Mobile

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?

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.

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.

Skype will be playing a prominent role in the coverage on C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions later this month..

Broadcast & Cable reported Wednesday: "The networks will... use some new technology to enhance their coverage. Correspondents will be armed with Flip cameras and Skype-enabled laptops, allowing for on-the-fly reports from inside and out of the sessions."

C-SPAN's DNC coverage will air Aug. 25-29 and its RNC coverage will air Aug. 31-Sept. 5.

Earlier in the campaign, this blog reported on how Skype was being used by Sen. Barack Obama's supporters to reduce costs for reaching out to voters.

"Political-party conventions remain interesting to the millions of Americans who follow national politics," C-SPAN president Susan Swain said in announcing the coverage. "Convention speeches become previews for future generations of national leaders. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were all keynote convention speakers prior to their national runs."

Having a Father's Day headache? Just can't decide what to buy for dear, old dad?

Here's the remedy: Take one tablet and your headache will go away.

The tablet is the Nokia N810, a pocket-sized Internet tablet.

Continue reading "Take one Nokia Tablet, call me on Skype for Father's Day" »

When we last checked in on the Skype Nomad, our intrepid traveler was just setting off on her 33-day, 'round the world journey to test Skype mobility. She was in "perpetual motion"--always on the move, with no hotels.

On Friday, Rebecca Campbell, 26, a copywriter from London, landed in New York, where she planned to check out Times Square and take a double-decker bus tour around the Big Apple.

She came to New York after spending a couple days in California. She was in San Francisco, where she rolled out in an RV with a non-stop talking rapper named Joel who took her to Disneyland. You can read the Skype Nomad's blog for more details.

Continue reading "Skype Nomad's Excellent Adventure in the USA" »

My old friend and colleague Eric Benderoff described is his May 8 Chicago Tribune Tech Buzz column the way things should be for mobile device users.

He told of being at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January and testing out gear from Intel and Motorola that transformed his car into a mobile hot spot using WiMax, an emerging technology that is sort of like WiFi on vitamins, if not steroids.

Among other things, Eric said he called back to the Chicago office on Skype via the car’s navigation system.
I saw a demo of the same WiMax technology aboard the good ship “Summer of George” on a Motorola-sponsored cruise on the Chicago River last summer. It’s amazing stuff and should be available soon.

If WiMax catches on, it would be great if the Federal Communications Commission would encourage phone and cable companies offering phone services open up their networks so everyday Americans, not just tech reporters, can use Skype while cruising like the Skype Nomad in their planes, trains and automobiles.

In the tradition of Phileas Fogg, hero of Jules Verne's 1872 novel, "Around the World in Eighty Days," Rebecca Campbell is setting out from London today to go around the world in 33 days.

This isn't a race with Fogg. The 26-year-old London resident, a native of Sydney, Australia, dubbed the "Skype Nomad," isn't going for a time record.

Rather, Campbell is showing just how mobile Skype is as she covers ground in 15 countries. "It's all about perpetual motion to show how truly mobile I can be," she said.

She'll be hopping from jet to rickshaw and bumboat in Singapore to a Fogg-esque hot-air balloon over the Alps in Austria, to gondola in Venice, a boat cruising the Yangtze River in China, cable car in San Francisco, dog sled in Alaska, the famed cross-continental Indian Pacific train between Sydney and Perth in her native Australia, and a boat ride across the Baltic from Sweden to Skype's supreme HQ in Tallinn, Estonia to finish up June 6, "D-Day."

Continue reading ""Skype Nomad's" excellent adventure in mobility" »

Retinal disease blinded Ed Gallagher, 57, of San Francisco, eight years ago.

But now, with a boost from Skype, Gallagher is “seeing” again—and a lot more than that.

With the help of a laptop equipped with a Wi-Fi card, a link to Skype, a webcam mounted on a helmet, and guidance on his headset from a visually able assistant, he is performing amazing feats:

—Sailing on San Francisco Bay, where he is commodore of BAADS, Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors.

—Walking without a cane or his guide dog Genoa for a first time since he went blind.

—Riding a bike.

—Shooting at a firing range and hitting the target.

Gallagher is the subject of a new documentary, Inner Space, featuring Skype. The movie debuts April 12 at Yuri's Night: The World Space Party, a celebration of art and space.

Continue reading "Blind adventurer uses Skype as his "eyes" in new documentary" »

Is Skype in the sky a pie-in- the- sky idea?

Not necessarily.

Gogo, a new service being tested this year by American Airlines and Virgin Air, will feature broadband service at 30,000 feet.

At its website, Gogo describes how people will go online on transcontinental flights to check their e-mail, buy stuff, etc.

But nowhere does it mention the possibility of Skype audio or video calls. Huh?

Continue reading "Skype in the sky: Part II" »

A new service is coming that could have you online while you’re airborne.

It’s called Gogo. It’s a Wifi service that initially will make Internet access available this year for flights between the East and West Coasts on American Airlines and Virgin America.

I can see it now: Gogo users will be going online at 30,000 feet, checking e-mail, catching up on the news, playing games and buying shoes.

Gog's website doesn't address the possibilities of Internet calling. But an American Airlines announcement last year indicated Internet calling was on the no-fly list.

Still one can dream of placing Skype audio and video calls and IMing on board.

Note to Gogo: Don't forget those of us in the "flyover." And please consider Skype in the sky. We promise to be considerate of other passengers.

Missionary Malcolm Lanham of course puts his faith in God.

But he and his team with Global Outreach, based in McDowell County, the poorest area in West Virginia and the fifth poorest county in the United States, rely on Skype to communicate with far-flung missionaries.

Continue reading "On a mission with Skype" »

Everybody and his mother have a mobile device. Now the market appears to be moving toward providing them with Skype on their devices.

Jonathan Christensen, head of audio/visual at Skype in San Jose, CA., says the next leap forward for the mobile world will be “unfettered mobile IP access on open devices. There is now a chance this will happen.”

Christensen, whose team develops software for Skype calls and video calls, was the opening speaker Wednesday at the emerging Communications (eComm) show at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

He says that economic forces, including Federal Communciations Commission auctions of spectrum and flat mobile phone plans, “are pushing the market in this direction.”

He says this will mean people using Skype on mobile devices will be able to do “many of the cool things they can do on their computers with Skype now.” This includes video calling as well as sharing files, pictures, moods and presence, the ability to see if your network buddies are available or unavailable for your call.

“It’s happening now and Skype is excited to be innovating at the edge,” says Christensen.

Meanwhile, let’s contemplate our mobile future on Skype. Better put on our sunglasses. As the band Timbuk 3 said: “The Future’s So Bright Gotta Wear Shades."

Continue reading ""Unfettered mobile" Internet access will open bright new possibilities: Skype engineering leader" »