nimbuzz « Skype Journal

Google Chrome browser (Dev release) now has Skype-like plumbing

Phil Wolff 19 January 2012 1:39 pm

Google is building WebRTC into Chrome. WebRTC code and standards will let web developers and designers build realtime IM, voice and video into web apps and browser plug-ins. This milestone means we could see WebRTC apps in Chrome in the next few months. Nimbuzz and others are working on it. This removes one obstacle to Skype for Browsers, without downloading a fat client. How soon will Microsoft’s Internet Explorer follow Chrome? Or will it adopt another technology, making choices harder for developers and users?

Skype Fring’d Nimbuzz: Another blow to Skype’s developer program

Phil Wolff 25 October 2010 9:18 am

Skype wants to control the mobile market, without third-parties offering access to the Skype network. So they forced Nimbuzz to shut down their Skype features like they shut down Fring, with lawyers, though with less public acrimony. Skype has the power to do this through artful crafting of their licenses; I explained in detail how Fring and Nimbuzz fall afoul of Skype’s Public API license.

Skype’s mobile bizdev execs trumped Skype’s platform technology execs. Skype could have waived their ToS, permitted a one-off license, and brought Nimbuzz (or Fring, for that matter) into the Skype family with early access to SkypeKit for their gateways. Skype was not interested. Skype never offered and their insistence was the same: Stop using Skype in your service. Nimbuzz plans a graceful shutdown of Skype service, starting Sunday, 31 October 2010. I concur with Om that this was Skype choosing to put their mobile handset and mobile operator relationships ahead of their present and future developer ecosystem.

I spoke with Nimbuzz’s Tobias Kemper in August, right after Skype had Fring shut down its mobile Skype client and Skype gateway. He was hoping to formalize his relationship with Skype and to include SkypeKit in his product. He wanted better tools from Skype. He wanted help delivering Skype services to Nimbuzz customers on devices and markets Skype was not able to serve. This is the very center of the idea of platforming. Skype let its lawyers and dealmakers hammer another nail in Skype’s future as a communications cloud provider.

Meanwhile, show your support: Nominate Nimbuzz for the #MashableAwards. And jump on Nimbuzz’s end-of-Skype promotion:

"We’re offering you a 15% bonus credit to use on NimbuzzOut. That’s 15% extra on top of the credits you want to purchase. To access the 15% bonus credit, go to http://www.nimbuzzout.com and once logged-in, use this code NIMBUZZ15 (valid until end of November 2010)."

From Skype’s PR firm:

What did Nimbuzz violate?

We believed and were concerned that Nimbuzz’s application was in violation of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement (EULA). Skype offered to meet with Nimbuzz and discuss the issue; however, we have not heard back from them since our last correspondence with them in early August. Like any company that has APIs or an SDK, Skype has certain rules that guide the development of apps using those tools. Such rules help protect the Skype brand and our end user experience.

Does Skype block mobile developers?

Currently, our APIs and SDK are designed for third-party hardware and desktop software application development. Distribution of a third-party Skype developer application through a mobile phone network operator or mobile handset manufacturer is only permitted with the prior written consent of Skype. Because of the way our software works and the differences between the mobile and PC ecosystems, we have these rules in place to protect the Skype brand and Skype user experience. To ensure this, we only work with mobile operators and handset manufacturers committed to delivering the best Skype user experience, as we’ve shown with 3, Nokia, Verizon and, most recently, KDDI.

What is Skype’s platform strategy?

We envision a future where every connected device will be a communications device. We believe that Skype is the Internet communications platform of choice and we want to make Skype available through an abundance of Internet connected devices and software platforms. Our strategy for achieving this vision is to provide developers with the tools they need to innovate and enhance our connected future with voice and video communications.

What is the difference between Skype’s public API and the new SkypeKit?

Skype’s Public API, which has been available for a number of years already, is a great solution for hardware accessories such as headsets and webcams that connect to Skype’s standard desktop clients. However, ever since we released the API developers have been asking for a solution that works WITHOUT the Skype desktop application. Enter SkypeKit. Think of SkypeKit as a "headless" version of Skype — that is, a Skype client with no user interface that runs invisibly, not only on PCs, but also TVs, notebooks, and other Internet connected devices. Developers communicate with SkypeKit through the SkypeKit API, surfacing Skype features (i.e., IM, voice or video calls) through their own applications.

Call me at +1-510-343-5664, Skype me, follow @SkypeJournal and @evanwolf. Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Nimbuzz’s Tobias Kemper about Skype and the future of conversation

Phil Wolff 8 August 2010 11:23 am

Nimbuzz blends several IM, status, and voice calling services into one mobile user interface, Skype included. Fring, a similar service, shut down its Skype features in July. I had a chance to discuss how people really talk, Nimbuzz’s experience and hopes for Skype, and the future of communication with Tobias Kemper (@tek). Mr. Kemper is General Manager of Nimbuzz Inc. USA.

Nimbuzz Skype call on Nexus One.
photo credit: Nimbuzz

Skype Journal: What have you’ve learned since launch about how people use Nimbuzz and talk with each other? What behaviors are changing or emerging?

Tobias Kemper: What we have learned since launching Nimbuzz is that consumers use the product for a variety of different reasons which are also dependent on their geographic region.

In developing markets, consumers are looking for cost saving communications more than those in developed markets. Consumers love the fact that they can make free and low cost calls over Nimbuzz.

We also have seen that consumers utilize the chatroom feature on our Symbian and Java platforms as a way to meet and connect with each other. Those markets do not have well-established social networks or this maybe their first Internet experience, on the mobile. They use Nimbuzz and our chatroom service to create their own mini social networks from their mobile phones.

In developed markets, consumers love the fact that they have all their friends from all popular IM and social networks in one place and they can see who is online, when and where. In the end, this is about freedom to control how consumers communicate free of what the operator dictates in terms of minutes and messaging. Having all your social networks – Facebook, AIM, MSN, and Skype — in one app is a great advantage to consumers. It’s their choice, not the operators.

Skype Journal: Can you tell us about the technical architecture you’ve built to interop with Skype?

Tobias Kemper: Because Nimbuzz uses all of the public connection points for Skype, our relationship with Skype hasn’t changed. We continue to invest in our technology to provide the best quality when making Skype calls over Nimbuzz to match our user’s expectations.

Mangrove Capital, the original investors in Skype, are also investors in Nimbuzz. This backing has been advantageous for Nimbuzz because they bring extensive expertise to our VoIP play.

Skype Journal: Your wishlist for improvements on Skype’s side of the service?

Tobias Kemper: We are looking forward to the official SDK to further enhance this user experience. It is in our best interest to make sure the consumer always gets the best quality and the Skype brand is presented in the best possible way. The fact that Nimbuzz works on more than 2000 types of mobile phones effectively brings Skype into a very large community of users worldwide.

Nimbuzz is all about doing more mobile – chat more, reach more, connect to more, share more, message more, call more — all mobile. Universal communications via your mobile. Because we believe in openness, we built our platform on XMPP and JINGLE protocols making it very easy to interoperate.

For example, in Saudi Arabia, since the announcement of the Blackberry communications ban, we are seeing extreme user growth and we have already captured 20% of the entire BB user base there. Every two seconds a user from Saudi Arabia logs on to Nimbuzz; as of today, growth has increased from 20 registrations per day from Saudi Arabia to 35,000 per day on Thursday because of the bans and impending bans on BlackBerry services.

Skype Journal: In your blog post Mobile communication in 2010 and beyond! you write: "Nimbuzz believes in a global mobile community across all platforms, communities, devices and operators that gives users the ability to choose how they communicate. Calls will be free. Revenue will be generated from enriched mobile communications for all industry players, including users and operators." If Skype-like features will be free, what sort of premium conversation enrichments might we see over the next few years?

Tobias Kemper: This is how we envision premium features: Assume that in the future calling and texting will be completely free. The money will be made in the consumer lock-in and selling people a fully unified communication service with personalization and customization options. Expression tools – nudges and emoticons (already wildly popular in Asia) will be a huge part of this equation. Status is equal to social connectivity. Consumers want to be in control of the way they communicate and want to be able to monitor their communications. A Facebook message has a different meaning than a text message. An email an different meaning than a chat message, and a call a different purpose to a voice message.

People want to enjoy presence or socializing features wherever they are — presence and location information will be part of the same solution in the future. I certainly would pay extra if my phonebook was powered with presence information so I would know if someone is online so I can send a chat first instead on blindly calling them. Yes, it is nice if the call is for free, but since it is over the internet, I expect it to be free.

However, what I love is the presence. I am happy to pay for that, or pay for the upgrade option to enjoy free communications to everyone else on this operator network – but I want that to come straight from MY address book. Nimbuzz believes that the true long game for mobile communications will come from all the pieces that consumers use daily — not just mobile voice or chat – but all those pieces tied together. The value lies in a user’s address book that combines calling (VoIP and mVoIP), messaging, connecting and socializing – all in one service.

Bottom line? We want to give users the freedom to communicate from their mobile to anyone in the world, on any network, in any social community, on any device, at any time, the way they want to. This doesn’t have to be overly complicated, shooting social media feeds and multimedia content in your address book, but simply allow you to do more, and be more, mobile.

Call me at +1-510-343-5664, Skype me, follow @SkypeJournal and @evanwolf. Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.