eBay Skype took the important step of going to CES this year. CES is the world's largest Consumer Electronic show. It's held in Las Vegas every year at this time. It's really quite a show. Lots (miles and miles) of walking, buyers from all over the world and everything from the newest OEM manufacturer to Microsoft sharing their wares. eBay Skype signed up late and it was important that they were there. Almost every hall had some Skype related product on offer and as you will see in further posts here manufacturers are working hard to change the telephone.
| The focus of the eBay Skype booth was to announce new products and partnerships at CES. Many of the products on display were in the in the beta pre-production state. Around the show you could find the products that do the same job now. Look no further than VoIPVoice, Actiontec and RTX. Still the stand was in a main traffic area outside Starbucks. Whether the stand or the signage outside, many show goers this year were either hearing about Skype or had heard about it and will have left with Skype on their radar. This was in stark contrast to last year where it was unknown. CES is the place where you find out what will be happening for next Christmas. It's also the place where you can come and build a range of Skype related products for resale.
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The small size of the stand and the PR orientation meant products from manufacturers that have really pioneered the Skype devices category were not on the stand. Still In the glitz of CES the brand names Skype assembled for this announcement will gain some channel power and traction selling into next year. Still this did cause some grumbles from "certified suppliers" to Skype that perhaps with smaller names didn't get the same exposure.
The booth also tied Skype with the eBay label despite the booth only being about Skype. For next year I'm sure there will be a huge eBay booth. eBay should be at CES, it's both an outet for many of these product and now driving emerging forms of consumer commerce.
From Skype Press Release
New Skype Products
Creative Skype Internet PhonePLUS – a standalone phone that enables anyone to make free Skype calls over the Internet without a PC connection
D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter (DPH-50U) – a Skype phone adapter that enables the use of Skype on a traditional phone
IPEVO Fly-1 Cordless Handset and Xing Speakerphone – PC and Mac compatible IPEVO Fly-1 cordless Skype USB handset and an IPEVO Xing Skype USB speakerphone
KODAK Photo Voice – a beta version of the first Skype certified online photo sharing service, available as a free download at Kodakgallery.com/photovoice
NETGEAR – a new communications device to be unveiled at CES on Wednesday, January 4th (details below)
Panasonic – a cordless telephone product that interfaces directly with Skype, allowing users to make and receive Skype calls and traditional calls using the same device
VTech USB7100 Phone – availability of the previously announced VTech USB phone, expandable with up to four handsets and allows users to view their online contacts
Of the hardware both the Belkin and Creative products demonstrated a little design flair. We don't have specs on them and haven't tested their performance.
. Nov 7-9. San Francisco. 
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