Skype in the US

I've featured Canadian portrait artist Barbara Muir a couple times on this blog.

Her work caught on big time after Oprah Winfrey recently featured Barbara in her program, "Where the Skype are you?"

Barbara drew a Skype sketch of the talk show queen herself.

Now the artist's story is being told in Canada, including an interview on Toronto's CityNews. Barbara said she gets five to 10 calls a day from people who want to be drawn by the Skype sketcher.

CityNews reporter Jee-Yun Lee describes how she herself is using Skype from Toronto to share images of her new baby with her in-laws in Vancouver. "Oh what technology can do," she wrote in her blog. Indeed.

Some of you may have seen update notifications in iTunes or on the App Store on your device, but for those of you who haven't - Skype 1.1 for iPhone and iPod touch is now available for download.

New languages

Skype for iPhone speaks your language - it's now available in Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish and Traditional Chinese as well as English.

Voicemail and SMS

We've listened to your feedback - Skype for iPhone now lets you listen to your Skype voicemail while you're on the move, as well as send super low-cost SMSs to friends and family around the world.
... and more

Additionally, we've made some improvements to the look and feel, particularly when calling phones using the dial pad.

So - what are you waiting for? Download the update in iTunes, or launch the App Store on your device and tap Updates to grab the latest version.

Note: This version requires iPhone OS 2.2 or 3.0. If you're still using iPhone OS 2.1 or 2.0, you'll need to update to 3.0 in order to run Skype 1.1 for iPhone - it's free and easy to do. Skype for iPhone is not supported on devices running modified versions of iPhone OS.

It's better than ever before - the Gold version of Skype 3.0 for Windows Phones is now available for download.

It includes two cool new features: SMS and file transfer. Sending SMSs using Skype is a great way to reach friends and family instantly anywhere in the world - Skype's low rates mean that you won't have to break the bank to do it. And file transfer lets you send files quickly when you're on the move.

We've ironed out the remaining wrinkles since the Beta release, and it's ready to go. Download it now and give it a whirl.

What is it about us guys? Why do so many of us hate to go shopping? Maybe it's genetic.

Whatever the reason, Joanna Van Vleck, a personal stylist from Bend, Ore. has started a company, Trunk Club, a personal shopping service to take the pain out of shopping--with an assist from Skype video calling.

She told me that her typical client is a professional guy, somewhere in his 30s to 50s, who may be too busy to shop in retail stores and possibly overwhelmed by the multitude of choices online.

Her staff of experts meets with clients virtually on Skype video calling, learns about their clothing needs, sizes, etc. and then ships off a trunk of clothes for the men to try on and discuss on Skype. Clients buy what they want and then send back what they don't want.
The service is free, but the experts are paid a commission just as in a retail store.

So far, all the experts are women. But Joanna is on the look-out for male staffers.
Joanna said her experts aren't meant to replace significant others.

If you get your shopping done online via Skype video calling, you save gas. And you also have more time to spend with your significant other--and doing more shopping?

I've been reporting lately on how the classroom can use Skype to open up to the bigger world.

Former Sen. Bob Dole used Skype video calling to tell a Kansas class about his World War II experiences.

And sci-fi author Cary Doctorow told a Colorado classroom why the local school board should approve his book.

Now CBS 13 in Sacramento, Calif., is reporting how an 18-year-old high school senior battling cancer attended his graduation via Skype video calling.

Steven Lee, just months from graduation, was diagnosed with leukemia. But reporter Ron Jones shared how Steven was able to attend the graduation at Rosemont High School while he was in San Francisco undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia.

Jones said "With a laptop in hand, Steven watched the entire graduation from his hospital bed, listening to every inspiring speech and song, but what really made it a true graduation experience is when he was able to virtually walk across the stage while I accompanied his mother to accept the diploma.

"It was quite an experience, especially being in the hospital and dealing with IT guys and dealing with my health as well," Steven said. "Pretty awesome."

First, Oprah Winfrey used Skype video calling to reach out to her guests, both regular people and celebs. Then, Jimmy Fallon used Skype to add a tech edge to his new Late Night Show.

Now, the "stars" of NBC's "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" are using Skype video calling to call home from the Costa Rican jungle, where the show is set.

Illinois' former Gov. Rod Blagojevich made international news over corruption allegations and became a celeb of sorts. To bring in some income as he awaited trial, he had wanted to appear on NBC's "I'm a Celebrity." But when a federal judge wouldn't allow him to leave the country, his wife Patti went instead.

The Chicago Sun-Times Paige Wiser reports that Patti, who ate a tarantula on the show's food challenge, called home via Skype video calling in the latest episode.

"We miss you and we're proud of you," said the former governor from Chicago.

"Did you like the tarantula?" asked 5-year-old Annie, Patti's five-year-old daughter. Annie asked her mom if she had made new friends on the TV show. Apparently, she had since Lou Diamond Phillips had picked her to make the call.

"My girls were smiling," she said after the call. "My husband looked a little tired."

Phillips and Daniel Baldwin also got to call home with Skype video calling.

Baldwin's pregnant wife showed off "the bump" he is missing. But he was sent home.

If you're stuck in Costa Rican jungle on a TV show, or anywhere else, you can use Skype video calling to call home. Remember Father's Day is coming.

The San Francisco 49ers have Skype in their playbook.

In his first The Meat Zone blog, the 49ers' Demetric "Meat" Evans reports that many players use Skype to stay in touch with their families while on the road.

The defensive end writes: "One thing I do a lot of is use Skype, which is a video phone service over the internet. That's the best way I can see my wife when I talk to her on the phone, so I'm glad we have internet in our rooms. It's nice to talk to her every night before I relax and get ready mentally for the next day.

Skype must be catching on the NFL.

Cleveland Browns Coach Eric Mangini recently reported his staff was using Skype to go through the playbook with players in Skype video calls as well as to stay in touch with players who had been sidelined with injuries.

Skype played a supporting role in a recent Oscar win.

Could there be a Super Bowl and Vince Lombardi trophy in Skype's future, too?

With local phone tariffs, in the old days, only a few years ago, it seemed cheaper to call my brother 2,100 miles away in the San Francisco Bay area than to call my brother who lives 41 miles away in the Chicago suburbs.

It really rankled me when I got my landline bill.

But Skype has smoothed things over.

My Unlimited World subscription with Skype makes it the same price to call either my brother or my cousins and friends in Europe, South America and Australia via Skype on the landline phone without toll charges.

Though my wife is a tech type, she hasn't taken to using Skype on the computer just yet. So I came up with a plan.

I signed up for a Skype To Go number, which comes with my Skype subscription.

You can also use a Skype To Go number if you have Skype credit.

After I got my Skype To Go number, I set up speed dials for some frequently called numbers--across town and across the world to reach friends, family and business associates.

With Skype To Go, you can call phones abroad or in this country, reaching whomever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

In addition to the United States, To Go numbers are available in Australia, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom .Low-cost calling rates are applied for those using Skype credit. Calls are free to countries included in my subscription.

So, my Unlimited World subscription gives me free local calls via my To Go number. This way my wife and I can call our son in downtown Chicago.

I also use To Go while I'm on the go on the commuter train or walking in downtown Chicago. My speed dial listings serve as a minimalist phone directory for commonly used numbers. I can catch up with my friends in UK or Arizona while riding the commuter rails and since I have Unlimited World subscription these calls are free.

I shared my secret with a student friend. She's from Switzerland but attending grad school in Chicago. She now calls her family and friends around the world while commuting to class on the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Nice.

It's a sweet deal to reach out and call someone--without running up charges while calling Lake Zurich, the Chicago burbs, or Zürich, Switzerland's largest city.

Travel book author Joe Sharkey was enjoying the Tucson desert air too much to trek back to New York to meet with his publisher.

Still, he had no choice. So he went.

But these days, the travel writer often avoids unnecessary travel.

He describes in a New York Times article how he does the next best thing: He goes on Skype video.

"Until about a year ago, I used to scoff at the assertion, long made by the videoconferencing industry, that its high-end technology, in many cases, negated the need to get on an airplane and travel to a face-to-face meeting. But starting early last year, sales began to rise, offering evidence that videoconferencing was, in fact, being used more often to replace some business travel," he said.

"I now regularly use videoconferencing. Often, my wife has to stay back East while I have the luxury of working in Arizona. We use a simple Skype Internet connection -- little cameras and microphones hooked to our laptops -- to hold nightly videoconferences, in which our two pet parrots in New Jersey also participate."

He describes his parrots as "early adapters, following the screen image, replying vocally, dancing with joy when motivated. They seem to get it -- except that the chatty African grey evidently believes that I am actually inside my wife's laptop and marches behind the screen to peck at it and get me out. I mean, they're birds, after all."

Oprah Winfrey led the way, showing broadcasters how to use Skype video calling on network TV.
A few have been quick to follow.

From the get-go, Jimmy Fallon, former Saturday Night Live comedian and now host of NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, promised to integrate tech into his show, including Skype.

This week, he featured director Jon Favreau, who talked from Canada on Skype video about the much-anticipated Ironman 2 due out next year.

The director had twittered a heads-up to fans: "I'll be skyping a bit from the set of Iron Man tonite on Jimmy Fallon."

But during the interview, Favreau actually didn't show his hand--other than teasing viewers with a glimpse at a bionic hand. He said he was Robert Downey Jr.'s "stunt hand."

He joked that Marvel comics had been on his case for twittering too much from his set.

Over at the FOX News Channel, Greta Van Susteren, host of On the Record at 10 p.m. ET weeknights, tells her fans they can "interact with Greta directly here on her blog - post a comment, follow her on Twitter, or chat with her on Skype -- her screenname is GretaWire."

Stay tuned to see the next Skype development.