RTX

Skype Gear has been all over the news during the past week. Here are some highlights from a few reviews and articles (as well as a video):

Martin Brown from Computerworld wrote about his experience of using two Skype cordless phones at the same time (well, one at home and one at the office) for six months here. He was using the RTX DUALphone 3088 (which just won the Danish Product Award 2007; review here, shop here) at work and the Netgear SPH200D at home (review here, shop here). Both connect directly to your router so you don't need to have a computer on to use them. Martin noted the aspects he preferred on each phone (he preferred the interface on the DUALphone 3088 but the handset design of the SPH200D) and also a few shortcomings (the selection of ringtones on the SPH200D, and the lack of a 'favorites' system in the contacts of both phones for easier dialing)--though overall he's "very satisfied" with the phones. My parents have a Netgear SPH200D at their house, and I have to agree that it's a nice way to have Skype at home away from your computer (BTW, it's especially good now that's I've got a 3 Skypephone, as they can reach me whenever and it's free for both of us).

Continue reading "Gear News Roundup" »

RTX has been making cordless phones that combine Skype and landline calls for quite a while now. Today the company has a new feather for its cap: its DUALphone 3088 has won the Danish Product Award 2007 from Ingeniøren, a Danish weekly newspaper that specializes in engineering topics. The award goes to "the very best Danish technological innovations and products developed for the worldwide market," so it's quite cool that a Skype product was chosen.

The DUALphone 3088, which incidentally we reviewed on the blog exactly one year ago today, is a cordless Skype phone that lets you make Skype calls and landline calls from the same handset without the need for a computer running, because the DUALphone's base station plugs directly into your router. It also has (one of my favorite things) automatic firmware updates, so the latest features and bug fixes get installed to the phone automatically.

To learn more about the award, check out the press release on RTX's website here (or if you can read Danish, See Ingeniøren's site here). The DUALphone 3088 is also available at the Skype shop, for £85 in the UK or €129 in the rest of Europe.

While the majority of recent Skype news has been about a more serious topic, there have been several stories related to Skype Gear in school, work, home and software contexts over the past few days that are worth sharing.

1. Skype at School: Language Learning
2. Skype at Work: Business Traveller
3. Skype at Home: Video Roundup
4. Skype with Software: Mashable Enhancement Roundup

Continue reading "Skypegear News Roundup" »

So I use the DUALPhone 3088 as my regular home phone, and I picked up the handset today and there was a screen telling me new software was available. We've already had a couple of updates from RTX, the Danish makers of the DUALPhone 3088, so I was happy to see that they keep on working to improve their product.

According to this release note, the main improvements in v115 are:

• Some fixes to the phone's ability to reconnect when the signal from the router or basestation is lost
• Improved caller ID performance and phonebook lookup
• Improved audio performance

Continue reading "Another DUALPhone 3088 Firmware update now available: v115" »

Have you seen how many different phones there are to make Skype calls now?! This year has seen an explosion in different new models, so I thought it was time for a quick Skypegear overview on the different phones you can use to make calls via Skype.

Cost-wise Skype phones run from around £10 right up to hundreds of pounds, so it's important when you're choosing a phone that you pick one based not just on your budget, but more importantly on your needs. I've divided them up into four categories:

• Phones that you need to have your PC on to use
• Phones that can be used without a PC
• Speakerphones
• Headsets.

Of course there are other ways to make calls such as by plugging in a phone adaptor to your regular phone, or by using the in-built mic in your webcam, but these really are 4 main ways of improving your Skype audio calls with hardware.

There's also a great interactive guide to choosing a phone in the Skype store, but read on for more info...

Continue reading "The 4 main types of Skype phone...or, a beginner's guide to buying a Skype phone" »

Now no-one likes paying for things and, as we know, it's far better to just win them in competitions if at all possible. Web User are a generous bunch, well tuned in to the nuances of human nature, and so have very generously put forward 5 DUALPhone 3088 cordless Skype phones (the ones you can use both to make normal landline calls and Skype calls on), and 5 SMC Skype wifi phones for members of the general public to win by answering a simple question:

How many registered users does Skype have all over the world?

A fair question, and I'm sure the three possible answers you have to choose from (171, 171,000, 171,000,000) won't tax the upwardly mobile, laser-sharp intellectual demographic that Skypegear attracts. So get over to Web User magazine, pick the right answer on this page, and hopefully some Skype goodies will pop onto your doormat very soon.

For those not yet convinced, check out Skypegear's Roadtests of the DUALPhone 3088 here, and the SMC WSKP100 Skype wifi phone here.

Continue reading "Win one of 10 top Skype phones courtesy of Web User magazine" »

First of all - what's Skype Pro? Well as Peter Parkes, our new Skype blogger (welcome Peter!) mentions, Skype Pro is a new calling plan from Skype, available in many European countries and in the UK. The deal's pretty simple - to paraphrase:

• Zero cents per minute calling to domestic landlines in your country — this means you can talk as long as you like and only pay the connection fee (3.9 cents or equivalent) for each call that you make to domestic landlines
• Free Skype Voicemail (normally €15 per year)
• €30 discount on SkypeIn numbers
• €5 Skype Credit included as part of the introductory offer

However, of interest from a hardware point of view are the discounts available on some interesting Skype phones and accessories such as

• A €30 discount on a Philips VoIP 841 cordless phone (£21 in the UK), which Skypegear took a look at here. 
• A €10 discount on an SMC WiFi phone (£7 in the UK), which Skypegear reviewed here.

The VoIP841 is listed as coming soon in the store at present, but keep your eyes peeled for it soon.

Only yesterday Skypegear mentioned the new package Skype have put together featuring the DUALPhone 3088 plus up to 300 minutes of call credit for a grand total of £99/E139. And now news comes from Joerg Droege from the Nafcom blog of not one but two firmware updates available for the DUALPhone 3088 phone.

Whilst the upgrades mostly just fix a few minor issues, there are a few more noteable additions. For a start, you can now accept and decline new contacts from the handset, which was previously unavailable. There are also improvements to the call quality and the volume of the ringtones.

For details of the release notes, check here, and for troubleshooting, try here.

Skypegear's already got it's hands on the cordless DECT DUALPhone 3088 for a roadtest and it's a real all-rounder: not only can you make Skype calls but also use it for regular phone calls, as well as accessing all of your Skype contacts, voice mail and Skype status. Now the European Skype store has bundled this phone with up to 300 minutes of SkypeOut credit for a very reasonable E139 / £99.

Not that Skypegear's tight, but there's nothing like the warm fuzzy feeling you get from giving a great gift to the love of your life that you got at a really, really good price

Continue reading "E25 off and loads of calling credit with the new DUALPhone Skype phone bundle..." »

Now the original cordless DUALPhone has to be one of Skype's best ever selling phones, and holds a special place in my heart as my first Skype phone (aww!). The combination of being able to make Skype calls and landline calls from one handset was just what I was looking for.

However, apparently with the release of Skype 3 for Windows there were one or two compatibility issues, and so Danish DUALPhone manufacturer RTX have done the decent thing and provided a firmware upgrade to take the phone to version 2.22. This upgrade also ensures compatibility with Windows Vista for anyone who has January 30th (the Vista consumer release date) marked on their Pocket PC's calendar and a whole hunk of money in their back pocket.

Continue reading "Firmware upgrade for the original DUALPhone" »

Cordless phones such as this new offering from RTX offer the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you have the advantages of a handset which doesn't require a PC to make Skype calls and which you can take anywhere around the house, and on the other, you still can make calls using your landline if you don't want to use Skype the whole time.

So could the DUALphone 3088 seriously replace your old landline? I got one to test this week.

Continue reading "SkypeGear Roadtest: DUALphone 3088" »