Skype

9 November 2008 No Comment

Skype is software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

It was created by entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, and a team of software developers based in Tallinn, Estonia. The Skype Group has its headquarters in Luxembourg, with offices in London, Tallinn, Tartu, Stockholm, Prague, and San Jose.

Skype has experienced rapid growth in popular usage since the launch of its services. It was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion.

Features

SkypeIn

SkypeIn allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed by regular phone subscribers to a local Skype phone number; local numbers are available for Australia, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A Skype user can have local numbers in any of these countries, with calls to the number charged at the same rate as calls to fixed lines in the country. Some jurisdictions, including France and Germany, forbid the registration of their telephone numbers to anyone without a physical presence or citizenship in the country.

Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing was introduced in January 2006 for the Windows and Mac OS X platform clients. Skype 2.0 for Linux, which was released on March 13, 2008, also features support for videoconferencing. Skype for Windows, starting with version 3.6.0.216, supports “High Quality Video” with quality and features (e.g. full-screen and screen-in-screen modes) similar to that of mid-range videoconferencing systems.

Skypecasting

Skypecasting is a portmanteau of ‘Skype’ and ‘podcasting’. Its original usage referred to recording Skype voice over IP voice calls and teleconferences. The recordings would be used as podcasts, which allow audio or video content to be syndicated over the Internet.

Skype launched a “Skypecasts Beta” service in 2006 where it remained in beta until its end in September 2008. Skypecasts hosted public conference calls, up to 100 people at a time. Unlike ordinary Skype p2p conference calls, Skypecasts support moderation features suitable for panel discussions, lectures, and town hall forums. Skype operates a directory of public Skypecasts. On August 26, 2008, Skype announced that Skypecasts would be discontinued beginning September 1, 2008. 01 September 2008 at 12:00 GMT, Skypecasts were shutdown without any concrete explanation.

Platforms

Skype on mobile devices

On April 24, 2008, Skype announced that they offer Skype on around 50 mobile phones. On October 29, 2007, Skype launched its own mobile phone under the brand name 3 Skypephone, which runs a BREW OS.

Skype is available for the N800 and N810 Internet Tablets, which use the Linux Maemo environment. Skype is available on both the Sony Mylo COM-1 and newer COM-2 models.

Skype is available for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) Slim and Lite with firmware version 3.90 or higher, but the user needs to purchase one of three microphone input peripherals. The Upcoming PSP-3000 has a built in microphone which allows communication without the Skype peripheral

Skype is available on mobile devices running Windows Mobile. The official Symbian version is currently under development. Official Skype support is available on Symbian and Java as part of X-Series together with mobile operator 3.

Other companies produce dedicated Skype phones which connect via WiFi. Third party developers, such as Nimbuzz and Fring, have allowed Skype to run in parallel with several other competing VoIP/IM networks in any Symbian or Java environment. Nimbuzz has made Skype available to BlackBerry users.