Skype events

A little message from Ants over at the Devzone blog:

As summer is coming and we enjoy meeting colleagues and friends after work , we would like to raise to your attention that Skype is inviting you!

On Thursday 10th May, from 5pm till 8pm, Skype will be offering you free food, drink and entertainment at our London offices (map). Whether you’re a developer, beta tester or just a keen Skype user, it’d be great to see you. You’ll get an opportunity to meet plenty of the Skype team, and to chat about the good, bad and ugly of Skypeland.

If you’d like to come along, just pop us an email, telling us:

• Your name
• Your company or other affiliation
• Your location
• Are you an existing Skype developer?

I look forward to seeing you there

So I’m in Las Vegas, where I’m neither hob-nobbing with Elvis over a frozen margarita nor racking up my chips on the poker table. Instead, I’m crouched excitedly over a hot laptop in the bowels of an expo centre approximately the size of the Isle of Man. Hey, Elvis can wait.

I’m here for CES, the technology industry’s annual product-launching shindig. In its 40-year history the Consumer Electronics Show has grown from a minor geekathon into an enormous platform for the likes of Bill Gates to proclaim his passion for all things electronic and cyber.

Internet telephony is up there with IPTV and HD in this year’s CES buzz – which will be music to the ears of Skype founders Janus and Niklas, who’ve now made a splash in broadband TV as well as leading the world in online communication.

Over the next couple of days I’ll bring you a round-up of Skype news from CES, including the latest Skype-certified gadgets and Skype software announcements. Watch this space, Skypers…

Skype recently turned three, in the same week that I turned somewhat older, and I got completely trounced in the battle of the birthday cards. But I’m not bitter. Not. At All.

Hundreds of you responded to the Skype birthday card competition by sending all manner of creative e-cards, pictures, videos and even a podcast.

Creator of the celebratory masterwork you see above is called Susan Falkenthal. Virginia girl Susan is currently living in South Korea, making her the perfect poster-child for a global communications company.

Continue reading "Skype's birthday winner" »

Today is Skype’s third birthday, so I thought I’d look up its horoscope. Here’s what Horoscope.co.uk has to say about our Virgo software friend:

“A delightful surprise may come from a friend who has some keen ideas on what to do next.”

A friend like, saaay, eBay? Interesting…

“An important career concern could require considerable effort on your part today in order to enable you to advance whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish, dear Virgo,” says Yahoo Horoscopes, in what may be the longest and most meaningless sentence I’ve read all month. “Today you’re capable of accomplishing wonders.”

Accomplishing wonders… you mean like letting me throw away my phone bill? Sounds about right. Bottoms up, Skype.

Stand by your headsets, cash-savvy chatter-fans - a Skype Gift Day is coming to a computer near you next Tuesday, 18 July.

Now, don’t get carried away. Skype Gift Days do not involve pitching up at a secret location and saying “I’ll take the diamante webcam and the cuddly toy, please.” They’re much better than that, because you don’t have to leave the house to get your freebie. Just log into your Skype account and claim 10 minutes of free SkypeOut calling. The offer starts at 7am on the 18th and runs for 24 hours.

Continue reading "Fancy a SkypeOut freebie?" »