If you're using the 3.0 Beta for Win, get today's version 3.0.0.137. Lots of bugfixes, no new features. Still 19 MB. Changelog. Once you're running 3, join public chats about it in the Skype English Blog Chat and Skype Journal's Skype 3.0 discussion.

.. in the UK at least. Today, as one partner participating in the 3 X-Series service announcement by Hutchison Whampoa's 3 Group, Skype has announced its first truly mobile offering where Skype users can make "free" Skype-to-Skype calls on a mobile phone. Starting December 1, 3 Group will launch a new flat fee mobile broadband Internet service in the UK. In the press release related to this announcement Skype CEO Niklas Zennström said:

With 3, I am very proud to say that for the first time, our users can now try out making Skype calls on the move using a mobile phone. We always want to delight our users by letting them try out new ways of keeping in touch. This is a real milestone for Skype because now you can use Skype beyond the PC, no matter where you happen to be.

CIO Now has an excellent detailed description of the impact for Skype; the key points being:

• 3 Group will launch the new X-Series service December 1 in the U.K. and roll it out to the other countries in which 3 Group operates (including Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong) in early 2007.
• While it will be a flat-fee mobile broadband Internet service, no pricing has yet been announced.

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This morning Skype announced the gold release of Skype for Mac 2.0; finally a released Skype for the Mac with video support. Just in time to take advantage of all those iSight cameras built into more recent models such as MacBook Pro and MacBook. And, of course, one can now hold two party cross-platform video calls between Mac and Windows versions of Skype.

We would appreciate receiving your feedback via comments on your experiences using this much requested and long awaited version. I am working with one test case to check out this statement:

We've improved the video quality and made changes so that video calling can now work on older systems allowing more of our Mac community can use it.

The next challenge for Skype is to develop video conference calling similar to that already available with SightSpeed.

We look forward to hearing your feedback. It gives us an incentive to get the handling of Skype Journal's Comments fixed asap.

Update re Test Case: My acquaintance had attempted to use the beta Skype for Mac with his G4 800 MHz Mac - now the minimum requirement for Skype for Mac 2.0. He had reported problems with the beta version; however, on downloading the released version, we were able to establish a cross-platform Windows-to-Mac video session this afternoon with no problems - backing up Skype's statement quoted above. The biggest issue was that his three year old Mac's video camera does not provide the sharpest quality but it certainly delivered an acceptable quality for a video conversation. [As an aside, this G4 800MHz Mac does not meet minimum specs for use of SightSpeed on the Mac. On the other hand, SightSpeed's ability to do a three party conference with his two daughters in two different cities has become one inducement to upgrade to a new Mac soon.]

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Yesterday Andy posted a reference to an article in today's San Jose Mercury News about various new "mobile lifestyle" companies that want to change the way we are using phones. But Michael Arrington has made an excellent point in stating that:

A bunch of VOIP services have launched to help people make cheaper calls from normal phones. None of them are compelling for the mass market.

The question any VC's need to ask when considering funding of any of these startups is "How do you intend to readily migrate these services into the mass market?".  This is a market that fundamentally picks up a handset, "dials" a number (or looks it up in an embedded directory to dial) and makes contact with the called party. Unless it can perform this basic simple algorithm for establishing a voice connection, additional services and features become technology showcases without hope for any mass adoption (and all the associated revenue opportunities).

Over the past three months I have had the opportunity to use the VoIPVoice UConnect when in my office and their CyberSpeaker W Skype phone when on the road. (Both use the same driver software and start with a standard telephone keypad user interface.) Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to preview what is coming out this fall in cordless phones. As mentioned previously I am evaluating some relatively new wireless devices. Over the past year I have not had to pay more than 3 cents a minute for any landline long distance calls whether at home or on the road beyond any basic service fees (and since mid-May that has gone to zero for SkypeOut calls within North America).

The combined experiences have helped me establish a base line for the level of simplicity I would expect as we see the emergence of both cordless phones and wireless mobile devices that use or access Skype (and/or other VoIP-based services) while serving as a standard telephone handset:

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Hi. Just wanted to bring you up to speed and keep up our transparency. Let me tell you about Stuart, our independence, some policies, keeping secrets, reviewing, and ask for your help.

First, one of our owners and founders, Stuart Henshall, left the building earlier this year. He's still an owner but is happily working full time in an executive role at a stealth start-up. I've been asked not to say what his firm is called or what it's doing, but it's very cool. Skype cool.

Second, Jim Courtney joined us this spring. He's a great analyst and brings serious science, engineering, and business chops to his writing. He also brings his field work to the table, consulting on partnering strategies, channels of distribution, product management, and business planning. Jim's become one of the most linked-to VoIP bloggers and we're glad to have him.

Second, Jean Mercier asked if Skype Journal remains independent. Jean, an occasional Skype Journalist, noted I met Skype's Jaanus Kase. I've actually met a handful of Skype personnel. Yes, we remain financially indepedent of eBay and Skype. The only money changing hands that I know of is Skype paying part of Bill Campbell's air travel and lodging costs for a meeting next month. That trip is part of his uncompensated participation in Skype's closed Beta program.

Third, Skype Journal's policies guide our behavior. We link to them in our page footer. Our Editorial Policy governs accuracy, labeling and sourcing, explicit conflicts of interest, and accountability. Our Corrections Policy says we'll make things right. Our Syndication Policy points to our feed formats and provides terms of use. And our Accessibility Policy is more of a goal than reality, I'm sad to say.

Fourth, we respect confidences. If you'd like to tell us something as a confidential source, just tell us as you talk with us. We honor embargoes at least as well as the Wall Street Journal and Businessweek, subject to the usual conditions. If you hire one of contributors as a consultant, they will abide by mutual confidentiality agreements related to their work for you. For example, Bill's service to Skype through their closed Beta program is under an NDA so I never hear any inside scoop from Bill. And neither will you.

Fifth, our product reviews are filtered or frank but not both.

Bill Campbell loves to review new products, especially if they break through in a new category. But he won't print bad reviews. So the only reviews by Bill you'll see on Skype Journal will be happy ones, the disappointments washed out and negative feedback given privately. Part of this, as Bill explains it, is because many small companies can't survive a bad review or even a strong critique. Even big companies and their PR firms don't take criticism well and may exact retribution, which Bill prefers to avoid. So you get posts like Bill's Sony saves Skype on the launch of the Sony Mylo.

I'm less squeamish. For example, you might read my Sony Mylo suffers from Sidekick syndrome post, also in response to the Mylo's launch. They are so different a Sony publicist asked Bill if I worked here. A constructive review is useful for our readers, in the consumer advocacy spirit, and part of telling the whole truth.

So Bill is a gatekeeper, filtering in good news, and Jim and I will tell you the good and the bad. I hope this context helps readers and publicists.

Last, be a Skype Journal author. See our editorial wiki pages (still in draft) for more information.

• Becoming a Skype Journal Author

• Author Guide

• Editing Checklist - before sending your post

• Skype Journal Beats - What we would cover with infinite resources

• colophon - tools we use

Thanks. And if you have any questions or comments, leave them with this post, email editor at skypejournal doht com, or Skype me.

See the Mac 1.5 Beta announcement. BETA release: 1.5.0.48. Also: Interface refresh, import contacts from Apple's Address book or Entourage, more languages (French, Spanish, German, traditional Chinese, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch), support for presence and SkypeMe buttons, and Mac starter packs. For OS X v10.3.9 Panther or newer. The last minor update was May 11, and the last major update (1.4) was in January 2006. Download the Mac 1.5 beta.

Correction: (Thanks, Ryan) Video calling is only in version 1.5.0.47. 47 is the same as 48, but it has the only-modestly-tested video component added. Read about the video preview or download the preview. Known video issues from the Change Log:

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"Skype is currently not doing business in Korea, nor does it have a telecoms operation in Korea. Should Skype begin to conduct business in Korea, either directly or with a local partner, all applicable laws will of course be followed." This on Monday from DongChol Beh, Skype Market Manager for Korea. Parsing carefully, this means you cannot buy Skype credits if you are in South Korea (or is it if Skype believes you are in South Korea? or you can't buy it with a South Korean credit card?). You can spend Skype credits if you have them on SkypeOut to South Korea land lines.

It's in response to headlines like:

• ZDNet Korea: Skype, new memberships halted!
• VoIP news: Skype in trouble with South Korea government
• The Korea Times: Skype Probed for Unregistered Marketing
• 21talks: Skype accused (again) of illegal practices
• Strategy Page: South Korea Puts the Screws to U.S. Troops
• Jan in Malaysia: South Korean government held off on its plan to ban the use of VOIP

Hmmm.

• Auction & Skype's Korean site.
• Launch announcement from last month with disclaimers about SkypeIn and SkypeOut.
• Notice from Skype about the continuing problem.

It's a story of growing pains, of Skype moving in to a country, running into an obstacle, and backing off to re-enter correctly.

It's also about large local phone companies lobbying hard with government regulators to restrict competition from VoIP. (Sound familiar?)

Follow-up questions unanswered by press time.

• Was Skype doing business in Korea before?
• When, for which products, and in what manner?
• When and why did Skype stop?

If Skype or its partners are subject to fines for infractions, then we may not get answers for a while.

Skype clearly plans to serve the South Korean market with SkypeIn and SkypeOut. What about PayPal? At the moment, PayPal only lets South Koreans withdraw money, not send money. This must be tough for eBay since South Korea is eBay's fourth largest market, after the United States, Germany, and the UK. More than 34 million Koreans use the Internet, about 70% of the population.

The regulatory embarassment, customer inconvenience, and deferred cash flow must be difficult for Skype's portal partner, Auction. It's unclear if Auction-Skype is a joint venture, an Auction project, a Skype project, or a Skype subsidiary. UPDATE: It is an Auction project, working on behalf of Skype, its sister company.

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Jaanus has put up a post on the Skype Blog announcing the much anticipated Skype for Mac with Video; however, it is not a release announcement -- not even any dates for release. He has put this announcement up because there is a so-called unreleased beta version out on the web but attempting to use this version can cause significant damage to your Skype installation.

What you need to know about this version is that it is an internal unstable development version, and thus it is extremely buggy. It may and will destroy your contacts and other data. It is completely unsupported and if you experience problems due to using this version, you're on your own.

Looking forward to being able to communicate with our Mac Skype Contacts using an "official" version.

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Skype announced Skype for Mac 1.4.0.49 Thursday. Three key features:

1. It is a Universal build of Skype for Mac. According to Nils on the Skype Mac blog post: "Universal means that Skype now runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac computers, boosting the performance of Skype running on Intel Macs."
2. It supports web presence, so others can see your Skype status via your web page, like we do here on Skype Journal.
3. There is Traditional Chinese support with "more languages to follow".

Last week my daughter bought a new MacBook Pro. First request on starting up and setting up users: it asks to take your picture with its built-in webcam to be used as an element of the User's profile. Seems like true support for these Intel-based Macs would mean that Skype for the Mac would include Skype video. So the real question from anxious Mac users is: "When will we see Skype '2.x' for Mac?"

More at voipweblog, Macworld. One known issue: "Users who created their account on Intel-based computers will not be able to revert to earlier versions of Skype, after they have installed Skype 1.4.0.49."

Now that I have your attention..... Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have had lots of fun (and pun) with the title of their book on enterprise blogging, entitled "Naked Conversations". Thanks to Air Canada's short seat pitch policy, the airline effectively censored any conversation that would be generated by seeing the covers while I was reading it on the two five hour plane trips that encompassed my reading of their tome.

When I attended Engineering School (Toronto) the big excitement of the day was that the Engineering students' patron saint was Lady Godiva. Their Lady Godiva Memorial Band, which could occassionally carry a tune, was reknowned for stunts such as opening Toronto's University Avenue subway line where they "jumped" the turnstiles after announcing they had opened the world's longest continuous bathroom (and that subway's decor in those days was that sterile). Those were the puritan days "Before Streaking".

Yesterday, Peeter Mõtsküla , a highly respected member of the Skype development team, put up a post on the Skype Developer Blog entitled "Naked Skype".

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God what a hangover, damn but these Vegas eBay geeks can party. How the heck am I supposed to post updates to SkypeJournal.com with my brain oozing out my ears? We're independent, so I have to keep those ears open, even when they're ringing. We've been writing for geeks, suits, and users since Skype launched. We break hard news, review (and sometimes trash) Skype compatible software and hardware, and describe how the Skype model affects industry, society, and software design. We are flabbergasted daily by the amazing things people do with Skype and the Skype platform. So we help: Our ebook guide to Skype's plug-in architecture was downloaded 250 thousand times in 2005. Our consultants train developers, test prototypes, leads workshops for product managers, and map out branding and strategy for this new era. Skype me at evanwolf or call me at +1-646-461-6123 with tips, gripes, or -- do I smell coffee?

Pleased to be a media sponsor and promote the event. They expect 800 to 1000 programmers, most new to the Skype platform. I have high hopes this will be a more serious geekfest compared to last year's Skype developer marketing parties. Do you think all of Skype's product managers and at least some of Skype's serious engineers from Tallinn and around the world will be there to share and hear and inspire this growing and heavily invested community?

So far, Skype staff on the schedule include: Skype president Rajiv Dutta, Toolbars pm Peter Kalmström, API pm Mat Taylor, developer Indrek Mandre, evangelist Lester Madden, certification manager Tiit Paananen

What take-aways and deliverables do you want from 72 hours with Skype engineers and product managers?

Eight Skype-specific sessions (roughly in chronological order):

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Here's three Skype products that aim to enhance your Skypeing experience that leaves me questioning exactly what I'm buying with Skype Certified. The three products are the VoSky Chatterbox, Jawbone Headset and the Motorola Wireless Interenet Calling Kit. Each provide a different angle on bettering the standard Skyper's headset and as you might expect each has their pro's and con's.

VoSky Chatterbox.

This simple USB device provides an easily portable plug and play speakerphone for Skype. It's simple to use and requires no additional software to be loaded. It has a volume and mute button on top and works probably as expected, as a low cost speakerphone. I'd liken it to the solution we had as kids when we could finally plug in a speakerphone box between the old phone and the whole family sat around. In principle great, in practice it left something to be desired. The Chatterbox is a little like this. It works. It's also no substitute for a decent headset. The caller on the other end of the line will know and possibly complain. Handsfree solutions curently work better with a good set of speakers and a proper stand mic. Locate them correctly and the caller won't get a any feedback. Many laptops work as good as the Chatterbox. If you feel the need try it. Just don't expect it to be a Polycom and ready for the office. For kids it may be more robust than a headset - read youngsters talking to Grandma.

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Happy New Year!

I wanted to start off 2006 with a few thoughts on who I think we are. Have we been living up to this?

Innovation Studio. I am inspired by David Nordfors and his Innovation Journalism meme. Innovation Journalism helps innovators understand problems, design and compare solutions, get funded (internally or externally), and bring solutions to market. IJ does this through telling both the business and technology story, in plain language. So I work to make Skype Journal a source of intelligence for entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, product managers, investors, and software developers.

Advocate. Company interests are very focused on business objectives. Skype Journal tries to speak for and with Skype's users. We also seek to speak with and for the ecosystem that surrounds Skype and other Conversation 3.0 businesses: developers, portals, retailers, manufacturers, entertainers, and others. That's why we ask for better technical documentation, review Skype related products, travel to inspect stores where Skype products are sold, and speak at conferences.

Playmate. We're a little like spoiled children: we love new toys, play hard with them, frequently break them, and always want more. We're not above a little fun, but real fun takes a commitment. We are intense users ourselves, but we stoke the fires of wonder and joy we knew as newbies.

Paying the Bills. Our core writers are all "wicked smart" and experienced, and we rent our expertise by the day or project. We haven't really been telling that story, but we will.

Meaning Makers. Stories help us understand complex, dynamic situations. We hope our collage helps you see the whole elephant, not just Skype's parts.

Historian. Ten years from now we think today's stories will be relevant, chronicling the evolution of Conversation 3.0 (and 4, and 5...). This is an adventure story, full of danger, battles, heroes, magicians, camaraderie, loss and recovery, and great truths. We're proud to be blogging it.

We met a bunch of great people last year. That may be the best part of it all.

Version 2.0.0.43 Beta for Windows.

Remember your first Skype experience? I was stunned by how easy it was. And the clarity of the sound, just like being right there. Immediacy. And the IM packaging of phone controls. It hit me so hard I had to tell everyone, call everyone, drag my friends and family to Skypeland.

If you've been using Skype, the Beta version of Skype 2.0 for Windows won't give you a new Wow! experience. There are a few new pieces (video) and small improvements (contact list). Skype Journal will examine each in detail over the next few days.

Blurbage from the announcements:

"Skype Video. Skype Video is fully integrated into Skype calling, and can be adjusted to provide full-screen video with just one click."

"Self-expression. Broadcast your mood along with your online presence. Let your contacts know whether you’re happy, sad, listening to your favorite music, available to talk or do not want to be disturbed."

"See your contacts’ time zones. Before you wake up your friends, family or colleagues take a quick glance to see what time it is in their location."

"Group your contacts. Organize your contacts by grouping your friends, co-workers or family members. Start conference calls, chats or file sharing with the whole group with just one click."

"Real-time contact search. Look up contacts in real-time by typing a name into the dialing field"

Better yet, leave your comments and trackbacks!

Change log...

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I want to apologize for our outages. We were offline for a few hours late last week and a few times this week. We're growing much faster than our hosting service expected, with 1.04 million pages served to our readers. We'll do better, and thanks again for the late night "SJ's down!" calls and chats.

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...

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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.

Full text of news release...

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