Combining what was presented at the Skype press conference, vendor and ODM interviews and simply walking the show floor, it became evident that Skype has become "the" brand for VoIP phone hardware. Much like the iPod has done, Skype is rapidly developing an ecosystem of partners who are eager to trade on Skype's popularity. While several of the devices were Skype certified, many others stated they are going through the certification process. And, as evidenced in the photo montage for the second of these posts, one just simply was trading on the Skype name. What follows is a quick summary based on press releases or other collateral, if available; I expect to be reviewing many of the items individually as I receive evaluation units. (Note: click on the slide show to get the complete slide show in a larger format.)

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PC-Free Phones -- first, from the press conference press release:

• NETGEAR's Dual-Mode Cordless Phone with Skype (SPH200D) - This dualmode DECT cordless phone simultaneously connects to a user's home network router and phone line wall jack, enabling users to place and receive both traditional phone calls and Skype Internet calls from a single cordless handset without needing to be tethered to a PC.
• Philips' VoIP841 Cordless Phone - This advanced DECT cordless phone harnesses the power of Internet calling via Skype without requiring a PC. Winner of a CES Innovation Award for its outstanding design and best-in-class feature set, the VoIP841 allows users to make and receive both free Skype Internet calls and traditional landline calls simply by connecting an Ethernet cable and phone line to the phone's base.

Found on the floor: Thomson's newly announced GE DECT 6.0 Embedded Skype Residential Phone (no information link available; model no.28310EE1) which won a CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Showcase award. Auvi Technologies was displaying its PHIP65 Dual Mode Cordless phone for which certification has been sought. Auvi was also displaying a prototype phone that combined traditional "dual phone" features with an iPod dock. On the competitive front I also came across Cordless CallVantage Telephones.

Yesterday RTX officially announced its new "PC-Free" DUALphone 3088 Cordless Platform which was displayed at the RTX booth; the operative word here is "platform". While the Dualphone 3088 will be available via direct retail channels in Europe, the DUALphone 3088 platform will be sold via OEM/ODM arrangements for the North American market. From today's press release quoting RTX CEO Tage Rasmussen:

"We have secured our first OEM engagement with a Tier 1 brand for our embedded Skype platform, and we plan to enable additional major brand names with the DUALphone concept on both OEM/ODM products as well as embedded technology licensing in devices such as routers, modems, multi-function printers, etc."

Keep in mind that for all these "PC Free" phones only the voice and presence functionality of Skype are available; they may also incorporate use of the Skype Contact list, voice mail, call divert and call history features. Text chat, file transfer and access to other Skype features still require a dual mode USB phone.

In the second follow up post in this series I will talk about various Skype hardware appliances that I encountered on the show floor.

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