August 2008

Skype calls may be officially verboten onboard American Airlines' new Gogo inflight Internet service, which went live on Aug. 20. But some people have been snatching short bits of conversation above 10,000 feet, before Gogo sniffs them out and says Nono.

But here's some good news for Gogo users: it turns out it's possible to Skype chat on flights between New York City and San Francisco and Los Angeles and Miami. The service costs $13 for three hours.

CrunchGear reports it was able to sneak in five-second conversations on Skype.

That's enough to say hell-o, meet me and good-bye anyway.

CrunchGear said: "I just spoke with Jack Blumenstein, the president and ceo of Aircell (the Itasca, Ill. developer of the service). They've restricted the packets that enable voip calls but clearly haven't blocked Skype altogether. Connections can be made that may or may not last a few seconds but the audio then becomes garbled."

The Dallas Morning News reported greater success:
"John Happ, Aircell's EVP of airlines stopped by a few minutes ago to see how I thought the system was working.

"We chatted about Skype. To clarify-- you can do text-base Skype stuff. He said he had several chat sessions going at once and was pretty excited about it.

"He was interested in the fact that my seatmate was able to get on, albeit briefly.

"He said the system has a 'sniffer' in it to keep folks from using Skype's voice and video function for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Mr. 22J was able to get on for a minute or two- not long enough for much conversation -- but certainly more than a few seconds."

Skype blessed Gogo: "We are all for bringing more internet access to people wherever and whenever, including when they are in-flight. So we are happy to hear about American Airlines' efforts to bring in-flight broadband to their customers.

"The possible usage of Skype in-flight is very exciting to us, and anecdotally we are already hearing about people using Skype to communicate while flying," said Jennifer Caukin, spokeswoman for Skype.

The idea will be spreading. Delta and Virgin America also will be offering the service. Southwest, Jet Blue and Air Alaska may be getting on board with Internet service inflight as well.

Aircell told Skype in the US back in April that the main reason Skype in the sky was not being permitted was out of consideration for passengers who want peace and quiet. Still, air phones aren't really a new idea.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the airlines eventually will allow us to Skype inflight. Come on guys, you can only do Facebook for so long.

Let me float an idea: How about Skyping and non-Skyping sections onboard?

Some new millionaires--and potential millionaires--will be putting Skype to work on the next season of "Who Wants To Be A MiIlionaire" hosted by Meredith Vieira.

Here's the scoop on the "Millionaire" format change that September 8:

When contestants on the popular show need help, they'll now make Skype video calls to consult face-to-face with "newsmakers, journalists, former "Millionaire" contestants, politicians, doctors, professors and trivia champs, among others," according to the Millionaire program.

Bill Nye the Science Guy, the science guru/comedian, will appear on the show's first week, Sept. 8-12. Ogi Ogas, a former "Millionaire" contestant who won $500,000, appears during week two, airing September 15-19.

And to answer the eternal question: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Skype me. But I'll tell you my answer in this space: Everyone. Some of us even want to be a billionaire.

Go to www.millionairetv.com to find out where "Millionaire" airs in your market.

Peter Parkes is reporting on big news on the availability of the new 3 Skypephone in the Skype blog.

While in the United Kingdom recently, I not only got to meet with Peter, but also tried out the earlier version of the an earlier version of the 3 Skypephone.

Sadly, this phone is not available in the United States. But I got a look at what may be coming someday.

My Skype address book popped right up after I registered the phone. So I decided to give it a spin.

I called Chris, a friend back in Chicago, via Skype on the phone. The sound quality was great--plus the call was free.

I did run into a voice connection problem in a rural area outside the old Roman town of Bath.

Still, I was able to do a Skype chat with a friend in Tucson while on the tour bus outside Bath en route to Stonehenge. (Hope you enjoy my photos.)

I told my friend Ted that I couldn't get through on voice. I joked that the old Roman cell reception was poor.

I told Ted the issue was there was no "roamin' (Roman) plan." (Nonetheless, Bath was a planned Roman city, roaming plans or not.)

Ted suggested that the Romans didn't have GSM, but were strictly analog.

I learned later that Ted wasn't far off. A manager in a 3 store in a shopping mall in Liverpool, not far from the Albert Dock, told me that in some areas voice didn't work because of antiquated infrastructure. He wasn't talking about aqueducts, either.

Still, the Skype chat with my man in Arizona worked great.

In the blog, Peter asks: "How does the S2 compare to 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."

The S2 also can take photos and can browse the Web.

Maybe someday, we'll be able to use this phone, or something like it, in the USA. Meanwhile, while UK residents can enjoy the 3, we are still on the "II" in the Stone(henge) Age and can only dream of the III.

TechLime reports:

"While everybody is getting comfortable with using Skype on their computers as an alternative to the conventional phone, the fact that the computer needs to be turned on will always be a source of irritation.

"Intel has just come up with a nifty new component which allows a computer to go to sleep, and 'wake up' whenever there is an incoming call, which would be a great way to save on electricity bills. It will even be smart enough to turn on the microphone and speakers to alert the users, and connect the call. Time to trash your standard phone? Maybe, but you might want to hang on to it for a while more, for nostalgia."

Detroit Free Press writer Mike Wendland offers up a vision of Web and Skype on the go.

He describes Chrysler's plans to offer an option for uConnect service starting Aug. 25 to transform 2009 model Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge cars into mobile WiFi hotspots. The option costs $500 plus $29 a month for service.

He expects other car makers to copy this idea, a service available in major cities from Avis Rent A Car.

So to avoid the drone from the kids of "Are we there yet?" the idea is to offer them Internet in the backseat, with IM and online video gaming. Car pools are another potential market.

Skype on the go is an option. In fact, Wendland said he's tried something like this already:

"There will even be video conferencing via the car, something I've already done (as a passenger) with a Verizon Broadband Anywhere USB modem and the free Skype instant message program and built-in camera on my Mac AirBook laptop."

Wendland said to watch out for regulations controlling laptop use in cars, just as there are for wireless phones for calling and texting to try to prevent accidents.

Dick Eastman is a master genealogist. He writes a popular newsletter on the topic.

I have been a long-time fan of his work in educating people on tracing their roots and providing great information on technology. In case you didn't know: genealogy is huge. Genealogy is second only to birdwatching as a hobby among Americans, and it's one of the major reasons people go online.

Eastman makes a great case at Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter on using Skype for using Skype in doing genealogy research.

Eastman states: "I love Skype! Instead of placing calls over standard telephone lines, this VoIP (Voice over IP) telephone service works by placing the calls over almost any broadband Internet connection."

Continue reading "Roots-man toots Skype's horn for genealogy research" »

Skype (users) are in the swim in the Olympics in Beijing, bringing home medals for Team USA.

First, Dara Torres won and shared a cookie via Skype video call with her two-year-old daughter.

Now 6 foot 8 swimming giant Matt Grevers, 23, who won a silver for his 100-meter backstroke is on the Skype (user) scoreboard.

Grevers has been in touch with his friends back in suburban Chicago via Skype.

Ryan Pagelow reported in the Lake County News Sun:

"After Matt's semifinal 100-backstroke race Sunday night, he spoke with his brother and friends in Lake Forest via Skype online. Although everyone was talking at once and the connection was choppy, they were able to communicate the excitement on both sides."

It's only a matter of time for gold medalists to go public with their Skype use.

U.S. Olympian Dara Torres has been big news as she won another Olympic medal at age 41. She swam the anchor leg as the United States team took the silver in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay in Beijing.

Torres, who is in her fifth Olympics, said the hard part for her is being away from her two-year-old daughter Tessa.

But like many Olympians, Torres stays in touch with her family and friends back home via Skype.

She told Access Hollywood's Billy Bush she has Skype and cookies with her daughter via video calls:

"Do you talk to her a lot," Bush asked.

Torres responded: 'Oh, I Skype with her all the time! And I had cookies near me... and she wanted cookies, and I had to pretend like I had cookies and she'd take them, and she wanted some milk so I had to give her some milk."

"Does she cry when you see her, or do you cry when you see her?"

"I think I cry when I see her!!!! She's all happy to see me and then wants to go watch her TV, so [laughing]... I feel bad sometimes when Dora [the Explorer] takes precedence over Dara."

Montreal resident Steve Felix uses his "the bridge" blog to "share his thoughts on the world of institutional real estate and other stuff."

In an Aug. 8 entry on other stuff, he describes how he had signed up for Skype years ago, but only the previous week had given it a spin with a call from his son in London.

He was impressed: "It was amazing how clear the connection was. Skyper-Skyper calls are free. If you use Skype to call a non-Skyper there's a charge but a friend of mine in London says that by using Skype their company saves 35% on their telephone bill. Not too shabby.

"Today I buy a good headset and start encouraging certain friends and business colleagues to sign up (P.S. Skype also has a camera feature and as my new MacBook Pro has a built-in camera it's easy for people to see me through the Skype connection). Now, if I choose to use that feature I better be sure that I've combed my hair first!"

So if you're thin king about saving money when you contact friends, family and business associates, why not follow Steve Felix's example?

The Law & Order show on NBC prides itself on ripping its stories from the headlines.

So I sat up in my seat, while catching up with Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The episode, entitled "Reunion," is about the murder of a host of a TV show on rock 'n roll with a champagne bottle.

Detective Mike Logan (Christopher Noth) tells his partner, Detective Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) they need to start investigating. He asks what her plans for the evening had been.

Just back from living in the UK, Wheeler said she had a "Skype session" planned with her boyfriend in London.

It seems that everywhere I go lately I meet people who stay in touch with their squeezes around the country or around the world--on Skype.

Talk about ripped from the headlines. Wheeler, and the L&O writers, nailed it.

Skype has me dancing a hora over its new unlimited calling to landlines in Israel. And it could well have me schvitzing up a storm in a sauna, with unlimited calling to Finland.

I signed up for unlimited calling to the USA and much of Europe earlier this year.

It was a great deal at $9.95 a month to be able to make unlimited free calls to landlines (and in some cases mobile phones) in countries from Australia to Austria, Taiwan to the United Kingdom.

But I was disappointed that Israel wasn't part of the package. I have some cousins there I would like to speak with more frequently.

Skype has announced that it has expanded the unlimited calling package to landlines in Israel. They also threw in Finland.

Now I just need to make some Finnish friends.

The plan now covers 36 countries.

Olympic athletes don't just use Skype for socializing with friends and family.

The SunJournal in Lewiston, Maine reported that U. S. racewalker Kevin Eastler consults with his coach Stephan Platzer, Norwegian racewalker, via Skype.

Kalle Oakes said:

"Eastler and his mentor communicate almost daily during training, either by cell phone or Skype video conferencing. The miles are no obstacle thanks to the student's self-discipline.


'He's very smart in what he's doing, whether it's his job or whether it's racewalking,' Platzer said. 'He doesn't do any stupid things. He knows his body, and he sets his goals appropriately. He will never go out at the start only to die at the end. He follows the strategy exactly. I haven't seen anything else from him.'"

Eastler returned to this sport as an Air Force Academy senior. He will represent the USA on Aug. 15 in the 20-kilometer racewalk in Beijing.

If you were an elite athlete getting ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, what would you do in your off hours?

Why, making Skype calls of course.

Betsey Armstrong, goalkeeper for the U.S. women's water polo team, said in the New York Times Rings blog at the New York Times:

"So far in our down time, when we're not napping, we've been doing word search puzzles and calling home on Skype -- basically just allowing ourselves to get comfortable with being far away from home and on such a different schedule."

Armstrong, is a 2005 University of Michigan (Go Blue) graduate, who helped Team U.S.A. win the gold at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Win or lose, I'll bet Betsey and her fellow athletes from around the world will be calling friends and family on Skype.

Popular Science columnist, The Grouse, decided to cut his expenses by switching to Skype.

He had already moved from a traditional phone company to cable. Now The Grouse wanted to save more. He was looking for a cure for the landline blues.

He said: "Like many Americans today, the economy is currently using me as its punching bag. So, I've decided to take a hard look at my monthly expenses and lop off anything I think I can live without--a financial amputation before gangrene sets in, if you'll permit the metaphor. First in the crosshairs is my landline; I'm wondering if I can completely replace it with the much heralded and much cheaper Internet-based phone service, Skype."

The Grouse says it costs him $6.95 a month with a set-up similar to his landline, including an online phone number. This compares with $34 and change for his previous landline service.

He's no fan of headsets: "I'm not much of a headset guy. The calls I'm making sound surprisingly clear to me, but to others I sound like I'm calling from inside of a tunnel. Plus, I'm chained to my computer using software to dial numbers. The experience isn't very phone-like, which was supposed to be the whole point of this exercise."

But The Grouse likes the $129 Philips VOIP841 Internet phone: "Without trying to sound too much like a gushing teenage girl, I have to say that I love this phone. It plugs into my home network without fuss and when I sign into Skype, my contacts are automatically downloaded. From there, I simply select a name and choose to call them with SkypeOut. I'm still in a bit of disbelief over the quality of the calls."

He spells out his likes and dislikes about his mostly positive Skype experience at the PopSci Web site.