Bringing Back Skype
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Remember Skype? Yeh, that's right it's VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) done as it should be. Skype provides an excellent service and it helps that it's wrapped in some really stylish and easy-to-use software. The only problem is that no one is using it and that is a problem because it means that I don't use it.
So why is no one using it? Well obviously because you need to be at a PC ready for a call or be near a WiFi hotspot, with a laptop and a headset, which are two situations I never find myself in. Of course that was until they produced those Skype phones that had 1 minute battery life and still required a WiFi hotspot to work. Oh wait they weren't good...
Fear not concerned reader because Skype have hooked up with those good fellows at Three and produced the 3 Skypephone, which is a mobile phone with Skype built in.
Now on the surface this is nothing new because other companies (including Three) have already brought Skype to other mobile phones. However this phone is different because this phone has full Skype integration, meaning that your Skype contacts will be displayed alongside non-Skype contacts in the address book. Or if you want to just access the Skype software all you need to do is the click the big Skype button in the middle of the phone.
The other great thing about this phone is that it is good value on either contract or pay-as-you-go. On pay-as-you-go it costs £49.99 for the phone and then to access the Skype content it costs £10 a month, which gives you 4000 minutes of incoming & outgoing calls and 10,000 instant messages per month. On contract the phone is free and packages start at £12 and come with a range of standard minutes and texts as well as all the pay-as-you-go Skype content.
In terms of functionality you can call Skype users on PC for free, you can call other Skypephone users for free and you can join conferences, although admittedly you cannot host them. All of this means only one thing- it is time to start using Skype again so that I have a good reason to buy one of these when my contract expires in June 2008.
Posted byMichael at 20:32
Labels: Internet, Mobile Phones, Software
Bringing Back Skype
Remember Skype? Yeh, that's right it's VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) done as it should be. Skype provides an excellent service and it helps that it's wrapped in some really stylish and easy-to-use software. The only problem is that no one is using it and that is a problem because it means that I don't use it.
So why is no one using it? Well obviously because you need to be at a PC ready for a call or be near a WiFi hotspot, with a laptop and a headset, which are two situations I never find myself in. Of course that was until they produced those Skype phones that had 1 minute battery life and still required a WiFi hotspot to work. Oh wait they weren't good...
Fear not concerned reader because Skype have hooked up with those good fellows at Three and produced the 3 Skypephone, which is a mobile phone with Skype built in.
Now on the surface this is nothing new because other companies (including Three) have already brought Skype to other mobile phones. However this phone is different because this phone has full Skype integration, meaning that your Skype contacts will be displayed alongside non-Skype contacts in the address book. Or if you want to just access the Skype software all you need to do is the click the big Skype button in the middle of the phone.
The other great thing about this phone is that it is good value on either contract or pay-as-you-go. On pay-as-you-go it costs £49.99 for the phone and then to access the Skype content it costs £10 a month, which gives you 4000 minutes of incoming & outgoing calls and 10,000 instant messages per month. On contract the phone is free and packages start at £12 and come with a range of standard minutes and texts as well as all the pay-as-you-go Skype content.
In terms of functionality you can call Skype users on PC for free, you can call other Skypephone users for free and you can join conferences, although admittedly you cannot host them. All of this means only one thing- it is time to start using Skype again so that I have a good reason to buy one of these when my contract expires in June 2008.
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