Skype announcements

From the 1st May, there will be no data charges or top-up fees to use Skype on 3 in the UK. Whether you’re a contract or pay-as-you-go customer, you’ll be able to make unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls from your 3 mobile without paying a penny. No more minimum monthly top-ups, just free calls.

Later this summer, 3 will be introducing a new SIM, priced at just £1.99, which will bring free Skype-to-Skype calls to anyone in the UK with an unlocked compatible phone – all you’ll have to do is pop the SIM in, download Skype from 3, and you’ll be free to make as many Skype-to-Skype calls as you like without worrying about cost.

In the UK, Skype users already make 1.5 million minutes of calls on the 3 network every day – and with these improvements on their way, you’ll soon have no excuse not to join them

Update: there’s some more information on the 3 UK website.

As I posted on the main blog a few moments ago – and as you may have heard – something groundbreaking’s happening in the land of 3.

A software update being pushed to handsets in the UK and Ireland from tomorrow will let you call landlines and mobiles abroad using Skype’s paid-for services from your 3 Skypephone or Skype-enabled 3 mobile. 3 Skypephone users – both S1 and S2 – along with people using Skype on 3 mobiles will be able to take advantage of Skype’s low rates to stay in touch with non Skype users around the world.

Now you’ll have no excuse not to get in touch with your friends, relatives and colleagues, even if they’re on a beach in Sydney or a hotel in Rome :)

Although it hasn't exactly been kept a secret, we're all very excited to announce that the new 3 Skypephone is here. It's called the S2, and as with the first 3 Skypephone, Skype is fully integrated, so you can make and calls and send instant messages to Skype users anywhere in the world absolutely free.

Equally, it's absolutely free for other people to call you or message you on Skype while you're using the 3 Skypephone S2. Of course, it does all of the other things you'd expect a mobile to do too - make calls, send text messages, take photos and browse the web.

How does the S2 compare to the the original 3 Skypephone?

New user interface — even easier to use than the original 3 Skypephone, with a carousel interface which makes switching apps speedy. It preserves the integrated Skype phonebook, so your contacts' Skype names appear alongside their landline or mobile phone numbers.

Better build, screen and camera — it has metal keys and back as well as a bigger screen (2.2" vs. 2") at higher resolution (240 x 320 vs. 176 x 220) and a better camera (3.2 megapixel vs. 2 megapixel).

HSDPA broadband and built-in dongle capabilities - it has built in modem drivers so you can use the cable that comes in the box to plug it into your laptop and get online.

Facebook and Last.fm apps and RSS reader - convenient access to Facebook and Last.fm, plus your top RSS feeds, while on the move.

Where can I get one?

It's available in the UK only at present, and it's available to buy now. It's priced at £69.99 on Pay as You Go, and it's free with a contract from £15 per month.

We're always trying to come up with ways we can improve Skype, and to help us do this we are inviting Skype users to talk to us about how they use Skype in Central London. This time we will be focusing on people who have Skype for Windows Mobile. The sessions will be held on Wednesday 13th August.

We've hired a research agency called Criteria to help us organize this research. If you are interested in participating in these interviews, please drop them a line at research@criteria.co.uk (please include your phone number in the email, so they can follow up with you) or call them on 020 7431 4399, with the reference code Skype WM.

Just so you know - replies to your email will be directly received and processed by Criteria rather than Skype.

As a thank you for taking part in a session, we will compensate you for your time

We've just launched Skype 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows - probably the most exciting release since Skype first appeared on the scene in 2003.

The plan is this: we're releasing this version now, and we're going to spend all summer gathering, analysing and acting on your feedback. That way, when we launch the final version, it'll be perfect

A summary of what's new:

• Totally new interface, designed to give plenty of space for video calls
• Chatting and calling integrated into the same window, so no more playing hunt-the-chat window
• Better hardware detection - you can switch headset halfway through a call and Skype deal with it
• A single directory screen - find people and businesses all in one place

Update: a full feature list is now available on the Skype Garage blog.

The video below highlights some of the advanced features in the Beta, but the best way to explore is to download it and try it out. Don't forget to send in your feedback, too.

For those of you who have been waiting, Skype for Windows 3.8 is now out — you can find a full set of release notes on the Garage blog, and Villu has some more to say about it on the main blog:

The main improvements can be found under the hood of the audio engine. In the real world, this translates to significantly reduced background noise, less delay, fewer call drops, and fewer cut-outs. And if you change your headset, headphones or microphone, there’s no need to mess around with sound settings. 3.8 takes care of it behind the scenes.

Download Skype 3.8 for Windows

Update: Andrew’s posted a great video walkthrough of the Skype for your mobile interface.

Today, Skype has released a beta version of Skype for your mobile, a mobile thin client for Java-enabled phones.

The full set of features for Skype for your mobile beta include chat, group chat, presence (seeing when your contacts are online), and, making Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls.

Note: When you make calls, you’ll be charged by your operator just like you would for any normal phone call — so if you have inclusive minutes, a Skype-to-Skype or SkypeOut call will use up these minutes.

There will also be some data charges for the handling of presence and chat messages — again, you’ll be charged by your operator as normal for these. An unlimited data plan is recommended, but we reckon that a person with 20 contacts, who’s online for 1 hour, Skype chats for 10 minutes and has a 20 minute call each day will use about 1MB of data per month. The more data you use, the higher your charges may be, of course.

As an optional feature, you can also receive calls from other Skype users and via your Skype online number — this is supported in the UK, but not everywhere in the world.

It’s been tested on around 50 different handsets from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, but is likely to work on others too.

For full instructions on how to download it, visit the Skype for your mobile page on the Skype website.

Of course, if you’re in the market for a new phone, the 3 Skypephone offers an integrated Skype experience with no Skype-to-Skype call or data charges, so long as you top up your account with £10 per month.

Thanks to everyone who voted in this year’s Webware 100 Awards — and we’ve done it again

Skype’s a winner in the Communication category for the second year in a row, and we’re all very proud. Nearly two million people voted in the award selection, which honours the best web 2.0 sites, services and products.

Update:We've updated our subscriptions, adding more countries.

Skype’s just launched three new unlimited calling plans, which offer a single, monthly flat rate for national and international calling:

Unlimited Country — £2.24/month inc. VAT

This plan offers unlimited calls to landline numbers in one of the 20 European countries listed below, plus all of the calling plan benefits at the bottom of this post.

Austria; Belgium; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom.

Unlimited Europe — £3.39/month inc. VAT

This plan offers unlimited calls to landline numbers in all of the 20 European countries listed above, plus all of the calling plan benefits at the bottom of this post.

Unlimited World — £7.99/month inc. VAT

This plan offers unlimited calls to landline numbers in all of the 34 countries listed below, plus all of the calling plan benefits at the bottom of this post.

Australia; Austria; Belgium; Canada (incl. mobiles); China (incl. mobiles); Chile; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; France; Germany; Greece; Guam; Hong Kong (incl. mobiles); Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Korea, Republic of; Luxembourg; Malaysia; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Singapore (incl. mobiles); Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan; United Kingdom; USA (incl. mobiles).

Calling plan benefits

Call day or night

No restrictions on when you call — you can get in touch whenever you like.

Online number

An online number is a normal phone number which lets people who don’t have Skype call you as if you had a landline phone. With the Unlimited World plan, you get three of these; the other two plans give you one.

Voicemail

Free voicemail is included so you’ll never miss that call from your special someone again.

Skype To Go (where available)

Skype To Go lets you use any mobile phone or landline to reach people abroad.

Fair use

The legal bit — as part of Skype’s fair usage policy you’ll get up to 10,000 calling minutes per month. And only to landline numbers beginning 01 and 02 in the UK.

Scott’s just announced that the Skype for Business Control Panel has had a few updates — and the new features should help make life easier for small and large organisations alike. There’s also a new Business help desk for any support queries.

If you use Skype at work and don’t already use the Business Control Panel, you might like to check it out — it’s free to set up, and brings a whole host of benefits. †

What’s new in the updated Business Control Panel

Easier invitations — you can now invite people to join your Business Control Panel using their email address; if they don’t already have a Skype name, they’ll be invited to set one up, and will be guided through the process. You can even recommend a name if your company uses a standard format.

Members’ directory — you can create a directory for your organisation to make it easy for your employees or volunteers to find each others Skype names.

Itemised call reports — with the permission of your employees, you can view itemised reports of their calls and text messages. As a Control Panel member, you can grant or deny permission as you see fit from the Business Control Panel settings page.

Credit buying improvements — you can now buy up to £750 of credit at once, and can set up auto recharging to make sure that your employees never run out of credit.

† If you’re part of a larger organisation, don’t forget about the Business version of Skype (MSI), too.

Good news for Linux users — Skype for Linux version 2 is now available. Aside from zillions of bug fixes and new language support, the most exciting feature of version 2 is the introduction of free video calls to Linux. This is a feature everyone’s been asking for, so we’re extra-happy to have made it happen.

If you’re a Linux user, head over to the download page and grab a copy — builds are available for Ubuntu, Debian Etch, Xandros, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Mandriva and Centros.

For more info, check out Ryan’s post on the Linux blog. He’s quite excited by it too

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the latest addition of our team of international bloggers — this time it’s to Howard Wolinsky, who joins us as our US blogger. If you spend time in the US (and who wouldn’t want to these days with the dollar as low as it is, and disruptive airlines like EOS and SilverJet to take the pain away) — or just want to keep abreast of Skype’s activities the other side of the pond — you can find out all about what’s going on on the new US blog.

Howard’s pictured here (left) being chatted up by Jason Fried of 37signals:

For those of us this side of the Atlantic, Oprah perhaps doesn’t have as big an impact on the media, peoples lives, or, indeed, book sales, as she does in the States, but if you imagine taking Richard and Judy’s influence on the bestseller lists and multiplying it by a hundred, that’s pretty much what happens.

Want to talk with Oprah on a Skype video call?

Well, with Skype you can. Oprah’s going to be discussing Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth every Monday for the next 10 weeks, live and online. Every week, she’ll be taking questions from viewers live using Skype High Quality Video.

For more, visit the Get Ready to be Awakened page on the Skype website.

Photo by our friends over at FeedBurner

As you may have seen in his post over at the main Skype blog, Josh Silverman is to become CEO of Skype.

He’ll start work on the 24th March, and has a few words to say about what he’s got planned:

So what can you expect from me? That I’m serious about wanting to build the greatest products — and the greatest company — on Earth. That doing so means listening well, being willing to think different and take risks. And in everything we do, one thing is certain: we’ll always have the best interests of the Skype community at heart.

I’m the new guy, and have a lot to learn. To really understand Skype’s cultural and technological DNA, my number one priority is to do a lot of listening and learning. With my wife and kids about to begin their adventure in Estonia as well, I have all the support I could ever need. I want to know everything about the technology, the team and the community. And I hope to share some of my observations on this very blog and see what you think, too.

We've done a couple of posts about the need to change some SkypeIn numbers in London. As you may know, we're going to give affected users a new SkypeIn number and voicemail free for 12 months. This is to thank you for your patience and to help make the switch as painless as possible.

To make the change as hassle-free as possible for you, we'd like to help you set up your new number before your current one stops working on December 20.

Your next step: activate your new number. (If you'd like to see if you can retain your current number outside of Skype, please contact GCI Telecom on sales@geonum.co.uk)

1. Visit www.skype.com/go/voucher
2. Log in and enter the voucher code that you received by email. If you didn't get an email about changing the SkypeIn number, you're probably fine and have nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately there is very limited availability of 020 7 numbers. This means you may not be able to get an 020 7 number to replace your existing one. However, we have plenty of 020 8 numbers and 020 3 numbers
which OFCOM has introduced to cover the whole of Greater London.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our customer advisors directly at sichange@skype.net. We've also created a step-by-step guide to help you redeem your voucher and choose your new SkypeIn number.

A few days ago, I wrote about why Skype felt it had no choice but to recall and replace about 8,000 London-based 020 7 SkypeIn numbers. Our colleagues in customer support have pulled in extra resources and are totally focused on making the transition as smooth as possible.

Hardest hit were users who had subscribed to the affected SkypeIn numbers for 12 months. (SkypeIn subscriptions are available for 3 or 12 months). We know that small businesses are among them and that their trust and confidence is a precious, fragile thing. It’s with them that we’ll have to work the hardest to win back their confidence.

So here’s where things stand at the moment. Our customer support team has been working round the clock to assist everyone affected. At the moment, they’ve responded to over 75 percent of those who’ve required additional support. And we hope to sort out the remaining inquiries this week. (If there are any outstanding questions, please send an email to sichange@skype.net If you’d like to explore the possibility of retaining your number outside of your Skype account, please contact GCI Telecom on sales@geonum.co.uk).

Everything is being done to keep this from happening in the future. We’re no strangers to crises and major issues like this help us learn as a business. We’ll use the knowledge wisely. Have faith in us.

(Edited at 13.00 GMT, Nov. 23)

During the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking to a number of SkypeIn users, asking them to change their London-based 020 7 SkypeIn number. We don’t like doing this any more than those who’ll be losing their number. But we hope this post will help explain why we’ve had to resort to these unpleasant measures.

As you may know, Skype obtains SkypeIn numbers from several telecoms operators. That’s because Skype itself is not a telecommunication company. We make software. So when it comes to things that involve the “plain old telephone system”, we are also someone else’s customers. Mostly, this works out without a hitch. We obtain rights to use the numbers and provide them to our users as a neat, inexpensive way to bridge the telephone-Skype divide through SkypeIn.

Sadly, this simple approach has been hit by a reality check. We spent months in discussions with a telecoms operator to see if we could keep the SkypeIn numbers we rented from them, confident that the issue could be resolved. Hence the somewhat late notice to our users — we never thought things would get this far, given the time and effort put into resolving the situation.

Obviously we know that asking to replace some 020 7 SkypeIn numbers causes our users a lot of grief. To make up for some of this, we’ve given all affected 020 7 SkypeIn users a new SkypeIn number. This number will be free for 12 months along with free voicemail.

We’re very sorry for the trouble and (perfectly justified) swearing that this has caused. Our people are doing their best to make sure that these kinds of unpleasant surprises won’t happen again.

If you have more questions or need help, please send an email to sichange -at- skype.net. Some questions may already have been addressed in the FAQ, so you may want to take a look there as well.

Over the last few weeks, Skype has been busy launching its new online shop in the UK. We hope you like the revamp, as the right bit of hardware can make your conversations even better — a webcam to make video calls, or a Bluetooth headset so that you're not wired to your computer.

Here’s what’s new:

• updated look and feel
• easier navigation
• bestsellers' list
• streamlined product list to help you find the right products
• new product pictures
• better help section

To celebrate the launch, we’re offering free delivery on some of the hottest hardware. Logitech’s Quickcam Pro for Notebooks supports High Quality Video calls from £69.99. And with a free headset and calling vouchers thrown in too, it’s everything a Skype user needs to get started in style.

It’s also worth taking a peek at the great value offers exclusive to the Skype Shop, which might help fill your Christmas shopping basket for a little less.

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.

Now I know that this is strictly the UK blog, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about Ireland from time to time. Did you know that 1.2% of people living in England and Wales were born in Ireland? Or that most people born in Northern Ireland are entitled to be Irish as well as British citizens?

Two things you should know about Skype in Ireland:

## 3 X-Series launched in Ireland

As Conor O'Neill points out, it's a little bit tricky to find on the 3 website, but the X-Series has launched in Ireland. The X-Series deal is simple - you pay a flat rate per month, and get unlimited internet access. No ifs, no buts. The plans start at 14.99€ per month, and the X-Series phones all come with a special version of Skype, so you can make free calls to Skype users from your mobile without paying a penny extra.

### Find out more about the X-Series in Ireland

## SkypeIn numbers now available in Ireland

For those of you who don't know, a SkypeIn number is an ordinary phone number which connects to Skype. That way, when someone calls your SkypeIn number, you can receive calls from them wherever you are, whether it's at home, in Starbucks in town, or on a beach in the Caribbean. The great advantage for callers is that they'll probably only have to pay a local rate - the great advantage for you is that you won't have to pay a fortune to receive calls when you're abroad.

SkypeIn numbers are now available in Ireland with the following area codes:

* Cork (021)
* Dublin (01)
* Galway (091)
* Limerick (061)
* Waterford (051)

and cost 15€ for 3 months or 50€ for a year.

### Get your Irish SkypeIn number

Unfortunately, those of you using Windows may be experiencing the effects of a virus. Here’s what Kurt Sauer, Skype’s Chief Security Officer, has to say:

“Skype has learned that a computer virus called “w32/Ramex.A” is affecting users of Skype for Windows. Users whose computers are infected with this virus will send a chat message to other Skype users asking them to click on a web link that can infect the computer of the person who receives the message.

“Please note that Skype users ONLY become infected after they have downloaded the link and run the malicious software. The chat message, of which there are several versions, is cleverly written and may appear to be a legitimate chat message, which may fool some users into clicking on the link.

“Skype has been in contact with the leading antivirus software companies about this worm, and we know that they are updating their software to effectively stop this worm and as well as its side effects. Currently, F-Secure and Kaspersky Lab have already updated their antivirus products to detect and remove the worm.

“We would like to encourage our users to ensure that they are running anti-virus software on their computers and to download the latest anti-virus updates in order to provide the best protection against this and other viruses.”

More information can be found on the Skype Heartbeat page.

Hello all,

As Europe has woken up to a new day and Asia is entering the evening hours, here’s the latest on the sign-on problem.

We’re on the road to recovery. Skype is stabilizing, but this process may continue throughout the day.

An encouraging number of users can now use Skype once again. We know we’re not out of the woods yet, but we are in better shape now than we were yesterday.

Finally, we’d like to dispel a couple of theories that we are still hearing. Neither Wednesday’s planned maintenance of our web-based payment services nor any form of attack was related to the current sign-on issues in any way.

We’ll update you again as soon as we can. Thanks for hanging tight.

As always, you can find the latest information on the Heartbeat pages.

From Sten over at the main blog at 7am:

Hey,

Even though it is too early to call out anything definite yet we are now seeing signs of improvement in our sign-on performance. We continue to monitor the situation through Europe waking up this morning and have more for you in approximately 4 hours.

My client is now occasionally bringing in stacks of unread multichats. Hope yours too.

Hello everyone,

Apologies for the delay, but we can now update you on the Skype sign-on issue.  As we continue to work hard at resolving the problem, we wanted to dispel some of the concerns that you may have. The Skype system has not crashed or been victim of a cyber attack. We love our customers too much to let that happen. This problem occurred because of a deficiency in an algorithm within Skype networking software.  This controls the interaction between the user’s own Skype client and the rest of the Skype network. 

Rest assured that everyone at Skype is working around the clock — from Tallinn to Luxembourg to San Jose — to resume normal service as quickly as possible.

Some of you may be having problems logging in to Skype. Our engineering team has determined that it's a software issue. We expect this to be resolved within 12 to 24 hours. Meanwhile, you can simply leave your Skype client running and as soon as the issue is resolved, you will be logged in. We apologise for the inconvenience.

For the latest updates, please see the Heartbeat page on this issue.

A To Go number lets you make cheap calls to your best friend abroad without spending a fortune. Whether that's your backpacking buddy in Australia, granny in Nigeria or wife in the States, it could cost you as little as 1.4p per minute.

So what do you need to do?

1. Download Skype onto your computer
2. Sign up to Skype Pro for £1.50 per month
3. You'll receive a To Go number as part of the Skype Pro deal
4. Choose the friend or family member you want to call who lives abroad
5. Then enter their international number and in return, Skype will give you a local number to use instead
6. Phone this local number - your To Go number - and you'll be charged as normal, plus the SkypeOut rate for the country where your friend is

If you have a mobile contract with inclusive minutes, then you'll be able to call your friend at SkypeOut prices whether your at your computer or not. Not bad, eh? :)


Today, Skype has launched the [Small Business Pack](http://accessories.skype.com/item?sku=TSSBP) - a no-nonsense money saving deal for SMEs in the UK.

The pack includes

* Skype for Business CD.
* Skype for Windows (business edition) with [MSI](http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=892)\*
* [Business Control Panel](http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/products/controlpanel/) — for managing your company’s Skype Credit
* €50 of Skype Credit to distribute to your colleagues (that's about £33)
* 10 five-month subscriptions to [Skype Pro](http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/products/skypepro/) (worth £80)
* Getting started guide with tips and tricks for using Skype for Business

Total value (approximate): £113,**Price: £75 [£68](http://share.skype.com/sites/uk/2007/05/small_business_pack_price_slas.html)**

And, *while stocks last*, you'll get the current Skype Pro deal, which includes £4 of Skype Credit with each subscription, taking the total amount of Skype Credit included to about £73

The pack is an easy way to set up your company with Skype — it offers you control over allocation of Skype Credit and [SkypeIn numbers](http://www.skype.com/products/skypein/) to your employees, and it's good value too. What more could you ask?

*\* If this means nothing to you, don't worry. It makes some people happy, though *

Updated, 19th December 2008: Calls to UK premium rate numbers are currently disabled.

We've just launched SkypeOut Premium, which lets you call UK premium rate numbers (the ones starting with 09) with Skype. These numbers are used for a huge range of services, from weather forecasts to relationship advice.

You don't need to do anything differently to calling any other number with SkypeOut. Just make sure you have some SkypeOut credit, and dial the number in Skype as normal.

Don't forget that these premium rate numbers cost more to call than normal landlines or mobiles, so check the rate chart before you call.

The numbers themsleves aren't operated by Skype, obviously, so if you have a problem with one of the services you'll need to contact the company which operates it. The regulator ICTSIS can also help if you get into difficulties.

If you'd like to block or unblock access to premium rate numbers, you can do that from your account page.

Never mind Joost, which has soaked up an awful lot of attention this week – Skype has got some big news of its own. It's now announced a plan to introduce new domestic calling plans for 24 countries, including the UK.

Under the Skype Pro plan, users will pay a monthly subscription and a connection fee, but no per-minute charges.

Monthly fees for haven't yet been decided, but a source told the Associated Press that it'll probably be as little as £4 a month. The per-call connection fee for Skype Pro calls within the UK to a landline phone or mobile will be about 2.5p, said Skype's Stefan Oberg. Can BT beat that? I suspect it can't.

Skype Pro plans will also include free voicemail and discounted SkypeIn number.

Skype is set to announce a new set of prices for SkypeOut – but you'll have to wait until 18 January for the full details. First, you'll have to survive a helpless Cadbury's Celebrations binge, torture-by-in-laws and the whatever else the Christmas assault course can throw at you.

The new pricing strategy is intended to simplify the not-quite-free side of Skyping, and will probably look a bit like the subscription model introduced last month for SkypeOut users in the US and Canada. Watch this space in just under a month's time for full info.

Say what you like about Sainsbury's, but at least the mondo-chain has made it easy to give the gift of Skype by selling Skype Vouchers over the counter. Also, they have great deli counters and massive packs of recycled loo roll. Thumbs up.

Until now, Sainsbury's was the only place you could buy Skype Vouchers in the UK, but that's all changed. You can now buy £10 and £20 vouchers in 5,500 newsagents and convenience stores across the nation via e-pay terminals, which also sell such communicative conveniences as mobile top-ups and long-distance calling cards. Not that you'll need those once you've stocked up your Skype credit.

You can also now buy the vouchers in Martin McColl stores, of which there are apparently 1,500 in the UK, though I don't think I've ever been in one. Where are they all? Please send me a photo of one if you can enlighten me. And directions. Much obliged.

Life is just one big shop window for gadget-loving Skypers. You can barely get out of bed these days without hearing about another new shiny piece of Skype-compatible kit: WiFi Skype phones, Skype-ready keyboards, speakerphones disguised as trolls from the planet Skype...

So it's only fair that Skype has launched a whole new blog devoted to Skype gear, hosted by hardware head boy Steve Pinches.

Tip: Having trouble making a Christmas list? Simply wait a few weeks, print off the entire Gear blog, hand it to your mum/other half/mate/boss and say: "Want that one. And that one. And that one's pretty good, too." They'll really appreciate it.

Hi,

at Skype, we are always looking for ways to make Skype even better and to continue to delight our users. One of the best ways to achieve this is to meet and talk to people like you.

Skype is currently organising a research groups to be run in London on Tuesday 5th and Thursday 7th September.

If you use Skype and are available on any of these dates and would like to participate, please e-mail us at . Thanks.

If you want to help Skype celebrate its third birthday, you won't have much luck persuading it to come to the pub after work. However, you're very welcome to send it a birthday card - and if you do, you could win a speakerphone and USB internet phone from Skype's pals at US Robotics.

Your card can be a picture, photo, video, a written note... anything you like. Send your scribbles to happybirthday@skype.net, and post pictures or vids on Flickr, YouTube or any other of those clever interwebby places, and email Skype the link. The best cards will be published on the Share Skype blog, so make sure to include your Skype name.

Don't rush your masterpiece: you've got until the end of Sunday (September 3) to enter. Good luck!

Got the midweek blues? Of course you have. Everyone has. Especially if you're working in an office where your boss won't let you download anything onto your computer, so you can't use Skype. Well, that's their problem - they'd save a tidy little packet on corporate phone bills.

Rant over. The real point of this post is to remind you about Skype's Summer Thursdays promotion, which means that you can claim 20 minutes of free SkyeOut calls to ordinary landlines in 30 countries worldwide, every Thursday in August.

You can claim your freebie as soon as tomorrow swings into view. Go to Skype.com, click on the ’Get 20 Free Minutes Now’ link and follow the instructions.

Tip: If you want to save up your minutes to make one long call to your friend on their birthday at the end of the month, you can - just collect your minutes every Thursday, and leave them to accumulate in your account.

Skype has given the seal of approval to a brace of products from internet security experts McAfee.

McAfee's Internet Security Suite 200, VirusScan 2006 and Personal Firewall 2006 have been declared Skype certified - in other words, they meet Skype's (rather high) expectations of how various products and gizmos should work with Skype. So before certifying the McAfee software, Skype had to make sure that they successfully scanned all files before they were transferred during a call.

Announcing what may be the start of a beautiful friendship with McAfee, Skype’s chief security officer Kurt Sauer said: “We want our community to use their computers in the safest way possible, which includes having virus protection. Skype is already very secure, and McAfee’s products are complementary, securing the rest of the PC environment.”

Let's ignore the fact that summer seems to have taken a week off, and celebrate the first of Skype's Summer Thursdays.

Every Thursday this month, you get to make free Skype calls to any landline or mobile phone, anywhere in the world - which is more than enough consolation for a bit of wind and rain.

The science bit: All Skype's registered UK users get 100 free minutes of SkypeOut in August. Alas, you can't run off and use all 100 minutes this evening - you get 20 minutes every Thursday until the end of August.

To activate your free minutes, go to www.skype.co.uk, click on ‘Get 20 Free Minutes Now’ and follow the instructions. The freebie will appear in your Skype Credit balance straight away.

Quick newsy post to see you into the weekend. Skype is unleashing three free new toolbars for MS Office, Outlook Express and Thunderbird - and, just so they don't feel left out, the Firefox and IE toolbars have been upgraded.

Best feature of these new toolbars is that they'll recognise a phone number contained within an Office document, email or web page, allowing you to call that number with one click.

Have a look at Skype's Download pages for all the details.

A serious news day today: This afternoon Skype released a new beta version of its software for Mac OS X.

The program packs all manner of swanky features into its slick new interface. There's support for nine languages, an improved contacts list with simplified search, and an Easy Dialler tool for calling landlines and mobiles. Mac users will also be able to import Apple’s Address Book (below) and call contacts directly with SkypeOut.

As if that weren't enough excitement for the Mac pack on a sultry afternoon, Skype for Mac starter packs were launched today, too. The packs include a USB stereo headset with microphone, all wrapped up in a specially-designed carrying case - plus a voucher for free SkypeOut minutes. Skype, you are spoiling us.