Skype Offers New Wireless Phones Barry Levine, mobiletechtoday.com http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060721/bs_nf/44761
Skype, the voice-over-Internet company, is now directly offering mobile phones to go with its free Internet calling. The company introduced four new Skype-compatible, WiFi handsets. These are the first phones directly from Skype. The phones are being manufactured by four different companies: Belkin, Edge-Core, Netgear and SMC. They operate when in the presence of a WiFi hotspot, do not require a computer connection, and automatically synchronize with a Skype account. The phones also include several Skype features, such as enabling the user to take Skype Contacts with them and see who is available to talk. The phones are expected to be available in this quarter, and will be sold directly from Skype online. Prices range from $189 to $300. Dual-Mode Phones Some industry observers see this development as leading to a wide variety of WiFi phones. "We're going to see improvements in quality, types and ease of use for these kinds of phones," said Will Stofega, an analyst with technology research firm IDC. He said the market may offer more choices of dual-mode phones, with both WiFi/VOIP and cellular service. "There are some dual-mode phones currently," he said, "but they're expensive." It would be at least another year, he said, before more reasonably-priced dual-mode phones are available. Stofega said Skype-compatible WiFi phones, other kinds of WiFi phones and dual-mode phones might continue to co-exist with cell phones for the indefinite future. "It's rarely either-or," he said. "You might want to carry your Skype WiFi phone while you're traveling, to save money," he said, "but you might want to keep your regular cell for other times." WiFi Market Booming The WiFi phone market is booming. A recent Infonetics Research report said the market has increased by 116% between 2004 and 2005 to about $125 million. There are other Skype-compatible WiFi phones, such as one from Linksys, as well as non-compatible WiFi phones. Skype's competition in the VOIP market is heating up as well, and a tech blog, VOIPWIKI BLOG, recently reported that Skype-compatible software has been cloned. Skype offers free calling to any user in the world who is connected to a computer or a Skype WiFi phone, with an additional fee required to talk to landline phones or mobile phones. In May, Skype announced that any calls within the U.S. and Canada, to any kind of phone, would be free. Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
