Normally when Skype has made a major release, Skype PR will provide a heads-up to bloggers and other technology media a day or two ahead of time under an embargo until a defined time. This allows Skype to better manage the message to the market in terms of at least answering initial questions that may arise as a result of a pending release. However, when i returned home from a Saturday evening dinner today I started to find Twitter messages about Skype for iPhone over 3G becoming available.

Turns out that I had updated my Skype apps earlier today with no sign of a new version of Skype for iPhone. But when I checked again a few moments ago, sure enough, there was a new version of Skype for iPhone ready to download – the long awaited and much anticipated Skype for iPhone that works over 3G. But most interesting is the lack of the usual Skype blog post(s) announcing the availability of this release. Given that Skype does not have final control over Apple App Store releases, it should not be a total surprise that this has happened during the “quiet period” of a weekend. .

On downloading Skype for iPhone version 2.0 I found the overview screen shown on the right. Most interesting is the comment:

“Call using your 3G connection. Skype-to-Skype calls on 3G are free until at least the end of August 2010, after which there will be a small monthly fee (operator charges for data will still apply).” Update: according to the eventual press release, the free period has been extended to the end of December 2010.

Here’s the probable explanation: For Skype on 3 and Verizon’s “Skype mobile”, you need to be on a carrier voice and data plan that incorporates Skype calling, including free Skype-to-Skype calls. As was explained by iSkoot (who wrote the original code for Skype on 3) at eComm 2008, Skype receives a monthly royalty for each data and voice plan subscriber; effectively it is a royalty for licensing the Skype software.

But Skype for iPhone 2.0 is carrier-agnostic and involves no agreements with the various individual GSM/HSPA+ carriers. As a result it appears that Skype intends to charge a “small fee” for Skype-to-Skype calls after September 1, 2010. Some points:

• this eliminates the need for Skype to make agreements with individual carriers, who will already have the potential to benefit from the extra data usage (and new service subscribers) Skype for iPhone over 3G will generate.
• Skype already has a billing engine in place for acquiring Skype credits and Skype calling plans
• Skype for iPhone over 3G should also support SkypeOut calls over 3G with Skype using a Skype calling plan or Skype credits but paying no “affiliate commission” back to the carriers.
• Will the current calling plans incorporate an option for Skype over 3G?
• Question: will we see similar charges for Skype-to-Skype calls made using Skype for Symbian (which runs over 3G), a much rumored Skype for Android or, if we ever see it, a Skype for BlackBerry?
• Will be seeing a “less small” for Skype video calling over 3G, such as I experienced from a Nokia N900 user a few days ago?
• Be wary of using Skype for iPhone over 3G when roaming. Remember that those relatively expensive roaming charges will run up quickly during a Skype-to-Skype call made over 3G. This would even apply when you answer a Skype-to-Skype call via your 3G service.
• Stay with using Skype for iPhone over WiFi when roaming; after all WiFi is becoming the stealth carrier of choice.
• Skype for iPhone 2.0 with 3G support will be the true test of carriers’ willingness to allow IP-based voice communications services.  My local test will be Rogers’ adherence to its previously announced support of Skype operating over any of their services.

Of course attempting to make a Skype-to-Skype call late Saturday evening presents one other challenge – most of my Skype contacts whom I would call at this hour (11:00 p.m. GMT-4 or EDT) are offline. But I’ll make an attempt during the day Sunday and report on the actual call experience and the other new features mentioned in the App Store overview screen.

Meanwhile you can download Skype for iPhone 2.0 at the Apple App Store.

Note: This post has been mildly updated from the original posting made at midnight Saturday; a few hours’ sleep tends to generate a couple of additional points.

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Consider this a “Retweet for video”; in Renee’s dialogue/interview with/between Skype’s Chief Blogging Office Peter Parkes and Robert Scoble we learn a lot about the evolution of Skype’s approach to using social media.  Skype sees social media as a key channel for engaging customers in conversations as a complement to both their marketing and support activities.

Just to reinforce, Peter can be found on Twitter as @peteratskype listening for and responding to questions, comments and support issues.

And thanks to Renee for making this interview available.

Update: Dan York highlights a key statement made by Peter: Social media: Where brevity is appreciated, where clarity and simplicity win:

One phrase of Peter’s, though, stuck out in my mind as being so accurate about Twitter and really the whole current state of social media:

It’s actully quite refreshing to be able to work in an environment where brevity is appreciated, where clarity and simplicity win.

Indeed. A nice concise summary.

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• Who Is Your Audience And Are Audiences Different? (regulargeek.com)
• Content Creates Engagement (ducttapemarketing.com)

If you own a brand name as a TwitterID, take heed. Twitter will reveal your ownership details to the brand owner. Nerdgirl Stephanie Robesky, a former employee of a venture fund established by the founders of Skype, was shocked recently into realizing she still owned the @Skype TwitterID even though she had moved on in her career and never used the account. In an email exchange with Techcrunch she responded:

“I registered the Skype Twitter name because I worked at Skype at the time so thought it might have been of use to us at some point. I’m sure I told someone in marketing who ignored me and had no clue at the time what Twitter was. Left Skype last year and forgot that I even had registered the name until yesterday… Glad they don’t have my credit card details.”

In her own Nerdgirl blog she wrote a letter to Twitter:

I would like to say, however, that I am hugely disappointed that my name, email address (even if it didn’t work) and details were given out to anyone in reference to any account held on Twitter.  And, yes, someone at Twitter did give this information out and this is how I was contacted about the account, so please do not try to deny it.  This is a violation of my privacy and, quite honestly, probably a big violation of your privacy policies. It is unprofessional of your team to hand out users information regardless of circumstances and this is something that we never would have done at Skype – even if Obama himself couldn’t log into an account that he says wasn’t even his!

I hope that you and your team take privacy more seriously in the future.

Read the Mike Butcher’s amusing post on Techcrunch, Gone in 140 characters – Privacy issues raised as Twitter employee hands over personal details of @Skype registrant to Skype, for more details.

I always appreciated that Twitter would close down accounts that had an element of illegitimacy to them. However, let’s hope Twitter can come up with a more discrete protocol for handling issues involving use of brand names as TwitterID’s.

In closing I need to draw your attention to the Chief Twitter Officer for Skype: Skype’s blogger Peter Parkes, who goes by the ‘nom de Tweet‘ PeteratSkype. Peter is often found addressing individual customer issues in the Twittersphere. You do need to be following him in order that he can DM you a reply to any Twitter queries.

Note: this post has been modified and updated to reflect clarifications of issues from Skype PR.

I woke up this morning to find this message on Phil’s Skype Journal post announcing the download availability of Skype for iPhone but with one caveat:

“THIS APPLICATION IS NOT AVAILABLE IN CANADA AND THE USER WARRANTS THAT THEY CANNOT DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FROM CANADA.”

I can accept that some iPhone applications are not available in Canada for copyright reasons (in fact, the iTunes launch in Canada was held up for a year or so while addressing copyright issues); however, my initial skepticism centered on two issues that could be holding this up in Canada.

• Rogers, who is the only Canadian carrier with both iPhone and GSM BlackBerry, offers a Talkspot service @ $20 per month where users of supported UMA equipped BlackBerry 8×20 devices and the 8900 Curve can make calls from a Canadian location via a WiFi connection. Update: However, this is NOT the case as supported by a statement in Matt Hartley’s Globe and  Mail story this morning: “Rogers, which is the exclusive Canadian carrier for the iPhone, said it would not seek to block its customers from using the service.”
• The 911 issue: Canadian Skype Online (formerly SkypeIn) numbers are still not available in Canada due to the need to have a 911 service associated with any number. However, this is only a requirement for DID-types of services over regulated carriers. Skype for iPhone only operates over WiFi connections which are unregulated in Canada.

This morning I have had call requests from not only the U.S. but also Malaysia and observed that some Voice On The Web Public Chat participants in the U.K. are now testing it. So it appears to be available elsewhere worldwide.

However, thanks to an enquiry from the CBC to Skype PR we have an answer:

Chaim Haas, a public relations representative acting on behalf of Skype, said the application is available in every country in which the iPhone is on sale and in which Apple has an iTunes Store — with the exception of Canada.

Haas said this is because of patent-license restrictions but would not elaborate except to specify that it is a patent issue related to Skype, not Apple.

Update: in response to my enquiry to Chaim early this morning I received word that the patent-licensing issues are “codec-related”. Tom Keating reports this also on TMC’s VoIP and Gadgets blog.

Update #2: When I asked at Skype’s CTIA press conference Tuesday afternoon for a clarification of the Canadian situation, Skype COO Scott Durchslag responded that Skype is trying to clarify an “ambiguity” re the G729 codec license in Canada. He did say they hope to have this resolved “soon”.

Skype also announced Skype Lite for BlackBerry beta will be available in May. Further on in the CBC post there is mention of a limitation for Canadians that relates to Canadian 911 requirements:

The Skype application for BlackBerry will be available wherever the devices are supported, said Haas, but only customers in select countries — including the U.S. and the United Kingdom but not Canada — will be able to use the Skype Out or Skype-to-Skype services to make outgoing calls.

Canadian Blackberry users will only be able to use the version of the application for instant messaging and to receive calls from Skype users.

Canadian Skype customers, including those using the application from desktop computers, are already unable to use Skype’s “Skype In” service, which allows users to receive calls from landlines and mobile devices, because CRTC regulations require phone service operators to offer enhanced 911, which allows the operator to find the location of a caller.

In the meantime, for Canadians, here are some ways to access Skype via WiFi or carrier:

• iSkoot on BlackBerry – carrier for voice, WiFi or carrier for data – my first choice at the moment
• IM+ for Skype (iPhone, iPod Touch and BlackBerry versions) – same comment as for iSkoot – definitely my second choice
• Truphone: but may have call quality issues
• Nimbuzz: have not successfully completed a call; also issues with how they handle chat
• Fring: again call quality issues.

So the current question is: when will the “Canadian” version of Skype for iPhone become available? With chat being 90% of my Skype activity and being able to place Skype calls, when required, in other ways, it’s the “group and public chat” issue described by Dan York that I would most appreciate.

And what Canadian has a Canadian patent application or patent that is holding up full Skype access to the rest of his/her countrymen?

Related posts:

• Alec Saunders, Saunderslog: No Skype on iPhone for Canadians
• Mark Evans, Mark Evans Tech: Tired of Being a Digital Peasant!

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There’s a “new sheriff in town” when it come to running Skype; CES 2009 was a “coming out” event for the new executive team.

CES 2009 provided an opportunity to catch up personally with many of the vendors we have covered in Skype Journal including Skype, Truphone, SlingMedia, Philips and Research in Motion (BlackBerry). I also had a chance to attend a most informative afternoon session of Jeff Pulver’s Social Media Jungle event. Unfortunately Palm closed their suite after only two days of CES; thus, I missed an opportunity to learn more about the Palm Pre on Saturday. As Palm had just been awarded a CES “Best of Show” award, that was a “Huh?” moment when there was only a security guard at the suite’s door.. I also wanted to catch iPevo and Nokia but did not have time to get to their booths.

With respect to Skype we had three activities: the Skype press conference, an interview with new COO Scott Durchslag and Skype’s first reception event Friday evening. It was our first opportunity to observe the new Skype executive team in action. While I will be providing some more detailed posts, here are a few observations:

• For the first time, a senior C-level Skype executive personally acknowledged Skype Journal’s participation as a playing a significant role in the Skype ecosystem. Scott thanked us for our loyalty to Skype through all the challenges of the past two years. (That does not mean we’ll always be cheerleaders; it’s important that we maintain a skeptical and critical viewpoint within the context of the overall IP-based communications space.)

While we have had co-operation in the past,  usually via Skype’s public relations agency, from many Skype employees at an operating level, it’s important for the media to be able to communicate regularly and openly with those at the C-level who are providing overall direction and developing high level strategy. Josh has initiated such openness through his blogging and interviews; now we are seeing it on a person-to-person basis..

• On the other hand many times, last week in both the press conference and our discussions, Scott acknowledged the existence of several previous controversial issues, such as technical support, platform development, the role of partners and internal management structure issues as requiring attention by the new management team. The newly recruited management team will be introducing a new level of experience and maturity to address these issues; execution over the next few months now becomes critical.
• One future post will cover Skype’s new operating and management structure focused on products and geographical markets.
• Another will cover Skype’s overall focus as a software platform developer and the standards being set for these developments. Within this context I’ll provide my perspective on what is meant by “liquid communications”.
• We’ll soon have a follow up post about our discussion with Scott of what Skype’s new executive team learned from the TOM-Skype privacy breach last fall and how it became a bonding exercise within Skype as well as establishing some new operating parameters to avoid a repeat.
• Skype is NOT shoving its partners under the bus. The new executive team is determining what innovation Skype will drive and what innovation they can expect partners to drive. Andy Abramson articulates his perspective on the issue:

Most of all, Skype is not sitting back. The are pushing the envelope, but at the same time sending mixed messages externally to partners and developers. But that too will change. Some recent hires have brought maturity to the table.

• We learned the answer to “Will There Be a Skype Client on the iPhone?”
• Finally, for the first time since I have been writing about Skype, we can see some well-articulated high level vision for where Skype is heading, where they need to focus and how they want to play in the real time communications market space at a strategic level.

Looking forward to writing about the evolution of Skype as it grows from a $500MM per year operation with 500 employees into a business with a revenue level and valuation that finally justifies eBay’s initial investment in Skype.

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As a four time graduate of the University of Toronto, I am glad to see the atmosphere for investigative research is thriving at my alma mater. A researcher at their unique Citizen Lab, “focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics”, is responsible for uncovering the Tom-Skype security breach that has widespread coverage.

Globe and Mail reporter Matt Hartley has obviously gone to the lab for an interview with researcher Nart Villeneuve for his article in today’s editions: How a Canadian cracked the Great Firewall of China. …. the irony of where “lost passwords” can lead you:

When he couldn’t remember the password to his Chinese MySpace account he decided to take a look at Skype.

…Using a TOM-Skype account on one computer and a regular Skype account on a nearby laptop, Mr. Villeneuve would type a word into one computer and see if the other computer received the message, to see what information would be filtered out by the service’s censorship tools. When he typed in a common four-letter expletive and hit send, it didn’t show up on the other computer. But he noticed something else.

Read on. Further along Matt reports:

After he contacted Skype on Wednesday to inform them of the breach, the company moved quickly to plug the holes in the TOM-Skype servers, Mr. Villeneuve said.

And, as Phil has already reported, Skype President Josh Silverman responds here, including this comment:

It’s important to remind everybody that the issues highlighted in yesterday’s Information Warfare Monitor / ONI Asia report refer only to communications in which one or more parties are using TOM software to conduct instant messaging. It does not affect communications where all parties are using standard Skype software. Skype-to-Skype communications are, and always have been, completely secure and private.

New York Times, Oct. 2 (registration required)

Wall Street Journal (may encounter a walled garden), noting that TOM-Skype has 69 million users, places this story in the perspective of other “Doing business in China” stories involving Microsoft, Google and Yahoo.

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Skype is one of five finalists, along with Apple iChat, Grand Central, Vonage and Gizmo Project in BusinessWeek’s “Best of The Web” poll where results will be published in a special report in the September 29 issue. The poll itself seems to be at cross purposes when they say “BusinessWeek wants to know the sites you consider most valuable when it comes to getting informed, making money, having fun, and building your own online tools.” I think the five candidates listed above should be described as applications as opposed to “sites”. Google Chrome may be encouraging the development of browser-based applications but that does not mean stand alone applications are necessarily doomed.

When you go to the voting page, select the “Calling” category under “Online Tools” (scroll down, way down) and make your choice in the resulting pop-up. Note that there is also an option for “Other” but you’ll need to provide details. Vote early (but you can’t vote often); polling ends September 12.

This is the third of three posts discussing Skype’s PR management with the aim of improving the PR relationships associated with the launch of new Skype software and associated services. In the first post I outlined the problem; in the second post I proposed a proven solution; in this third post I want to review the recent Skype beta releases (3.0 for WIndows, 2.5 for Mac) and Skype’s 3 Group partnering activity with respect to the proposed solution.

If the work of the city is the remaking or translating of man into a more suitable form than his nomadic ancestors achieved, then might not our current translation of our entire lives into the spiritual form of information seem to make of the entire globe, and of the human family, a single consciousness? …. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man, 1964

One primary objective of public relations is to leverage media reporters, including bloggers, to provide an outside perspective on the subject matter of press releases, product announcements and corporate presentations at, say, industry events and to propagate corporate awareness through corporate interviews. In turn, media reporters want to feel both sufficiently informed and experienced to have the background for providing objective, accurate and complete coverage while making assessments of the impact of a story.

Personally I prefer to report based on exposure to a product, not just a press release. I have also found interviews with senior executives (usually the CEO, one of whose roles is to be the Chief Company Salesperson) an opportunity to flesh out details that can make a more viable and credible story. I have also had a couple of executives point out that I have brought to their attention issues that they subsequently realized should be addressed in their public announcement.

Over the past two weeks we have seen four major press releases involving Skype: Skype 3.0 for Windows Beta Launch, Skype for Windows – Business version, Skype for Mac 2.5 beta launch and Skype’s participation in 3Groups’ new X-Series program. The result has left behind a very mixed image of what Skype is offering and the direction it is taking. The first post in this series exposes some of this confusion; the second post proposes a cost effective solution that can help narrow, or even avoid, the confusion..

Skype’s primary message really came out in Niklas’ interview for the 3 X-Series launch: “we have always delighted our users by innovating new ways of communicating”. Each of these announcement builds on this theme:

• With the Skype 3.0 beta, users are providing feedback on how to fine tune new features such as Public Chats based on actual use experience in social contexts.. Skype’s release effectively takes the approach that this is a new release for all users with new features.The reality is that it is still a Beta release; on the website they actually state that “it’s only recommended for experienced users to download”. Crossed messages here.
• While I now have some issue with how truly mobile the 3 X-Series makes Skype — it definitely does not have all the feature set of Skype Mobile for Windows — it does provide an initial market experience where users can use Skype without worrying about the cost of a “pay-per-byte” data plan.
• The Skype for Business is actually having the roughest ride: two posts here expose difficulties: Ken Camp’s “Skype for Business? Whose Business?” and Martin’s “Opinion//Chinese Whispers”. Jan Geinart has done a more complete summary of posts related to Skype for Business.
• And the Skype for Mac 2.5 beta release has gone virtually unnoticed.

.Memo to Skype Executive Management: Skype’s public relations messaging is out of control. Mixed messages resulting in mixed impressions — and audience confusion. And it’s not because Skype’s PR agencies are not trying; they are professionals. I have an excellent reference, for instance, on SparkPR from one of their early clients.

Skype has a keen, enthusiastic following who wants to see Skype succeed. As I stated in a comment to Alec Saunders “Whither Google Talk”, there is a reason Skype is “sticky”. Over 8 million people are online as I write this; I can reach my static set of six Google Talk contacts via Skype where I have access to a much larger and more dynamic set of both contacts and innovative ways of communication. Developers are waiting to provide Plug-Ins to enhance the feature set; they are willing to risk their business for Skype. These are priceless assets that can disappear as quickly as they arose if not nurtured through continuous dialogue at several levels. As I implied in one of my previous posts in this series — been there, done that – not pretty.

As Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have so well documented in their book, “Naked Conversations”, blogs as a business communications tool are here to stay. They provide an opportunity to dialogue interactively with your customers, your suppliers and your partners. Perhaps the greatest criticism of blogs is their tendency to have questionable credibility. But following the proposals made in the previous post in this series, especially dialoging proactively with the VoIP blogging community via executive interviews and, where practical, trial software, Skype will find its coverage much more focused and supportive while reducing the potential for erroneous statements and audience confusion.

Somehow I sense Andy Abramson at VoIP Watch is looking forward to receiving the first invitation for an executive blogger interview when a future series of announcements of the nature we have seen over the past two weeks is forthcoming. And the outcome will be a true blogger discussion of the social and economic impact of “innovative new ways of communicating” rather than reporting on attempts to figure what features are really there.

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This is the second of three posts discussing Skype’s PR management with the aim of improving the PR relationships associated with the launch of new Skype software and associated services. In the first post I outlined the problem; in this second post I am proposing a proven solution; in the third post I want to review the Skype 3.0 beta release activity with respect to the proposed solution.

Drawing from my management experience over the past couple of decades involving business public relations activities, from both a marketing and investor communications perspective, I think Skype can enhance both its market awareness and usage leveraging the enthusiasm, interests and various perspectives bloggers have the power to introduce into the market. I have had employers who tried to ignore the need for PR (and dealt with the fallout) and others who were viewed as overly aggressive in their PR activities. But the one constant, both prior to and following the Internet’s evolution as a business communications medium is that PR is about building relationships — not only with your customers and users but also with those who have the potential to propagate the message, whether through traditional media or web-based media, such as blogging.

First three general comments:

• In the pre-Internet days, for every major software product launch at one of my previous employers, we sent out a team of product managers, executives and PR personnel to conduct individual press interviews. This took significant resources out of the office for up to two weeks. And then we had the overhead of delivering and supporting pre-release software prior to the launch such that reporters could write up their impressions based on actual experience. With VoIP and Internet-based real time communications, software distribution and feedback tools all such costs and overhead effectively go away.
• The Internet has redefined the meaning of beta software. Pre-Internet times found software publishers sending out pre-release software, usually under NDA, to trusted customers and influencers with bug reports coming in via BBS’s, cc:Mail or other proprietary e-mail systems or even phone calls and faxes. Netscape was the first to change the paradigm; they simply made their beta software available via the Internet along with taking Internet-based feedback. By the time there was a gold release, the product’s feature set was well known across both the user base and the media. But this also meant that new features effectively were introduced at the time of the first public beta release rather than when product was formally released. Eleven years later I can confess now that Netscape’s ability to handle beta trials in this algorithm was a major impediment to my employer’s ability to gain market awareness, share and leadership with a web browser where we had used the “old” closed garden beta distribution model. From a PR perspective, issuance of a public beta release is now the time that major new features will be initially reviewed and discussed in the media; this becomes the critical control point that needs to be managed. Once a feature is out in the public, it’s out and open for discussion.
• Skype shares one audience with which I readily identify from a previous software publisher employer. Skype has been readily adopted by the developer community in that it provides tools and opportunities for innovation through both its feature set and API’s. This is an audience that thrives on every minute detail; often ignoring that there is actually a business to be operated based on the product but at the same time offering innovative ideas for product enhancement and improvement. They can readily drive business and viral adoption through their network of employers, contacts and friends. They have a raw enthusiasm that inspires but at the same time can frustrate the business manager.

Since I have become involved in blogging for Skype Journal, I have also had the good fortune to build a network of contacts both within the VoIP space and beyond. Amongst these the benchmark for handling public relations in the blogger world is Andy Abramson, author of VoIP Watch, at Communicano, Inc. Andy (who will not blog about his own clients’ product announcements) has a process and protocol that develops knowledgeable, informed bloggers such that stories about his clients tend to follow a consistent message, yet allows for individual commentary and perspective. His team, using his process, is responsible for the success you can see with activities involving SightSpeed, TalkPlus and, yesterday, PhoneGnome 2.0. But the approach is pretty simple and builds strong blogger relationships, yet is relatively low cost for the publicity generated.

Here is the approach:

1. Develop a primary message for the announcement/press release: in the traditional PR sense of one primary message supported by four to six secondary messages.
2. Develop a network of blogger contacts (for the VoIP space there are three references: VoIP News: “The Daily Show – VoIP Bloggers, Pundits and Thought Leaders”; Garrett Smith’s and Luca Filigheddu’s rankings of VoIP bloggers referenced here).
3. About a week prior to the announcement/press release, contact these bloggers to set up interviews (under a press embargo) with senior executives.
4. Conduct the interviews over the week, ensuring that both the message is communicated and answering questions that arise out of communicating the message.
5. If feasible, provide trial access to the product or service such that bloggers can build their own experiences with the product into their launch story.

On release day sit back and watch the results; as a software publisher, your conversations with the press and public will be at an elevated level discussing the potential implications and user benefits of the announcement instead of dealing with mundane background details behind the announcement and erroneous, but well intentioned, reporting.

Skype 3.0.Beta release: an analysis and commentary in the follow up post in this series.

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This is the first of three posts discussing Skype’s PR management with the aim of improving the PR relationships associated with the launch of new Skype software and associated services. In this post I want to outline the problem; in the second to propose a proven solution.

If you follow the VoIP blogosphere at all, you may notice that certain products and services, when introduced, get a lot of coverage such that readers can quickly assess if there could be followup interest. SightSpeed and TalkPlus, whose beta program launches today, are two examples; this did not happen by accident. In both cases, while bloggers are open to make their own observations there is an underlying consistency of message as to what the service provides and what are the key features. SightSpeed focuses on high quality realtime and asynchronous video communications while TalkPlus focuses on delivering a means to manage your phone number infrastructure in a manner that protects individual privacy while providing helpful business and social networking tools.

On the other hand I have done a review of various blogger posts on the Skype 3.0 Beta launch; here is the original press release and a sampling of the initial “first impressions” posts (Ed: with my bolds):

Gizomodo:

The big new feature is browser extensions for IE and Firefox that let you embed SkypeOut links into web pages. … The re-designed toolbar, contacts and call tabs look much easier to use. And Skype also added moderated public chat features, which makes me all wistful for IRC.

Skype Numerology

Nov. 9: Skype 3.0 beta released. And indeed, the differences between the previous version 2.6.0.105 and the 3.0.0.106 are (from my point of view) quite small, see the change log.

Nov. 11: Mea Culpa: My mistake (see my post below), Skype 3.0 has indeed quite some new features, as explained on the Skype website and in Skype Journal.

Tech Crunch UK

This week saw the launch of Skype 3.0 (beta) and on the surface there is very little new to get excited about other than a new plug-in manager. The real changes in this new version seem to have taken place under the hood ….

In many ways, with this 3.0 release, I feel Skype is announcing its formal entry into the “communication platform wars”.

Smith on VoIP

The comments made by Zennstrom, the moves eBay has made (with ProStores), the ability to use PayPal as small business booking software, and the emergence of the Internet as a marketplace for any business, is signs that eBay is almost ready to launch the ultimate e-commerce solution. …. That folks, is the real story here.

VoIP Watch (Andy Abramson)

The big thing with 3.0 appears to be the plug ins. This is something Yahoo has been doing with Yahoo Communicator now for some time and even Microsoft has had around with Outlook. Skype 3.0 will also sport a newer updated look some say. But most of all, it’s just supposed to be better.

:Signal to Noise (Ted Wallingford)

The big feature? Voice chat rooms, a la the Yahoo chat of old.

GigaOM

Nov. 8 First Look at Skype 3.0 Beta: The first thing we noticed after downloading Skype’s 3.0 beta version for Windows (onto our single dusty GigaTeam PC) is that the company did some serious UI feng shui, or “spring cleaning” as this Skype designer describes it.

Nov. 12 More Skypers hit ESC Button. After reporting on an executive departure and quoting an analyst statement in an IHT article on Skype “They have made only incremental changes to Skype, and I just haven’t seen any of the synergies they promised to justify the purchase price.”, Om gets back to Skype 3.0: “It is pretty darn good. We liked it at first blush, and liked it more after we dug deeper.”

Digital Common Sense (Ken Camp – who wrote an excellent perspective on TalkPlus when it was first announced two weeks ago)

Looks like a nice, incremental improvement. All I see warranting the version upgrade to 3.0 is the Live tab. Everything else looks like minor incremental enhancements to me.

SaundersLog: Alec highlights a few first impressions but this one helps demonstrate my point:

• Call transfer? It might be there, but so far I haven’t seen the UI, or had an incoming call that I can try this feature with, nor is there any documentation of new API’s on the DevZone blog.

eBiz-IQ.com Everything Internet:

Included fantastic new feature ** call transfers **, and more!!!

Incription

Skype recently launched version 3.0 beta and i have to say its a pretty fantastic piece of kit compared with 2.0, looking through the change log they have ramped up the video quality and improved the audio quality in voice calls, one of the new major features of skype is the ability to host a SkypeCast, its basically a flexible podcast with people listening in real time.

So the questions raised are:

• What is Skype’s primary message in announcing a new Beta version?
• What really are the key new features? Where is the focus?
• What is the potential use case impact of the new features? How will they change our real time communications activities?
• Where is there any underlying consistency of reporting? (other than to say Skype 3.0 Beta has been released)
• Why are some bloggers initially dismissive of the changes and then changing their minds?

In fairness to Skype personnel I would note the following:

1. When I heard rumors last Tuesday of a new launch the following day I contacted Skype’s PR agency; they were able to provide a draft press release under embargo. However, it was so late that no Skype management was available for an interview prior to the release.
2. Post-launch Skype put up several posts on various Skype blogs discussing details of the new features; some are referenced here. But news reporters and bloggers want to get the story out and expand on it as soon as it is released.
3. Several Skype management and developer personnel have participated in a couple of Public Chats where they have obtained feedback. (Has anyone notice that Skype Credits are now appearing consistently in the appropriate tab on the new UI?) Several other issues have been identified via the Public Chat for a follow on beta release.

A solution? It’s quite simple really — and low cost — see the follow up post in this series.

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