October 2007

You might have caught it in Villu's post on the main blog (or even my other post on the Gear blog), but today marks the UK launch of the 3 Skypephone, a new mobile phone from 3 and Skype that makes unlimited Skype to Skype calls and chats possible anywhere you are.

3 is a pretty cool mobile operator--they seem to really understand the usefulness of having internet connectivity on your mobile, and have already been offering Skype on many of their X-Series and Mix & Match handsets.

The 3 Skypephone makes using Skype on the go easier than ever: from the time you first press the Skype button and log in, Skype is always on wherever you have mobile reception. You can make free Skype-to-Skype calls, have text chats with individuals and groups, and announce your Skype status so people know if it's a good time to call you. If you and a friend both have 3 Skypephones, you can make unlimited calls to each other via Skype (subject to a generous fair use policy).

The phone also has a great internet browser (with 3's Launcher for easy access to sites like eBay, Facebook and YouTube), music player, and mobile TV viewer.

You can get the 3 Skypephone in the UK at 3 Stores from this Friday, 2 November (or you can preorder it now). It costs £49.99 on pay as you go (and you need to top up £10 a month to keep your Skype service active), or is free on any of 3's Mix & Match tariffs, which start at £12 a month for an 18 month contract.

Check out a couple photos from the press briefing this morning after the jump.

Continue reading "3 Skypephone Launches in the UK" »

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.

Martin Varsavsky from FON talks about the expansion of their network of FON hotspots by 3 million in one fell swoop, thanks to a hookup with BT. Quite what he’s doing wandering round the Tate Modern I’m not sure, though perhaps it’s to do with BT’s sponsorship deal there.

As the FON blog says, BT Broadband users can now opt in to make their broadband wireless hub a FON hotspot and get free Wi-fi at other FON hotspots in return:

Every person in the UK who agrees to share a small portion of their home broadband connection will be able to share the connection of any other member. Anyone joining in will be able to use those FON hotspots across the world and all the new BT FON hotspots free of charge.

It's been interesting to see how the blogosphere has reacted to the announcement. Connected Internet raises questions about bandwidth allocation:

[BT] didn’t give any details of how much bandwidth each BT Fon customer will be asked to share. It will probably be enough for BT Fon users to be able to surf the net, read emails, watch YouTube videos etc but not enough for anyone who wants to sit outside their neighbours house and download a torrent.

and Martyn Davis at Blognation UK talks about the future:

On a broader canvas, this is an interesting experiment in picocell technology. As wireless Internet speeds get faster in the future, your proximity to the base station will define what performance you get to the Internet. This means that high speed wireless technologies like WiMax and 3G HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) will not give good coverage if service providers just build a handful of giant towers; it will be rather important to have picocells, or small capacity base stations that are available in large numbers. Actually, what could be a better approach then turning WiFi-equipped homes and businesses into a picocell network?

Of course, more Wi-fi can only be good news for Skype users. In fact, the SMC wifi phone will connect straight in to a FON hotspot, so perhaps it won’t be long before you can avoid carrying a laptop altogether.

Andy Abramson delights in the fact that Wi-fi is available on the Heathrow Express, and commenter Ian Wild points out that it's also available on GNER's services between London and Scotland.

But there's one more — and here's a summary table to show you where you can find wireless connections on trains in Great Britain:

Other operators who are considering installing Wi-fi equipment include South West Trains, who operate between London Waterloo and the south west of England, and Virgin Trains, between London Euston, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. With any luck, it won’t be long before Wi-fi on trains is as common as the wrong kind of snow.

* Prices correct as of the time of posting, obviously, so they may change in the future. GNER’s service will be free to all passengers when the franchise changes hands later this year.

According to this map in Wired, Britain has some of the cheapest access to broadband internet connectivity in the world. But what does the future hold?

Stephen Timms, the new Minister of State for Competitiveness, will meet with ISPs to discuss the future of the UK's internet infrastructure, according to a Silicon.com piece:

> "As minister for competitiveness, I see it as one of my highest personal priorities that we have a high-performance telecommunications infrastructure in every part of the country, enabling us to compete successfully on a global basis. That is why I have decided to chair a high-level summit later this year to consider the circumstances that might trigger public-sector intervention, the form that intervention might take, and at what level it might sensibly take place."

The Broadband Finder blog suggests that fibre connections, rather than copper cables, could become the norm — but quotes Steve Robertson of Openreach citing lack of funding as the principle stumbling block:

> Robertson asserts “that putting fibre into the ground is just as easy as putting copper into the ground,” and so the roll out should not be any more or less logistically demanding than the current 21CN rollout is at the moment. The main stumbling block is money, and getting everyone involved to bring some cash to the table if we are to see any radical changes over the next few years.