“For now it is no different from original Skype, but later it'll be integrated with Onet services like online dating and other premium services. The story reports their aim to become number 1 IM in Poland (now the leader is First Polish IM software - GaduGadu roughly translates to SpeakSpeak or babblebabble) with over 4M users. New beta versions from GaduGadu have been released with voice and video.

The portal difference is ability to buy smaller credits - you can pay: 1, 3,
5, 10 and 20 Euros. This is great news for testing
skypeOut service.
Now for Polish users there is more then one way to pay for SkypeOut. Using Visa or
MasterCard, direct (online - you get credits in the moment you click
'send money') money transfer from mBank and Inteligo (Polish biggest
online banks), use service similar to PayPal (1-2 days from paying to
get the credits), standard Polish money transfer (1-4 days) or even
pay in a post office (but this can take even 14 days).

Ability to buy only 1 Euro can be useful for people outside Poland -
just to test service without risking much cash.”

It would appear that the Skype services are not being marked up. After currency conversions the price for VM purchased direct from Skype or Onet is the same.

So is Onet buying at a discount and earning revenue as an added-value reseller? I suspect so. So far my only response from an inquiry to a member of Skype London staffer is, “can’t comment on that”.

Tom Online China

From TOM Online in China. They too have a new Skype Version. It is 1.3 but with something special… a new Tab . The latest 1.3 for the western world lost a Tab on the Skype UI, while China gained a Tab. Google Translations tool comes up the following description for the new tab: “TOM label, gathering splendid content”.

Translated by my contact Jirong Zhou in Shanghai, China the new Tab provides instant links to content on the TOM Portal:
Voice Magazine, News, Online Search, Free e-mail, Weather, Horoscope and Fortune ,picture download, Free music ordering, Online community, BBS ( h’mmm no access to the Skype Journal, I don’t like that!)

How long before the Onet partner has a Content Tab? When will 3rd party developers have access to the Skype Content Tab through the API? Content is king…this Tab might solve a major problem for third-party developers to be successful in generating revenue...