From the category archives:

Skype on Mobile

During my recent interview with Russ Shaw, Skype’s VP and GM for Mobile, he emphasized Skype’s focus on having a true Skype user experience when it comes to supporting Skype on mobile devices.
What is meant by a “true Skype user experience” on a mobile device? Some examples, based largely on my own experience with several [...]

{ 2 comments }

Categories Communications News, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype News, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype

Announcement of the Skype – Verizon agreement certainly has generated buzz around both the Mobile World Congress and the blogosphere. Last Wednesday morning, one day after the announcement, several bloggers and mobile ecosystem players came together on a CalliFlower-hosted SquawkBox conference call to discuss both the triggers for the agreement and the implementations.
Co-hosted by Carl [...]

{ 0 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Embedded Skype, Mobile Devices, Skype Partner News, Skype on Mobile, To Be Categorized, Uncategorized, Wireless Carriers

Yesterday’s announcement that Skype will become available as a supported service on Verizon Wireless has to have sent a tsunami through the wireless operator world. To review the offering:

A Skype client will be included on nine models of BlackBerry and Android smartphones in late March; current customers with these devices will be able to download [...]

{ 1 comment }

Categories Communications News, Embedded Skype, Mobile Devices, Skype News, Skype Partner Solutions, Skype Platform, Skype for Personal, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

Full disclosure: This post was prepared prior to today’s press conference using information that was publicly available prior to the conference. In the second post I’ll discuss the service as announced at CES today.
When you can advertise “Free phone calling internationally”, they will come! In the CES interview with Skype CEO Josh Silverman, Josh [...]

{ 4 comments }

Categories Communications News, Embedded Skype, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype Channels, Skype News, Skype Partner News, Skype Platform, Skype Software, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

At last month’s CES I had the opportunity to meet with Skype CEO Josh Silverman and discuss various Skype issues that have arisen over the past year as well as where Skype is headed as a privately owned company. At the time I thought this would result in a normal text-based blog post outlining [...]

{ 4 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Applications, Skype News, Skype Partner News, Skype Platform, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype

At CES 2010 last month I had the opportunity to record interviews with Skype CEO Josh Silverman as well as Russ Shaw, Vice President and General Manager of Skype Mobile and EMEA, and Matt Jordan, Enterprise Business Development Manager.
In this second interview Russ Shaw covers a wide range of questions about Skype on different [...]

{ 5 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Embedded Skype, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype Hardware, Skype News, Skype Partner News, Skype Platform, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

Over the past several months I have written three posts about WiFi’s ever-increasing role as a complement to the wireless carriers:

WiFi: The Real Threat to the Mobile Carriers
Is WiFi Becoming the Unregulated Stealth Carrier of the Future?
Traveling in a Bipolar Mobile Mode

Basically, in my recent travels I have found that WiFi access is becoming [...]

{ 5 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Applications, Skype For Business, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

Launch of the iPad last week and the Apple’s recent change in their developer terms of service involving the removal of restrictions for using VoIP technology over a carrier’s 3G network have had the Skype mobile team busy reviewing the opportunities.
In a Share Skype post, An update on Skype for iPhone and calling over [...]

{ 8 comments }

Categories Communications News, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

But it’s neither; it’s an electronic version of a briefcase (or attaché case) which can contain everything we carry around with a roughly 8.5″ x 11″ form factor Consider the items we would carry around in a briefcase: newspapers and magazines

…Many are disappointed by the fact it’s not a phone; however, that issue was best addressed by this photo and an accompanying comment found on an acquaintance’s social networking: Look at this picture of Steve Jobs holding his iPhone.

{ 3 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype on Mobile

Pardon my exuberance but I am about to write about a product that I have been beta testing for the past few months. Seven months ago I knew very little about small business PBX’s other than to know they had big $$$ signs associated with their operation.
Back in 1992 my employer of the day [...]

{ 3 comments }

Categories Communications News, Communications Technology, Mobile Applications, Service Providers, Skype For Business, Skype Hardware, Skype Partner News, Skype Partner Solutions, Skype Platform, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype

Skype for iPhone 1.3 Released

by Jim Courtney on Tue, Jan 19, 2010 6:01 am

Early today Skype released Skype for iPhone 1.3, available as an update in the Apple App Store.
Two key new features:

Landscape Mode for Skype IM:

Call Quality Indicator

The Call Quality Indicator builds on the experience gained with the call quality indicator in Skype for Windows 4.2 beta – a tool I have found most useful in [...]

{ 2 comments }

Categories Mobile Applications, Skype News, Skype Software, Skype on Mobile

Traveling in a Bipolar Mobile Mode

by Jim Courtney on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 3:12 pm

The past six months, with three trips to Europe, have given me the opportunity not only to experience roaming on European 3G wireless services but also the strategies and alternatives that allow me to minimize roaming charges while traveling with both a BlackBerry and iPhone. A key to the achieving this goal lies in [...]

{ 6 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Devices, Skype on Mobile, To Be Categorized, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers

Two announcements yesterday, when meshed together, create the setting for Skype to become, de facto, the ‘”unofficial” personal communications software provider for the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. next February:
Skype President Josh Silverman today posted: “Good Move AT&T”:
Since launching our iPhone application six months ago, people have downloaded and installed Skype [...]

{ 7 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Service Providers, Skype News, Skype on Mobile, Wireless Carriers

Canadian iPhone and iPod Touch users will be able to celebrate all 9’s day (today is 09-09-09) by participating in Skype conversations from their iPhone. At 12:01 a.m. the Canadian Apple App store will be making Skype for iPhone available.
Breaking news (12:04 a.m. Sept. 9): I have just successfully downloaded Skype for iPhone from [...]

{ 7 comments }

Categories Communications News, Mobile Applications, Skype News, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype

On a recent trip to Spain, where I turned off my BlackBerry Bold’s and iPhone’s  mobile carrier network connection except when really required, I was able to use WiFi connections at my various hotels quite effectively to keep up with my “data” activities on these devices. (Except in a situation mentioned below I used [...]

{ 10 comments }

Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Devices, Service Providers, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype, Wireless Carriers