Can they turn Skype Lite into a Skype Platform?

Skype has some brilliant capabilities. Advanced audio codecs, miraculous network survival, global distribution and payment partners, buying power that drives down per-minute costs. While supporting mobile phones, however, Skype built something that can change the way we look at the company.

It's called Skype Lite.

Skype Lite is a service that lets you talk from mobile phones. Unlike the Skype for iPhone client or the desktop clients, Skype Lite is not a member of the Skype peer-to-peer cloud. So, how does it work?

First you run a Skype Lite client on a mobile phone. Sometimes it comes pre-installed by the handset manufacturer or the mobile operator.

Lite is designed for phones without much processor power. So it doesn't include advanced Skype voice codecs, video features, or much more than login, presence, IM, and voice calling.

"Full" Skype clients, like Skype for Windows and Skype for the iPhone, push both voice and data over data channels.

The Skype Lite client sends its data through the mobile network's data channel. Voice calls travel through the mobile network's voice channel, just like regular mobile phone calls. That first leg of a Skype call, from the mobile phone, is neither VoIP nor protected by Skype's encryption.

How does your data get into the Skype network? Skype operates gateway servers. The gateway's first job is to bring back together data and voice streams from a Lite client or break apart streams going to a Lite client.

Now that your call is back together, the Skype gateway passes your conversation to a version of Skype tailored for servers. Let's call it Naked Skype. "Naked" because engineers streamlined the program to leave out user interface, the Skype Extras program manager, and other components servers don't need.

Like Skype on your PC, each Naked Skype connects to the Skype cloud using the Joltid Skype p2p engine.

That cloud lets you talk or IM with your fellow Skype users.

It also lets you use other Skype services, like receive phone calls from your Skype Online Numbers or call through Skype's SkypeOut gateways to regular phone numbers.

Clearly there are many naked Skype copies running on a bunch of servers. [Bunch is a technical term.] Since most Skype users, especially most mobile users, aren't using Skype most of the time, the Skype server farms (a server farm is a collection of related servers) can support many Skype Lite users.

The servers have management software that helps start and stop Naked Skype's and route Lite traffic to Naked instances. This management layer makes the whole "thin client" strategy possible. It's why Skype is available to over 90% of all mobile phones.

A business note: Like the engineering of the Naked client and Lite client, the administrative layer was hard to design, engineer, and tune. Because it was complex and difficult, it is a barrier to entry for competitors and for partners. Many IM and VoIP companies make and operate Skype gateways to provide even a little interoperability between Skype and their services. Those gateways are a cost, risk, and delay each Skype partner must carry just to have their products work with the Skype cloud.

So that's how Skype Lite works. 

But that's just the start.

Skype Lite does four valuable things.

1. Skype Lite hosts a "naked Skype" client.
• It's lightweight, without video, user interface, or other cruft.
• It's reliable and very efficient and is moving to Skype's next generation of unified API. 
2. Skype Lite separates user experience from the network.
• Teams can build different UIs for different mobile devices.
• Lowers compute and networking burden on mobiles.
• This makes it easy to update everyone's engine without updating each phone.
• It provides metrics on usage rates to inform design, operations, and inform partner relationships.
3. Skype Lite defines a protocol.
• The protocol connects mobile thin clients to the Skype Gateway server.
• The protocol defines how programmers can control everything the mobile Skype client can do. The protocol includes authentication, presence, chat, voice calls, profile editing, and picture or video sharing.
4. Skype scales the gateway like a cloud
• It's efficient, with many Lite clients supported by a few Skype servers.
• It's flexible, building and destroying instances with demand.
• It's location aware (somewhat), cutting latency (the time delay between bits on your phone and bits at their destination) by positioning Naked Skype instances around the world and in telephone company data centers.

So Skype built a platform.

A private platform. 

This creates an opportunity.  

Skype could open up its gateway to more than the Lite client. They could publish a public version of the protocol.

• Independent developers could build Skype clients tailored to markets they know well.
• Software companies could integrate Skype talk into their applications.
• Web sites could let users "Log In With Your Skype ID." Or tell your Skype contacts about a story.
• Services could mash-up Skype with other web service APIs.
• Desktop apps could send files privately using Skype's security.

All of this would make it more valuable than ever to be a Skype user.

That's a little of what happens when you open the protocol.

Skype can do more. They can power the gateway to support more than the Lite modes. 

Skype can add new features to the gateway over time.

Spatialization of audio for immersive experiences like high fidelity video conferencing or in-world games.

Higher resolution video, moving from High Quality 640x480 to Hi-Def to REDCODE RAW 4520x2540 pixels.

Richer syntax for presence. More metadata for mood.

This would also be a great time to unify Skype's APIs. "One API to rule them all."

• Making/taking Skype sessions
• Skype calls, IM, file transfer
• Skype account creation, deletion
• Skype profile editing
• Skype control panel for organizations
• Skype Credit deposits and payments
• Skype ID authentication (Login with Skype)
• More to come…

A unified public API and a rich mode server gets you almost all the way there.

Skype needs two more things to complete the new platform.

First, Skype must find new ways to distribute some of its secret sauce. Developers need Skype's encryption binaries, so Skype calls and chats can remain private. Developers need access to Skype's own codecs (SILK audio) and to codecs licensed by Skype (On2 video) to assure compatibility with all Skype users. Developers and designers also need Skype's default media assets, like Skype's emoticons or Skype's memorable sound palette, that complete the Skype experience.

Skype would also want SDKs (software developer kits) for popular programming languages, frameworks, and delivery systems. Anything to help programmers create a quick Skype app in an hour, to prove they can get to the good stuff quickly.

That would do it.

So.

What do you get? 

"Just Add Skype"

• Millions of programmers can add Skype to their toolkits.
• Metered access to the gateway.
• Commissions for driving paying users to Skype.

Skype as a Platform could be a great driver of innovation, adaptation, and integration for Skype. And revenue.

P.S. I'm sure this is both incomplete and in error on some points. I don't know if this is on Skype's roadmap; they're not telling. This seems to me to be as close as we can get until Skype shares more of their "platform" plans. Please correct me if you have specific information that could improve my diagrams and explanations of things as they are now.

P.P.S. How would you use a service like this? And how much would you pay (thinking metered service like Google, Amazon, and Voxeo cloud services)?

See also:

• Slides on Scribd, Slides on Slideshare.net, slides on flickr.
• Mindmap of Skype product family

tags: analysis, api, apis architecture, architectures, business, cloud, cloudcomputing, clouds, developerrelations, developers, devrels, evanwolf, gateway, iskoot, lite, naked, nakedskype, p2p, philwolff, platform, platforming, programming, saap, saas, server, sip, skype, skypejournal, skypelite, strategy, technology

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