Aztech's V500DS cordless Skype phone enters the fray...

Aztech were showing off their tidy new Skype-certified cordless PSTN/Skype phone the V500DS last week at the Hong Kong Electronic Fair. It'll be selling in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong in January next year.

The phone is designed to give you a choice of either using Skype or your regular phone line to make calls. If you have more than one handset, you can even use Skype to make a call whilst your son/mother-in-law/partner/cat/goldfish is calling using the landline.

As well as the features we're beginning to expect from cordless Skype phones, the Aztech V500DS has got some interesting extras, such as being able to search for new Skype buddies and also text chat via the handset. It also has a speakerphone built in, and handy extras such as call waiting, conference calling and access to Skype Voicemail.

It features a bright 1.5" screen for accessing Skype, which is embedded into the handset meaning there's no need to connect to the PC, as there was with Aztech's already-released HS315-S1. A slight downside is that there is no camera built in to this phone, which denied me any kind of headline referring to the classic 90s Scottish band Aztec camera. Hey ho.

The Singaporean company's CEO Michael Mun dropped some heavy hints that there might be more Aztech Skype phones on the horizon, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye out for Aztech going into 2007...

Comments

The dongle version pictured here is actually the HS315-S1. The real V500DS has Skype built-in and does not require a dongle connection to the PC.

Quite right - thanks for letting me know; I've changed the details to reflect this.

Phone: Aztech HS315
Skype ver: 3.2.0.175

I have several issues with this phone..
1. It gets disconnected during the call quite often without a warning.
2. Even if i am near the phone, The skype window shows that the call is On (remains connected on the PC) but the handset gets disconnected)
3. The display does not get refreshed and shows an earlier status/or has missing names
4. Updated skype versions a few times and still no avail.

Is there a way out by the way of skype version downgrade or firmware upgrade?..I am still under warranty but the Malaysian office is not responsive enough. Is there something i could do?

Never buy this phone.Since I have bought it never works. It gets disconnected.
Battery becomes flat. Even after getting it serviced at the Technical Support centre it never did work.Same problem. You can never hear the opposite party or they cannot hear you.Never buy ,its a waste of money.Technical support very poor.

02-05-09
After upgrading firmware phone keep on restarting and shows battery low.

Factory firmware was better,DO NOT Upgrade ur firmware,then it will work fine.

I am using Aztech V500DS dual phone to connect skypeout, skype pc calls and landline numbers. This phone, purchased from Malaysia; worked 2-3 months without any hassel and now I can call both landlines and pc but I hear no voice in skype calls. I can talk and hear landline calls only. In Skype to skype pc calls, I can hear when someone calls, its dailing tone and can connects but the caller cannot hear my voice and I cannot hear caller's voice as well. In Skypeout calls I cannot hear its dialing tone and also when it connects i cannot hear receiver's voice and the receiver cannot hear my voice as well. I checked land line calls many times it works perfect. Apart from this, I have reset the phone to its default setting too, but no development. Please assist me in fixing the problem.