Software Programs for use with Skype

Vitaly Repin of Ice Brains Software (Russia) has launched Bombino, a smart variation on a Skype call forwarding plug-in. With Bombino you connect your mobile to Skype and use it to call your buddies or even create conference calls. In some countries this strategy wil work well with a prepaid mobile account. Thus it has some similarities to what Jyve and iSkoot offer. However, Vitaly goes further in integrating it with SMS. He's creatively used the SMS Gateway from Connectotel. All you have to do is SMS Bombino to launch your call or conference. This will only works with GSM phones. Bombino is available for Windows and Linux. Bombino has a 10 day trial period. After that it is 10 Euros.

Further details are described in the Bombino Manual. Comands are simple and described there. Vitaly has also built in additional security measures so no one can hijack your Bombino. Who knows, this almost looks like a service opportunity.

Skype had a few bugs of the security kind, reported them, fixed them, and you should probably download a free update from Skype.com. Via Share Skype blog earlier today. Kudos to Skype for prompt and letter perfect customer care. Here's the original post in full...

Yesterday, Skype reacted to
reports of security vulnerabilities in its product by releasing
software updates and widely circulating information about how to
resolve the problem. Skype users may download the upgrade free of
charge from Skype’s website, http://www.skype.com.

Skype’s engineering team has worked hard to ensure our products are safe and reliable. The updates were needed in order to fix two software problems, one of which can render a user vulnerable to a malicious attack if the user is duped into following web hyperlinks that are specially crafted to cause unwanted software to run.

Skype proactively discloses and rates security issues when they arise so that its customers have the latest information about its software. In addition, Skype participates as a member in the international Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global body that allows for rapid interchange of information among software vendors, government, business and network operators.

Skype uses industry-standard vulnerability notification schemes, such as the Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVE) system (http://cve.mitre.org/) and voluntarily participates in the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) (http://www.first.org/cvss/) which helps users rate the seriousness of vulnerabilities reported by a vendor.

For more info about Skype security and for all Skype Security Bulletins, see Skype security resource center.

Hi, I'm Phil Wolff, Editor of Skype Journal.

We're spread thin covering the revolution. Can you help?

We're the romantics and the cynics, the engineers and the coolhunters. And we're building a publication with a large and loyal following. (681k pages served in September, and growing rapidly since we started in March 2005).

If you can find news and make sense of it, we need you.

If you can take the complex and make it seem obvious, we need you.

If you have a vision for the impact of Skype on technology, society, and business, we need you.

Specifically...

If these beats interest you, please email me: editor at skype journal dot com. Or Skype me at evanwolf.

• Skype Developer Guides - Help us top our famous Skype Journal Guide : Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture with updates, broader coverage of the Skype API and translations
  
• Skype product updates - latest releases and what they mean
  
• Skype business ecology - updates on companies building business on or with Skype
  
• Skype for mobile platforms - embedded, smartphones, wifi and other wireless environments
  
• The Skype APIs and anything affecting code warriors
  
• Regulatory affairs - especially now that Luxembourgian Skype is becoming owned by Californian eBay.
  
• Competitor watch - telecom, IM, and others
  
• Investor concerns - explain and uncover how Skype contributes to eBay's bottom line, or not
  
• Skype developer forums - buzz watch and advocate
  
• Ebay developer forums - buzz watch and advocate
  
• Skype software how-to's and tips - help users make the most of their Skype
  
• Skype/VoIP security beat - rigor is the login, public safety the password, and the public key is ... too long for this post
  
• Skype commerce/retailing - Dig up the best tools and techniques for selling more with better conversation
  
• Ebayification of Skype and the Skypification of Ebay - follow the changes to the products and companies as they continue to grow, to influence each other, and to create new kinds of value
  
• User stories - How people use Skype in the real world
  

Other roles:

• Editorial intern - Help us write a style guide, admin comments, and stay on top of our editorial calendar
  
• Newsletter editor - Round up each week's posts for our mailing list
  
• Foreign correspondents - Translate your blog posts into English for Skype Journal and Skype Journal posts into your language. Must have three correspondents to create a sister SJ site.
  
• Art/Design/Web director - Ongoing improvement to our designs and sites

Skype Gift Certificates came out of beta testing yesterday. You can use your Skype credits to pay for someone else's Skype products.

While they make fine holiday gifts, there are a few limits in this early release. Not everyone can buy a gift certificate: you must be a Skype user, your account must be in good standing (at least with Skype's credit department), you must have been using your Skype account for three months, and you must use Euros as your Skype money setting. You don't need your giftee's permission, but they do need a Skype account. [note to self: work on the London branch of the family to get on Skype.]

When you give a gift, you get a 3% rebate. This is enough of a margin that some people and companies will probably become resellers of Skype Gift Certificates, at least for people who trust them. At least one company is experimenting with this, so a new channel of distribution for Skype may be on the way.

This release of Skype Certificates and Skype Groups is an important milestone for Skype. It paves the way for elegant and rich business and technical architectures for commerce. Edge commerce (pay a dollar for my time or my file), reputation management, currency arbitrage, dispute resolution, identity services, and market making. All with web services and APIs for developers to build Skype's commerce into their own sites, software, and gadgets.

Short term, this could wind up booking purchases of Skype products to eBay's Fourth Quarter. Since they are prepaid services, I don't know if the money received goes on the books as revenue or debt. The SkypeOut TOS says Skype will refund money if asked. Does Skype get to keep unclaimed money? Or does Skype only get to reflect the revenue when a service is consumed or a prepaid account is abandoned?

See also:

• Skype's announcement
• Bill Campbell's first take on their announcement
• Skype Gift Certificate FAQ
• Skype Gift Certificate forum
• Skype Journal articles on commerce
• Skype Journal's translation of the SkypeOut Terms Of Service

Flash your smile around the globe. This WigiWigi is the best video application I have tested. Others agree.

"It's great... cool... this is awesome, I love it", commented Adnan Topuz President of AdoSoft INC in Toronto, Canada.

"This is amazing, this is amazing, this is great stuff". Charles Power, CEO of a web dating site Friendsation

This screenshot tells part of the story. It is my fellow tester Johnny in Denmark who was helping me test today.

last week I wrote that Wigi was not ready for prime time. Wait before downloading. Wait no more.

I wrote this User Quidebook to help you get going. Download here.

This amazing program is only 400 KB in size. That is less than half the size of Dialcom's Video4IM application. 10 seconds to download; 10 seconds to install and configure. And it works with any Instant Messaging Client from AOL to Yahoo.

The fluidity of the video is just outstanding. With speed set at 100 percent move your head back and forth like a pendulum. No tearing, no pixelation. The lip sync is perfect.

Look at this resolution of ten point type!

And look at this perfect colour!

Does it get better than this? Yup. Soon Ashod will have multi-party conferencing.

Skype released a major version of their software for Windows today, Version: 1.4.0.71. Download. Big features for users:

• Call forwarding
  
• Accessibility improvements to the contact list
  
• 26 new or updated language files (Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese Brazilian, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Estonian, Japanese, Greek, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Korean, Romanian, Turkish, Arabic, Korean, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Czech)
  

Features for programmers:

• API: data channel
  
• API: write to profile
  
• API: call forwarding controls
  
• API: expressive content (ringtones, avatars)
  

The Skype change log and official news release...

28.09.2005 version 1.4.0.71

* feature: Call Forwarding
* feature: Skype Test Call Service prepopulated to Contact List for new users
* feature: 21 new emoticons
* feature: My Pictures: possibility to choose pictures from Expressive Content
* feature: RingToneManager for Expressive Content of audio files
* feature: Contact List accessible by Microsoft Active Accessibility
* feature: API: application-to-application communication
* feature: API notifications for contactlist selection and focus
* feature: API: set profile information
* feature: API: call forwarding via API
* feature: API: support expressive content files SET RINGTONE and AVATAR
* feature: API: added OPEN [PROFILE | USERINFO | CONFERENCE | SEARCH | OPTIONS | CALLHISTORY | CONTACTS | DIALPAD | SENDCONTACTS | IMPORTCONTACTS | BLOCKEDUSERS | GETTINGSTARTED | AUTHORIZATION ] commands
* feature: multilingual EULA
* feature: advanced Skype links
* feature: number of friends displayed in Profile View form
* feature: possibility to set connecting sound from Options
* feature: added dynamic messages for help and tips
* feature: possibility to select and copy profile fields
* change: new layout for Getting Started Wizard
* change: Search window redesigned
* change: Add friend window redesigned
* Change: Import Contacts redesigned
* change: quicksearch on addressbar improved
* change: improved call related error messagas
* change: 'minimize' button minimizes Skype to taskbar
* change: warning dialaog added when calling to SkypeOut using callto: links
* change: option to disable authorization message popups
* change: MSN contact importer removed from Import Contacts
* change: upgrade prompt supressed if installer is launched with SILENT or VERYSILENT option
* change: removed latin spanish language
* change: option to view online release notes after installation removed
* change: option to create a Quick Launch icon removed from installer
* change: explanatory text in Profile View if user has not been online recently
* change: month names in Profile are translatable
* change: options dialog is changed to nonmodal
* change: Send Authorization dialog is changed to nonmodal
* change: main window minimum size changed
* change: new language files - Swedish (Anders Olsson), Finnish (Heino Keränen), Danish (Mathias Schwarz), Norwegian (Stig Auestad), German (Claudius Henrichs & Dick Schiferli), Dutch (Kees Koenders), French (Fabrice Imperial), Italian (Conte Daniele), Portuguese Brazilian(Anna Nyström ), Hebrew (Ronen Ben-Naftali), Russian (Viktoria Randalainen/Tatjana Kruti), Polish (Ewa Czekalska/Karol Szastok), Spanish - (David Reche), Estonian (Eve Loopere), Japanese (Tomo Suzumaru(Livedoor)/Mayu Shimizu), Greek (Panagiotis Sidiropoulos/Magenta LTD), Chinese Traditional (Morden Chen/PChome Online), Chinese Simplified (Leon Yang/TOM Online), Korean - (Daum Communications Corp), Romanian - (Paraschiv Ion & co), Turkish (Emin Dede) Arabic, Korean (Eriksen Translations Inc), Hungarian (Mark Bender), Bulgarian (Nikolina Filipova, Nikolay Filipov) Czech (Petr Silon)
* bugfix: shortcut to desktop - dropped always, despite preferences
* bugfix: changed sound channel usage,therefore improving the stability on older operating systems
* bugfix: improved Multi Chat behaviour on multiple monitors
* bugfix: authrequests do not pop up if your status is Do Not Disturb
* bugfix: optimized loading of user-language file
* bugfix: optimizations to have faster log-in
* bugfix: improved unicode handling on win98
* bugfix: status was incorrect in chat titlebar when disconnected
* bugfix: improved URL parsing in chat
* bugfix: addressbar search updated when new contact added
* bugfix: 'start skype when windows starts' option will revert to default
* bugfix: 'Enable All Sounds' option missed one checkbox in Options dialog
* bugfix: wrong folder created to Documents and Settings when changing avatar
* bugfix: toolbar texts not visible on clean install
* bugfix: improved error handling when selected sound file is too big
* bugfix: keybaord navigation in language editor
* bugfix: Ctrl+F in chat window shows non-active main window
* bugfix: toolbar buttons were not updated on some cases
* bugfix: API: Error is returned if OPEN ADDAFRIEND command has too many parameters
* bugfix: API: Using query id messed up replies to NAME and OPEN FILETRANSFER commands
* bugfix: API: During voicemail recording SEARCH ACTIVECALLS returned call id
* bugfix: API: When offline user tried to make a call with query id, error was returned without query id
* bugfix: API: Contactlist change notifications were sent when focused contact actually did not change
* bugfix: API: Other API messages were sent before “attach success” message

SKYPE EXTENDS LEADERSHIP POSITION WITH NEW MUST-HAVE RELEASE

New Features Encourage Callers to Upgrade to Move Beyond the PC,
Be More Sociable and Express Themselves in More Ways

(Luxembourg 29 September 2005) - Skype, the Global Internet Communications pioneer which makes it possible for anyone to make free, high-quality phone calls via the Internet to anyone worldwide, today extends its leadership position as the most innovative and fastest-growing Internet communications offering with the release of the latest version of its award-winning software. This announcement is significant both for Skype's existing callers who can now upgrade to new and powerful features and also for people new to Skype who can experience an even simpler way to start making phone calls for free.

The new Skype for Windows offers callers everything one would expect from an Internet phone and more, including increased mobility options, new ways for callers to personalise Skype with original ringtones, sounds and pictures, better than ever sound quality, as well as more ways to be sociable by making it easy to find and connect to their friends, family and colleagues online.

"Skype pioneered free Internet phone calls, and even with more than 56 million people already registered, we've recently seen our growth accelerate to over 170,000 new registrations a day," said Niklas Zennström, CEO and Co-founder of Skype. "We are passionate about really understanding what motivates people want to make Internet communications a part of their everyday lives, and listening to our callers about what they want from Skype allows us to stay ahead of the game. Today, we are thrilled to be delivering on this promise by offering a new version of Skype which both new and existing callers will find adds powerful and innovative new features like call forwarding and personalisation, as well as offering our best ever sound quality on our simplest product to install and use."

Skype recently embarked on a comprehensive global survey to deepen an understanding of how Internet communications is used by people around the world and what they expect from next-generation personal communications services. According to the independent study, Skype is used once or several times a day by 76% of its callers, far surpassing the usage levels of traditional IM-based voice calling services. Callers also recognized Skype's leadership in sound quality - 72% of Skype users consider call quality to be good to excellent. Skype callers are more international, with 85% communicating with people living abroad. Skype's broad base of early adopters are eager to embrace new features, with 79% interested or very interested in receiving calls from landlines, and 73% interested or very interested in adopting call forwarding, key innovations unique to Skype.

The new Skype for Windows Version 1.4, which was first available in beta in August, incorporates two new premium services requested by Skype callers, and fortifies Skype's role as a preferred complement to ordinary cell phones and landlines. It builds on Skype's already extensive product offering which allows people to instant message, set up group chats, make conference calls, transfer files, send and receive voicemails, call and be called from a traditional phone system, and access Skype over Wi-Fi for extremely low rates.

Skype's new Call Forwarding service will allow callers to forward incoming Skype calls to another Skype Name or up to three landline or mobile numbers when they're away from Skype, at no cost to the caller. Anyone using Skype may forward their calls to another Skype Name free of charge, or forward to traditional phone numbers at low SkypeOut rates. 83% of beta testers who have tried Call Forwarding have found it easy to use.

Skype's new Personalise Skype features also allow callers to easily express themselves with original pictures, sounds and ringtones for as little as 1 euro ($1.20). This new feature opens up a new and exciting market for content providers looking to deliver great applications to Skype's global callers and is initially offered in partnership with American Greetings, Qpass and Wee World. The global ringtone market is forecast to grow to $5.2 billion in 2006, and ringtones now account for over 10% of the $32.3 billion worldwide music market (Arc Group).

The new version of Skype makes it even easier for callers to extend their social network. It's simple for callers to search Skype's Global Directory, and import personal contacts from Outlook directly into their buddy lists. With the Skype Toolbars, users can make one-click calls to numbers and Skype Names from Internet Explorer and Outlook, adding tremendous value to popular desktop applications. Advanced Skype buttons allow webmasters and bloggers to create links that instantly initiate Skype actions, such as conference calls and chats.

It takes less then 3 minutes for new callers to get started with Skype, even if they are not Internet-savvy. A friendly 'Getting Started Wizard' means it's easy to begin enjoying the cost and quality benefits of the new Skype, available immediately for download at www.skype.com.

PowerGramo records your Skype calls automatically. I used an earlier version and it was easy and convenient. (any podcasters listening?) Apparently free, for now. CORRECTION: It is trialware: US$19.50 after a seven day trial.

Deal done. Retail VOIP in the offing? Views later.

eBay has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration.

Skype generated approximately $7 million in revenues in 2004, and the company anticipates that it will generate an estimated $60 million in revenues in 2005 and more than $200 million in 2006. For Q4-05, eBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.04 respectively. For the full year 2006, eBay expects the transaction to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.04 and $0.12 respectively, with breakeven on a pro forma basis expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. On a long-term basis, eBay expects Skype operating margins could be in the range of 20% to 25%.

The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.

eBay will host an investor conference call to discuss the announcement at 5 am Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the eBay's Investor Relations website at http://investor.eBay.com. An archive of the webcast will be accessible through the same link.

Full text of news release...

On Skype.com:

eBay to Acquire Skype

London, September 12, 2005 – eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.eBay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world.

“Communications is at the heart of ecommerce and community,” said Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay. “By combining the two leading ecommerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in Internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the Net.”

Founded in 2002 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype offers high-quality voice communications to anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world. The Skype software is easy to download and install, and enables free calls between Skype users online. Skype’s premium services provide low-cost connectivity to traditional fixed and mobile telephones. Skype’s software also offers a robust set of features, including voicemail, instant messaging, call forwarding and conference calling. Upcoming product innovations include Skype video, expressive content such as avatars, and customized toolbars for Outlook and Internet Explorer.

One of the fastest growing companies on the Internet, Skype already has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories. Skype is currently adding approximately 150,000 users a day and has created a thriving ecosystem of products, services, developers, and affiliates. Skype is considered the market leader in virtually all countries in which it does business. In North America alone, Skype has more users and serves more voice minutes than any other Internet voice communications provider.

“Our vision for Skype has always been to build the world’s largest communications business and revolutionize the ease with which people can communicate through the Internet,” said Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “We can’t think of any better platform to fulfill this vision to become the voice of the Internet than with eBay and PayPal.”

“We’re great admirers of how eBay and PayPal have simplified global ecommerce and payments,” said Janus Friis, Skype co-founder and senior vice president, strategy. “Together we feel we can really change the way that people communicate, shop and do business online.”

Zennström and Friis will remain in their current positions. Zennström will report to eBay CEO Whitman and join eBay’s senior executive team.

A Powerful Ecommerce and Communications Engine

Online shopping depends on a number of factors to function well. Communications, like payments and shipping, is a critical part of this process. Skype will streamline and improve communications between buyers and sellers as it is integrated into the eBay marketplace. Buyers will gain an easy way to talk to sellers quickly and get the information they need to buy, and sellers can more easily build relationships with customers and close sales. As a result, Skype can increase the velocity of trade on eBay, especially in categories that require more involved communications such as used cars, business and industrial equipment, and high-end collectibles.

The acquisition also enables eBay and Skype to pursue entirely new lines of business. For example, in addition to eBay’s current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications opens up new categories of ecommerce, especially for those sectors that depend on a lead-generation model such as personal and business services, travel, new cars, and real estate. eBay’s other shopping websites — Shopping.com, Rent.com, Marktplaats.nl and Kijiji – can also benefit from the integration of Skype.

PayPal and Skype also make a powerful combination. For example, a PayPal wallet associated with each Skype account could make it much easier for users to pay for Skype fee-based services, adding to the number of PayPal accounts and increasing payment volume.

In addition, Skype can help expand the eBay and PayPal global footprint by providing buyers and sellers in emerging ecommerce markets, such as China, India, and Russia, with a more personal way to communicate online. And consumers in markets where eBay currently has a limited presence, such as Japan and Scandinavia, can learn about eBay and PayPal through Skype. Skype can also help streamline cross-border trading and communications.

With its rapidly expanding network of users, the Skype business complements the eBay and PayPal platforms. Each business is self-reinforcing, organically bringing greater returns with each new user or transaction. The three services can also reinforce and accelerate the growth of one another, thereby increasing the value of the combined businesses. Working together, they can create an unparalleled engine for ecommerce and communications around the world.

Transaction and Financial Information

eBay will acquire all of the outstanding shares of privately-held Skype for a total up-front consideration of approximately €2.1 billion, or approximately $2.6 billion, which is comprised of $1.3 billion in cash and the value of 32.4 million shares of eBay stock, which are subject to certain restrictions on resale.

The maximum amount potentially payable under the performance-based earn-out is approximately €1.2 billion, or approximately $1.5 billion, and would be payable in cash or eBay stock, at eBay’s discretion, with an expected payment date in 2008 or 2009. Skype shareholders were offered the choice between several consideration options for their shares. Shareholders representing approximately 40% of the Skype shares chose to receive a single payment in cash and eBay stock at the close of the transaction. Shareholders representing the remaining 60% of the Skype shares chose to receive a reduced up-front payment in cash and eBay stock at the close plus potential future earn-out payments which are based on performance-based goals for active users, gross profit and revenue.

The above-mentioned dollar and eBay share amounts are approximate, based on the Euro-Dollar exchange rate and eBay’s stock price as of September 9, 2005. The final value of the stock component of the consideration may vary significantly from this estimate based on the value of eBay stock at closing.

Skype generated approximately $7 million in revenues in 2004, and the company anticipates that it will generate an estimated $60 million in revenues in 2005 and more than $200 million in 2006. For Q4-05, eBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 and $0.04 respectively. For the full year 2006, eBay expects the transaction to be dilutive to pro forma and GAAP earnings per share by $0.04 and $0.12 respectively, with breakeven on a pro forma basis expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. On a long-term basis, eBay expects Skype operating margins could be in the range of 20% to 25%.

The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.
About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables ecommerce on a local, national and international basis with an array of websites – including the eBay Marketplace, PayPal, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com – that bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day.

About Skype Technologies SA

Skype, the Global Internet Communications Company™, allows people everywhere to make free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls via its award-winning innovative peer-to-peer software for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms. Skype is available in 27 languages and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. Since its launch in August 2003, Skype has been downloaded more than 163 million times in 225 countries and territories. Fifty-four million people are registered to use Skype’s free services, with over 3 million simultaneous users on the network at any one time. Skype Technologies SA is headquartered in Luxembourg and is growing its offices in London and Estonia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding Skype and the expected impact of the acquisition of Skype on eBay’s financial results. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the timing of the closing of the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction of the users of Skype’s services, the future growth of Skype’s user base and public acceptance of Internet voice communication services, rapid technological changes in the Internet voice communications sector, the reaction of competitors to the transaction, global developments in the regulation of Internet voice communication services including those provided by Skype, the possibility that integration of Skype’s offerings following the transaction may be more difficult than expected, and the possibility that entry by Skype and eBay into potential new lines of business will not be successful. More information about potential factors which could affect eBay’s business and financial results is included in eBay’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

The eBay announcement:

***A New Way to Communicate***

I’m excited to let you know that eBay plans to acquire Skype, the leader in online voice communications.

Skype has set a new standard in online voice communications with
outstanding sound quality and unmatched ease of use. And like eBay,
Skype has a fast-growing community -- some 54 million Skype users
around the world already use their PCs to talk with one another.

And best of all, conversations between Skype users via PC are free. You
can get up and running on Skype in just a few minutes. Just go to http://www.skype.com/go/x.home to learn more and download the free Skype software application. Try it – it’s fun!

Over time, we intend to make voice communications a part of the eBay
marketplace – a huge step forward in making transactions faster and
easier, as well as bringing even more interactivity and humanity to the
eBay Community.

You can include your Skype ID in your About Me page. For now, however,
Skype links may not appear in View Item pages. We’ll be working with
you, our Community, over the next few weeks to thoughtfully work out
the details of how eBay and Skype will interact, including any policy
changes that may be required.

We expect this acquisition to be finalized soon. In the meantime, you can learn more about our Skype plans in the news release we issued just a few minutes ago.

Working together, eBay, PayPal and Skype will redefine online trade and
community. I hope you’ll join us in this exciting new chapter in eBay’s
history.

Sincerely,

Meg

7.2 MB. Version: 1.3.0.67. Release date: September 10, 2005. No change log, so no specifics on what's changed.

"When will Skype open access to their codecs?" Doc Searls asked me at the Always On picnic. It's not clear they will. If they do, the Jerk-O-Meter is an example of the kind of application you could build. A project of the MIT Media Lab, it analyzes voices during the call, telling users how much they are paying attention. Per their project page, "The current version of the application runs in Linux on the Zaurus VOIP phone. It uses Ron Caneel's code to extract the activity and stress levels in real-time."

The Skype API doesn't expose the audio stream; you must work through the operating system to get at it. The same is true of the upcoming Skype Video.

There's money in analyzing and transforming media streams, whether for call centers (like the Jerk-O-Meter), annotation services, call/video quality boosters, semantic content detectors, translators, relay services, or simple stress/lie detectors. The Skype API should safely expose the media streams, and provide mechanisms for user authorized manipulation and substitution of that media by a friendly application.

It won't be easy, but the market value is huge.

João Brogueira writes:

On 1 June 2004, Jean Mercier posted an article on SkypeJournal making an analysis of how many users are online at a certain our within a 24 hours period. This raises the question of how to register the values without being waked up during all night.

The same Jean Mercier as per request of Bill Campbell, of SkypeJournal, shows how to make a video to register the Skype window and the number of users online.

I was surfing the Web today and I found this very interesting post claiming to have miniSkype, a small program that can not only register these values but also export them directly to a database for later analysis.

In short:

1. Jirong Zhou posted a test program on his blog, likely written by others.
2. It logs in to the Skype network, without Skype.
3. It gets data from the Skype network, like the number of people online.

Let me describe the screenshot for you...

It is a Windows XP desktop and three windows are open.

Two stacked on the left are titled "miniSkype v0.0.0.01". They each have a Log In/Out dialog panel on the left, showing "shantou001" logged in with a five character password and a "Log Out" button. To the right of the dialog panel is a text box showing a log of miniSkype's activity.

The first window's log shows:

Login
listen on random port
connecting SkypeNet ...
SkypeNet connected

The status bar shows a "1", "3", "login success", and "305271 Online".

The second window's log shows:

Login
listen on random port
connecting SkypeNet ...
SkypeNet connected
Logout
SkypeNet not connected
Login
listen on random port
connecting SkypeNet ...

and then scrolls out of sight.

The second status bar is the same as the first except that the number of people online is 3047812.

The third window is an application, what appears to be a utility from Gunagzhou's http://www.sky.net.cn/, makers of personal firewall software. It shows open applications and their network connections. One of the instances of MiniSkype.exe (running on drive E:) is shown with both a TCP connection (open on port 1389?) and a UDP connection.

Accessing the Skype Cloud Without Skype?

So does this mean...

• Skype's access to the cloud can be reverse engineered? If so, we can write applications that can write and read to the cloud from servers or clients. So if Skype doesn't write a version for your platform (let's say the PalmOS, for example) you might write your own.
• Cloud data is posted in the clear? While conversations are encrypted, it isn't clear that profile data and presence status is. And, I'm assuming that MiniSkype didn't encrypt the login process beyond common https.
• The MiniSkype client successfully logged in through Skype's own admin servers? If so, can Skype be selective about which clients have access? Should Skype publish a Terms Of Service about touching the cloud? In other words, how should Skype sanction access to the cloud?
• Having accessed the cloud, what other data from the cloud is available? Everything described in the Skype APIs? More?
• Can MiniSkype ask questions about other people, the way the Skype client can see buddy list presence and profile information?
• Is this intensely cool? Widely important? Or dangerous?

For the last few days I've been trying out Skylook an Outlook integration that works with Skype. It's an effective integration, enabling easy chat and voice calling from Outlook while adding additional features not seen with other Outlook plugins for Skype. Eg Look2Skype, and Skype's own Outlook solution.

The benefits:

Archiving:
Skylook will automatically archive your chats into Outlook. It creates a folder Skype conversations and then records each session separately. I had hoped this would then be picked up by Google desktop search, however so far I've not been able to search them. Still the archiving feature is important. The downside - there are no real archiving controls. Topics, folders by person, etc. Additional work is also required for formatting.

Recording:
Skylook enables full recording and thus archiving of all conversations again into Outlook. The recording is effective and archived as an MP3. Skylook doesn't act as an answer machine, and while it provides warning when setting it to record all calls, you cannot control this on a record by record basis.

Message Forwarding:
Having the Skype records in Outlook makes forwarding a chat conversation or call easy. Simply forward as you would any email.

Presence:
Connecting to another Skyper is simple with click to call and chat options. Current online status is visible.

This product has not been Skype certified.

Overall an effective integration that goes further than others I've seen. Also a plus - it hasn't yet crashed my Outlook. On the reservations side I didn't like the privacy and profiling information that I viewed when I downloaded it. It said too much about cookies and gathering information for me to be comfortable. So while I've tested it, I'm uncomfortable about the data it said it may be collecting. So after testing it for one more day I'm going to restore my sytem to an earlier time. It doesn't yet have my trust. It will cost you money after 14 days.

iSkoot is a call forwarding product (like Jyve) designed to work with Skype and your mobile. It launched to plenty of press, with plenty of jargon for a simple product and a website that shows some money was spent. The problem is it didn't work for me and it feels over-hyped. Maybe that is just another signal of the opportunity to ride the Skype bandwagon.

1. Details on iSkoot
   
2. Skype Certification
   
3. PR & Marketing

1. iSkoot

   iSkoot connects to the Skype API and acts as a call forwarding device. iSkoot forwards Skype and SkypeIn calls to your mobile or another phone number. It does this by putting the inbound caller on hold and then creating a conference call with your mobile number. In principle it works the same way Jyve does. For iSkoot to work you must have an active SkypeOut account. I tested it on different PC's and it failed each time. So I wrote to iSkoot. This is what I received back.

   Dear Stuart, Thank you for trying out our beta product. It looks like we have a problem when Skype Voice mail is being used. We are working on fixing this and we will have a new version out soon. Once again thanks for your feedback. Regards, The iSkoot Support Team

   iSkoot also claim you will be able to initiate a call to your Skype buddy when you are away from your PC. This will be done via sending an SMS message to Skype which will then create a conference call. It's certainly possible. It may not be that convenient we will have to wait and see. This also is not working.

2. Skype Certification:

   The iSkoot homepage says "This product uses the Skype API but is not endorsed or certified by Skype™." and the quick test showed this product is not ready for prime time. Why there is a $9.95 price suggested after 30 days is anyone's guess.

   The message for others developing small software applications for Skype should be to take a look at the current Skype Certification program. If specs appropriate to your product aren't yet there then the opportunity potentially exists to write them and set the standards. Lastly, applications that simply don't work won't get passed.

3. PR & Marketing:

   I'm facinated by the amount of press this product has received. Google news has had a number of listings and all of a sudden iSkoot is all over the place. I also know that this means none of these journalists really checked the product to insure that it worked the way it was presented. My recommendation is to get some Skype forum testers, share it within the Skype community and make sure it works before jumping the gun.

Conclusion:
If you need an application to forward your Skype calls today then use Jyve. I'm certain call forwarding will be offered by Skype in the near future. Where iSkoot has the potential to differentiate is on redirecting your inbound calls and connecting you to the buddy of choice. This could also be done with a voice activated command system although that would be more complex. Similarly Skype could choose to forward calls at SkypeOut rates to anyone with an account registered by Skype. In that instance there would be no need for you to keep your Skype client or PC running.

That may be the reason for the premature launch of iSkoot. Plus, one day I may understand why an unfinished product is pressed big time by a PR firm out into the world. It would seem that there is more money than sense behind this product.

This new whitepaper The Skype Payment API from Connectotel should wake up everyone in Skypeland.

I found it on the Skype Forum.

Summary:

The proposed design for SkypePay would allow any Skype user to make use of his/her existing SkypeOut account to pay for goods and services. At the most basic level, the process of making a payment via SkypePay can be considered as a transfer of an amount
between one Skype user’s SkypeOut account and another.

This whitepaper is an epic. If implemented, and the rumour mill says that it will be, SkypePay has profound consequences for everyone: The Skype Developer Community, for the users of the Skype Global Network and Skype. As well, it opens up a whole new developer community ─ those engaged in producing content. From home movies, games and porn.

It is a show stopper for MSN and Yahoo.

Niklas Zenström has always talked about delivering “services”. SkypePay would make this easy for everyone, not just Skype to get paid for services: consulting on any topic, teaching languages, just let your mind wander.

What an awesome way to build a community.

Here is my pick of five SkypeAPI enabled products that can really change how Skype works for you. Better call answering, new call forwarding and video solutions. Plus enhanced collaborative desktop sharing and a way to silence your iTunes.

I apologize in advance to Mac users. This really is a Windows list.

Five Software Winners:

1. Pamela-Systems Pro

This is the Swiss Army Knife for Skype. From answer machine to call recorder and automatic podcasting this solution provides a range of ways to personalize how you answer callers, what messages people get when you are away, etc. It is a great complement to an always-on Skype PC. Even for just a few of the features you can hardly quibble about the price. Cost: Euro 17.50.

2. Video4IM

Spontania's solution, still in beta, hasn't yet always provided me with an unpixelated cam image. The most important aspect is how this program makes video calling easy. You can even set it so it connects as soon as a Skype call from another Spontania user comes in. Provide the personalization functionality like Pamela has and Id have auto video calls with my favorite buddies. At the moment no one makes it easier or faster to launch a video call. Thats going to be a behavior changer. Cost: Free

3. Jyve Web Tools

Two big things. Forward calls you don't want to miss (Skype is working on this now) and the solution for making all your directory listings come to life. Yep are you online or off-line. It the world in which wikis and blogs share your presence info. More importantly, Jyve's created a standard to enabling chat messages off any website. If you have Jyve installed then you can text them on Skype directly from their blog or profile on a dating site.

4. Jybe Collaboration Tool

I know it sounds like Jyve but they are completely different. Jybe enables sharing everything quick and easily. Share word documents, PowerPoint, hey simply share MS Office online. Thats cools that brings accelerated desktop sharing to work while in chat video and voice calls on Skype. I only have one reservation at the moment. The beta version is not encrypted. Thus use your head. I am sure an encrypted version is in the works. Cost: Free.

5. MiTunes

Who can Skype and not want automated muting of their iTunes? I know some would like it in the call to. Still when a call comes in muting iTunes helps when you do not have a separate USB headset or second sound card. Its just a simple program. Not very elegant when you first boot it. Then it runs in the background. If you like iTunes, and Skype you should get it. Cost: Free.

There are other software solutions and other options. Few integrate with the SkypeAPI like these do. It's not surprising that software solutions really begin to use and extend concepts for the API. However, Skype's original purpose was to create a range of "hardware" solutions and collect a royalty. Phone, handsets and devices that would plug-into Skype. The best executions of those are the Olympia Dualphone and CyberPhoneK. While devices like the Actiontec work, they don't really harness the power of the SkypeAPI.

These are the fruits of small developer teams that lead the way to Skype's future. They are the "software" offspring from the initial Skype API products not envisaged by Skype. They've helped generate discussion, user interest and have helped define Skype changing developer direction. Downloads range from a few thousand to 100's of thousands. For some to work, both you and your buddies must have them. So share the news and use them.

Ashod's WigiWigi Video application has moved to the beta stage.

The User Interface is still a bit crude for mom to use but the one-to-one video quality and fluidity is setting the bar higher for all contenders in this market.

I will be doing more testing during the week and keep you posted. Right now it is for geeks only. But I don't think it will be that way for long.

Ever press the dial pad numbers in Skype, but not have the tones work right? I wrote a tiny program that fixes it. Free. This is what it looks like:

You can download it here.

So the next time you call to order pizza, book movie tickets, or check your bank balance, I hope you'll use KhaosDial.

For more information or to leave some feedback, please see this post on the Skype forum.

By Peter Henning, Skype Super User and Beta Tester. Bucharest, Romania

Today we got a brand new toy from Skype, it is called Skype for Outlook. It integrates into Microsoft Outlook, the email and calendaring program in Microsoft's Office Suite.

This toolbar enables you to use Skype directly from Outlook and should work on all versions of Outlook beginning from version 2000 onwards on both Windows XP and Windows 2000. Skype for Outlook is a plugin for Skype therefore Skype needs to be installed on your system for the toolbar to work. As a side note, Outlook is a different product than Outlook Express which comes free with Windows and this toolbar will NOT work with Outlook Express.

Okay, nice new toy, but do you need it?

To answer this question you need to ask yourself if you are still using mail or have you moved on? To be honest I don't really use mail for personal communication anymore, but do get a lot of business related mail from people I know, which is why I love this toolbar.

Skype Staff have recognized that even though they use email less and less, some people and workplaces are still heavily reliant on email. This toolbar comes to their help in providing ways to make communication seamless.

Installation is fast

To install Skype for Outlook toolbar, just download it, run the .exe and follow the instructions. When you restart Outlook, you be will prompted to authorize an application called SKYPEOBE to use Skype. You should authorize this as it is essential for the toolbar to work.

So, what does it do?

One of the more important things about it is that it integrates Skype presence information into Outlook. Receiving mail from a contact and seeing that his is online can lead to a much quicker response and an increase in productivity to those who rely heavily on email.

Matching Outlook contacts to Skype contacts is easy.

To be able to associate a Skype name to an outlook contact just press the Looking glass icon on the toolbar. Skype for Outlook tries to find a match from you current Skype contact based on Name and Email, it if fails you can open the combobox and select it yourself. If you don't have the Skype name of that contact in your Skype contact list you can associate by typing it in. There is also an option to search for the contacts Skype name using Skype's integrated search feature.

Skype stores the Skype name information in the contact's radio phone field so you can complete this manually too.

There isn't any way of associating multiple Skype names with one contact, however I was told that this feature is something that they are looking into for the next release.

If you have completed the task successfully, clicking on an email received from Skype contact would show his/her presence and name on the toolbar.

Now after you have set up the associations is very simple to use. You can either select what you want to do from the toolbar combobox or you can just hit the appropriate buttons to call or send instant message. You can also do this by right clicking the email and going to the Skype for Outlook option.

The toolbar recognizes Skype contacts even from the cc and to email headers, giving you the ability to instantly call and chat to people who have received the same email.

You can also edit the Skype name either by manually modifying the Radio Phone field or clicking on the 'Edit Skype name...' option in the toolbar combobox.

Something that I found very neat is that Skype for Outlook enables you to call the phone numbers of Outlook contacts even without these being added to your Skype contact list.

You can also set the default country code so if the phone number in your contacts' profile is in local format (not in international), Skype can complete the phone number when attempting to call such a contact without your intervention.

Skype names and telephone numbers are also recognized in the body of an email, making it even more convenient for you to get in touch with whoever you want.

Care to start a group chat from email messages? You can do that too. Even chat topics are automatically set to the emails subject.

Credits

Special thanks for this product goes to Peter Kalmstrom who started working on an Outlook plugin for Skype quite a while back, drawing the attention of Skype management and having been hired as a contractor to develop this product. Recently he has been hired full time at Skype to continue the development of Skype for Outlook. Mat Taylor, Skype London, who manags the API and other third party develper's efforts helped do the engineering specifications and testing. Applause to both!

Other features include:

• Record journal entries for all incoming Skype calls
• Automatically add Skype callto signatures to outgoing email messages.
• Import contacts to Skype direct from Outlook.
• Open Outlook contact automatically for incoming calls.
• 
  

Later today, Skype Journal will feature another exclusive preview of another new Skype tool.

Video4Skype is clearly a hot item. Slashdot picked up the story today. According to a spontania representative: “we had 3000 downloads just in 24hrs and our server got colapsed. Right now it is up and running so you can proceed to download it.” In my experience that makes it the hottest Skype add-on ever.

The product also received coverage on the PRZoom Newswire.

Nicolas asked me to remove his Skype User ID form the pic in my previous post because he was getting too many requests for authorizations. (Girls… he is happily married.)

I have tested with about a dozen users now. So just how good is it?

CPU utilization is very low.

It appears to be dependent on where you set “Quality”. With Quality set to mid-scale, Video4Skype used 8 KB/second upload bandwidth and my AMD XP 3000+ processor was humming along at 6 percent. At the highest “Quality” setting of max, the bandwidth was about 20 KB and CPU went to 16 percent. Several other video conferencing systems I have tested consumed 50 percent of my CPU so let’s give a big applause for the Video4Skype development team.

Colour is great.

Colour rendition is the best I have every seen, but frankly I am not the best judge of that. I am colour blind, so maybe someone else can render an opinion in this area. Or make your own call with this colour pic.

Resolution: B+.

I use a simple “Eye Chart”...

with three lines of text in Times Roman typeface. 12 point, 11 point and ten point. Buddies who test with me are asked to read it. All can read the 12 point, a few can read the 11 point. I have only found one other video conferencing system (SkypeSee and it is not on the market yet) where the 10 point type could be read. I also use a Video test pattern, 1956 vintage. Tests patterns show Video4Skype can resolve lines at 250 to 300 lives per inch. More applause.

Check Your Bandwidth.

What’s your upload bandwidth? To get the best possible enjoyment from this product start by knowing the upload bandwidth for your Internet connection (and your buddy’s). If you set the Quality to max you will be uploading at about 160 kilobits per second. This will overload anyone with a 128 kilobits per second connection. Voice quality will degrade and the picture will be pixilated (breakup). It would be nice if the developers would add some automatic bandwidth management. If you don’t know your upload speed go to pcpitstop and run the test.

So yes Video4Skype is hot. But it deserves the attention it is getting. Very well done, Spontania. Keep up the great work.

Lives in Madrid. His day job is telecom engineering. Evenings and weekends are filled with all things Skype. He programs the Skype API using VB.NET via a COM Wrapper. He is host and administrator of the Hispanic Skype User Forum.

I have worked with Ramon for a year now. Ramon is a great example of the unique nature of the Skype Ecosystem. Like Ramon, the Skype community is dedicated, selfless and supportive. Reminds me of my early days in the MAC community.

It is no easy task translating our 60 page Guidebook Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture, but Ramon did it in less than 30 days, in his spare time. Thank you Ramon.

Conociendo la arquitectura del Plug-in de Skype.

With injury, age, disease, or an accident of birth, our abilities shift from the norm. Reasonable people understand it is useful to have everyone participate in society, especially in public spaces. So we make curb cuts in sidewalks for wheelchair access. Traffic signals and elevators chirp or announce their status. We accomodate to include.

I propose Skype and the Skype developer community set a goal:

Skype accessibility for the visual and hearing impaired by Summer 2006.

Some of the challenges:

• Technical Compatibility. How well does Skype work with today's screen readers? What can we do to make it work naturally?
• Relay service. Human relay services that help the visually impaired to hear a chat (reading the chat aloud) and the hearing impaired to have voice calls transcribed in real time and video calls closed captioned in real time. Programmers: consider relay initiation.
• Captioning. When Skype introduces video calls and conferences, how will we caption video from those using sign languages?
• Controls. What features will help a blind person navigate her Skype address book, search for a Skype user, be notified of voice mail? How will this differ from computer platforms to mobile ones?
• Alerting and notification. Other tools, including many not connected to a computer, are used to notify the deaf and blind of incoming calls. How should Skype work with them?
• Other concerns. While the Skype UI is simple, it is overwhelming for some with other cognitive modes like types of attention deficit or mild autism, for others with motor disabilities, and yet for others with sensory concerns like color blindness.

There are technical and business justifications. These new features will lend themselves to other applications. The challenges will strengthen the Skype API. The accessibility will extend the market. And the programme responds to PSTN/mobile telco lobbying.

But that's not why we must do it.

We can leave no Skyper behind.

It is the right thing to do.

This post exposes "presence" and is merely an appetizer of what's to come. The following three icons are live and a page refresh "CTRL F5" will provide updates on status if you leave it open and check it from time to time. You may even catch us in a call... and all together.

We believe real-time presence updates are about to change the world. Only the really sharp eyed will notice that we added a presence status indicator to each author on the main page.

I'm in complete control of how and when I broadcast my Skype presence information. We've also added it to our internal wiki. Additional features are being added. For example I want to share "Skyping" (in a call in old language) with my colleagues however don't really want that being displayed on the blog. However this should be optional. On certain sites it may be a benefit to show that you are "skyping" and not just online. Popularity, willingness to talk etc. Layering of presence is the next step.

Watch for more information! It's coming soon! BTW even with a few colleagues sharing "in a call" / "skyping" information is an interesting experience. It's very different to being a lone blog that says "skyping". When you know your buddies and they are also on Skype at 1:00am and in a call.... it brings new perspectives.

I'm certain the benefits outweigh the initial reservations.

What I like about Skype is it's got all ages excited and imaginative minds working on new ways of doing things. At the request of a commenter I'm sharing with you that a Skype Chat RSS reader is working, and a Skype GoogleBot similarly integrated to work in Skype Chat. Using the same methods the chat channel can also be used for blog writing and many other commands. My friend Rabbit didn't stop there. I'm just waiting now for the full SkypeBot launch.

Plus these bots can be customised just like many others. Many who read this blog may also be familiar with Joi Ito's #joiito IRC channel at irc.freenode.net. JoiBot can be entertaining. On other sites round the net there are many entertaining solutions.

!GoogleBot:

Update: We'll announce and point you to a trial client shortly.

Leave a comment and let us know what bots you would like to see!

I spent time talking to Dick Schiferli of Pamela-Systems today. He's had me trying out his latest profesional version of Pamela. He's looking for a few more beta testers before it goes live. Beta testers get a free pass for thirty days to try it out. Send an e-mail to pamprobeta@pamela-systems.com

There are a number of new features in this version, and this edition may be more aptly characterised as a productivity and communications tool rather than just an answering machine. Building on the voice messaging functions they have added "call recording", email forwarding, customized messaging, and something they call pamcasting which allows recording to be uploaded to a website with a coresponding XML podcast file.

Pamela uses virtual audio cables and provides a clean recording. My interest is primarily in the quality I can achieve for SkypeCasts and the ease of use. Pamela provides warnings to other Skypers by both a "tone" and text message letting you know you are now being recorded. Experience so far suggest that good mics and as always good broadband connections are necessary to minimize noise,

Other features that are built in. You can now customize you messages and aswers for different parties. Thus German, Spanish and English messages may be activated. Greeting can be customized for each individual then depending on language and location. It could take some time to personalize a few hundred buddies.

Pamela also enables you to e-mail automatically or automatically upload them to any website you have available. If travelling either solution could be helpful. While it doesn't match the ease of Skype's voice mail solution it does demonstrate plenty of additional functionality to work out. You may even have to read the promised manual.

Problems I found with some quick tests.

• When recording a conference call hosted by someone else not everyone gets a you are being recorded text message. Similarly they can't hear the warning beep.
  
• When in a three way call and one person drops off it terminates the recording, rather than the last person to hang-up terminating the call.
  
• I had trouble launching a Pamela recording session on some occassions. Similarly stopping a recording and then starting again in the same call wasn't always possible.
  
• I had some problems when switching from one headset type to another. Pamela didn't always reset my audio setting to a workable combination and thus a manual reset was required.

There's still some UI issues. The options are complex. It takes some time to work through. If you want to make some podcasts trying the beta. It still needs some work. Tell us what you think.

From the Skype DevZone:

We at Skype, are very excited to present our first public competition. It's a competition for developers (that's software developers, not property developers). We would like you invite you to enter.

We're giving away 5000 Euros of cash prizes and in return we'd like you to use our API to develop applications that show-off the potential of Skype, and make it even easier and better to use in the future.

You can put forward as many entries as you like. All we ask is that you're happy for us to make them available to download for free from skype.com and that you get them to us before the deadline for entries on July 1st 2005.

After you work your way through the Details, tell Skype Journal about your project. If you're blogging it, send us a link. For some insights, be sure to read the free Skype Journal's "Learning Skype's Plug-In Architecture" guide.

Andrew Ferguson is a disturbed young man. Brilliant, but disturbed. Funny and innovative. But disturbed.

You know the email spam you get that says, please call this bloke in Africa to send him money to (fill in the appeal here) in the wake of (insert natural or national disaster)? Well Andrew decided to call. Using SkypeOut. Interminably. At odd hours. Tying up the con-man's phone line.

Aside from the dark pleasure of petty revenge, what's going on here?

Skype's design favors offensive tactics

First, there's an imbalance in our cost of calling. As a Westerner, he can afford 10 Euros for 10 hours of calls. If he buys more, the rate falls even further. As a percent of disposable income, this is small potatoes to Andrew.

Second, there's an asymmetry in the opportunity cost of tying up the spammer's phone line. Others aren't getting through to the spammer, so every hour the line is tied up is a sucker missed and money foregone.

Third, Skype calls can be automated. So you can program a thorough barrage of short calls scattered throughout the day. And night. This optimizes your use of your SkypeOut minutes since there is not per-call charge, just a charge for the time. It also exploits the spammer's need to answer each time the phone rings or never talk to another sucker. So every call both increases the effort needed to capture a sucker, since for each sucker there are dozens or hundreds or thousands of fake calls. With little effort (one programmer coded this in 20 minutes) you can make it pointless for a spammer to keep a given number.

Take this a step further: decentralize. Create a spam filter that looks for, say, new Nigerian phone numbers in your email spam bin. Automatically grab them, and post to a listserve, sharing targets. Then have your Skype run the attacks against multiple targets, randomly selected by you and others. This decentralizes the work, aggregates your SkypeOut minutes, buying power, and exposure (if someone tries to find out who you are) among many Skypers. Putting the Power of Many to use.

This is a hoot.

Until the number being attacked is a fire department, or a hospital, or your home. Or air traffic control, or a credit card processing center. Or your mobile phone, where you have to pay high rates for every call, even one lasting just a few seconds.

What can you do about a telephonic denial of service attack?

Other than changing your number?

Maybe we can adapt defenses against flooding attacks in other media, like email and DNS. Maybe not; much of the information used on the Internet isn't available with POTS.

Can you detect an attack building up?

How about a distributed DOS attack?

Who would you call for help?

After the fact, which laws would apply? When would Skype cooperate with law enforcement or civil litigators to provide SkypeOut logs connecting calls to SkypeOut user accounts? Would Skype provide billing data?

And could we blame it on Andrew? Or his Doctor from Nigeria?

Skype Journal presents this guide to help developers learn Skype's Plug-in Architecture. (Download it in English, Italian, Japanese, Russian, or Spanish.) This guide steps you through the concepts. Your DIY project: build your own Skype answering machine. Along the way, you'll:

• Build tomorow's communications platform
• Customize & personalize Skype
• Create powerful applications
• Understand and work with the Skype API

Thanks. This book is our first community project to help develop and support the Skype developer community. It brought together a great group of Skype developers and users committed to creating new communications solutions. Many are active in the Skype Forums.

A special thanks to the Skype team for making this book available from the Skype developers' web site.

On this page:

• Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture
• Supporting Code and Documentation

Skype Journal Guide 1 Download

Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture
Title	Edition	Language	Status
Learning Skype’s Plug-In Architecture	1.0	English
Guida alle API di Skype: Imparare l’Architettura delle Estensioni di Skype	1.0	Italian
API を使えばSkype により 便利な機能を拡張できます	1.0	Japanese
Руководство Skype API: Знакомство с модульной архитектурой Skype Plug-In Architecture	1.0	Russian
Conociendo la arquitectura del Plug-in de Skype	1.0	Spanish

Supporting Materials:

Code from the Guide:

• Code Bundle includes:
• Answer Machine Source
• Answer Machine Executable
• VB.Net Executable
• C # (C-Sharp) Source and Executable
• JSkype Java Executable and Source
• PHP Source and Executable
• C++ Source and Executable
• IM.exe

Other materials:

• Skype API Documentation (.pdf) from Skype.com
• Skype Tracer (.zip): (Reference)
• Skype Com API Wrapper
• Chat.zip
• SkypeX

Peter Kalmstrom has been developing plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook for a long time. Now he too has created a solution to integrate Skype into your contact list.

The next big thing in the IT world is telephony and voice. There will be a lot of interesting developments in this area in the years to come. One of those developments is already here: Skype. It is a peer-to-peer network based IP Telephony application. I like it a lot and decided to build an Outlook add-in for it. Outlook Skype

Can a Mac user confirm this works and the quality of the program?

Toggle Sound Output 0.2b
Freeware | 3.28.05 | Script #2123
Author: Johan van Oostrum | Developer's Web Site
Release Notes:

This script toggles between two sound outputs. e.g. the standard speakers and a headset.

It is a simple script that comes handy if you use a headset for a VOIP service like Skype. For use with languages other than Dutch or English you have to slightly modify the script.
Macscripter

The hot product of the week award goes to HotRecorder. With the capability to not only answer Skype Calls but record them as well. This is the first "free product" to enable one click SkypeCasting. I tested it today as both an answerphone and Skype Call recorder. It worked very effectively in both modes. It also enables you to insert "emotisounds" into any conversation whether you are recording or not.

A shortened description:

HotRecorder™ allows users to record and add sound effects (Emotisounds™) on voice communications held over the internet. It also includes voice mail for Skype™!

The creation of HotRecorder™ responds to the growing demand of users throughout the world, for a tool that will allow them to record, play, save, send and search their voice communications, plus many other options. HotRecorder

Observations:

Free Version: I used the free version and immediately hated the "advertising". If you want to record or use it frequently you will happily pay the $14.95.

The interface is very clean and professional. It's easy to work through the various functions.

It was very easy to setup an e-mail forwarding function. So when a Skype call is received it is saved and then automatically forwarded to an e-mail address of my choice. (see note below)

After recording my first Skype Call it was easy to name the file and save details of the call. It then allowed me to send it to my test partner. I entered their e-mail and it was sent immediately by Outlook (not yet working with Outlook Express) along with a message to get HotRecorder.

Note: You can only play the recorded files on a HotRecorder. This is a very slick viral strategy. It also immediately frustrated me. For while I can e-mail voice messages received... sending them to my phone won't work. It's not a format I can play there. Similarly I'm not sure how I'd edit them into a podcast.

Using it with Skype:
Now it's very cool that HotRecorder has captured windows audio so effectively. I can't yet vouch for what it does if you are in one call and get another while you are recording one as a podcast. You can disable the voice mail recorder however I think you will get the "ringing" of the inbound line in your podcast. The only way to fix that currently would be to put a silent ringer in your wave file.

HotRecorder doesn't dock with the SkypeAPI in anyway. Consequently any calls it answers for Skype are just listed as "Conversation with VoiceMail" with the date and time. This contrasts with the efforts of SAM and Pamela which captures who left a message and make it a simple one click to answer back.

Similarly HotRecorder provides no warning to other Skypers that they are now being recorded. If HotRecorder was integrated with the SkypeAPI then whenever the "recording" button was hit it could send a text message to the other caller. Similarly it could text that recording was stopped or paused. I really hope they come and ask us some questions. It would be a shame not to integrate it in this way. It's an obvious upgrade and would provide some significant new product features and benefits.

I've not looked too closely at the "recording" file format. The desire to have the capability to manipulate the file for podcasts means this format needs a converter. Who can provide it by Monday? Then again, If podcasters are comfortable recording and distributing in this format there will soon be a lot of HotRecorders out there.

Similarly there are some different quality setting. Which I've not experimented with yet. HotRecorder won't enable you to record iTunes and the Skype Call at the same time.

See also ZDNet

Scanning the blogosphere I found Chris at at Insanely Great Apps who had blogged he had a MAC solution for SkypeCasting, that's a podcast recorder for Mac users in Skype calls. I left him a note below and he came back with a detailed "How to:".

My comment:
I'm not a Mac user, however there are many Mac users that would like a great solution for recording Skype calls. Any chance you can point me to more resources, or perhaps you'd like to write it, and share it via the Skype Journal? Do you hear yourself speaking when using your recording setup? I presume both parties are recorded. I'm still fighting to get a simple Windows solution. In the end people just want a record button.

I can't test his solution. If you can.. try it out and let us know how you get on. NiceCast cost $40 Thanks.

Alex Rosenbaum released details of release 1.0 SAM Skype Answering Machine for Windows. This is a major product rework, with a new audio solution that makes SAM compatible with all sound cards and USB headsets and phone devices. That's for those of you that want to use it as an Answering Machine. Alex took my hint and this version looks ready for trying it for podcast recording. Read below.

Sam was initially launched and blogged by me last December. It was one of the first SkypeAPI products made available. SAM still provides all the features and more than it provided then. It's now also got a competitor in Skype's own voice messaging system. Alex has worked hard to differentiate SAM from Skype and Pamela (a similar product more restricted). It's free so it costs you nothing to try it out.

New features that caught my attention.

User configurable voice message recording duration anywhere between 0 and 10 hours!!

Option for a separate set of configurations for non-buddy callers

Mute control of speakers while incoming call is answered

NEW: User can "Force Answering of Call" by SAM while incoming call is ringing

NEW: User can "Take Control over Call" from SAM while voice greeting is played or during recording the callers voice message Note:

This feature is inconceivable in Skype's VM architecture !!!

Play all New Message' with the hit of one button when you return to computer

Run multiple instance of SAM under different Windows users

You can use this upgraded answer machine as a simple podcast recorder by calling it while in a conference call. Now what's also emerging is a useful feature for sending text messages only while in a Skype call. It's a format I've used Pamela in and not possible with SAM. Pamela doesn't answer the voice call merely sends a Text message. It's useful if you are in a lot of calls, to provide notification to the other party.

Otherwise for voice mail I'm hooked on SkypeVM. While there are still some things that it won't do, I do enjoy being able to send a Voice Message without interrupting the other person. I can also get it anywhere, no problems if offline etc. This means that the "recorders" and answer machines need to be much more sophisticated or special purposed to be "worth" any money. There is demand for podcast recorders, and journalists want Skype ready devices etc. Alex looks to be headed in the right direction.

Notes:
The new features can record for up to ten hours and even run on multiple instances (see link above). I expect with the new sound setup which uses the same Virtual Audio Cables specified in SkypeCasting will provide a very clean sound recording. I ran a quick test with "echo123" myself and SAM on another profile. I will have to do more testing to really "prove" the concept.

SAM also hit the blog wires for crossing two calls while in beta. The adoption of the virtual cables approach means Alex has addressed and corrected that "bug" or "feature" depending on how you liked it. If you are running the earlier version then you should upgrade.

You can take Skype cordless with a new SkypeHeadset plug-in. Released this week SkypeHeadset is a software program created by Kamal Munir & Stuart John that automates Skype answering and hanging up for bluetooth headsets. I've been testing it for a number of weeks and like the simple extra functionality it provides. I now use my bluetooth headset with my laptop just like I do with my mobile. I've got pairing down to a fine art and can now switch between devices easily. I liked the instructions which are clear and some of the best documentation yet released for a Skype enable API product.

What are the requirements for adding a bluetooth headset to your Skype experience? Naturally you need Skype for Windows, Bluetooth installed in your PC with Widcomm Drivers (see list) and a compatible Bluetooth headset.

I'm running SkypeHeadset with my Motorola HS-810, a Belkin Dongle on my IBM T-40 Thinkpad. If you look around I'm sure you can get an appropriate dongle and BTheadset for under $100. SkypeHeadsets provides a list of compatible headsets that have been tested. If you already own a bluetooth headset then adding a dongle and SkypeHeadset to your PC is a relatively low cost improvement that could really change your Skyping. SkypeHeadset costs UK 5 pounds about $8.00.

The best things about Skype Headset.

I've lost my wires! I also never travel anymore with a clumsy large corded headset in my back, instead I've added another small charger. When will I be able to charge my headset via a USB cable like my iPod? I can even make coffee while on Skype now. I've had no complaints on audio quality (which has nothing to do with Skypeheadset).

When I connect my bluetooth headset it automatically changes Skype audio headset setting to point to the bluetooth headset. When I close the bluetooth headset and turn it off, SkypeHeadset returns Skype the previous audio settings. So if I close my headset and leave the PC, the screensaver comes up and my USB CyberphoneK (more on that later) automatically is ready for use.

There is a great little indicator that sits in the Windows system tray. This is useful to see connection status. I'm yet to find that bluetooth connections are flawless, and once in a while mine doesn't connect and thus the audio sound is horrible on the other end. This has nothing to do with Skypeheadset which is mere a "switching" tool.

Note on the equipment side it pays to get a "powerfu" BT dongle, some claim 10 meters and some 100 meters. I'd pay a bit more for the hundred meters. However even if the dongle works at that distance your headset may be like mine. It's only good for 10 meters and sound quality noticeably deteriorates after 7 meters. That's enough for the office although it doesn't take me to my mailbox and a cordless phone would.

There's a couple of things Skypeheadset doesn't yet do. It can't automatically change the ringer to the bluetooth headset and then back, (thus the PC remains the ringer unless set manually) this reflect the current state of the Skype API and I'm sure will be provided as an auto upgrade in a future version.

Kamal has upgrades in the works. It is a natural to expect "voice" dialing. I've got it in my Nokia - call "Bill Campbell Skype" and it dials his SkypeIn line. I'm sure an API app could be built to replicate this functionality. At the same time "voice" dialing is like voice mail. It would make more sense for Skype to build it in and then along with the contact list (now centralised) capture my voice dialing instructions. Similarly, we can expect that notifications will come in future editions. Receive an inbound call and SkypeHeadset will vocalise the name of who's calling. Up to you whether you answer it or not. No longer necessary then to check the screen. Similarly it could screen for buddy calls only. I also see opportunities for bluetooth speaker phones (more later) where you can provide an "audio" command to answer and take the call.

In the end this is a simple app. It has potential to grow into something much more. If you are an early adopter, use Skype in a collaborative fashion, text and voice, perhaps some screen sharing, or travel a lot with a Window's laptop then try it out. It adds something to the experience. You will also be "very cool" in the local Starbucks.

You can of course use a bluetooth headset with your laptop without SkypeHeadset. This program just provides a little automation. I'm sure Kamal will welcome your feedback should you try it.

MiTunes (beta) is a SkypeAPI plug-in I've really been looking for. If you love iTunes and Skype then try it out. Simply it auto pauses and auto-resumes iTunes whenever you are on Skype. The program was created by Hans Blaaw who is creating a range of API enabled solutions at Skypeteer which include SMS solutions IE support. They are all in an early stage of development.

I installed MiTunes (requires Windows PC's and latest version of iTunes)and it docked with through API without any problems. It worked flawlessly until I received a second call while in a call which went to VM. It then assumed I had hung up and restarted itunes, so I was listening to both itunes and caller one. So that's a bug that still needs some work.

Get the download.

Skype Forum
Skypeteer Requires you register with the site. This makes it a little difficult to get access to the program. Register, wait for email etc.

Note:
WinAmp: Skype has a function built in "auto-pause" WinAmp. (Files/options/advanced) which stops WinAmp and fails to resume after the call. Perhaps a left over from the days before the API.

Windows Media Player: See MuteForSkype , Forum and Skype Journal

A potential cautionary flag. I've watched many announcements fly out on Skype to SMS. I've seen Skype Technologies quoted as if it is their program. It's not as far as I know. A few weeks ago I blogged that Connectotel had launched an SMS to Skype service using an SMS gateway. We tried it out and were impressed. Now they are testing Skype to SMS services. I think this is exciting. I would add one cautionary note. Connectotel is the gateway between Skype and the GSM gateway which means there is a "security point" risk. You should be aware that your message is not encrypted end to end.

Skype to SMS is available as a Beta test service for all users of Skype who have been authorized by Connectotel. For information about authorization please see the FAQ here: http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html

There is no charge for the SMS messages sent, for the duration of the Beta test. The ‘SMS to Skype’ Beta test service is available free of charge to all users of Skype.

Connectotel is examining the possibility of providing other gateway services, including, for example, links to and from e-mail, fax and outside data feeds, based on similar technology.

Connectotel

Skype Forums

Update the Beta test has now concluded. See this link for a detailed overview and FAQ.

A few weeks ago I blogged that Connectotel had launched an SMS to Skype service using an SMS gateway. We tried it out and were impressed. Now they are testing Skype to SMS services. We would add one cautionary note. Connectotel is the gateway between Skype and the GSM gateway which means there is a "security point" risk. You should be aware that your message is not encrypted end to end.

‘Skype to SMS’ is available as a Beta test service for all users of Skype who have been authorized by Connectotel. For information about authorization please see the FAQ here:
http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html

There is no charge for the SMS messages sent, for the duration of the Beta test. The ‘SMS to Skype’ Beta test service is available free of charge to all users of Skype.

Connectotel is examining the possibility of providing other gateway services, including, for example, links to and from e-mail, fax and outside data feeds, based on similar technology.

Connectotel

Skype Forums

A new program by Twilight Utilities tries too hard to break new ground and comes up short. The intension is to use your modem to foward a Skype call to anyone. It provides buddy redirect options, so some get voice mail and other get forwarded through your modem connection to your cell or landline whereever you are. Potentially it's a Skype to phone and phone to Skype gateway.

Some things we learned in our brief test.

First our laptop didn't have the right type of modem. However SkypeForwarder did install and then connected to the Skype API. Like Pamela-Systems answer phone it uses the VAC (Virtual Audio Cables) (Is there a theme here? Bill Campbell was the first to use these with Skype, later we worked out SkypeCasting and now a second product is using them.) After the install I recorded a playback message and then left it to answer an inbound call. I couldn't use the forwarding option for lack of an appropriate modem. Unfortunately on any setting it failed to answer inbound Skype Calls.

Overall the product feels very rough, lacks elegant simplicity and useablity. If someone tests it and has success I'd like to hear about it. From my perspective the team at TU have obviously been listening. They are thinking about Buddies and Groups. Who should be forwarded etc. There's work to do and some bugs to fix. Still this is the most ambitious program yet. This is a screen shot. At the answerphone end the market is starting to get more crowded.

Twilight Utilities

For those on the breaking edge of change with a full traditional modem and perhaps two sound cards in your PC and a lot of time on your hands it may be worth testing. For the rest of the world this one is not ready for prime time yet.

See also this thread from the Skype forums.

I'd like to setup an skype PBX gateway in my house. My idea is to be able to place local PSTN calls accessing the PBX at my home only using Skype when I'm anywhere in the world. Skype Forums

Skype for Windows currently has a setting File/Options/Advanced/Auto-Pause WinAmp which stops WinAmp when a new call is received. Unfortunately after the Skype call WinAmp doesn't resume playing. This beta program MuteForSkype adds music handling capability to Skype for Windows Media Player, WinAmp and Sonique. If you like your music and Skype this may be the plug-in for you.

When the phone call starts your music player is paused and on hanging up the music playing resumes. It requires Windows and .NET 1.1.

I installed this on my T-40 Laptop with XP. You will need to restart for the app to doc with Skype. It then requests the SkypeAPI connection. I can confirm it works. Personally I can't wait to match this one with a bluetooth stereo headset and headset answering.

BlogLink
Skype Forum link
Download (development documentation and plugin)

A new company Pamela-Systems announced today their entry into the increasingly crowded answer machines for Skype Market. (See also SAM and TeleCorder) We'll be doing a comparison shortly. If you try Pamela be sure to leave your comments. Pamela works on Window 2000 and XP. The Basic version is free and a Standard version priced at Euro 13.95 is promised for March.

Download Link
Skype Forum Link

Yet another tool from S3even for Skype. This one is a beta Skype Backup Tool program similar to the recently announced SkypeTools that enables you to backup your Skype Contacts and Account details.

Forum Link: Mes cr�ations - s3ven - freewares

*Current version of Skype doesn't allow users to backup/restore their infos (contacts, history,..).
*Current Skype version doesn't keep your contacts when you log on another computer or do a fresh installation.

It's for these reasons that i developped Skype Backup Tool. It'll allow you to:
- Backup/Restore skype infos to and from disk, network and removable media.
- Backup/Restore to and from a FTP server
Skype Backup Tool

Not Tested. Please comment on your test / usage results.

Integrate Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail with Skype. This 0.1 beta program from S3even enable you to call your Skype buddies straight from your contact list. Link the Skype Forum he reports he is developing for Linux as well.

Download

For those using Meedio a program for digital lifestyle enhancement there is now a new Skype Plug-in you may want to try. We've not tested it. Any comments?

SkypeMee is a plugin to allow Meedio to integrate with Skype (www.skype.com). Skype allows great quality free P2P voice calls over IP (VoIP) and paid for calls to any other telephone number - all from your Meedio system
Meedio

It's a common question and panic moment. How do I backup my Skype Contacts and Files. Jeremy Wagstaff is thankful they returned, Ryan Farley tried to program his own Skype API solution, and Scott Hanselman makes it clear he wants two things. First he wants his Skype identity to be like his e-mail identity, and two he wants to backup his contacts.

We can expect both of these to be premium features in the future. A universal contact list is one of the most requested features / improvements in the Skype forums. While the @yourname.com has been impossible from the start. It make sense for domain operators to add it as a value-added service, or enterprises to use it. It provides an element of reputation.

Today I found a link to SkypeTools in the Skype Forum. It's hosted down in the Spanish forum. This little beta program enables you to export and restore your Skype. I was more intrigued by this. Like the Skype ComAPI Wrapper some capabilities are emerging. SkypeTools illustrates how a similar program could be used for directory updates and enterprise reporting.

Before you start cheering, SkypeTools will not eliminate the pain of going from PC to PC. Still I uploaded it, and after changing it to English (Configuration) pressed the "make a user profile" backup and saved it to my USB memory stick. I then went to my other PC, logged into Skype and applied Restore User Profile. It didn't work for me. Not sure what the reason was. Anyone else tested? Please comment.

SkypeTools. It adds some new features not included (so far) in Skype like user profiles backups, export contact and call lists... and much more very soon.

This is still a beta version so some problems might appear so we kindly ask you to report us about them. Suggestions, critics and so on are welcome. Some forums have been set up at Skype in Spanish web at http://www.skype-es.com/modules.php?name=Forums or http://www.skype-es.com/skypetools/index.en.html.

The only requirement for SkypeTools is .Net Framwork from Microsoft. You will be able to download it from this link. Skype Forum

Oh and there is a way to copy and backup those files without installing a beta program like SkypeTools. The answer is in this post.

If you have been wanting to integrate Skype into your Outlook contacts this may be the program. Look2Skype is an Outlook add-in that allows you to may Skype Calls and initiate Chat sessions from within Outlook. It is free for Personal and Home use.

Download Link
Skype Forum Link

I've been experimenting with different Skype Answer Phones. I wrote some specs over a year ago. And the simple answer is a well developed application will be a game changer… The general wisdom is you won’t leave your computer working to handle your telephony needs. An early look at SAM a Skype Answer Machine makes traditional solutions seem old fashioned. This is the second Skype API enabled application that I've reported on.

Think about your current phone answer machine. When you come home, you step through the door and hear it beeping away with new messages. You press the playback button… visually you can see how many messages were left but you can’t choose the order. You begin listening. The first caller leaves a message no number.. the second a message with a number…. You search madly for a pen that works and any scrap of paper… the next message is already playing…. Before you know it have to listen to them all again carefully trying to write down numbers and names.

Now what if you had:

A solution that not only captured voice messages, it also enables one click return dialing.

Notifies each caller with a text message (can be customized) that they reached your answer machine so they can leave a note too.

Records the sent text notification and thus retains presence information (online, away etc. for someone who may not be on your buddylist) thus informing you of likely callback success or for making a short text answer for the message easy if all it needs is a one liner.

Can select the playback in any order you wish, getting faster to messages that you think are urgent or interesting..

Has all the other usual features.

SAM created by Alex Rosenbaum is still in beta. I had no problems with the install. I know he is still refining it for sound card compatibility. SAM requires the latest version of Skype so download it first. It's only available in PC format, sorry Mac fans.

What else may be engineered into this answer phone over time?

Smart Rings dependent on the type of call or contact category.

Voice Mail retrieval from another PC using the dialpad.

Managed Screening. Answer all incoming calls not on my buddylist or on my whitelist with a specific details request message and different text message.

Develop for use as a call recorder.

Use access to Presence information in new ways to be controlled by the user.

Bridge Skype to other telephony applications. Eg call forwarding.

If you like Skype then try it out. It's really not a machine, it's a first step in a set of applications that will help change the way we see desktops. Now if I could just integrate my desktop so it works seemlessly with my mobile phone.

So what makes the first Skype application from Qzoxy and Jyve so very interesting? It's a smart VCard and here is a picture and of the working prototype today, a mere illustration of what will exist a year from now. If you are operating a call center, a social networking site, dating site, 900 business etc. think it through. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT USES YOU SEE EMERGING?

Marc Canter of FOAF fame? Then to quote David Weinberger "It'd integrate with other applications on your phone device. It'd know who's calling from where and spin up a web page to show you the relevant information. It'd link to everything the Net knows.". Is this part of what you want David?

You too can add it for free at Jyve. Click on the Jyve-Tags button. You will need a Jyve profile to participate. A simplified form is likely to be in the works. There is no charge. Jyve won't be alone offering Q-Cards, others will come to offer the Qzoxy Q-Card. Where I think an interesting immediate experiment could be made would be to provide the Q-Card with TypePad accounts substituting for the current e-mail link.

A couple of things worth pointing out. You don't need to have Skype to send in a call request. Thus even POTS only can request a Skype call back which at your option can be executed at SkypeOut rates. In time I'm sure this VCard no Q-Card will evolve to tell you the best way to get me at any moment and how long you have to wait. Q - Que. That's more useful than Plaxo (I don't use it) which merely updates phone numbers. Then there are a lot of paying businesses that work around the "click to connect". There is a lot of opportunity here.

The Skype API has been noted by Tom Keating and Andy Abramson of course. Still if you go back to the Skype API announcement page you will see that they missed the real story as "presence" isn't mentioned. Frankly I think it is the biggest story of all and they clearly need to get a team working on it. There's some additional client features that the developers and us users will require. The picture above should be worth way more than a thousand directory services! The fun is only just beginning.

Would you like to put Skype on your web page, perhaps send out e-mails with Skype presence, create a workgroup or forum where presence information can be shared between people who are not on your buddy list. Well now you can. Qzoxy is the first company to announce a Skype API solution. Qzoxy has announced a toolkit which will enable the rapid integration of Skype functionality including presence and text messaging capabilities.

Qzoxy has done something many thought impossible at Skype's launch. For Skype is a P2P system with a limited central server that logs Skypers into the cloud. As a result Skype has no centralized way to serve up presence information and it's directory service is poor. And that is what makes the Qzoxy solution so exciting. It is where the Skype API is already breeding applications that are immediately different to AIM, Yahoo and MSN. Yes from Yahoo I can download the code to put my Yahoo presence on my website. However I have no opportunity to build a directory that is fueled with Yahoo presence. The Yahoo approach is not to disintermediate presence information. In retrospect we will see that was the biggest mistake made by these earlier IM systems. The future is all about "presence". Trying to control it is a recipe for disaster. Being cautious like Skype and facilitating a market for presence may just create the next eBay effect.

With Qzoxy and Skype potentially thousands of different directories are possible. From traditional Yellow Pages to matchmaking sites. Similarly I'm convinced the Orkut's and Ryze's of the world would benefit from enabling their populations to connect with Skype. Similarly I'm already experimenting with SeedWiki and Presence. When work groups combine presence in a wiki then we have something that the future Windows Office and LCS (Live Communication Server) are just beginning to address. Indeed I think Skype will be a plug-in to Outlook before long. So to sum up. When hundreds of small organizations enable small Skype Presence Servers they can integrate "Presence" and leapfrog all these expensive PBX solutions that still appear to be a money drain. Finally even Kevin is taken by the numbers.

From the Qzoxy press release:

Qzoxy Software Inc.(Q-zox-ee) has announced its collaboration on the COM API toolkit, which turns any conventional product into a full presence application. Qzoxy is the first third party to participate in the new Skype Developers Program.

Using a set of easily-learned commands, developers can now include online-status indicators for sales or support staff, allowing customers to connect instantly. Bloggers can let readers know when they’re available for voice or text chat. Members of bulletin board communities can see your availability, or fellow team members or workgroups members can instantly see your status and invite you to a voice or text conference. There is no need to include phone numbers on the page, and customers from overseas no longer need to spend money on expensive phone calls only to discover they’re through to voice mail.

“Qzoxy, is proud to have been part of a small group of beta testers working closely with Skype on the development of their API since early spring”, explained Qzoxy CEO, Bill Campbell.

“Using Visual Basic, Java or other programming languages alongside Qzoxy COM API allows for rapid creation of powerful Skype presence and voice solutions for businesses and consumers worldwide,” said Campbell.

“With the launch of the Skype API we can work with third-party developers like Qzoxy to open Skype to other platforms”, said a Skype spokesman in Estonia. “Qzoxy was chosen to be our first third party relationship so we could test drive and refine the processes of our Skype Developers Program. We believe third parties will help us add value to attract millions of new users to the Skype community which already has over 14 million users.”

“The ability to broadcast your Skype Online status into your communities of interest changes the whole landscape of instant voice-text conferencing by adding your availability. An online status icon on your web site says to visitors: Talk to me. And if the visitor isn’t lucky enough to be a Skype user, they just send an Instant Message to you from your web site with their preferred method of connection: Skype, landline or mobile number so you can use Skype or SkypeOut to return their call. Qzoxy has a powerful way to change how we communicate”, says Stuart Henshall, a Skype Blogger and presence pundit in California. Qzoxy Press Release

Om Malik points to the recent Engadget article now on Slashdot and has had enough already. That guarantees I'll be over the top on Skype again. Finally, I have no financial relationship with the Qzoxy team although we've been in touch for ages and I'm happily trying out new applications. The comment only seems relevant to all the paid for blogging comments I've seen recently. In themselves they are quite a story. Qzoxy grew out of testing sessions in the the Skype Forums. Clearly, lots of long international Skype conversations pay dividends and they are a perfect example of a company forming even though all the parties have never met face to face. That says something.

This is the first in a series of posts about Skype. This one owes a huge debt to Stuart.

Skype is a telephone system that, at the moment, runs through the Internet. You access Skype through your computer. What are the elements of user experience? First, let's start with six choices, six user behaviors.

1. Start a call
2. Answer the call
3. Bring in another person
4. Share something
5. End a call
6. Add a friend to your address book

Much of the product and business analysis will cluster around one or more of these moments. There must have been prior art on telephone consumer behavior, so research will follow.

Start a call

Includes:

• Recognizing the need to talk to someone
• Choose to talk now
• Looking up or remembering their phone number
• Going to the phone
• Calling

Answer the call

• Be alerted (ring ring)
• Choose to answer
• Go to the phone
• Answer

Bring in another person

• I'm on the phone and recognize the need to talk to another person without hanging up the existing call
• Choose whether to create a second call, bring the next person into the existing call, or to merge two ongoing calls
• Make a call or merge two calls

Share something

• "Oooh, you gotta (see / hear / play with / click on ) this!"
• Send it

End a call

• Recognize the need to end
• End it

Add a friend to your address book

• Think of it
• Add
• Organize

How are these behaviors different with Skype than POTS? than with mobile phone? What are the opportunities to redefine how you experience these moments? to create new value or cut time or effort?

Theme of the week.

Ah emerging words and phrases. I see 12349 Skype users online now and just took up TDavid on his Call Me invite. He's put into practice what John Robb said you could do yesterday. Now I understand just how simple this is to do!

I may just find the Skype logo and put it on my main blog page later. For now you can "Click n Call" Me on Skype

Several searches to this blog for Skype information, not to mention when I first looked at Skype this morning I saw 11,000+ users online which was the most I've seen online to date. And�as of the time I'm writing this there are 11,507...."
skypers (pronunciation: sky-purse) - people who call you the moment before you get out of your chair to do something else. A skype equivalent of eBay snipers. [TDavid]

We also exchanged info round post #456 from Russell Beattie's Notebook.

Someone needs to wire this up with my mobile phone. I mean *now* not some day in the future. Here's how I see it. First a native Symbian app on the phone accesses the Bluetooth connection to a PC and streams voice each way. At 1650 bytes/sec for GSM-encoded voice, Bluetooth has more than enough bandwidth to handle it. This would allow your Symbian device to act, believe it or not, as a phone. On the PC side, a Bluetooth server sits and acts as a gateway between the serial port and the P2P voice app.

Now - I don't want the client to just be a dumb headset with a mike. I want to be able to start the app up, get access to my normal address book, choose someone I know has the same setup, and to attempt to make the call via BT. Now if the call doesn't go through, I want it to swap to a normal GSM connection and then dial that one.

David also runs a weekly live broadcast for his Scripting School. By next week Skype will have enhanced his service for his international followers. Also had it confirmed that you can't go in and hack the ring file. Customized ring tones will be a pro option!...