Too busy getting ready for Telco 2.0 event to write anything too substantive, so here's a quick thought.

I've tried a whole lot of Skype phones. I've seen a whole load more. I've not liked a single one. As I don't like to slag off products from small companies, I simply write nothing.

I don't use any of them. Why is this?

They put the traditional keypad at the front of the experience. But I don't use Skype to make PSTN calls much. I use it for what it does best: contacting a small circle of friends and colleagues. That means putting the buddy list up front, a multi-modal UI for navigating voicemail, and enabling features llike easy set-up of conference calls by showing multiple buddies. Make PSTN calling the exception, not the rule.

Naturally, a big screen is a given; some way of navigating my long buddy list quickly (hint: not clickety-click up/down buttons); and the display of presence and mood message of each person. Probably also the ability to list just a few entries from a single group as the default too. Wireless, too. After all, we're trying to get away from the grounding of a PC headset and expand into the wider domestic/office context.

My kids need a device that has two buttons: London grandparents; Vilnius grandparents. They don't use telephony the same way, so need their own device built around their needs.

The only exceptions to the "they're all crap" statement are the conference call phones which are really just microphone/speaker extensions: do one thing well, and the user is happy. But bad imitations of PSTN phones aren't it.

Push Martin's buttons at Telepocalypse.net.

Posted by Martin Geddes at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Guest post by Hans Blaauw

Many many months ago I wrote a Skype plugin called Mood-o-Matic. It could retreive information from external databases and publish it in your mood. It was limited because Skype did not support clickable mood messages. Now they do!

There seems to be nothing in the EULA about what you are allowed to put in the Mood message (I just checked with some Skypers).

So in theory I could recruit 10000 popular people that are willing to display ads in their Moodmessage when they are away or busy. Imagine, each of these 10000 highly popular people have 25 other people in their list. That would make a interesting audience for advertising.

What if you would have the possibility to get free credits if you would put these ads in your Mood message, interesting?

It seems to me the Mood message can be used for many more things. What if it would support widgets from Widgetbox?

Posted by Guest Blogger at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Just got home from the opening day of Yahoo!'s first open Hack Day. I thought it might be useful to contrast it with eBay's DevCon.

tags: skype, skypejournal, yahoo, hackday06, hackday, hack or die, yahoohackday06, ebaydevcon, ebay inc

Posted by Phil Wolff at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (3)

Messagr launched yesterday to help you find other people to talk to. Messagr is a new presence-based search engine. Register yourself, describe topics that interest you, and give your Skype name. When you want to discuss rugby with someone right now, messagr shows people both interested in those topics and available to talk. 

Messagr gets that value is rapidly shifting from the metered call to everything surrounding the call. In this case, bringing callers together. Unlike Jyve's focus on expert answers and consulting services, messagr aspires to all topics for everyone, a general hub for social, business, academic, and other conversation.

I like the collective interest tag cloud, updated as members change their Skype presence. Reminds me of the moodgeist experiment that aggregates Skype moodie messages. There are other sites where you tag yourself for more specific purposes. Like Ziki, where you tag yourself to manage your professional network, jobster to find work, or Consumating to "find people who don't suck." Skype Ltd. tags job postings too.  

Joel Selvadurai built messagr, now in beta, with java and jsp and the SkypeWeb presence service. A recent computer science grad from Durham University in Newcastle, Joel and his laptop can be found in the cafe of the British Library many days.

tags: skype, startup, london, uk, messagr, searchengine, search, ebay inc., skypejournal

Posted by Phil Wolff at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

I just reinstalled SightSpeed on my "rebuilt" laptop and am always impressed with the video quality. It is reminiscent of the days about 25 years ago when the first color monitors became available for the mini-computer-based instrumentation I was selling at the time. My budget-limited customers (mostly university based researchers) thought they could get away with budgeting for a black and white monitor until they actually saw the color monitor ... it took all of two minutes to change their mind once they realized the features color added. Somehow the additional funds for color magically appeared quite quickly. (I won't mention the price they paid for simple monitors at that time!) When you see a SightSpeed video its quality just hits you instantly as being the benchmark for video communications.  And this week PC Magazine thought so also.

While it is a challenge to market in a space containing the GYMAS-five, SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy and hist team seem to be ringing up the wins by working with partners who can take advantage of SightSpeed's video messaging functionality.  Two of note: a deal with MTV who is using SightSpeed on their Total Request Live offering to bring viewers into the show; SightSpeed is also making its debut in politics as a campaigning tool. Would be interesting to see if my university colleagues Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae start to use SightSpeed in their tight run for the leadership of Canada's Liberal party this fall where they need to approach 4500 delegates spread across 4,000 miles.

In fairness I need to point out that PC Magazine makes a point of how Skype video is more associated with ad hoc "phone" communications as opposed to SightSpeed's video messaging approach. Great to have two players in the game where one sets the benchmark for one particular feature that can be leveraged for targeted messaging while the other provides a total real time communications platform.

Other commentary on SightSpeed: Jon Arnold, Ken Camp and check out SightSpeed CEO's video message on their implementation of peer-to-peer communications.

Turning to another aspect of video, SlingMedia announced a family of three new products this week:

• SlingBox Tuner for those who still receive their TV "over-the-air:
• SlingBox A/V for those with cable/satellite service and PVR's
• SlingBox Pro for those who want to use HD signals or access multiple devices (say, cable box and DVD player)

A key feature of the new products is the enhanced resolution - from the previous 640x240 to 640x480 for local network connections; it remains at a very acceptable 320x 240 for remote connections. Any hope for Skype integration in the future to add a personal audio channel with the viewer of the "home" TV setup?

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Niklas Zennström chalks up two year delay to "technical hurdles and a lack of suitable handsets" in a Reuters summary of a Helsingin Sanomat interview (registration required). Duh.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the nifty features of Skype is its ability perform File Transfers almost on demand.  I find several time a day I need to transfer a file to a Skype contact but how I do it could happen in one of several ways. Peter Kalmström has posted on six ways to perform File Transfers within the Skype ecosystem:

1. Use the Skype  client's Send File button
2. In a Skype Chat session either use the Send File button or drag a file into the Chat window
3. Right click on any file in Windows Explorer and use the "Send To" feature selecting Skype as the option
4. Via the Skype Toolbar for MS Office (still in beta) there is an option to send the file you are currently working on (even though it is still open in, say, Word, Excel or PowerPoint
5. Transfer files received in emails using the Skype Email Toolbar (also still in Beta); this works in Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird.
6. Transfer files in partner applications such as SnagIt's profiles for Skype

Peter's post provides additional details on how to do these as well as the limitations such as "You can only send files to people who are on your Skype Contact list" and authorizations required in the process. He also notes the need to check for viruses on receipt of a file; in my case, Norton Antivirus always checks an MS Office file before it is loaded into the application.

However, I have come across two additional situations:

1. When you want to send information from a Contact in Outlook's Contacts View, drag the vCard into the Skype Client and the relevant nane/address phone number/email address will end up in your Skype Chat Client.
2. Jaanus reports on the use of Skype's File Transfer in the Sony Mylo to transfer MP3 files into the Mylo when a reviewer's evaluation unit did not include the USB cable.

The one issue that arises occasionally with Skype's file transfer is the situation where it uses a relay to mediate the file transfers; Sure slows down the process to under 500bps. I assume this is one of the compromises of using a peer-to-peer architecture in situations where you are getting around firewalls.

Update: Marc Orchant, Vice President of Marketing, Foldera talks about how he uses SnagIt and their Skype profiles to focus discussions with Web Designers solely on the graphic elements he wants to discuss.

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Skype Dev Zone is to get better and better. I found this out first hand 10 days ago when I met with Skype managers and executives in London. I got to see their nice new offices too. Very classy. (More on that next week.)

Paul Amery is the new Director of Skype Developer Program (SDP). Fresh blood; there is no substitute. Lot's of energy and a high level of commitment.

Here is Paul showing off my new Dev Zone tee-shirt without me in it.

Paul comes to Skype from Symbian. For a look into the future of Skype support for 3rd parties I recommend rummaging around this site. As the saying goes, "we are what we eat" so I see that Paul has lots of experience supporting the developer community.

Paul's first public contributions can be seen in his first newsletter to Skype developers here. Paul's newsletter headline, "Show me the money" is beginning to take shape, In Paul's words,

"For you, for Skype, for end users. For many of you fame will be the fortune you seek, particularly freeware developers. For others, it will be revenues. We aim to deliver both."

Skype's new Extra's Gallery will be a treat. I wish I could tell you about the details. When I met Niklas Z. in London the first words out my mouth, "The Extras Gallery is a mess." Niklas gave me one of his innocent, sly Scandinavian smiles, and added, "I agree." A few days later I understood his smile. Looks to me like Skype has now mastered marketing 101.

So am I just hyping Skype? Two years ago I tested the then planned for Skype developer processes. I wasn't impressed. I am now. But you don't need to take my word for the new Skype that I saw in London. Pablo Bertorello from Verosee has experienced the worst of Skype Developer support and is now one of the guinea pigs test driving Skype's new support processes. Okay Pablo, tell us your impressions so far:

"the biggest improvement is that Skype is open to increasing their user and revenue base via 3rd party applications like our new product, "SkySpace™". Skype have provided clear processes and guidance to make that possible, particularly the throttling of VIP promotion for developers on the basis of market achievements. I love the potential of the new Skype software developer program."

Will Paul trip up along the way? Probably, but big deal, at least Paul has the Skype Developer Program headed in the right direction - monetization. That's an amazing feat. Good for us developers and good for Skype. Watch this space for more details about the new Skype Developer Program.

Skype cares.

Posted by Bill Campbell at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Absent any immediate threats, and after Monday's conference call with eBay's government affairs people, San Jose State University's University Computing and Telecommunications department (SJSU UCAT) said they will not ban Skype. [correction: it was Skype's government affairs person, not eBay's, on the conference call.]

I wasn't there, but if I were briefing them, I'd be telling them about:

• Skype's value to the University's academic mission. Bringing distant guest lecturers into the classroom, helping students collaborate on projects, improving language study, helping faculty to perform research and develop curriculum, curriculum delivery, sustaining family and social ties that support students far from home.
• Skype's popularity. It's great to make people happy. Skype is a small but growing hit with both SJSU faculty and students. The UCAT office had many calls after the student newspaper's first article. And there's overwhelming popularity and demand for Skype worldwide.
• Little budget effect. Nice that it's free to get and use. Support costs are unknown. No known revenue impact (selling SkypeOut credit at the campus bookstore?)
• Configuring Skype to run through your proxy service to get through the firewall. So Skype clients deal with the firewall in a known and managed way. And so Skype's activity and effect on the network may be monitored. Or shut down, if needed. Linux FAQ. Network administrator's guide (PDF).
• Intel's pilot of an IT-friendly release of Skype. It lets the IT department create a locked-down version of the Skype client. So they could turn off the ability to use Skype's file transfer feature, for example. Or configure all Skype clients to use a campus proxy server. A promise of things to come, and a gesture that Skype is listening to enterprise network managers.

This all happened in public, with lots of nasty name calling and bother. But UCAT's initial choice may not have been reconsidered without all the attention drawn to the decision.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More people Skype in Chinese than in English. One of eBay's justifications for buying Skype was help entering China's consumer-to-consumer ecommerce. Now rumors: eBay will sell its Chinese operations to Skype partner Tom.com. Or to Skype rival Tencent, maker of QQ. Or eBay buying Tencent. eBay doesn't comment on rumors.

QQ broke 20 million simultaneous users in June 2006, compared to Skype's 7 million. They have 549 million accounts (vs. Skype's 130), 224 million active IM accounts. And nearly all of QQ's users read Chinese and speak at least one Chinese language. Compared to Skype's language diversity this means QQ is comparatively ubiquitous in China.

A Tencent-Skype merger could work, at least on paper. This would blend Skype's technology, QQ's userbase, and Tencent's enterprise RTX and Tencent Messenger workplace messaging. Aside from the vital soft stuff like cultural-fit, the businesses and products might match up.  Who else might rapidly build Skype's markets and capabilities? More M&A consolidation to come? What does Skype need? How would you define critical mass and market dominance in 2008?

Posted by Phil Wolff at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Mercora, presenting at Demo Fall, is showing off its IMRadio service. You download the client, build playlists and public folders, name your radio station, and start streaming. Share music among friends, "legally."  

Would you like to have these features be part of Skype? Or the network with your biggest list of buddies? Skype's brand as the leading voice-talking client could be part of a bigger meme: conversation with a shared experience. Like listening to music together, watching TV, barnraising in Second Life, reviewing an internal audit, or playing checkers. Together.

Most of the technology is in Skype now. So it's a marketing focus question. Does this build on Skype's core brand notes? Could it help US consumers try Skyping?

What other businesses are adjacent to Skype's? I keep coming back to labor markets, so more on that next week.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ian from Atlanta Skyped me with a family problem. His Dad can't use Skype at work and his sister just started school in Scotland. How can they keep in touch? Without paying a fortune?

TO DAD FROM SCOTLAND: Ian, your Dad just needs to create a Skype account. He can do it from home. He'll need to put few dollars into SkypeOut and set forwarding to a local phone number (home/office/mobile) of your choosing. After setting it up, log out from Skype. When your sister Skypes him and since he's offline, the Skype network forwards her call to him. Costs: Dad just needs to pay the SkypeOut rate. Free to her.

The steps:

1. Install Skype on your home computer.
2. Create a Skype account for your Dad.
3. Prepay SkypeOut credits on your Dad's account.
4. Set call forwarding to a local phone.
5. Turn off Skype voicemail if you have it. You want to use your existing voicemail, not Skype's.
6. Add your Sister's Skype account to your buddy list.

TO SCOTLAND FROM DAD. Sis needs a SkypeIn number which she'll buy at Skype.com as part of her Skype account. She'll buy an Atlanta phone number, something local to your Dad so he doesn't have to pay long distance bills. When your Dad calls the local number, from any ordinary phone, it rings her on Skype wherever Sis is, even in Scotland.

The steps:

1. Install Skype on your Sister's computer in Scotland.
2. Create a Skype account for your Sister. (If she's already got one, that's fine.)
3. Buy a SkypeIn number using your Sister's Skype account. Pick an Atlanta area code near where your Dad works.
4. Call the number and see if she answers her Skype.
5. Get her a headset so her dormies (flat mates?) only hear her side of the call.

If either of you are using the Firefox browser, consider the FoxClocks extension. It helps you know what time it is in other places without doing International Time Zone maths.

Hope this helps. Anything else you can think of?

Posted by Phil Wolff at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday Andy posted a reference to an article in today's San Jose Mercury News about various new "mobile lifestyle" companies that want to change the way we are using phones. But Michael Arrington has made an excellent point in stating that:

A bunch of VOIP services have launched to help people make cheaper calls from normal phones. None of them are compelling for the mass market.

The question any VC's need to ask when considering funding of any of these startups is "How do you intend to readily migrate these services into the mass market?".  This is a market that fundamentally picks up a handset, "dials" a number (or looks it up in an embedded directory to dial) and makes contact with the called party. Unless it can perform this basic simple algorithm for establishing a voice connection, additional services and features become technology showcases without hope for any mass adoption (and all the associated revenue opportunities).

Over the past three months I have had the opportunity to use the VoIPVoice UConnect when in my office and their CyberSpeaker W Skype phone when on the road. (Both use the same driver software and start with a standard telephone keypad user interface.) Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to preview what is coming out this fall in cordless phones. As mentioned previously I am evaluating some relatively new wireless devices. Over the past year I have not had to pay more than 3 cents a minute for any landline long distance calls whether at home or on the road beyond any basic service fees (and since mid-May that has gone to zero for SkypeOut calls within North America).

The combined experiences have helped me establish a base line for the level of simplicity I would expect as we see the emergence of both cordless phones and wireless mobile devices that use or access Skype (and/or other VoIP-based services) while serving as a standard telephone handset:

• Can I continue to use a legacy phone setup and services (in my case my Bell Canada line) while adding Skype access and functionality?
• How easily can I make normal phone calls when "on the road"?
• How readily can I access my Skype Contacts?
• How easily can I also add the ability to either synchronize with my Outlook Contacts or use my Outlook Contacts with Skype (via, say, Skype Outlook Toolbar and/or Skylook)?
• How easily can I employ Skype's Instant Messaging functionality? Is the IM functionality integrated with SMS services?
• How readily is the billing model understood? Does the pricing give me a favorable ROI?

Michael makes an excellent point with respect to Jajah, Rebtel, Hullo and ConnectMeAnywhere when he states:

None of these services is good enough to change user behaviors in the mass market. Having to be at your computer, or call special phone numbers, is too much trouble for most people. Certainly forcing the person receiving the call to hang up and call back isn't very attractive. And traditional POTS rates continue to fall fast, meaning the incentive to go with a hard-to-use VOIP provider is lower.

Going forward this basic telephone simplicity is a required feature set as we see the introduction this fall of Skype-enabled cordless phones, Skype applications for wireless handheld devices and the evolution of Skype USB phones. (Note that I have intentionally excluded from this discussion a new category of voice-enabled home/personal entertainment devices such as those offered by Sony (Mylo) and MediaReady; they never intended to be replacements for traditional phone handsets.)

P.S. - I see that Russell Shaw also finds the ROI is not there for a dedicated Skype WiFi phone.

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

You invite some friends to a party at your home. While at the party, they sublet your home to strangers. You learn this after the strangers are throwing their own parties in your home and moving in, eating your food, dating your wife.

Although the plot is straight out of Madhouse (1990), I'm really talking about San José State University's network managers facing the reality of Skype adoption. In this metaphor:

• the student Skypers are the friends,

• the sublease is the Skype EULA,

• the strangers are the members of the Skype network,

• and side effects are:

  • a new thing to support without any planned budget,

  • unanticipated use of your networks,

  • unknown exposure to various risks on your master list.

This gets trickier when Skype's architecture (a blend of p2p and centralized services) isn't well understood beforehand.

Don Baker and Bob Neal are resisting proven defensive instincts. Before tossing out the scoundrels and locking the doors, they're inviting comment from campus stakeholders and building expertise by bringing an eBay/Skype person to a closed briefing on Tuesday. All the public attention doesn't make it easier to take a measured approach, so these SJSU University Computing and Telecom (UCAT) execs are showing great discipline.

If you want to learn more, and share your thoughts, Steve Sloan is hosting a discussion, open to the public, on Skype in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC). We'll be Skypecasting it too. I'll see you there.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Never wonder about the power of telephone companies. A few weeks ago Wessel van der Vyfer spoke for Telecom Namibia at the Telecoms World Africa conference on "The future prospects of the African telecoms market.. new players ... the latest strategies."

This week The Namibian's Christof Maletsky reports van der Vyfer's Telecom Namibia arranged the arrest and arraignment of five people for selling unlicensed telecom service, in this case Internet phone calls. They were operating out of three storefronts in the port city of Walvis Bay.

Jan in Malaysia comments "It makes you realise how lightly Skype got off in South Korea after it was discovered it had set up shop and was providing VoIP services without the proper licence."

Namibia's six telephones per 100 people leaves them at a competitive disadvantage. Mike at TechDirt says small countries protect their tiny telco monopolies at the expense of economic prosperity. It must be hard to trade proven cash flow for theoretical growth.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

After a lunch today at the Metreon entertainment complex's food court in San Francisco, Phil and I walked into the Sony store and found the new Mylo available for purchase. Yesterday was the launch day.

While we did not have an environment for any full testing (and the WiFi access was a bit flaky) three comments:

• Phil was able to call his mobile phone from the Mylo's Skype client
• I was able to access my Skype account from the Mylo's web service
• My first impression -- this may be for Sony in this decade what the Walkman was for them in the 1980's. Web access, photos, videos, WiFi connectivity, media player -- they were all there in a device smaller than the original Walkman.

An evaluation unit is en route; we will provide a more complete report once we have had a chance to work with it for a couple of weeks.

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How do you voice enable the whole web? With Adobe Flash. My host walks me into his tiny war room at Adobe North. The tables strewn with copies of VON magazine, and Sinnreich's Internet Communications Using SIP. The white board has an architectural map on the left, laying out the technologies he'll need to build, buy or partner, and revenue models for each. On the right he's listing interconnect standards for call termination.

The goal is audacious. Outside of Microsoft, however, Adobe may be the only place on the planet with a hope of making VoIP ubiquitous. My host, an Adobe entrepreneur in residence, is building a startup to "just add voice." And video. And conferencing. You know, voice 2.0.

He assumes Adobe makes platforms for developers, not end products. So he's looking at companies like Skype and Yahoo! as potential customers, not rivals. He wants to help them build applications without worrying about the telecom plumbing.

• The MySpaces of the world should be able to call their own directory services from Flash but let Flash make the connection.

• The Salesforce.coms should be able to design a video customer service widget without worrying about the cameras or the codecs.

• Amazons could create live chat rooms for clusters of related books without invading customer privacy or setting up data centers.

These businesses add value with their social networks, their workflows, and rapport with their communities. They don't want to be in the "Skype" business, just their own. Among other things, this means Adobe doesn't need to convince every user on Earth to get an Adobe ID; people will use existing namespaces.

Adobe builds on others' value by creating baseline, ubiquitous infrastructure. Making commodity features from expensive, risky, perishable, complex systems. It's a platforming strategy. If Adobe's growing voice team (open Senior Product Manager and Computer Scientist - VoIP) can make coding for calls simple and elegant, a million flash designers and developers will add it to their toolkits. Contrast that with the hundreds actively developing for the Skype API.

Adobe is already active in the telecom industry. They license flash to mobile phone manufacturers, promoting the Flash developer channel's flash apps to carriers. Some of the most compelling mobile experiences are courtesy of Flash designers. About 70 million devices have Flash embedded.

Flash is also important to the advertising industry. 77% of banner ads are in Flash, says Adobe. If you think click-to-call advertising has a future, wait until you have click-to-talk-with-a-satisfied-customer or click-to-join-the-concert-in-progress.

If the Masked Entrepreneur can make it work and sell it to his internal stakeholders, it will be part of the next major release of Flash in 18 months or so. Adobe says the "Flash player is installed on nearly 98% of Internet-connected desktops."

That's a short window for Skype and Microsoft to respond. Skype product management has pretty much deprioritized developer requests since Summer 2005 to plug into the Skype cloud via a "Naked Skype", "headless Skype" or "Skypenet." Skype could be offering web services and server software that cleanly plugs other systems into the Skype cloud. They aren't working on it according to several sources within Skype's development team. Will Adobe's signaling wake up Skype to the industry power of being not just a social network but the leading infrastructure provider? Skype management didn't return calls by post time.

Posted by Phil Wolff at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (2)

17 ways to celebrate the joy and diversity of the Internet with Skype:

1. Skype a friend.
2. Skype a stranger.
3. Turn on SkypeMe mode for the day.
4. Add your Outlook contacts to Skype and send OneWebDay greetings.
5. Install Skype on a friend's computer. Add yourself as a buddy.
6. Install Skype at a local charity.
7. Get that webcam you put off buying and vid a friend using Skype.
8. Skype for love.
9. Skype for sex.
10. Record an oral history and post it to your blog.
11. Skype an elected official.
12. Skype a happy song.
13. Skype an apology.
14. Skype your forgiveness.
15. Skype a stranger in a place where there's news, and ask for the real story from someone living it.
16. Update your Skype profile, and tell at least one true thing about yourself.
17. Make up your own thing. And share it.

Go to a OneWebDay event. Or host one. 

This week's banner image is a collage of photos of the first One Web Day planning event in San Francisco, this past spring. The image at full size and the set of photos from which I built it. 

L'Shana Tova, y'all.

tags: onewebday, holiday, holidays, events, web, internet, skype, skypejournal, ebay inc.,

Posted by Phil Wolff at 02:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm getting back to blogging. I expect a few of my posts will turn up here on Skype Journal. For the most part that will be Phil's choice.They will also be posted on Unbound Spiral my personal blog and opinion. I first wrote about Skype there. I also wrote about many other topics, including Disruptive Innovation, Social Networking, Conversational Blogging, Identity, COMsumers, Strategy. I was less "bound" there than when blogging for SkypeJournal where I thought "product reviews", competiive activity and category directed VoIP insights were most important. Most importantly what kept me blogging Skype was the question. "What's your Skype strategy?" It's still important if you are at that stage. It's not the question to focus attention across the broader VoIP segment today. To ask my new question would be premature. Instead here's a teaser. Nice to reconnect. Let's restart the conversation. I've missed blogging. No excuse other than having had my head down and now time to start reaching out.

Is Texting (SMS) killing Chat?
Is there a future for IM as we know it? Instant Messaging? Does it remain a killer application? Or are Skype, Yahoo, Aim, MSN etc... all fatally flawed? Why do mobile operators and handset manufacturers ignore the facts. Why does my mobile remain call centric in a text centric world? I don't know the answer. I did want a provocative intro, share some observations, note some reservations and almost jump to some conclusions..... I'll start with a story about my kids.

Early this year T-Mobile USA announced a special family deal for unlimited text messaging. Then it was $9.99 (all you could eat family of four) today the same option is $19.99. Concurrently they raised individual text message charges to 10cents for both receiving and sending from 5 cents. Until that point my kids had effectively been banned from text messaging. Something that may seem strange in other countries encouraged by other cost structures. I changed my plan. My kids now have unlimted text messaging.

The outcome. In every month since, my two kids (14 and 17) have averaged 500 text messages inbound and outbound. As a family we went from maybe 30 text messages a month to over 2000 (in and out combined). I've watched this pattern now for six months. It's a static level and my kids operate now in a different paradigm.

Changing Texting Observations.

• Circle of Friends: The kids text within an inner circle. It's a relatively small group. From this group they like the interruptions or pings of a new message coming in. My son in particular will often text rather than call. They use text messaging in a real-time way. For the most part they answer and have short exchanges. Calls don't happen unless its free time or there is some quick organizing to do. Meeting where, driving etc.


• Less IM: My daughter has all but abandoned AIM. My son continues to use IM systems however, it's not the primary mode of communication. The mobile is. From what I see / observe / and they have reported they use IM significantly less now than six months ago. Most of their friends I think are similar. They too have unlimited text messaging. I'd make some observations about their phones separately.


• Locked Down. IM systems are often locked down. Privacy limits communications to buddies if a "spam" problem exists. The mobile is also locked down currently. It costs money to call or send a message.. although from their perspective messaging is now free. An important aspect and possible change here. Their mobile number is more important than their AIM handle. It's the always on connection for them. It's also privacy related.


• Presence: The current availability, away, not available etc. presence message isn't doing anything to retain users. (I'll look at that in more detail in a separate post.) Where there is already intimacy with an inner circle of friends "you know" roughly what they are up to. Need proof? Why is it that voice centric IM clients like Skype simply result in chats "can you talk now / context?" first? Simply, the presence systems aren't adding major value.

My Reservations:
Let's face it. This is pretty anecdotal evidence from my point of view. Still I'd not make the comments without thinking about what I'm seeing both in India and the US concurrently. In some areas I can hold my kids up as average, in others I know they have many opportunities not available to others. What I'd conclude is their behavior is simply what happens when they can text all they want. Until recently that "all you want" existed only on IM and I've made other observations before about how that slight asynchronous nature is a plus for them. I'd note that they can not call all they want. We have a deal with T-Mobile that allows unlimited weekend and evening calling after 9:00pm plus free calling between us. You can imagine the minutes in those free zones. We share a family 800 minutes plan. The kids know they have 200 minutes each. That's basically 10 minutes calling per day. My daughter's total time regularly approaches 1000 minutes per month (This doesn't come close to her home phone usage). My son more like 600. Most of this is with a small circle of friends.

Additional Thoughts.

• Mobile texting is cannibalizing AIM / Yahoo / MSN / Skype etc. Skype's saving grace may be it is best integrated with telephony and SMS.(Alas no SMS to Skype! and the rates!!!!!!!!). Despite lack of presence, profiles, and privacy controls, mobile texting appears to have an advantage over chat. It is simply in the palm of your hand.


• Mobile IM clients: For the most part I'm not seeing them used. There is currently little reason to go via IM when you can go via a text message. There is no cost benefit and from a useability point of view launching such clients takes time and often involves more clicks than just sending the text message. It's also hard to keep these IM clients running on the mobile. I know I use them.


• Mobile solutions are way behind in many areas. Presence, Profiles, Notifications etc. Texting remains very basic.


• IM Instant Messaging may be losing to basic utility in the palm of one's hand. Using Skype all day I'd always prefer it over my mobile. Have you ever seen a mobile that is click to text? Can you set yours that way? I haven't! That's got to be typical of mobile operators that are working their wallets rather than what customers want. It seems clear to me. Text exchanges dwarf calls and yet mobiles remain call centric devices. And yes sometimes (Eg driving with a bluetooth headset) they need to be that way. I stop them texting when they are driving me in India!!!!!!!!


• Second, texting is more unified than any chat system. For telephone numbers are simply more pervasive. No need to manage multiple systems and log-ons. Then for someone who came to texting via IM, I find the control the mobile operator has over my number scary. Similarly, email is pervasive, however the cost "zero" means that spam is the killer. Wait till that reaches your mobile.


• Lastly, till recently I thought that the IM systems were increasingly having the upper hand with where mobile communications was going. The click to talk/chat paradigm, the easy sharing of files. Nice profiles, opportunities for social networking. Even the failed "presence" systems. The belief based on when everyone gets a 3G connection then IM will rule the mobile. I'd suggest that this is a battle that is far from over.

Note: Written while sleepless at 4:00am Indian Standard Time. My fifty plus hour trip this time really messed with my sleep patterns. Something that usually I don't have a problem with.

Posted by Stuart Henshall at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Since its inception the secret sauce that results in the excellent voice quality of Skype-to-Skype calls and facilitates quality in Skype-to/from_SkypeIn/Out calls has been the Voice Engine for PC and Voice Engine for (Windows) Mobile licensed by Skype from Global  IP Sound (often referred to as "GIPS"). Monday came the announcement that Skype has licensed a second player for voice engine software in embedded, PC-free consumer devices, namely, Trinity Convergence. Trinity's VeriCall Edge^TM software  brings their many years of silicon-device independent software development into the Skype stand-alone PC-free device space.

The agreement benefits hardware manufacturers by providing a software bundle that allows them to efficiently and cost-effectively design Internet calling and the Skype user experience into devices such as wired phones, WiFi phones and multi-function personal communication devices. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) will leverage the software bundle to shorten product development cycles and accelerate their time-to-market.

The first device to employ Trinity Convergence's software will be the forthcoming Sony Mylo which should be available later this month. Additional devices under development include a Skype phone from Universal Scientific Industrial, a Taipei-based ODM (prototype in the photo) and a currently anonymous dual mode WiFi-GSM phone.

In an interview with Mark Felice, a Trinity Convergence Founder and their VP Sales and Business Development, he pointed out:

• Trinity's software development experience is solely associated with resource-limited embedded devices, requiring optimization of both processor and memory use
• Skype wants to drive the cost out of hardware to have the most efficient implementation in unique devices
• VeriCall Edge software provides not only the VoIP element but also incorporates modules to handle echo cancellation, security, packet handling, call control and network services functionality.
• The VeriCall Edge software is silicon-platform independent in that it can work with multiple processors and associated hardware configurations, assisting in their overall mission to reduce time-to-market for its ODM customers. Typical timeframes from code drop to product launch are under 90 days.

I asked Manrique Brenes, Skype's Director of Hardware Business Development, why Skype had licensed a second voice engine. His response was that Skype wants to provide their hardware partners, such as Sony and Ascalade, with options for selecting what they feel will be the best voice engine for their individual requirements. At the same time, by licensing through Skype, Skype can ensure they maintain the voice quality for which Skype has become reknown. (Ed: That is confirmed when you hear unsolicited positive comments about Skype's voice quality while wandering the VON Fall exhibit floor.)

Associated posts: Phil's reservations about Sony Mylo.

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

My take:

1. Everyone is doing the right thing. Students sharing how they are using Skype now. IT managers learning everything they can about the technology, its risks, and opportunities. Faculty and staff researching best practices and comparing notes.
2. Ubiquity matters. The size of the Skype network should earn it a hearing. Telling people to use other "VoIP" products like Wengo or Gizmo, as UCSB did, is like trying to convince everyone to speak in Esperanto to protect the network. As Skype rolls into 200 million users next year, you have a good shot at finding people on the network.
3. Skype builds campus Social Capital and Capacity. A university education, if you do it right, builds social skills you need as a student and depend on in the workplace. Skype is the live, real-time counterpart to blogs, wikis, email, and other social media. Skype is becoming the way to "get things done" with others, the tool of choice for communication, collaboration, and coordination. And with Skype's cumulative history of your contacts and conversations, the more you use Skype, the more effective you are at team building and putting your social networks to use. The choice isn't whether or not to use VoIM on campus; it's mastering how to make the most of it.
4. The rationale against doesn't hold water. You might make effective cases against Skype, but the three points in the proposed policy misapply the University's regulations and policies and misinterpret Skype's license and the way the technology really works.

Five updates to our Monday story by Steve Sloan:

SJSU to grill Skype Security on Tuesday. Bob Neal (the Sr. Director in charge of the networks at SJSU) wrote to a San Jose State University (SJSU) student (who promptly blogged it, of course):

Andrew, we will be having discussions with EBAY (Skype) next week. Network security is not a debatable issue. If EBAY can not resolve our issues, Skype will be banned. Several other universities, including UCSB have already banned Skype. There are several alternative VOIP systems that comply with the Universities security policies ........bob neal

SJSU ban modeled on the UC Santa Barbara Skype ban. Here's the "Skype Prohibited at UCSB" policy (modified 1/30/2006) via the UCSB Office of Information Technology Network Policy and Procedures page. The language from SJSU's proposed policy ("UCAT Operating Practices document describing the reasons and details for blocking Skype," pdf) is lifted directly from UCSB's policy.

Student calls for student action. Andrew Venegas blogs for students to call Bob Neal, passing out his campus email and direct phone number.

"Here is where I am stumped... if network security is not a debatable issue, why are any P2P applications allowed on the networks at all? It would be rather easy to transfer viruses from computer to computer across such open networks. So why ban Skype without debate on the topic? Secondly, why would the University not want student input? After all, aren't they technically student networks?"

Making the case for Skype as Instructional Technology. "Save Skype at SJSU : This is a letter to my colleagues at SJSU." Steve Sloan's points:

1. Skype and podcasting are both useful and popular.
2. Bringing guest speakers and faculty into the classroom.
3. International research and study.
4. Language learning.
5. Keeping foreign students connected with their families.

Sloan frames this choice in terms of the University's educational mission. "In my opinion this will result in our being at a competitive (not to mention technological) disadvantage compared to other institutions of higher learning when it comes to emerging technology, research and collaboration. This act has potential high visibility, given our campus's geography, with potential negative publicity, exposure and fallout. It can affect our relations with our neighbors and potential business partners in a very negative way."

Mainstream Media Catching the Story. Reporter Elise Ackerman of the Mercury News newspaper would like to speak with international students using Skype. Call her via Skype, via email, or by phone at (408) 271-3774.

tags: skype, skypejournal, sjsu, calstate, california, sanjose, sanjosestateuniversity, banning, enterprise, csu, security, web2.0, voip, voim, policy, stevesloan, soapboxprophet, andrewvenegas, blocking, education, distancelearning

Posted by Phil Wolff at 02:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Seems that the discussion of the merits of email and (Skype) Chat are warming up again:

• Andy highlights the delays in knowing who is really online in Skype; he also mentions he has been receiving some chat spam.
• Jaanus admits that, despite claiming Skype chat to have many advantages over email fifteen months, ago he is still a heavy user of email.
• Rachel needs Skype presence to work in real time to effectively operate her MusicIP activities. She did at least get a personal response from Skype Customer Support.

Today at 2:46 a.m. I received an email from Andy; being an occasional nighthawk I responded to it immediately as I thought he wanted me to do an interview with one of his clients later in the day.  Andy comes back (at 3:13 a.m.) with: "I just received this reply to a message from September 6th !!!!".  I looked again at the original and sure enough, the email was originally sent Sept. 6 as stated within the message. My network tells me I am not the only one to receive e-mails from Andy today (Sept. 20) that were sent Sept. 6.  I guess it's Andy's snail-based communications system working its way across North America. (SMTP: Snail Message Transport Protocol?)

Anyway, it's a great example for putting some perspective on the two nines (99%) reliability of the Internet. At least I seem to get most of my Skype chat messages within a few hours (minutes?) of their being sent.

May the debate continue!

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Posted by Jim Courtney at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Jean Mercier is our Skype Numerologist.

Skype was - in the past - proud of its viral growth. But business is business, and they try to attract people by gifts and promotions, hoping to generate more revenue through SkypeOut, SkypeIn and Skype certified products. The last two promotions in September were:

1. Free SkypeOut for France in France
2. September Giveaway for USA and Canada

For the time being this has been unsuccessful IMHO! See the graph below:

Even if MuppetMaster pretends downloads isn't a measure of the growth of Skype (and I partially agree with this), the number of downloads should have shown some acceleration if these Skype Marketing campaigns mentioned above had been successful. Indeed, a bunch of new users downloading Skype should show a change in pattern in the download curve, as it was some months ago when they launched the free SkypeOut in Canada and the USA. It doesn't: almost straight line growth since several months.

September Giveaway was targeting mainly students, and this (probably) proves again that the Skype Users are mainly adult professional users.

Skype Users seem to be also quite often small businesses. But French small business mainly have their customers in France (France is a big country), and phone calls inside France are not free but quite cheap. Belgian small business (as an example), because of the tiny size of the country, do more business abroad (in France for instance), therefore they are more interested in reducing their phone call bills.

So? Why trying to force Viral Growth? Let it grow the usual way, by improving mainly quality, reliability and services.

One of my new "Skype Customers" told me: Skype to Skype has a fantastic quality, but SkypeOut isn't that good, but it is much cheaper indeed! She phones to her family in Algeria, and lives in Belgium! Improving quality will attract more Small Businesses!

Posted by Guest Blogger at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)