Skype gets serious with new version
Skype now has the new Skype, version 4.0. It has just been tested here in Australia more times that can be counted. This time, Skype has done it right: concentrated on solid performance improvements that make this online phone service really sing. It has been tested from this and several nearby offices and it works like a dream
The calls may be free or dirt-cheap, but the quality is now extraordinarily high — more so in many cases than you’re likely to experience in your local landline phone.
(There is a story that you should not believe that Skype introduces artificial noise into the calls between the words so that callers know they are still connected. Or so the story goes.)
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.
Skype 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.
Originally Sykpe was clearer than normal international calls but, of late, there have been complaints of quality and automatic cut-outs and Skype introduced some really stupid trendy items. Skype was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for US$2.6 billion and some users claim the drop in quality can be dated from there.
Now, plainly, it is going a step further and has set things aright. Dan Neary, vice president and GM Asia Pacific for voice-over-IP operator (and eBay subsidiary) Skype, unveiling the new Skype for Windows, said, ‘This is not a feature upgrade. This is a big deal:the most significant launch in the five year history of the company.’
Dan Neary wasn’t able to tell us how many Australians use Skype regularly, though he did mention several times that the software has 405 million registered users worldwide, and newcomers are signing up at 380,000 a day. He claims that Skype traffic now makes up 8%.
Calls are free between Skype users. Skype the company makes most of its money through ‘SkypeOut’ calls made to and from landlines and mobiles, as well as voicemail, call forwarding and SMS messaging. A quite common situation is that this office is set up with Skype as is the one in London. It depends, at this level, to the person being at the desk when the Skypephone calls. (You can do it with headphones and mic plugged into the computer but that it considered very tacky in the business world. A proper handset plugging into the USB — and they have been around seven years — is the only way to go.)
Skype reported revenue of US$145 million, up 41%, in its recent fourth quarter.
The new version 4.0 for the first time features full-screen video calling set up with a single click. Dan Neary said around 25% of all Skype calls are video calls. When Skype started most phone companies sneered. It is unlikely they are sneering now.
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