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Tag: skype

  • Skype Goes Symbian

    Skype and Nokia today jointly announced the release of Skype for Symbian, a Skype client for Nokia smartphones based on the Symbian platform.

    Skype for Symbian will allow Nokia smartphone users worldwide to use Skype on the move, over either a WiFi or mobile data connection (GPRS, EDGE, 3G).

    The application will run on any Nokia smartphone using Symbian ^1, the latest version of the Symbian platform. Skype said it will soon introduce this client to Symbian mobile devices from other manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson.

    "Skype, the king of Internet communications, running on Symbian, the world’s dominant smartphone platform, makes for an explosive combination," said Larry Berkin, Head of Global Alliances and GM USA, Symbian Foundation.

    "With Symbian’s global reach, Skype is that much closer to becoming the ubiquitous real-time communications platform for hundreds of millions of Symbian-based mobile users."

    According to Informa Telecoms and Media more than 200 million users of Symbian-powered devices now have Skype at their fingertips.

    Jo Harlow, Senior Vice President for Smartphones, Nokia, said, “We’re seeing around 1.5 million downloads a day on Ovi Store now and believe that the Skype client for Nokia smartphones will have wide appeal to Symbian users."

    Check out special Skype page for the full list of compatible handsets.

  • Frings Brings Video Calls to Nokia Symbian 9.3 Devices

    A few weeks ago Fring announced the release of the world’s first mobile internet video calls on Symbian S60 and iPhone/iPod touch.

    Yestarday the company said on its blog that also Nokia E72 & E75 (and all other Symbian 9.3) users can now video call with their friends on fring and Skype for free.

    Fring recommends that all Nokia S60 users download the latest version, as it contains some quality improvements, bug fixes and better connectivity in some specific scenarios.

    The new version for all Symbian S60 devices is available here.

    According to Fring, video calls now account for about 60% of all VoIP traffic in Western Europe.

    Related articles
    MWC 2010: Interview with Gil Regev of Fring
    More and More iPhone Apps Support VoIP over 3G
    fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

  • Skype’s On-Net International Traffic Growing Fast

    New data from TeleGeography show that the growth of international telephone traffic has slowed, while Skype’s growth has accelerated.

    Over the past 25 years, international call volume from telephones has grown at a compounded annual rate of 15 percent. In the past two years, however, international telephone traffic annual growth has slowed to only 8 percent, growing from 376 billion minutes in 2008 to an estimated 406 billion minutes in 2009, according to recent TeleGeography research.

    The deep recession has had a marked impact on many routes. "Demand for international voice has been remarkably robust, but it’s clearly not recession-proof," said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert.

    “While international telephone traffic growth has slowed, Skype’s traffic has soared,” he added.

    Skype’s on-net international traffic (between two Skype users) grew 51 percent in 2008, and is projected to grow 63 percent in 2009, to 54 billion minutes. That means that about 13 percent of international calls are made on Skype.

    "The volume of traffic routed via Skype is tremendous. Skype is now the largest provider of cross border communications in the world, by far," said Beckert.

    He claims that the proliferation of alternatives to telephone calls—including Skype for mobile devices, and Google’s gradual entry into the voice market—will present ever greater challenges to international carriers.

  • Skype Names David Gurle to Lead Skype for Business Team

    Skype today announced that it has hired David Gurle as the new General Manager and Vice President of its Skype for Business unit. He replaces Stefan Oberg, who will be leaving Skype in March 2010.

    David Gurle joins Skype from Thomson Reuters, where he served as its Global Head of Collaboration Services and Head of its largest business in Asia, the Sales & Trading Business Division.

    Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, he spent more than three years running Microsoft’s Real Time Communications business, a group that he founded. During this time, he oversaw the development of the company’s collaboration products including NetMeeting, Windows Messenger, Exchange IM, Exchange Conferencing Server, Live Communications Server and Office Communications Server, as well as Microsoft’s acquisition of PlaceWare.

    David Gurle

    Prior to Microsoft, he was Corporate Vice President, Business Alliances at VocalTec, the IP telephony pioneer, where he established and managed partnerships with a number of Tier I telecommunications service providers and hardware vendors, including Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Marconi.

    He also spent time at ETSI, France Telecom and started his career at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). David has also co-authored a number of books on VoIP and IP Telephony.

    He graduated ESIGETEL with a Masters of Science degree in Computer Science and Telecommunications.

    "Since its inception, Skype has been used by many entrepreneurs and small businesses to save money on their communications," said David Gurle.

    "Moving forward, our goal is to educate and attract larger organizations that can not only save money by using Skype to communicate, but also increase their organizational productivity and enhance the way they interact with customers around the globe."

  • Skype Teams Up with TV Makers and Goes HD

    Skype announced support for Skype video calls on PCs in 720p high definition, as well as Skype software embedded into internet-connected widescreen televisions from its consumer electronics manufacturer partners.

    The latest version of Skype for Windows can deliver up to 720p HD-quality video calling at 1280 x 720 resolution, at up to 30 frames per second.

    To make an HD video call, we will need a high-speed broadband connection, an HD webcam, a PC with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor and Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows.

    New HD webcams are due to arrive at CES 2010. FaceVsion and In Store Solutions introduces new HD webcams that are optimized to work with Skype. The new Skype Certified HD webcams handle the video encoding and processing onboard, removing the need for a high-performance computer to encode the HD video.

    At CES, Skype also announced partnerships with LG and Panasonic to offer Skype–enabled HDTVs. Skype software will be embedded into Panasonic’s line of 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HDTVs and LG’s 26 new LCD and plasma HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access.

    Both lines are expected to be available in mid-2010. Both LG and Panasonic will offer specially-designed HD webcams that are optimized for Skype video calls as separate accessories that can be plugged into the televisions. These webcams support 720p HD and include special microphones and optics that can pick up sound and video from a couch-distance.

    The new HDTVs will deliver familiar Skype features including:

    • Free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls
    • Calls to landline or mobile phones at Skype’s rates
    • The option to receive inbound calls via a user’s online Skype number
    • Skype voicemail, if it is set up
    • Being invited to participate in voice conference calls with up to 24 other parties
    • Support for up to 720p HD video calls, depending on the availability of high-speed broadband and a HD webcam

  • Skype For SIP Now Available in Beta

    Skype announced that it is opening up the Skype for SIP beta program. It allows businesses to utilize Skype for SIP with their existing SIP-based PBX or Unified Communications systems.

    Skype for SIP beta enables businesses to receive and manage inbound calls from Skype users worldwide on SIP-enabled PBXs by either connecting the company Web site to the PBX via Skype click-to-call buttons or purchasing online Skype numbers.

    It also lets companies manage Skype calls using existing PBX or UC system features, such as call routing, conferencing, phone menus and voicemail (without additional downloads).

    Skype Business Control Panel, a Web-based tool, allows a company to control its Skype usage from a single point and enables centralized billing, allocation of Skype Credit, subscriptions and online numbers to users. It also gives companies the ability to manage internal employee accounts.

    Companies using Skype for SIP must purchase a monthly channel subscription from Skype based on the number of concurrent calls being made or received. Each channel allows for one inbound or one outbound call at any given time.

    Incoming Skype calls to the SIP-enabled PBX or UC system are free of charge to the Skype user. Calls to landlines and mobiles made using Skype for SIP are billed at Skype’s standard per-minute calling rates.

    The company informed that they have created special introductory price for the monthly channel subscription of $6.95 per channel.

  • fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

    Just a week after fring brought world’s first video calls over IP to mobile, the company announced “the first ever” mobile video calls over internet for the iPhone.

    fring video enables users to conduct video calls with other users as well as with Skype contacts over their device’s Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection, with support for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop calls.

    The company says this is the first video over internet service on the iPhone or iPod touch.

    The new fring version with video calls support is currently available to users with iPhone/ iPod touch OS 3.0 and selected Nokia Symbian S60 devices (Nokia X6, N97 mini, N97, 5800, N95 8G and N95).

    For the iPhone only incoming video-stream is available (due to the location of the camera). 2-way video streaming is available for Symbian devices.

    “We were the first to bring mobile voice over internet to mobile devices, the first to bring iPhone/ iPod touch users the choice to make free Internet calls, the first to enable cost-saving mobile twitter over internet, and now we’re proud to continue leading the field of rich mobile-internet communication by bringing users the world’s first fring video calls over internet for the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    “As the mobile VoIP trail-blazers since this industry’s inception, we have a responsibility to continue breaking the mobile-internet barriers, and bringing users all the choices, richness and always-on connectivity that internet communications on mobile can deliver,” he added.

    The new video feature is embedded within the popular fring application that enables free voice calls to other fring, Skype and GTalk users as well as friends on regular phone lines via Skype-Out and SIP services.

  • Skype and eBay Settle with Joltid

    Skype and eBay announced they has reached a settlement agreement with Joltid and Joost N.V. that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid.

    It also ends all litigation currently pending against the investor group and eBay at the closing of the acquisition (the investor group led by Silver Lake had previously entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Skype from the company).

    As part of the settlement agreement, Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a significant capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype.

    As a result, Silver Lake and other investors including Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), will together hold 56 percent of Skype and eBay will retain 30 percent.

    eBay will receive approximately $1.9 billion in cash upon the completion of the sale and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million.

    The deal, which values Skype at $2.75 billion and is not subject to a financing condition, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

    “We will now have ownership of the software previously licensed from Joltid, so we’ll be in control of our technology future,” Josh Silverman, president of Skype, wrote at Skype’s blog.

    “All litigation against eBay, Skype and the investor group ends, so we’ll be free to concentrate all of our efforts on building the world’s greatest communications software,” he added.

    Commenting on the agreement on behalf of the investor group, Silver Lake Managing Director Egon Durban said: “We are very pleased to have the litigation resolved. We remain confident in a great future for Skype, and we look forward to working with Niklas, Janus and the other investors as partners to help the company achieve its full potential.”

    The investor group will no longer include Index Ventures, which has withdrawn from participation. “Although Skype has the potential to be a great investment, the deal terms changed for Index such that it no longer matches our investment criteria and thus we have decided not to participate in the transaction,” said Danny Rimer of Index Ventures.

  • AT&T Enables VoIP over Its 3G Network for iPhone

    After “evaluating customers’ expectations and use of the iPhone compared to dozens of others AT&T offers,” the operator has finally taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network.

    Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled only for Wi-Fi connectivity. At the same time, AT&T has offered a variety of other wireless devices that enable VoIP applications on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks.

    In late summer, AT&T said it was taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone for use on AT&T’s 3G network, consistent with its regular review of device features and capabilities to “ensure attractive options for consumers.”

    In August Federal Communications Commission started the investigation asking both Apple and AT&T to clarify the reasons of the removal of Google Voice application from the App Store.

    Although we didn’t even know if the Google’s app would allow VoIP over AT&T 3G network, the company felt obligated to explain: “AT&T had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president, external and legislative affaire.

    And the situation has changed. Dramatically changed. “iPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets.

    iPhone users in the U.S. will now be able to use VoIP apps when they’re connected to AT&T’s 3G network.

  • Skype for Asterisk Now Available


    Digium, the Asterisk Company, and Skype announced the general availability of Skype for Asterisk.

    Skype for Asterisk is an add-on channel driver for Asterisk-based PBX systems. The software is compatible with the free and open source Asterisk versions 1.4, 1.6 and AsteriskNOW, as well as the commercially licensed Asterisk Business Edition.

    It enables multiple concurrent Skype calls from a single Skype account, and supports both G.711 and G.729a calling.

    According to Digium, with the new software, customers can:

    • Manage business Skype accounts with the Business Control Panel
    • Get low Skype global rates on outbound calls (as low as 2.1US¢ per minute)
    • Receive inbound calls to online numbers
    • Route calls according to Skype profile fields, online status and privacy settings
    • Streamline customer contact by allowing Web site visitors to place free Skype calls directly to their business with global click-to-call buttons

    The companies promote the software as a solution for connecting Asterisk-based business phone systems to Skype.

    “We created Skype accounts such as Digium Sales and Digium Support—a convention I suspect many companies will quickly adopt. Now, our customers all over the world can call us for free using Skype and our Asterisk PBX processes the inbound call just like it would a normal call,” said Danny Windham, CEO of Digium.

    “Skype for Asterisk allows businesses to access the 400 million community of people communicating over the Internet, natively encrypts all voice calls and lets companies manage their Skype user accounts via Skype’s Web-based Business Control Panel,” the company says.

    Businesses already using an Asterisk-based phone system can add Skype as another complementary form of communications by downloading Skype for Asterisk, without additional costly hardware.

    Skype for Asterisk is available to download for $66 per concurrent call. It comes with 90 days of installation support from the time of purchase.