October 2007

Free video calls have been a feature on Skype since late 2005 and have helped millions of people keep in touch. It’s become so popular that one in four Skype-to-Skype calls today involves video. Like they say in Hollywood – show, don’t tell.

Things are about to get a whole lot bigger, sharper and smoother. Today, Skype and Logitech announced a collaboration to give Skype users the kind of video quality that used to be the privilege of big businesses.

Enter High Quality Video, due in November. (Although, if you’re adventurous enough to play with beta software, you’re welcome to try it out now.) Explaining what it does is a bit like dancing about architecture, because you really need to see it in action. But the video window on Skype has grown to 640x480 pixels, delivering up to 30 frames per second. This produces a level of clarity, detail and fluid motion that is pretty astounding. It’s been immensely satisfying to watch the reactions of people who’ve seen it for the first time. Them jaws, they tend to drop.

To experience free High Quality Video, this is what both sides of the conversation will need:

• Skype 3.6 for Windows (expected to be available in November)
• a Logitech webcam that has been optimized and certified for High Quality Video (the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks or the Logitech QuickCam Sphere AF (Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF in the U.S.)
• Logitech QuickCam software, version 11.5 (expected to be available in November at www.logitech.com/downloads)
• a dual-core PC
• a broadband connection (384 kbps and above).

For more, please see the High Quality Video page on the Skype website.

The three webcams are already available worldwide, in retail as well as the Skype web store. In Europe, the Skype shop has a special offer for the webcams. The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 or the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks will normally cost €99.99, but if you head for the Skype webstore, you’ll also get a free headset, free shipping, and SkypeOut credit worth up to three hours of calls to landlines and mobiles. In the US, Skype offers a $20 rebate on either of these products ($99.99 before the rebate).

One shouldn’t really trust rumors. But we’ve heard plenty of them in recent weeks and in this case, they weren’t too far from the truth. In tandem with the mobile operator 3, Skype has just launched a new mobile phone called 3 Skypephone. One that lets you make free Skype-to-Skype calls and send free Skype instant messages from anywhere. Not just from the desktop, not just from the office. From anywhere.

And it works the other way, too. That is, if your friend in the US runs Skype on her desktop and calls you over Skype, your 3 Skypephone will ring. And the call won’t cost either of you a penny.

What we’re dealing with here is a mobile internet phone with Skype built in. That is, in addition to Skype calls the phone also handles conventional calls and can be used to access 3’s other internet services. We’re dealing with a new breed here, folks. Because this is the first time an operator has offered a mass-market mobile phone purpose-built for free internet calls. In a package that’s easy to use, is easy on the pocketbook and looks so good you may want to chain it to your wrist (lest gravity or someone’s sticky fingers get the better of it).

So, where can you get the thing and what’s the damage? The 3 Skypephone will be available this year in the UK, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau and Sweden. Skype-to-Skype calls are free from your 3 Skypephone as long as you are on contract or your pay-as-you-go 3 credit is topped up monthly. In the UK the 3 Skypephone is £49.99 on a pay-as-you-go tariff or free on a contract.

The new phone is available from November 2 in 3Stores across the UK and from Skype and 3’s websites in time for Christmas. And it’s available for pre-order in the UK from today.

See the press release for more details.

Whoosh.

Earlier today, Skype announced that it has teamed up with MySpace to create MySpaceIM with Skype, which will add Skype voice calls to the MySpace instant-messaging tool. When we officially welcome MySpace’s 110 million monthly users to the Skype family next month, this collaboration will make the combination of MySpace and Skype into the world’s largest voice-connected community.

And then things got even better.

A few hours following the MySpace announcement, we surpassed 10 million simultaneous online Skype users. For the first time, like, ever. Just three years ago, on October 20, 2004, we were popping Champagne bottles to mark 1 million simultaneous users. Which we thought was unbelievable. And it was only earlier this year that we passed the 9 million mark.

It’s not yeast or baking soda that makes us grow like this. It’s all about the people out there across the ever-shrinking globe, falling for Skype as a way to keep in touch.

And that’s a beautiful thing.

Do you use MySpace? Well, soon it’ll get even better.

Skype has teamed up with MySpace to create MySpaceIM with Skype, which adds Skype voice calls to the MySpace instant messaging tool. The collaboration turns MySpace into the world’s largest voice-connected community.

As a result, MySpace and Skype users will be able to make high quality calls to each other for free, and millions of MySpace users in 20 countries will be able to tap into Skype to make pretty cheap calls to landlines and mobile phones around the world.

In addition, MySpace users will be able to set up a SkypeIn number, voicemail and call forwarding. You also connect your MySpace profile to your Skype account. This makes it easy to share your MySpace profile and avatar with Skype contacts. Of course, Skype users will be able to call MySpace users as well.

So when does all this happen? Soon. By mid-November, you’ll be able to download MySpace IM with Skype. You’ll have drum your fingers until then, but we think it’ll be worth the wait.

For more information, please see the press release.

Wow, is that a ladybug on your shoulder? Check out our newest beta version with High Quality Video.

Most of you know that free Skype video calling has been around for a while, giving friends and family the opportunity to have a much deeper connection. Well now we’ve improved the quality so much with High Quality Video, it’s like you’re right there with them.

This means that now when you call your mom to let her see little Johnny, she’ll feel like she’s right there giving him a big Grandma hug.

In order to make High Quality Video calls, in addition to running the latest version of Skype (currently Skype 3.6 for Windows beta), your system needs to meet certain hardware requirements.

Want to know more about how you can make clearer, sharper video calls? Find out here.

The JiWire Hotspot Finder is a Skype Extra which lets you find Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere in the world through Skype. It searches over 140,000 hotspots in 134 countries — the most comprehensive database of hotspots in the world.

You can use it to find free and paid hotspots, searching by location, e.g. ‘Mumbai’ or by using a postal or ZIP code — and you can narrow down your search by specifying a keyword, like ‘café’ or by a specific location like ‘Starbucks’. You can also use the ‘Find Me’ button to find hotspots around your current location, which is probably particularly handy when you’re completely lost.

Jim Courtney of Skype Journal was at Skype’s Developer event in San José where JiWire received the cup, and spoke with Kevin McKenzie, JiWire’s CEO, and Nihad Hafiz, the principal developer:

Speaking with Kevin he mentioned that, while there is no business model associated with JiWire Hotspot Finder for Skype, he does see it as providing awareness generation for their services that may lead to both purchase of their WiFi security tool and to use of their ad-supported desktop services. Kevin also mentioned that Nihad had developed the JiWire Hotspot Finder for Skype as a ‘work of passion’ outside his normal responsibilities at JiWire. And that passion certainly came through in my discussion with Nihad.

Andy Abramson describes the JiWire Hotspot Finder as ‘sensational’ — and I’d agree. Download it now and give it a try