I'm sat in the Internet cafe in Stockholm Arlanda airport burning my last few Krona coins. Fighting with a Swedish keyboard brings back fond memories of being a code monkey in a Norwegian bank a decade ago. Anyhow, in my hotel and here I've noticed that the both seem to be using some kind of transparent proxy. If a web page doesn't load right, and a duff version is cached, you need to shift-refresh to force the 'no cache' option on.

How come we managed to create a legal and social expectation for the PSTN that your personal communications wouldn't be intercepted or modified, but that on the Internet anything goes (and we certainly aren't going to declare it to you in advance).

This isn't the same as companies like Akamai doing network caching, because that was with the consent of one of the parties; in effect the IP address of Yahoo, say, is just a logical identifier and not a physical endpoint. Akamai are just an agent of Yahoo.

But I am accessing my self-hosted webmail service. I don't consent to having my HTTP traffic pried into.

It's a simple consumer protection issue.

And another thing: you put your coins into the vending machine and get your login coupon. Then you sit down, login, and have to agree to the terms of service. If you don't agree, there's no way to get your money back. Sounds like an invalid contract to me.

We get to inspect the ingredients before we buy a can of beans, but telecom gets away with outrageous anti-consumer nonsense. Time for reform.

PS - This is a great airport, though. No annoying PA system, plenty of space, short-ish walks, high ceilings with lots of light, easy public transport connections, clear info displays, short queues, comfy seating. Scandinavia at its best.

Inspect Martin's packets at Telepocalypse.

Posted by Martin Geddes at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Skype is an option on two of Dell's cooler laptops, new to the U.S. Anything that gets Skype in front of American consumers is good news for Skype marketing and eBay.

Skype's is a vendor relationship specific to one Dell request for proposal. This is a tiny relationship compared to Google's broader alliance with Dell, where Google Desktop and the Google Toobar will be installed on consumer computers and some business systems. Google Desktop usually comes with Google Talk, a standards based chat and voice client. As softphone vendors fight for market share, distribution arrangements like these become more important.

The XPS M2010 ($3500-4700, 20 inch screen, web cam) is a gamer's dream toy, tuned for the Alienware onlife crowd. (MobileWhack brief) Dell will be able to preload Skype on the hard drive. I'm in serious technolust.

The XPS M1210 ($1300-2500, 12 inch widescreen) has been on sale for a week in Japan. (engadget review) Skype is part of an optional A/V kit: cam, buds, mic, Verizon or Cingular cellular broadband card.

Both sport Intel dual core processors, so you should be able to host 10-party conference calls. Both are Windows Vista capable.

Dell has been selling Skype accessories before this. Linksys and US Robotics phones, SanDisk and Kensington flash drives with Skype inside, and the Polycom Communicator.

Skype news release...

SKYPE TEAMS UP WITH DELL TO MAKE INTERNET CALLING EVEN EASIER New Dell XPS Mobile Systems can be configured with Skype; Free Internet Voice and Video Calling with Other Skype Users LUXEMBOURG, May 31, 2006 -Skype and Dell have teamed up to make it easy to stay in touch. Today, Skype, the global Internet communications company, announced an agreement with Dell, the world's largest maker of personal computers, to ship Skype™ software with new Dell™ XPS™ mobile systems - the XPS M1210 and XPS M2010. The agreement will allow Dell to provide its customers with easy access to Skype's voice and video Internet calling software. Dell will be able to pre-load Skype on the XPS 2010, a unique mobile entertainment system featuring a 20.1-inch high-definition display with integrated webcam. The XPS 1210 can be configured with Skype as part of an optional audio-video communications package that also includes an integrated rotating webcam, noise-isolation earbuds and mobile broadband capability. "As the leading notebook supplier, Dell is committed to delivering cutting-edge technology that provides voice and video connectivity virtually anywhere," said Brett Faulk, worldwide marketing director, consumer notebooks. "Teaming with Skype, the trend setter in Internet communications, will provide our customers the very best experience when reaching out and staying in touch with friends and family around the world." "Dell customers will be able to experience the benefits of Skype, optimized for their computing environment. This gives Dell customers a simple way to use the Internet to talk to their friends and family from home, in the office or on-the-go," said Don Albert, Director of Business Development, Skype North America. "Dell represents a new distribution channel for Skype. New products from Dell will complement the breadth of hardware designed for the convenience of Skype callers." With Skype, customers can talk for as long as they like with other Skype customers across the world without worrying about the cost or the distance of the call. Unveiled today, the Dell XPS M1210 and M2010 are available immediately worldwide.

###

Posted by Phil Wolff at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

by Vikas Rangarajan, senior software engineer, UmeVoice.

Rise in mobile VoIP use

As VoIP applications such as Skype become more ubiquitous, there is an ever increasing need to ensure effective use of VoIP communication in a wide range of environments. Skype is available for a variety of mobile platforms. A new breed of wireless-wifi converged devices is also in the news. VoIP service providers have begun to target mobile platforms. All indicators point to a rise in mobile use of VoIP technology. It is becoming common for the user to be in a noisy environment like an airport or a conference or a café while using his/her laptop or PDA for VoIP communication. One critical factor in making these applications truly valuable will be clear audio transmission irrespective of the surrounding environment. Adopting and recommending effective noise cancelling technology can help realize the full potential of internet voice technologies, making it possible for people to have more freedom to communicate globally.

How important is "Clear Audio" for VoIP?

The most popular use of VoIP technology is in speech communication applications like Skype, Google Talk and other standard SIP phones.

For the purposes of speech communication, clear audio can be defined as an audio stream that has a low noise component (ideally no noise), and a high speech component (the audio content that we are trying to transmit). However, this specification alone is not sufficient to describe clear audio.

We need the speech signal to be transmitted to the listener at the other end of the communication system with the least possible modification along the way (ideally with no modification at all: the listener should hear the audio exactly as the speaker spoke it).

These requirements become even more critical when the "listener" is not a human, but a far less capable recognizer of human speech, such as an ASR (automatic speech recognition) computer program. ASR programs can be found in today's dictation software, telephone IVR (Interactive voice response) systems and command and control applications. 

VoIP systems employ several technologies to optimize the efficiency of audio transmission. These technologies make a trade off between the quality of audio transmitted and the cost of transmitting the audio. In order to minimize the degradation of audio quality, it is important to ensure that clear audio is sent into the system regardless of the environment in which the end users are located.

How to provide clear audio for VoIP in noisy environments

In order to satisfy both the requirements for clear audio (high speech to noise ratio, and high speech fidelity), we need to filter the noise out from the signal leaving the speech. This can be accomplished in two broad ways:

1. Remove (as much of) the noise (as possible) from the signal after it has been mixed in
2. Prevent (as much of) the noise (as possible) somehow from entering the signal

Technique 2 is also a tough problem, since both speech and noise travel through the same medium. A patented technology developed at UmeVoice exploits the noise cancelling properties of a standard dual-port noise cancelling microphone, making use of distinguishing characteristics of noise versus speech, to prevent the noise from entering the signal, thus accomplishing both requirements for clear audio. This makes such a solution ideal not only for VoIP communication but also for high quality speech applications like speech recognition. UmeVoice makes headsets theBoom, theBoom O and theBoom Quiet that offer the ability to effectively communicate even in the noisiest of environments.

Freedom to communicate from anywhere?

In an increasingly global society, technology is making it possible to work productively and stay connected while being mobile. Voice is one of the most natural human modes of communication. Technologies that facilitate clear audio capture and transmission will be crucial in ensuring that people can have true freedom to communicate clearly and effectively.

Posted by Guest Blogger at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Skype was a big hit at the eBay Live Germany event in Dusseldorf on May 26-27.

My German Skype buddy Claudius Henrichs worked at the booth for Skype. He had this to say,

"The Skype booth definitely had the most visitors of the whole show and proved to be the most attractive both by the look of the booth and the products presented. I got asked lots of questions from eBay Powersellers about how to integrate Skype best into their current or yet to be set up call centers. How to use Skype with multiple users how to do call transfer, manage billing and stuff. They really liked the idea of offering buyers the possibility to contact their customer support for free ."

Here are smiles that greeted the attendees at eBay Live. No wonder the Skype booth was so popular.

Don't miss eBay Live Las Vegas June 10 to 12

Posted by Bill Campbell at 04:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the past few weeks I have been using my 12-year old Nortel M9417 dual line phone as the primary telephone handset on my office desktop (wood version). It continues to access my PSTN services in the normal manner yet accessing Skype is as simple as picking up the handset and dialing **. This is all made possible through the introduction of VoIPvoice's Skype Certified UConnect USB-Phone Converter into one of my office's Bell Canada phone lines.

Key criteria for this review are:

• Ease of installation
• Ease of accessing either PSTN or Skype
• Access to Skype features, especially the Skype client
• Ability to run other audio programs (Windows Media Player, iTunes, SlingBox, etc.) while on a Skype call
• Duplication of standard telephone user interface features
  • telephone keypad, dialtone access
• Flexibility when leaving the office with a laptop

The Package comprises:

• the VoIPvoice UConnect USB to Phone Converter module (pictured above),
  • Note that there is NO power adapter involved
• a USB extension cable,
• a line cord (RJ-11 connector to the phone line);
• a telephone cord (RJ-11 connector to the Nortel M9417) and
• a CD-ROM with the VoIPvoice software.

Other requirements:

• Installation of the Skype client on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP PC
• A telephone handset that supports DTMF; callerID support is optional
• A working PSTN line for making standard telephone calls.

Installation is a four-step process:

• Attach the UConnect to a (powered) USB port on a Skype-enabled PC.
• Insert the UConnect into the PSTN telephone line using the supplied line cord and telephone cord in lieu of the previous line cord.
• Install the VoIPvoice Integration software from the CD-ROM.
• Check your Windows Audio default Device settings to reset it to whatever device you wish to use for, say, Windows Media Player, iTunes, SlingBox audio, etc. (This does not impact the Skype Sound Devices selection made by the software installation.)

The software installation not only sets the Skype Sound Devices to "VoIPvoice USB Phone" but also installs speech recognition software as well as some on-hook/off-hook signaling to open the Skype client when you lift the handset and dial ** for Skype access. It also passes Skype CallerID information through to the phone handset's display.

Setup:

Upon completion of the VoIP Voice Integration software installation you will find a new "Skype-like" icon in your System Tray. Right click on it and select Options:

• Ensure all options on the General Tab are selected
• On the Speech Tab, define what you want Speech to do; note the various options (hash, pound or sharp) for describing the "#" key which is used to replace the Skype "Call" button on the handset (UK vs North American vs "Musical" English?)
• On the CLIP tab, North American users should select "Send CLIP according to bellcore specification"; this allows the Skype callerID information to be passed to any callerID display on the legacy handset. By selecting "Add prefix "S-" to Caller Name, you can identify any incoming call as coming from Skype in the callerID display.
• In the Skype client go to Tools | Options | Advanced and ensure that the "Start Skype when I start Windows" is unchecked.

Right click on the icon again and select Speech Properties. Select the "Text to Speech" tab and the Audio Output button. Select "VoIPvoice USB Phone" as shown. There are other options available to set properties related to the speech recognition; however, the remaining default settings provide all the basics needed to use the UConnect.

At this point, on starting Windows the VoIPvoice Integration software will open first; it will then launch your Skype client automatically. (Note that once this setup is completed for one VoIPvoice device, it is available for any other VoIPvoice device such as the Cyberspeaker-W.)

As a final step, ensure the USB - USB/PSTN switch on the UConnect is set to USB/PSTN

You are now ready to start using your PSTN phone handset to make calls on both your PSTN service and Skype.

Operation:

• To call a regular (local) PSTN number pick up the phone and dial in the normal manner.
• To call 911, pick up the phone and dial 911.
• To access the Skype client: pick up the phone and dial **; the Skype client will open on the associated PC. Upon hearing "Whom would you like to Skype?":
  • Speak the Skype Contact's Skype Name, or
  • Make a Skype call via the Skype client in the normal manner, or
  • Enter a Skype Speed Dial number and press "#"
  • "Dial" the Skype Contact's name: Dial * and, in response to the voice's "Press digit to select Skype contact", enter the keypad keys corresponding to the Contact's Skype Name. For instance for Bill, press 2455. If there are multiple Bills, the voice will provide a list of Bills: "Press 1 for Bill C., press 2 for Bill D., etc.".
  • Dial a number for a SkypeOut call within the same country code; remembering that the "#" key emulates the green Skype "Call" button after entering the number, or
  • Dial "00" (proxy for "+") and a country code and phone number (without the leading area code "0") to place a SkypeOut call to another country
  • Go to the Skype Email Toolbar (or SkyLook) and select a number to call in the normal manner.
• On receiving Skype calls, check the callerID display, pick up the handset, listen to the voice announcing who is calling (again by their Skype Name), press the "#" button to connect (remember it emulates the Skype "Call" button) and start talking.
  • If you simply hang up without pressing "#", the call is terminated as would happen if you pressed the red Skype "End Call" button.
• On receiving PSTN-originated calls, one answers in the normal manner.

Comments:

• All the comments about the VoIPvoice Skypepone line in my post about "Skypephones that Just Work" apply, including those about the need to work on the voice recognition capability.
• Automatic sound device selection: With the Skype Sound Devices set to "Windows Default Device" one can readily switch between, say, a headset on the PC's sound card and the legacy phoneset for audio. For instance, start a call using speakers and a mic, then lift the handset from the phoneset and the audio is redirected to come through the phone's handset.
• CallerID information from incoming Skype calls is displayed in the phoneset's text display, optionally with an "S-" prefix -- appears as "S-SkypeName"
• Audio quality: On the first day of use, I had at least three callers remark spontaneously on the audio quality as being superior to a standard PSTN phone line.
• Phone line portability: If I want to move this setup to another phone line (such as the second line to my dual line phone set), it is simply a matter of moving the line cord attachments. There is no need to register the UConnect with a central server on the Internet.

Positioning:

• UConnect is suited for those who want Skype/SkypeOut access while still having access to a traditional PSTN phone line for, say, 911, fax and "local" calling services.
• UConnect provides a familiar telephone touchtone keypad and handset user interface to Skype that does not tie up additional desktop real estate.
• With free calls to any North American PSTN number, SkypeOut also becomes an option for even local calls, especially when using PC-based tools such as the Skype Email Toolbar in conjunction with your Outlook contacts as your directory. Find the Outlook Contact, in the Email Toolbar select Skype, Home, Office, Mobile and the Skype/SkypeOut call is initiated.
• When on the road one can take along a Cybperphone-W or Cyberspeaker-W and use the same software configuration to make Skype and SkypeOut calls from WiFi access point such as hotels, airports and coffee shops.

Conclusions:

• Pros:
  • A device that merges PSTN phone line requirements with access to Skype/SkypeOut features, including Presence and Chat.
  • Keep the same phone number available for receiving calls.
  • Allows continued use of Skype-enabled applications such as Skype Email Toolbar, Skype Toolbar for IE/Firefox and Skylook.
  • Passes Skype CallerID information to phoneset's text display
  • Takes up minimal additional desktop real estate to access Skype
  • Maintains access to 911 and alarm services
  • Portable to any available PSTN line
  • Relatively simple four-step installation
  • Automatic interactive sound device selection.
  • Delivers very high quality audio
  • Can listen to audio-enabled applications, such as Windows Media Player ("WMP") and SlingBox, while on a Skype call.
  • Same software supports two complementary dedicated VoIPvoice Skypephones for mobile use.
• Cons:
  • Installation may require resetting of default Windows Audio Device to allow independent operation of audio applications such as WMP, etc. (This may be an issue with how Windows handles Audio Devices.)
  • Voice recognition feature needs improvements to increase recognition accuracy. According to VoIPvoice personnel, this is a high priority issue being addressed.

UConnect turns Skype into an ideal PC-based complement to a traditional small office individual PSTN phone configuration. UConnect takes over the long distance service while offering additional capabilities such as File Transfer, Presence and Chat without changing your legacy phone number and without disrupting access to essential services such as 911 and alarm systems. It certainly passes the Jeff Sandquist seven-day test.

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 04:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A Skype Journal Exclusive. It is a great book, a great read. It belongs beside your computer, (Windows, Mac OS X or Linux) not on a book shelf. "Skype: The Definitive Guide." The book is rightfully portrayed as the only official guide to Skype, every chapter reviewed and approved by Skype staffers. Written by Skype insiders Harry Max and Taylor Ray (more on them later this week) with a foreword by Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennström.

The whole book feels good. It has balance. Skype stories, user stories, interweaved with useful but hard technical facts. Even QUE Publishing and Amazon got it right. They understand the Skype user is not going to pay big bucks for a book. The price of $12.99 (US) means just about everyone can afford it.

Who will find value in this book?

Skype: The Definitive Guide has value for the novice in Skypeland to the super user on the Skype Forum. The hardest core Skype fan will at least get confirmation if not new insight into how Skype works. Max and Ray have taken what was publicly available from Skype in the Network Administrator's Guide and in Tom Berson's Security White Paper and brought much needed clarity. When I mentioned this point to Kurt Sauer, Skype security head, he smiled and said "Cool, I need to read these books to figure out my own product." The reality, Max and Ray's warm relationship with Skype staff, like Kurt, brought more open discussion and more insight to explaining how Skype works. Does it uncover all Skype's secrets? No. That would be silly. There are many good reasons to have trade secrets. But, as an example, here is a gem from page 210:

"The public-key cryptographic model enables a Skype application to receive private messages that only it can read and to issue signed messages that no one else could have created.

No one (not even Skype Technologies) has a copy of the key shared by the parties to the call. There is neither sharing nor disclosure of the keys to any parties other than the pairwise sharing to establish a 256-bit session key. And when a session ends, the keys are discarded. Encryption keys are neither escrowed to third parties nor disclosed to the Skype users."

So when Niklas Z gets called by Bush, Putin, Hu or whomever he can simply say, "I don't got no keys to give you!"

The book's description of how the supernodes and relays work in Skype will go a long way to ending myth. Hopefully bloggers and journalists will use it as a training guide. They just never seem to get the story right.

Harry Max and Taylor Ray spent nine grueling months but finally pushed out one beautiful bouncing baby of 263 pages. That baby will delight you. If you are a seasoned Skyper you can delight all your friends, relatives and contacts by buying them the book as a gift.

If you Skype: this book is for you.

Thank you, Harry and Taylor.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

Over the past three weeks I have had the opportunity to evaluate four Skype Phone products from VoIPvoice; I will review them individually in upcoming posts. However, in addition to being Skype Certified, all four share some common features and traits, including the ability to just attach, install and call:

• At my home office, I make my Skype and SkypeOut calls via their UConnect USB-Phone Converter, using my 12-year old Nortel M9417 dual line phone set. Yet I can still access and use all my Bell Canada services, including their Smart Touch services. "Just dial ** for Skype."
• On the road I take along either the Cyberphone-W or Cyberspeaker-W; plug either into a laptop USB port at a WiFi access point and start making Skype or SkypeOut calls.
• My daughter is using the recently introduced Cyberphone-W for Mac with her MacBook Pro as her primary landline and a complement to her wireless phone.

With all three Windows-compatible devices:

• I lift the phone handset and my Skype client opens on the laptop; when I replace the handset, the Skype client minimizes to the System Tray.
• I have the option to initiate any Skype calls by simply saying the Contact's Skype user name
• I can dial SkypeOut calls in the traditional legacy manner (with no need to add the home country's country code) on a conventional touchtone keypad.
• I have the option to make Skype and SkypeOut calls using the Skype client interface in the conventional manner
• All my other Skype "accessories" such as Skype Chat, SMS Messaging, File Transfer, Skype Email Toolbar and SkyLook continue to be available to work in the normal way.
• I am able to listen to Windows Media Player, podcasts via iTunes and my SlingBox on my stereo speakers while on a Skype call using these handsets.
• I have had several unsolicited comments on the excellence of the audio quality.
• Power comes via the USB port; no external power adapter is required;
• Installation involves connecting the USB adapter, ensuring Skype is installed, installing the VoIPvoice software and, in some instances, resetting the default Windows Audio Device (to, say, your laptop speakers). Once performed for one of the devices, the installation is, in effect, applied to all three devices.

(Note that with the UConnect device, I lift the handset and simply dial ** to access the Skype features outlined above. To use my Bell Canada line I simply continue to dial and access services in the normal manner.)

The only problem I have encountered is that the voice recognition will have some name recognition difficulties such as differentiating Bill (Campbell) from Phil (Wolff). On the other hand when it recognizes Bill's name their "Darth Vader voice" says, somewhat monotonously, "Calling Bill Campbell vertical bar Skype Journal" (Bill's Skype name reads "Bill Campbell | Skype Journal"). The VoIPvoice device reads back the entire contents of your Skype Name field -- amusing! If they would just replace Darth Vader with a "sexy female voice", it would be perfect!

These VoIPvoice devices bring a traditional phone interface (i.e. - a handset with a touchtone keypad) to Skype while maintaining access to all the features of Skype. Combining these devices with Skype's recently announced free North American calling, Skype/SkypeOut has become my preferred service for voice calls from both my home office and remote WiFi access points (hotels, airports, coffee shops, etc.). More details will follow in the individual reviews of each device later this week.

Posted by Jim Courtney at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week, Skype changed the NorthAm VoIP landscape with free SkypeOut until year end. Skype downloads picked up right away.

This week Vonage speculators caught on about 24 hours too late. Vonage, its bankers and investors took in half a billion dollars. That'll buy them a mix of time, talent, features, and paying customers. We'll see how well they use it. 

StreamCast Networks' little litigation engine ups their lawsuit's ante by going for deep pockets, including eBay's, and naming Skype's founders in the expanded suit. Reading their complaint, they think they're facing the Sopranos. ♥ The ammended complaint (4.6MB, PDF) is full of juicy language like "fraud", "exclusive rights", "secretly siphoned-off", "conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act", "steal", "hatched a scheme", "theft", "secret disabling feature", "sweetheart deals", "hijack the 28 million Morpheus user base", "scheme", "scheme", "conspiracy to restrain trade", "pattern of racketeering", "mail and wire fraud", "are currently being aided and abetted in their efforts to fraudulently tranfer funds and properties by their families, accountants and attorneys". ♥ They say Skype's p2p technology is owned by StreamCast, and that Skype's founders cheated them out of the technology. They also say Skype lied to eBay about owning its technology free and clear, or that eBay (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). To make their case, they must pierce several corporate veils, show they had rights to the technology in the first place, prove the people and companies named messed with their rights. The parties span the globe, from Estonia to Vanuatu, but they may have enough to assert California jurisdiction. ♥ The kicker: StreamCast asked the court to shut down Skype. Right now. Protect your Skype SuperPowers! Should you tell StreamCast's management how you feel about it? Using your free or cheap SkypeOut minutes? Just by clicking on the phone numbers below? Maybe you'd say something like "Hands off my Skype, Mr. StreamCast!"? ♥ Do Skype's users have any legal standing in this?

• Michael Weiss, ceo, (818) 887-8610 x110
• Matt Neco, counsel, (818) 887-8610 x105
• Elizabeth Cowley, vp bizdev, (818) 887-8610 x108

The eBay/Yahoo deal seems healthy. Partner with a symbiote, not a parasite. Don't fuel Google's rising threat with ad dollars. ♥ It's an opportunity. Generalizing for a moment, eBay is great at making markets for goods. Yahoo! is better at making markets for intangibles, like jobs, movies, travel. Both create rich communities, but very different mechanics and cultures. As eBay uses Skype to embrace an intangibles strategy, Yahoo! could be a great partner. ♥ What happens should the Skype and Yahoo! Messenger teams swap spit? The best bits of both products could show up in the other. Might they resolve digital ID spaces and data models for users and conversations? Agree to strong interoperability for chat, voice and video? Standards for distributing in-client adverts? API co-development, blending the Yahoo!, eBay, PayPal and Skype developer communities? Together, they'd be an unbeatable team.

Skype updated Windows and Mac clients, bug fixes and repaired security problems, including a bug that exposed millions of SkypeOut call records to the NSA and other Internet snoops.

Dan Houghton, Skype's answer to Shelley Vision, started blogging about new Skypecasts.

The Skype ecology has been active too. VoIP Voice launched a new Mac phone in the UK. ♥ Actiontec is hiring a director of bizdev for VoIP products. "Actiontec is expanding its presence in the Skype Certified VoIP business! As a leader in this marketplace, Actiontec plans to capitalize on it's first to market advantage in the commercial space, and leverage it's intellectual property and strategic relationships in the VoIP adapter business. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated professional to drive a huge up and coming business segment for Actiontec." If you apply, let us know what you learn. ♥ PhoneGnome to Skype came out, using the Uplink SIP to Skype Adapter.

Sometimes people ask me how I find something to write about just focusing on Skype. It's weeks like this, my friend.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With the turbulent migration to VoIP occurring in 2006, it will be interesting to track usage and subscriber data to support the impact of VoIP and Voice 2.0 business models. A couple of items that appeared this week:

Skype vs Vonage in the UK: Heather Hopkins of Hitwise, an online Internet usage monitoring service, has reported on Skype, Bebo and Vonage -- Why Skype Visits are Through the Roof. Her chart that results from tracking visits to websites for each demonstrates how UK visits to Skype have climbed from ~1% of UK site visits in early February to 6.9% mid-May while Vonage has stagnated in the 0.8% range. And this happened in a market with no free SkypeOut! Score one for market penetration by a Voice 2.0 business model.

Earlier this week I reported on the $15 million funding of Bebo, a social network with 24 million members predominantly in the European market and Andrew Hansen's observation as to how Skype support was probably a factor in their financing success. Heather goes on in her post to report on how Bebo is responsible for over 50% of the upstream sources for visits to Skype. And this number has increased with a Bebo-Skype partnership tied into the launch of Skypecasts. A Voice 2.0 application driving adoption and market penetration in the social networking space.

Acknowledgement to Mathew Ingram for the post that brought my attention to Heather's post through the Comments.

Telus - a legacy Canadian telco in transition: Jon Arnold has posted some numbers provided at the Telus President's Symposium held last Thursday in Toronto. Telus is the primary (and legacy) telco in Alberta and British Columbia and has a very successful national mobile network in Telus Mobility. They have a reputation for rapidly introducing new technology -- they were the first to have an EV-DO offering in major Canadian metropolitan markets; also they went through a strike last summer that was essentially about transitioning labor costs to a level consistent with a Voice 2.0 business model. Telus has continued to be profitable; their stock price has risen over fivefold since mid-2003.

This is the picture of a telco successfully transitioning to a Voice 2.0 model reflecting the value is in applications (as opposed to access and directory) where:

• Talk is the baseline through provision of connectivity and directory services, yet
• The meter is going off -- as evidenced by their reduced long distance activity and the reduced reliability on voice for revenues.
• Applications (as evidenced by their increasing reliance on Data and Wireless) are becoming the value creators.

Posted by Jim Courtney at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

I'm listening to IMS architect Colin Pons from KPN. Wow. An operator that gets it.

He sees IMS as a technology that (in his words) makes the Internet more important for customers. No walled garden, preserve the end-to-end principle. Deploy it as a big application-layer intelligent router that ties together value-adding services. (What he means is intelligent find-me/follow-me, next gen voicemail etc. -- not trivial mapping of logical identifiers to network addresses in a desperate attempt to generate billable events). And IMS is a transitional technology to a P2P world.

Most notable is that he sees identity as being front and central to their effort. I know that he knows this is a deep and complex area, and not something that can be easily articulated in one busy slide on a panel session.

Tied with KPN's "scorched earth" strategy for deploying fiber connectivity across the Netherlands, this proposes a radically different culture and outlook to the average operator. They have seen the light that they will only survive by delivering super-abundance to the users, and by attracting users into their world by offering compelling value, not by trying to hold them to ransom by erecting barriers to achieving their goals.

My only bone would be whether KPN is making the most efficient use of capital in evading the Dutch municipal network trend. If they follow their own logic to its conclusion, owning the network isn't much of an advantage any more.

For US readers, this is a description of a telecom world from another planet, with races to deploy fiber and empower users.

Hopefully I can find an excuse to visit Amsterdam again, one of my favourite cities. Not that it needs an excuse. And I know a few readers who may have a more skeptical view of KPN, so the good news is comments are working again now the spam storm is over.

read how Martin normally decries IMS at Telepocalypse.

Posted by Martin Geddes at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

by Steve Smith, Lavalife Chief Scientist

I'm a huge user of Skype, as my friends and colleagues know. I've helped shift the management of several companies over to Skype as a productivity tool. One of the main reasons I use to promote Skype is the value of the seamless pyramid of communication: presence ⇒ IM ⇒ Voice. However, some factors are interfering with this value, and I think there's a paradox in the direction Skype is taking.

To recap, here's what's good about the model:

• presence -- I can see if someone is at their computer, or not. If they're at their computer, it means there's a good chance I can reach them if I need to communicate with them
• I can then IM them for simple matters, or to ask if they have time for a call. This is a much lower profile interruption than a ringing telephone, and therefore I feel freer to do it, and correspondingly do not mind it when people ping me
• If we want to talk, it's just a push of the big green button

But, increasingly people are starting to access Skype from a mobile device that doesn't have presence and IM capability. For example, this Netgear Skype phone which I have on order from Amazon (and which as Andy points out has some flaws as an out-of-the-home device).

For months I was trying to reach a friend in Italy via Skype IM. When I was over there recently, he said, "Oh, the server is up in the attic and I never look at the screen, but if you call it, it rings on my phone downstairs". It turns out he permanently set his status to "online" and walked away. This breaks the model -- presence no longer has meaning, and IM doesn't work. You need to go straight to pressing the big Green "call" button. This is a huge step backwards from the virtuous pyramid I talked about above.

Yet, Skype seems to be accelerating this direction. Witness the recent move to offer free calling in North America (great link collection on this topic here). Witness the variety of Skype-enabled hardware coming. Combined with free urban wifi, these trends point to Skype being a free cellphone, not a Presence/IM/Voice platform.

I fear that you can't be both. Both directions are interesting, both are worthwhile. But by trying to be both you degrade the value of the IM/presence network, and thus rob one group of users from the productivity gain they currently enjoy. It's a bit of a conundrum, and I certainly don't have the answer, but just watch if the value of your Skype presence indications doesn't start to drop over the next year.

via Steve's Tech Journal.

Posted by Guest Blogger at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

At the end of the second day of trading Vonage (VG) closed at $13.00 with over 11.3 million shares traded today; down 24.6% from the IPO price. There is some interesting and inisghtul commentary coming out:

Andy Abramson, VoIP Watch: My Thoughts on The Vonage IPO

So really, this reaction to the stock price is not a reflection of how VoIP will do, for VoIP, especially with new and different services coming on line every day that can only be delivered by IP will do very well in the hands of companies with real leadership and vision, not just a sales model that costs more to acquire the customer than will ever pay back.

No, this reaction is a show of no-confidence by Wall Street in the company, their leadership and their approach to business. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Jon Arnold was interviewed by ROBTV (a Canadian business channel); this link will work until May 31.  Jon points out that, whereas the legacy telco and cable competitors at least have a customer base to whom they can market a VoIP service, Vonage needs to recruit a customer base ... thus, the high marketing costs. Well worth a listen for an overview of Vonage and its positioning.

Tom Evslin brings his insight as a former CEO of company that went through an IPO in the Bubble 1.0 era to two posts: Vonage IPO - When the Crowd Is Always Wrong and Vonage IPO - How The Bankers May Make a Bundle More Despite the Bust. Most interesting are his comments about "flipping".

Andy Kessler follows up his guest post a week ago on GigaOm: Vonage Sucker Punch. "Here's how not to do a deal. Citigroup raised the number of shares in the deal, but not the price. Bad move - it signaled some weakness...." Read on.

Mathew Ingram: Use VoIP to Call Your Broker and Sell. But he recommends using Skype to call your broker -- "it's cheaper".

In summary:

• It's the VoIP business model, not the underlying VoIP business technology, that needs attention. Once more an implicit validation of the business model described by Alec Saunders' Voice 2.0 Manifesto.
• Trading at this point appears to be unrelated to any business fundamentals but rather to the psychology and needs of the financial market players.
• There will be a continuing squeeze on Vonage's margins as their competitors come in with lower price offerings. Didn't Skype say "free within North America" to year end?

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting news. Let's hope they make it work. Seems to be mostly about Skype enabled advertising.

Here is an example of a Skype enabled ad from Euroland:

News links...

Skype Forum

MyWay

Yahoonews

This looks like it will play well. Yahoo and eBay have connections and cash; Skype has the cachet. My guess this partnership will help ratchet up the Skype numbers.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday I received an email from SightSpeed announcing

On May 24, 2006, SightSpeed will release the next version of our award-winning video calling service. This new release will include significant new beta features, including SightSpeed Phone Out, which you can use to make great quality, low-cost telephone calls from your PC or Mac.

Key Points:

• SightSpeed expands its voice capability from pure 'VoIP to VoIP" to "VoIP to PSTN" (Phone Out launched yesterday) and "PSTN to VoIP" (PhoneIn to be introduced soon).
• Rates for calls within North America are 2 cents per minute; rates to Europe start at 2 cents per minute but vary by country and modality (land line or mobile)
• Ability to make voice only calls (no video required)
• Improved video via a beta codec
• Enhanced Contact List Display options

I have followed SightSpeed since it was first introduced as a high quality video service at Fall Comdex 2003. From the initial press release:

SightSpeed Web matches the speed of the telephone, delivering audio/visual synchronicity at 30 frames per second through patented, human perception-based technology that is based on more than seven years of research at Cornell University.

SightSpeed has always been recognized for its video quality. It has also always had a VoIP capability for those who had headsets to use it as audio accompaniment to the video. Their "SightSpeed Pro" service offers additional features such as multi-party  voice and video conferencing for up to 4 participants. Unfortunately not many of my acquaintances were enamored enough to make it a viable communications service I could routinely use. And I did not find a real need to use their Video Messenger service; but that may just be me.

But SightSpeed also has a Mac version. With this new release SightSpeed has the potential to become the leading service offering combined video and PSTN phone connectivity on MacBooks equipped with the built-in iSight video camera. If this takes off in the Mac community -- where there is a strong viral market user base -- it would give Skype some significant competition at the video level. Purely a question of "how long can a User wait" before s/he absolutely has to have instant messaging video?

I have done the upgrade; turns out the Phone feature is a Beta version -- and it shows. For instance in the country calling rates list one sees "Canada-Alberta" but what about the rest of Canada? When I check out my own (Canadian) phone number it says I am in the USA. Nice to see that Skype recognizes the difference (and puts Canadian flags with Canadian phone numbers). Seems like there are definitely infrastructure issues to smooth out yet.

Will be interesting to see how (or whether) they deal with Skype's free calling within North America. More to follow as I get more experience with it.

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 05:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Maybe you have experienced callers who have hung up by the time your mobile phone starts to ring because Call Forwarding took so long. Your caller experiences too many rings; you experience a lost call and no voice mail. Anyone who lurks on the Skype Forum knows there is some confusion around the Skype Call Forward function.

Let's see if Neil and I can help you decrypt Skype Windows Call Forward. Neil Lindsey is a fellow Skype Tester (neillindsey) from Vancouver, BC

If you want to have the incoming call forwarded to your PSTN or mobile number on the first or second ring read on...

Note: this applies only for users who have Skype Voice Mail (we have not tested a scenario for Skype users who do not have Skype Voicemail).

If you open Skype>Tools>Options>Call Forwarding and Voicemail and in the lower part of the window (Voicemail section) you see in blue: "Advanced settings". Click to open and a window will open like this:

The setting of the number of seconds directly affects how long it takes for a call to be call forwarded. The default is 15 seconds. The range is 1 to 15. (If you enter a zero it will just go back to the default setting of 15)

Forwarding calls to a PSTN number is always longer than forwarding a call to a Skype Client.

With a setting of 1 a call will be forwarded to a PSTN number in 12 to 18 seconds (average 15 seconds). With a setting of 15 seconds the call forward time ranges from 28 to 32 seconds (just long enough for someone to give up and hang-up).

When Call forwarding to a Skype Client with a setting of 1 the Call is forwarded in about 2 seconds; with a setting of 15 seconds the Call is forwarded in about 17 seconds.

Off our topic but somewhat related, if a recipient does not answer it takes a full minute of ringing before the call falls back to the Voicemail of the Skype Client that did the Call Forward. (Exception: unless the PSTN/Mobile device has it's own Voicemail)

Thanks to Skype Forum user braveheart who started Neil and I down this convoluted path.

Please tell us if any of this helped you.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The public version of Skype is now 2.0.0.107 this fixes a security bug.

The beta 2.5 release has both new features around SMS and many bug fixes. Get it here. New version number is 2.5.0.91. I have used it; I am happy with it.

The change logs for both releases are here.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Skype product "Skypecasts" get a new blog to inform users with comments, tips and tricks from the makers of Skypecasts. Product news, featured Skypecasts.

Meet the publisher, Dan Houghton of Skype.

Dan tells me,

"I am older than I look. And Bill, I also want to include success stories -- people that have used skypecasts in unusual and effective ways. So please have your readers send me their stories."

Drop by the Skypecast Blog here. Leave Dan a comment of applause for getting this blog and product off the ground.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The dot-mobi domain names are now available for registration. Skype.mobi is is still available if you want to scoop Skype.

Here are a number media links that tell the story:

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/05/24/mobi/index.php

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6075779.html

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2156716/mobile-firms-act-secure-web

This move helps validate the Orb Networks and SoonR technology.

Your mobile phone will soon be a more capable device. Media goes mobile. Now to get me a new mobile device.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

VoIP/Voice of Manchester, UK yesterday announced the release of its Cyberphone-W for Mac to the U.K. market. A Skype Certified Skype phone for the Mac . From the press release:

.... This product broadens Skype's appeal to consumers who prefer to use a conventional telephone handset and who opt not to be bound to their PCs by headsets.

The Cyberphone-W for Mac has been designed to deliver very high-quality sound and features

• Leading edge design looks great on your desk!
• Tightly integrated with Skype, simplifying calling your friends whether they're Skype users or not
• It looks and acts just like a normal phone
• Manage your Skype contacts direct from the keypad
• Skyping-out via the keypad
• In-built LED to indicate incoming calls, voice mails, on/off-hook status

Not having a Mac myself, an evaluation unit was sent to my graduate student daughter for the ultimate "typical consumer" usability testing on her recently acquired MacBook Pro. On her own she was able to set it up and now has a cost effective "land line" phone to complement her wireless phone. Speaks a lot about Skype's insistence on only certifying "products that just work". Its arrival timed nicely with the launch of free SkypeOut for calls within North America but also allows her to call her friends in Taiwan and Europe at much lower costs than wireless.

Cyberphone for Mac is the first Skype Certified product to be sold at Apple Stores in the UK on an exclusive basis for the first four weeks. It will then become more broadly available, including on Skype Shop. Availability in continental Europe and North America is to be announced. Seems like pricing will be around US$54 (£35.00).

Now if Mac owners could just take advantage of the MacBook's relatively new iSight built-in video camera. To paraphrase the potential: "Lights, Skype for Mac 2.x, MacBook, Action!"

(Interesting that Google directed me to a Canadian Newswire service to find the press release.Also covered on MacMinute.)

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With almost two months experience as a  Skype Journal Associate Editor, it has become apparent that a Skype Journal editor could become a test technician for every product with aspirations to work with Skype.  However, time is a limitation and one needs to somehow define that gray border between evaluating a product and providing consulting on product management issues such as user interfaces, installation and configuration conflicts, Skype API integration and even Skype Certification. Rather than define a boundary here are the priorities I see in triaging our selection of products to evaluate:

1. Is the product or service Skype Certified? If so, it has certainly passed one set of criteria that are becoming tighter as Skype develops experience with its partner program. Most of the items below are included in the Skype Certified criteria (SC) but I repeat them for emphasis.
2. (SC) Does it include User Manuals, either in print or online? At least have them available for assisting the installation and operation. (Yes, I actually read them to assist with the objectivity of my assessment of a product when I run into issues.)
3. (SC) Does it install seamlessly? Any installation or configuration precautions? Does the installation avoid conflicts with previously installed drivers and software? (On this one we recognize that devices with Windows Audio drivers will have to have the default Windows Audio device reset after installation -- a Windows issue, not a product issue. On the other hand any installed software cannot wipe out currently installed drivers - as some have done.)
4. (SC) Can it be installed and configured within 20 minutes? This is a bit subjective but if I can't install the product within this time frame, the typical Skype User will not have the patience to complete an installation and configuration.
5. Does it use the Skype client as the primary Skype Contact manager? Is one option for calling and answering one's Skype Contacts simply the basic means of calling and answering available through the Skype client?
6. (SC) Have the Skype API's been used? While the API set is not complete (#1 request is for a Call Transfer API), they are relatively comprehensive and have facilitated the production of some excellent products.
7. Does the product provide a definable User benefit or is it just "nice" technology? As a business unit within eBay, Skype is looking for third party applications, services and products that build both usage and its User base.

One overarching statement of Skype's philosophy towards Certification::

Overall, we apply the same criteria to the solutions we certify [as] to Skype itself. Our basic feeling is that [since] "Skype is free Internet telephony that just works", we expect the solutions we certify to behave in the same way. If a solution doesn't work in a straightforward way, throws unclear errors upon install, and or requires a lot of backtracking to get it to work, we won't pass it.

As we develop the Skype Journal Labs brand, this is the first of several guidelines that will be used to assist with setting priorities and providing some level of objectivity to our product reviews. Next:: key criteria in product evaluation.

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jean Mercier, Oostakker, Belgium

"Look how Skype users online are jumping up", says
Matthew Rabinowitz. Mathew is a US citizen living in Germany as well as a Skype fanatic. He has been harassing me for the last few days on Skype chat.
Of course I knew that Skype had launched free SkypeOut for calls inside Canada and USA on May 15! I am jealous!

I had not enough data points of users online between May 15 and today. I therefore took a closer look at the number of downloads of the Skype application.

In fact, I was thinking that if a lot of Americans began to use Skype, there should also be an increase in the number of downloads. And indeed, the download curve is bending up quite sharply on May 20 (see first red arrow). I asked Matthew why it did bend on May 20 and not on May 15, and he argued: weekend! And his weekend theory is probably right: there is a small downward bending after the weekend (see the second red arrow)! So most people waited for "non-working" hours to install and test Skype probably!

Now, next question: how many new American and Canadian users does this represent? Downloads is not equal to new users of course, and Skype stopped providing data on the new registered user-names!

Well, let's just compare the growth rate before the bending (see dashed line) with the result attained today. We can see that there is an increase of about 3 million downloads (307 million minus 304 million at the end of the dashed line) in 4 days! Supposing that these are all new users, we have therefore a (temporary?) growth of 750.000 new North American (including Canada) Skype Users per day or 5.000.000 new users weekly!

This is quite amazing if it continues!

But I have to admit my graph is based on very few data points, so this is still pure speculation!

Posted by Guest Blogger at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This week sees two events that demonstrate funding of the VoIP-enabled space is alive and well.

Andrew Hansen comments on Benchmark Capital's $15M financing of Bebo, a social network with 24 million members in a space dominated by MySpace and Facebook:

I am pretty confident saying that Skype support was a major (allbeit not the only one) factor in their success. Skype is wildly popular in the EU/UK/EMEA due to high telephony costs. This is great news for the Skype ecosystem, funding is available for innovative and leading edge web applications such as Bebo, and EQO. The lesson learned here is a clear shot across the bow of other major Social networking sites - Skype support = users = traffic.

This is encouraging news for Skype's third party partners as they build businesses that embed Skype.. "Mike" gives a hint as to Bebo's overall architecture philosophy in the Tech Crunch announcement's Comments:

I find it interesting to see that Bebo is trying to integrate well established technology players (VideoEgg and Skype) instead of trying to develop everything inhouse (i.e. MySpace IM, etc.).

Jon Arnold predicts today will be the launch day for the Vonage IPO and makes a bold statement on the consequences of a successful offering for not only Vonage but also the entire VoIP market space:

Bottom line, whether you care for Vonage - or not - it is in the interests of the entire IP communications sector for their IPO to succeed. There is an awful lot of money looking for homes in this market, but until there is some track record of IPO success, that money will stay away. Several companies who entered this space around 2000 are primed for IPO - they've survived a downturn, and have matured to the point where they're ready for IPO. One could argue that if Vonage can't make it work , then nobody can. So for all of those IPOs-in-waiting out there, I'd say let's all hope things go well tomorrow!

Bebo: new communications business model applying the Voice 2.0 Manifesto with social networking application as the value creator; Vonage; replacing the legacy telcos but only with a variation of their legacy business model. Will be interesting to track how well these companies succeed going forward.

Update: Mark Evans reports the Vonage IPO is apparently oversubscribed.

Powered by Qumana

Posted by Jim Courtney at 04:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)