Posts tagged as:

smartphone

BlackBerry: Smartphones Sans AntennaGate

by Jim Courtney on Sat, Jul 17, 2010 8:07 am

When I first saw the antenna band completely surrounding the iPhone 4 during Steve Jobs’ initial presentation, I recalled a comment made to me by RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaradis after a RIM Annual General meeting a few years ago. And I should also mention that I personally have a history of dealing with rf [...]

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Categories Communications News, Communications Technology, Mobile Devices

When I made those initial Skype for iPhone calls last weekend, not only did I gain a quick appreciation of the voice quality but I also realized that the forthcoming multi-tasking feature of iPhone OS4 could offer new possibilities. Yes, multi-tasking would facilitate Skype’s Instant Messaging in an “always-on” mode but there could also [...]

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Categories Communications Stories, Mobile Applications, Service Providers, Skype on Mobile

Since its release late Saturday, Skype for iPhone 2.0, with its support of calling over 3G carriers and superwideband audio using Skype’s SILK codec, has set the blogosphere awash with two genres of commentary: those who seem to think the end of free Skype calling is approaching as an Armageddon and those who recognize [...]

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

While attending eComm 2010 three weeks ago I was honored to be asked to join six other bloggers in providing weekly posts to Voyces.com, a blog that provides opinion, insight and perspective on developments in the IP-based and mobile communications space.
The initial two posts:
Has “Social Sharing” Become the “Nom du Jour”? provides a follow [...]

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Categories Communications Stories, Communications Technology, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype Platform, Skype on Mobile, Using Skype

Ok, so the iPad does not have a camera of any type. But is its form factor not a “natural” format for video calling? When Global IP Solutions put out a press release yesterday I was a bit skeptical about who would take up on their “one way Video Conferencing/Chat capabilities for iPad developers, [...]

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Categories Communications News, Communications Technology, Developers, Mobile Applications, Video calling

In the past I have written about how WiFi is becoming the de facto unregulated stealth wireless carrier; I have also mentioned Boingo as a service that provides significant convenience when on the road, with its 125,000 access points at airports, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and other public locations worldwide.
Over the past year Skype [...]

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Categories Communications News, Mobile Devices, Service Providers, Skype For Business, Using Skype

A month ago at Mobile World Congress, Skype and Verizon stole the spotlight by announcing Verizon’s forthcoming Skype mobile service. This afternoon at CTIA in Las Vegas, Verizon and Skype announced that the service will launch in two days on Thursday, March 25 (think Christmas in March).
If there was one overriding theme that came [...]

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

It’s almost a week since the close of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. – an area where I have spent a lot of time over the past thirty-six years, mostly on business but also on (ski) vacations. These Olympics turned out to be a defining moment not just for Canadian athletics [...]

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Categories Communications Stories, Service Providers, 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 [...]

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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

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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

At about 5:30 (GMT+1) this afternoon members of the Skype Public Chat discussion learned that not only was there a new beta version of Skype for Windows 4.2 available for download but also Skype had released its first beta version of Skype for Symbian (for Nokia smartphones).
Shortly afterwards, while listening to the final Gillmor [...]

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Categories Communications News, Mobile Applications, Mobile Devices, Skype News, Skype Software

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 [...]

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