RTX retires the Cordless USB DualPhone

Guest post by Joerg Droege. Joerg has used Skype since its first release and blog about social and communications technology on Nafcom's Crap Blog!. 

RTX denies the USB Skype DualPhone works in Vista even though it has been fixed for it.

That's right! RTX denies the USB Skype DualPhone works in Vista even though it has been fixed for it. Here are the updated FAQs which read:

"Q: Can I use USB DUALphone together with Windows Vista?
A: No, you can only use Windows XP/2000/2003-server with the product."

However quoting the release notes:

"Release notes for cordless DUALphone suite v2.22
14/12 2006
[...]
- Added support for Windows Vista.
-----
Release notes for cordless DUALphone suite v2.32
2/5 2007
[...]
- Bugfix: Vista audio device handling.
- Bugfix: Vista User Account Control (UAC) issues.
-----
02/10 2007
[...]
- Vista sound devices: Automatically show hidden devices."

This step is very unlogical and sad in my eyes. I hope it will work nicely in Wndows 7!

So I started an inquiry and here is the answer I received:

"If you have Vista, MAC, UNIX or LINUX systems on your computer it is not sure that it will work, this product is an old product, which was produced before these things came on the marked.

You can only use Windows XP/2000/2003-server with the product.

This product is no longer being tested or produced, and therefore we cannot do the support on something we have not tested."

A few notes:

Truly, it has not been certified to work with Skype 4.1 but it works (There has not changed too much things that would break the support of the DualPhone API interface.)

They also should give credit to the previous product manager Carsten Helmuth because thanks to him the Dualphone Suite was fixed for working with Windows Vista (32 bit and 64 bit) as you can see the progress documented by the release notes log PDF.

So their statement that the DualPhone has never been tested under Windows Vista is wrong. That means as soon as it doesn't work in newer Skype versions and/or Windows 7 X64, I need a new Skype USB/DECT phone.

RTX puts an end to an awesome Skype phone product, the first DualPhone that was really awesome and professional but also affordable to the Skype freaks that wanted something sophisticated.

2004 is where it started, 2009 is maybe where it will end.

[Editor: RTX is now out of the retail products business under their own name. Now they are exclusively an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM), making devices for other companies, leaving Skype product branding and retailing to others.]

See also:

• DU@Lphone - Skype Handset, Skype Journal review by Stuart Henshall, August 31, 2005.
• A Portal Telephone from RTX: value beyond voice, Skype Journal, by Torben Nyhuus, January 22, 2006
• DualPhone upgrades to Skype 2.0 features, Skype Journal, by Bill Campbell, March 10, 2006

tags: skype, rtx, rtx.dk, dualphone, phones, handsets, wireless, cablefree

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