February 2009

Some recent Skype stories:

• Here's a good review of the Asus Eee AiGuru SV1 Videophone, with video.
• Skype President Josh Silverman was recently profiled by the UK's Independent. He's also was also nominated as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum this week.
• American students were able to participate in the politcal process, speaking with a Congressman over Skype video.
• A six-year-old cancer patient uses Skype to stay in touch with her friends at school.
• Skype video is a good way for business travelers to see their children when they're away, and for family and friends to avoid homesickness and keep in touch when they move. It's also being used at libraries by people who don't own computers.
• Internet hug! A pair of photography enthusiasts who met over Flickr use Skype to keep in touch across an ocean.
• The end of alone: Skype is one way to keep in constant contact for pleasure or work, though a work telecommuting strategy needs to be carefully considered to be successful.
• A soldier in Iraq and a music industry executive use Skype for interviews with the media.

It's been a busy week for Skype in Barcelona at this year's Mobile World Congress. As you might have seen on the main blog, there were 2 big Skype-related announcements: A new partnership between Skype and Nokia which will put Skype on Nokia NSeries phones (starting with the Nokia N97 later this year), and the release of Skype 2.5 for Windows Mobile (as well as a Skype Panel for the Windows Mobile-based Sony Xperia 1).

I'll hopefully be able to try out Skype on the N97 when it's out later this year. For now, here's a look at the new version of Skype 2.5 for Windows Mobile:

Continue reading "A look at Skype 2.5 for Windows Mobile" »

MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) are an interesting product category--they're portable, with big touch screens (5-7 inches generally) and often no keyboard. They tend to have Intel Atom processors and run a flavor of Linux. They're even smaller and more portable than netbooks. Skype has been available on MIDs for quite some time now, and I finally had the chance to play with Skype on two different MIDs this week. The ways you can use Skype on the go keep growing, with the 3 Skypephones, 3 INQ phone, Skype Lite on Java-enabled phones and Android, WiFi phones, Nokia N800/N810, Windows Mobile... the list goes on. These Linux-based MIDs provide another great way to use Skype wherever you are.

Continue reading "Skype on MIDs" »

Skype 4.0

Are you using Skype 4.0 yet? If not, go download it now! I'm a big fan, but I'm not the only one--a bunch of people had some nice things to say about it this week, including David Pogue of the New York Times, Andy Abramson of VOIP Watch, Alec Saunders, and CNET among others.

Gadgets

• Pocket-Lint and ITPro had a closer look at the Asus Eee AiGuru SV1.
• Here's an ingenious way to set your computer up to automatically give you a wakeup call via Skype.

Family

• A deployed army mother and a soldier son use Skype to keep in touch with family, as do grandparents.
• Celebrating Chinese New Year over Skype.
• Using Skype to to help with homesickness after a move to South Africa.

Business

• Skype can be used to avoid business travel.
• A recent study found that video can help workers collaborate better.
• A professor discusses how information technology, including Skype, is influencing workers.
• Sewing instructions via webcam help out remote islanders.