Skype for iPhone – but read on ….

A recent visit to my local Apple Store, where the manager happened to be serving me, and an interview earlier this week about Skype for iPhone 3.0 with Neil Stevens, Skype’s Vice-President and General Manager, Consumer Products, have combined to provide considerations for optimizing battery life.

From an overall iPhone perspective the Apple Store Manager recommended two steps:

• Shut down any unnecessary applications suspended or running in background; if not required at the moment, they are unnecessarily draining the battery. This step provides a path to exiting these applications smoothly.
• Turn your iPhone fully Off and then On once a day to remove any lingering, but non-essential, background services that cannot be accessed via an application icon.

For the former, access the “open” applications by hitting the Home button twice; across the bottom of the screen you’ll find a ribbon of “open” application icons. Press down and hold one of those applications until the icons start to jiggle and have a red “-“ circle in the upper left hand corner – as shown in the image on the right. Press on the red “-“ circle and the application is closed. Now you have a way to “exit” Skype completely but, of course, you will not receive Skype Chat notification messages or receive any Skype calls. (This does not delete the application itself; it simply closes or exits its operation.)

With respect to the latter, apparently some applications can leave traces of background services, such as location-based information, running with the result that they put a drain on the battery even though, for whatever reason, they are no longer required. Simply turn the iPhone Off once a day and then turn it back On to ensure you are only using services required for your “current” iPhone activity.

I tested these steps and did find I would have longer battery life by up to a couple of hours, especially if Skype for iPhone was not running.

When I interviewed Skype’s Neil Stevens about Skype for iPhone 3 in preparation for yesterday’s post, I asked about the impact of video calling on battery life. Neil responded to the effect that video calling itself would not be a significant drain on the battery but rather the most important factor impacting battery life when using Skype for iPhone is the ongoing background presence detection and chat notification services that are needed to keep a user’s Skype activity current.

Neil mentioned that, while most users probably have 20 to 30 Skype Contacts, users with a large number of contacts, such as the author with ~400 contacts, would experience a significant impact on battery life. If a user has multiple chat sessions running, this accelerates the battery drain further. As a result my battery life while operating Skype for iPhone in background is less than four hours.

The only cures for this situation are:

• cull your Skype Contacts to ensure you only have “active” Contacts,
• use a separate Skype account for iPhone calls (with call forwarding from your original Skype account) but this then gets into issues of keeping two contact lists up-to-date as well as buying an additional subscription or
• hope that Skype would develop into the next release of Skype for iPhone the ability to select a Category of Contacts called, say, “iPhone”, such that these would be the only Contacts loaded into Skype for iPhone from an existing Skype account. Frankly since I only have about 30 to 40 regular contacts on iPhone I could live with the latter.

Bottom Line: it’s great to be able to call over 125 million potential Skype contacts on PC’s and mobile devices from virtually anywhere worldwide with 3G or WiFi access. This morning I was given an amusing tour of Salisbury, UK via a Skype video call from an acquaintance’s iPhone 4 as he drove around town (his wife held the iPhone); we even confirmed that mobile Skype video calling works at up to 90 km/h (55 mph).

However, the main outage for mobile Skype video calling is not the availability of the Skype service itself (independently calculated to have had over 99.88% uptime over the past three years) but rather the lifetime of my iPhone battery.

(Note that an acquaintance has purchased the fastmac iV for iPhone Battery charger with an extra light spirce and USB port to obtain longer battery life but they don’t make it easy to purchase if you are outside the U.S. Ensure you get the model appropriate to your iPhone model.)

Related articles

• Skype for iPhone – Full of Win (chris.pirillo.com)
• Skype Gains iPhone Video Calls, Loses China (escapistmagazine.com)
• Skype 3.0 for iPhone: New Dimensions in Smartphone Video Calling (voiceontheweb.biz)
• Facetime vs Skype on iPhone (ashimmy.com)

The evolution has been long and not without its hiccups. When I first used Skype five years ago video calling was just emerging with a 320 x 240 resolution and not the greatest speed; postage stamp-size video at best. Fast forward to late 2007 when Skype introduced High Quality Video supporting VGA (640 x 480) resolution at television quality frame rates (30 fps); Skype video calling took off in popularity, especially with the “grandparents” calls. Accompanying the observable video improvements Skype has worked to improve the reliability of the network operations behind the calls while reducing bandwidth demands. Then the video channel became available for ad hoc desktop/screen sharing during a Skype call. A few weeks ago we saw the emergence of HD resolution video calling when the conditions are appropriate. But video calling had only been possible for calls between PC’s.

Skype video calls now consume about 40% of all Skype calling minutes. It’s become a regular feature on Oprah and popular for news stories. Healthcare applications have arisen. Recently we have seen “beta trials” of group video calling; apparently Skype for Windows 5.0 supports up to ten participants (it’s tough to get more than three or four onto a call unless there’s a real driving purpose).

But then, last spring, Apple introduced smartphone video calling on the iPhone 4 with its high quality “Retina display” screen. Recently Apple’s FaceTime service expanded beyond the iPhone 4 to include MacBooks and iMacs using Snow Leopard (OS/X 10.6) resulting in a user base that reaches into the tens of millions. But it’s limited to users with either a WiFi or Ethernet connection.

On the mobile side, Skype for iPhone, launched April 1, 2009, has become, with over 30 million downloads, one of the top five free iPhone applications in 2010; it is downloaded on one in four iPhone activations according to Apple. Initially only available over WiFi, its support of 3G connections was announced seven months ago; this 2.0 version  also embedded Skype’s unique SILK code to deliver crystal clear superwideband audio (click on the link for a recording).

Today Skype is announcing (just in time for those New Year’s Eve video calls from New York’s Times Square) Skype for iPhone 3.0 with video calling support. But it’s not just for calls between iPhones; As pointed out by former Skype CEO Josh Silverman in an interview at CES last January, when Skype launches a service, such as video calling, it is immediately available to the over 125 million active Skype users in a quarter.

In summary Skype for iPhone 3.0:

• operates over 3G or WiFi connections
• employs Skype’s SILK codec to provide crystal clear superwideband audio
• supports two-way video calling between iPhone 4.0, iPhone 3G S (using its sol erear-facing camera) and 4th generation iPod Touch devices as well as with any Skype client on a PC (Skype for Windows 4.2 or later, Skype for Mac 2.8 or 5 beta, Skype for Linux)
• supports one way video calling from an iPhone or 4th generation iPod Touch to iPhone 3G, iPad, Android phones and ASUS video devices
• Operates in both portrait and landscape mode
• Support desktop screen sharing from a PC to an iPhone 4 or 4th generation iPod Touch
• delivers up to 12 fps video with QQVGA resolution (160 x 120)
• uses either the front camera or rear camera of the iPhone 4

This version only supports calling using the VP7 codec; as the Skype for TV client firmware only supports receiving calls using the H.264 codec, Skype for iPhone calls cannot make calls to the “Skype for TV” supported TV sets at the moment. Skype officials say that this will be supported in a future version; this is also the reason one cannot make calls between Skype for Mac and Skype for TV.

First images tend to be a little grainy with not quite the crispness of FaceTime video. But we’re also looking at half the FaceTime resolution. Also the video could tend to be choppy at times. These were over a WiFi connection at each end. Bottom line, however, is that it is possible to make video calls from an iPhone over not only WiFi but also 3G to over 125 million regular users on multiple platforms. In the end whether one uses FaceTime or Skype for iPhone will become a matter of user convenience: which application is readily available in the context of the call. (Of course this comes with the usual warning that, for calls over 3G, carrier data charges may apply.)

Finally it is also interesting to note that, while their primary video calling service is FaceTime, Apple has allowed another video calling application to become available on the Apple App Store.

• From Skype’s Peter Parkes: Skype for iPhone now with video calls.
• Seems like Skype’s client ads let this one slip out a few hours early.
• Skype Journal: Download: Skype for iPhone 3.0. Now with video over 3G and Wi-Fi
• VoIP Watch: Skype on iPhone, iPod Touch Now Has Video Calling.
• GigaOm: Skype Looks to Accelerate Mobile Video Chat With iOS App

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• Skype for iPhone updates to 3.0, adds video calling (tuaw.com)
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“Fring is not a communications platform, but only a toy or at best a testbed for shiny objects.”

Comment by Hudson Barton on Andy Abramson’s post: Fring Fumbles on Cross Platform Video Chat

In observing the evolution of Skype and third party access to it over the past few years I have often wondered how far Skype would go in allowing third party services to deploy Skype as one communications mode in a multi-service communications offering. Fring and Truphone are two examples. Usually these offerings figure out a way to put up a temporary Skype client on a “gateway” server and then build their own interface to the Skype client on that gateway.

There are issues of scalability, service quality (especially voice and video quality) and the overall user calling experience that could potentially compromise the user’s experience in taking advantage of the resulting Skype connection. It’s one thing to show that technically one can make the relevant voice and video connections but the challenges rise to a significantly higher level when taking into account the overall user experience.

Personally I look for services that allow me to easily find and select a contact, select the calling destination (Skype, Home, Mobile, Office, for example) and then click on either a soft button or the hardware green button and make the connection within a reasonable time (say, less than 30 seconds). I find the multi-service communications offerings to be a bit overbearing and almost too overwhelming for a non-technical business and consumer user.

Today there’s lots of coverage about Fring and its use of Skype (or now lack thereof); Dan York has provided an excellent summary of the various viewpoints in his post: Skype vs. Fring: Is Fring not telling the whole truth?. Very significant is the speed with which Skype’s Vice-President, Legal responded to get their side of the story out; their legal personnel usually have stayed out of the public discussion on any of Skype’s market-related issues.

But getting back to basics, there are three considerations:

Skype is Fundamentally Communications Software: we have heard this many times from Skype CEO Josh Silverman; he repeated and emphasized this during our CES conversation last January. As a result they own the intellectual property rights to their software. But they have been successful largely because they make much of their intellectual property available free – they can afford to do this since the capital overhead for Skype-to-Skype calling is so low. We as users provide the key piece by using Skype on our PC’s or other Skype-embedded hardware devices. On the other hand they need the intellectual property protection not only to defend potential revenues but just as importantly to defend their brand.

Best examples of this include:

• Skype video calling – here’s the 1964 AT&T World Fair concept now going out thirty-five years later with no charge for one-to-one video calling and being used on ~35% of Skype calls.
• Skype has also made their SILK codec available royalty-free provided the licensee meets performance criteria. As demonstrated with Skype for iPhone over 3G, SILK has the potential to revolutionize voice quality on mobile calling (and I’ll pay one or two dollars per month just to have the superior voice quality after many years of mobile phone calls with somewhat challenging audio quality ). Blabbelon provides an excellent example of incorporating SILK.
• Skype mobile on Verizon: here is a software development and licensing agreement that generates sustainable revenue streams for both parties while delivering a significant benefit, namely free calling to Skype contacts worldwide, to Verizon customers when calling from the U.S.
• With the success of Skype as a commercial TV production platform, Skype has developed special licensing terms for users of this application.

The bottom line is that all these, including making basic Skype-to-Skype calls using the standard Skype clients, involve some form of license agreement that is being adhered to.

Skype is Ultimately About The User Experience: Skype’s brand focuses well beyond the enabling technology to incorporate the entire user experience. It was ease of installation and use that allowed Skype to be adopted so readily such that over 600 million user accounts have been created with around 100 million active users. Skype’s VP for Mobile, Russ Shaw, re-emphasized this during our conversation at CES. We witness this in the recent launches of Skype mobile on Verizon and Skype for iPhone over 3G. While I can only rely on third party reporting about the former (not being in the U.S.) which has largely been positive, for the latter I simply installed the software, looked up a contact, clicked on the Call button and made this excellent quality call to the U.K. using Skype for iPhone over 3G. Woops, did I mention the quality of the call again? Overall both applications set a higher standard for the user experience.

Skype is Opening Up to Developers: Yes, there has been a rough ride for developers over the past four years. PamConsult, Netralia, InnerPass and OnState have persisted with their offerings and have demonstrated the potential for Skype and third party applications. But the recent launch of SkypeKit beta – in a phased program to ensure control over quality and service level issues as the program evolves – opens up significant opportunities for third party developers. Suffice it to say that I know we can expect not only significant software partner offerings but also some innovative hardware offerings based on SkypeKit. Once again, however, there are licensing guidelines to ensure the integrity of Skype’s brand.

But the bottom line is this: sure Skype reserves the right to generate revenues where they see a significant value-add market opportunity but even with their free offerings they want and need to preserve their brand image. It would appear from Skype’s legal executive’s comments that they have been trying to work out a way to interact with Fring without success; Fring has certainly been around for over three years in one form or another, including attending Skype-sponsored events. As Andy Abramson says:

As we all know there are three sides to every story, but given Fring took the shot first, an old rule of thumb in a legal battle is get the word out first. And Fring did. Now Skype, whose legal minds are based on the West Coast, as well as their platform team and video folks for the most part have gotten in and replied.

We now are starting to get a better handle on how Skype will establish the playing field for third party applications, hardware and services. The evolution of the Fring relationship (or lack thereof) will provide a concrete example of how far Skype will go in allowing third party affiliations.

Full disclosure: yes, I tried Fring several times in the past (when it had Skype access). Simply put, I never found a way to use it comfortably and abandoned it. I have used iSkoot successfully in the past; however, they no longer support current BlackBerry platforms. But all this flurry does generate the background for a future post on what I would look for in a mobile smartphone calling experience.

Re Truphone: I mentioned Truphone at the beginning of this post as another example of a third party service that offers Skype as one communication mode. I’ll have more to say on my Truphone experiences – both favorable and unfavorable in a separate post. At least I find it a reliable backup when I have no other choice for calling.

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Since its release late Saturday, Skype for iPhone 2.0, with its support of calling over 3G carriers and superwideband audio using Skype’s SILK codec, has set the blogosphere awash with two genres of commentary: those who seem to think the end of free Skype calling is approaching as an Armageddon and those who recognize the launch of Skype for iPhone 2.0 as not only setting a new benchmark for mobile voice calling, especially for call quality, but also having a significant impact on the overall smartphone market.

Re the “small fee” (now set to start at the beginning of 2011), I simply say this is one more sign that Skype is a business with investors who are looking for a return. Nobody can argue about its value-add, both in terms of providing international mobile calling convenience but also by delivering a significantly enhanced user experience through establishing a new benchmark for mobile call quality. This outcome definitely justifies a “small fee”, provided it is not obsessive. Alec Saunders, author of the Voice 2.0 Manifesto, positions this issue appropriately in “Skype’s “small fee” is noise, guys”:

Sometimes you have to really shake your head at the quality of the commentary on the internet.  Fact: Skype has finally released a version of Skype for iPhone that supports calling over 3G networks.  Never mind the fly in the ointment that all the commentary is  stuck on – the fact that Skype wants to charge a “small fee” for you to use it on a 3G network.  Frankly, that’s noise.  People will pay for the ability to make a high quality Skype call on 3G, and not pay their carriers long distance termination charges in foreign markets.  So long as the fee is reasonable, nobody is going to object.

Alec goes on to make several points about what the launch of Skype for iPhone 2.0 really means; his post is well worth the read. (Full disclosure: as Canadians who participate in the Canada Pension Plan, Alec and I each have a $17.50 investment in Skype.)

As for the new benchmark for mobile phone call quality, there are several impacts. But first, if you have not heard it already, click here to hear Skype for iPhone 2.0’s “near CD-quality” call first hand between myself and Dean Elwood in the U.K.

Andy Abramson comments on how deeply Skype developers may have gone into the iPhone hardware to achieve this result in “Skype on 3G-Something Borrowed, Something New”; he concludes with:

How good? Well put it this way..why would anyone with an iPhone want to call over old AT&T after their first Skype over 3G call. Oh, and yes, it makes Skype on Verizon sound like, well, a plain old telephone call…..Ma Bell, you’re back sounding like you’re old self. The way the boys in the labs have always dreamed and said you could.

Over at Voyces.com, in “Skype for iPhone over 3G: An Industry Benchmark Game Changer for Skype”, I have commented on the broader impact of Skype for iPhone’s support of SiLK. Simply put, it has the potential to place Skype as a key mobile communications software infrastructure supplier across the entire mobile phone industry. Not simply because of the technology itself but rather as a result of demonstrating high quality voice calls accessible to Skype’s several million users through a single application for the iPhone resulting in several million end user experience – the “Skype network effect”.

With the support of SILK in a smartphone application that runs over both 3G and WiFi, calling costs become almost secondary to an exceptional end user experience with voice quality on mobile devices.

SILK has now become not only a benchmark but also a key communications infrastructure element. End users will pay for a quality experience, especially when it impacts business productivity. Both wireless carriers and smartphone vendors need to rush to ensure they have incorporated Skype’s SILK technology into their offerings. Otherwise the iPhone (iPad and iPod Touch) have one more key feature that sets them apart from the remainder of the smartphone users.

Dean Elwood sums up this “Skype network effect” best when he talks about the Skype “on-net” calling:

The proposition for Skype’s shareholders is the fact that you have to be on the Skype network in order to get the “near CD-quality”. Because you don’t get hi-def when you call a regular landline or mobile, only another Skype-enabled device. So if you want to make free calls to your friends, they all need to get on the Skype net.

and concludes with…….

It’s the mass-market adoption of Skype that makes it work. You need to be on their network, along with other contacts you call regularly, to make it work for you. So in the absence of interconnect, which Skype do not do, your a. n. other mobile VoIP carrier of the future has to start from the ground up.

Bottom line: Dean backs up his observations by telling me that he will be making most of his voice calls using Skype for iPhone when away from his office. It would be most interesting to see not only if this drives more users to using Skype as opposed to the carriers’ voice channels but also the fallout for the transition of communications from a very hardware-oriented infrastructure to a complete software infrastructure operating totally “in the cloud”.

Next: the questions that remain to be answered going forward.

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