Skype Blogs

This is my first post on the Skype blog, so I figured I’d introduce myself. I’m Rodrigo Madanes and I work at Skype as the Chief Product Strategist. Basically, I look at where we’re taking the products.

A few months ago, I was interviewed by Bradley Jones for a book he was putting together, titled “Web 2.0 Heroes”. The book consists of interviews with many figures in Web 2.0, each made into a chapter (mine was one of them). I wanted to share with you some of the things we discussed.

Continue reading "Skype's Product Strategist Rodrigo Madanes, one of 20 "Web 2.0 Heroes"" »

For a young 26-year-old London-based copywriter, today was the start of a 33-day round-the-world exercise. An exercise to remain in perpetual motion, to soak up experiences in 15 countries, from hot-air-ballooning in the Austrian Alps to dog-sledding in Alaska, and to see if Skype can help her stay in touch. While supporting a charity in the process.

To find out more about what this — and the person behind the Skype Nomad pseudonym — is about, take a look at her blog, as well as the post by our U.S. blogger who talked to the Nomad as she was preparing to embark on her trek.

Beta-friendly users have been running Skype 3.8 for Windows since April 2. But with the usual beta imperfections now sanded off, this audio-focused iteration of Skype is ready for public release. If you’re a Windows user, head to the download page to get it.

Continue reading "Skype 3.8 for Windows goes public with audio improvements, other tweaks" »

If new technology and the word beta don’t send you running into a Norwegian doomsday vault, we’ve got something for ya. Today, Skype released a beta version of Skype for your mobile, a mobile “thin“ client that works on about 50 of the most popular Java-enabled mobile phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Take a look at the product pages to learn more about what it can do at this early stage — and to give it a test run.

Continue reading "Another way to connect: Skype for your mobile now out in beta" »

This week will mark the first month on the job for Skype CEO Josh Silverman. It may not be as round an anniversary as 100 days, but if you want to find out what’s brewing in the mind of the man at the top, Almost Thirty Days On the Job looks like a pretty workable milestone. And it didn’t even require an international logistics operation to do this interview — being able to reel in the CEO to benefit the readers of this blog is one of the perks of an open-plan office here in Tallinn. Enjoy.

Continue reading "Interview with Skype CEO Josh Silverman" »

Most people look forward to Fridays (or their cultural equivalent that promises rest, fun and fresh air). Banishing the ruthless alarm clock until Monday morning which, for a brief moment, appears eons away.

Well, my kind colleagues here at Skype have taken a crack at making the world’s Mondays a bit less blue. Enter Skype’s brand new flat-rate calling subscriptions that were announced this Monday, i.e. today. According to the announcement, the subscriptions “signal the first time Skype has offered a single, monthly flat rate for international calling to landline numbers in 34 countries.”

Continue reading "Going the (long) distance: Skype's new calling subscriptions " »

The Estonian island of Ruhnu hardly registers on most people’s radar, unless they’re passionate Estophiles. But this little speck of land with just 100 inhabitants leaves many larger communities in the dust when it comes to putting new technology to good use.

Because of its small size, Ruhnu found itself at the forefront of Estonia’s transition to digital broadcasting. And now, local-government officials have started using Skype — webcams and all — in their internal communication as well as to stay in touch with regular folks.

According to a regional newspaper, Ruhnu’s officials are scattered across Estonia and being able to see each other is a nice perk that isn’t included with their office phones or mobiles. Remind me to ping these guys when webcam-boastin’ and Skype-runnin’ Intel-based MIDs reach these shores. Wouldn’t that be a nifty upgrade from government-issue PCs!?

30 percent of Skype’s users are businesses, and the Business Control Panel is a handy way for them to manage Skype credit and SkypeIn numbers. The trusty panel now knows some new tricks:

— Easily invite co-workers (using a company email list)
— Create a members directory so employees know who else belongs to the same company
— View itemized call reports for your members
— Purchase up to €1,000 of Skype credit at once
— Automatically top-up your Control Panel credit balance

Read Scott Davison’s fresh post on the Skype Business blog for details on these new features.

Continue reading "TLC for business users" »

This contraption is not available at the Skype shop. Or any other outlet for that matter, retail or wholesale. And it’s not because of an unorthodox product name: DIY instant messenger online contact signalizer picture frame thingy. (For a better pic, you may want to check out this entry in the Hacked Gadgets Forum).

Most reactions around my pingosphere have represented the “somebody’s got too much time on their hands” school of thought. But I think that the author, Danish mechanical-engineering student David Bue Pedersen, could turn his project into a beautiful — and modestly profitable — case of art-meets-utility. The concept is there, all that’s needed now is a design shop to commercialize it. Personally, I can easily see myself checking my buddies’ online status on, say, a sleek 64-field wireless “signalizer” on the wall.

Mobile-space watchers among our American readers have perhaps seen this at the appropriate time, but since being late to the cool kids’ party is not embarrassing as one might think, we’re happy to have missed the premiere of this fabulous spoof. Enjoy!

For more on HandSolo, see the companion website. I suspect, though, that at some unspecified point in the future, this ad will get umm-so-what shrugs instead of laughs. That’s because I fully expect something like the HandSolo to be available before mankind checks out. And I fully expect Skype to be involved.