Will a MicrosoftOnNokia deal affect the SkypeOnNokia deal?

Details will come in about six hours on another distribution agreement between Microsoft and Nokia, this time for a mobile edition of Microsoft Office 2010. A previous arrangement preloaded Microsoft Live products, including Skype rival Windows Live Messenger, on Nokia Series 40 and 60 handsets. Meanwhile, Skype hasn't shown up in retail channels preinstalled on some lines of Nokia's smart phones, as announced in February 2009 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. [UPDATE: Skype and Nokia committed to release by the end of September 2009.] Will Skype be positioned as prominently as Live Messenger? Will mobile Office drive more Messenger use by tight Office-Messenger integration? Skype will sync with (share?) the N97's address book; will Messenger? Will an Office bundle come with Live Messenger? Will the mobile operators who block Skype distribution also object to Live Messenger?

tags: skype, microsoft, nokia, office, messenger

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Mobile Skype for Vampires

From the product pitch: "We'll bundle apps for the market to sweeten the attraction of mobile Skype for Vampires."

tags: skype, vampires, mobile, location, skypeforvampires, skype4vampires, s4v

Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Unlike death and taxes, mobile Skype is not certain

Vodafone, Orange, O2 and others will have to succumb to the market reality that the Skype offering is a win-win...
— Jim Courtney

Jim, you could be right, but I don't think so.

There's nothing inevitable about Skype having success with other carriers, Nokia or not. Nokia sales are down about 25% from last year and Nokia has negligible share of US markets. That's not a powerful position from which to bargain.

Skype had to sit down with 3 and negotiate terms, but Skype hasn't done much if anything with the other mobile carriers. Unlike 3, Skype@Nokia is a fête accompli, a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. The deal is a smack in the face to carriers who thought they had time to make their own Skype-killers, to wield lobbying power with regulators, to get their iPhone on and sell data plans without cannibalizing voice revenue.

Do you really think a year of 3 making a little coin will be enough to convince ranks of mobile execs to abandon strategies they just spent years and career capital to put in place? Do you really think they are excited about the chance to partner with an auction company that's been sucking the profit out of international calling and undercutting broadband voice pricing?

They are wedded to their value-added projects ("you don’t want to be just a dumb pipe do you?"), and Skype isn't even on the menu.

The opportunity for an upside and the threat if they don't sign on had better be overwhelming for them to risk their jobs, their shareholders' ire, and this quarter's cashflow. Skype's mobile bizdev team has a hard job ahead, and acceptance any time soon is far from certain.

Monday reading

Business

Skype's 2008Q4 contribution falls from Q3, but still profitable. (Jean Mercier)

20% off the Emerging Communications Conference with 'skypejournal' discount code. See you at the SFO Marriott this week.

UK's O2 and Orange oppose Nokia+Skype phones, T-Mobile support them, and Vodafone hasn't said. "if you spend upwards of £40m per year building your brand, you don’t want to be just a dumb pipe do you?" Sounds like hard bargaining to me. (P.S. Wishing/Branding you're not a dumb pipe doesn't make it so.)  (Mobile Today)

AIM for iPhone comes out. AIM Free is ad supported. AIM Paid is... price TBD. Now supporting multiple accounts and free SMS to people in your iPhone contact list. (Ars Technica)

Community in action

Eurojust retracts news release attacking Skype. "NOTE: This is an update of the press release issued on Friday 20 February 2009. Some of the information in this press release was issued prematurely and is therefore incorrect, as there is not yet an official case reported to Eurojust." If only the Sopranos or The Wire were still running. (Government Technology) SJ:Eurojust coordinating anti-Skype project; SJ:Evildoers trust Skype encryption, Cops seek more power

DataPortability.org calls for volunteers to fill a steering committee vacancy. One conference call per week until elections. [disclosure: I'm on the steering committee.]

Twitter Friends and the Influence of Influentials in Word of Mouth Marketing. On research performed by the HP Social Media Lab and explained by BT's JP Rangaswami. (Skillful Minds). Attention to statistics describing social conversation behavior can improve the choice of features in software like Skype.

Future visions

Theme for Supernova 2009 is "Change Networks." Think innovation/value networks but looking at how change propagates. December 1-3 in San Francisco.

Microsoft Office Labs vision 2019. Utopian vision, clutter-free, ten years' out, all feasible, if only for the wealthy. Videos and screenshots. (istartedsomething)

Marriage beginnings and endings

Father (Poland) gives daughter (Texas) away at wedding over Skype. (Killeen Daily Herald)

Ex-Wife Haunts House over Skype. (Ask Bossy column)

In An Effort To Become Ubiquitous, Skype Partners with Nokia

Skype, the darling of PC-based Internet telephony, announced news today that will extend the company's reach beyond the personal computer. At Mobile Wold Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Skype announced a partnership with mobile handset maker Nokia whereby Skype software will be pre-loaded onto some NSeries phones starting in the third quarter of 2009.



The upcoming Nokia N97 will be the first Nokia handset to receive the Skype software. With Skype pre-loaded, Nokia NSeries users will be able to IM and call their Skype contacts using Skype's VoIP infrastructure, rather than via traditional GSM networks.

The Primitive Skype Mobile Experience Thus Far

For some time, mobile users have had ways of conducting limited Skype functions. For example, an older version of Skype has long been available for the Windows Mobile operating system. More recently, Skype has released 'Skype Lite' versions, which are essentially Java-based versions of their VoIP/IM software for a variety of mobile platforms including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG.

Additionally, products such as iSkoot and hardware platforms such as the 3 Skypephone make it possible to have Skype IM/calling using mobile handset software. With the 3 Skypephone, users can make Skype-to-Skype without using their GSM minutes thanks to the iSkoot implementation UK mobile carrier 3 has arranged. The 3 Skypephone also allows one to see their Skype contacts' presence information within the phone built-in address book.

A New World?

The new Skype version that will be on Nokia handsets is a native version that will be tightly integrated with the Symbian operating system. In fact, Skype will be available via the phone's firmware. For those who purchase an N97 before Skype is released, an updated firmware will be made available.

With Skype will be integrated into the N97's address book, it will be possible for users to see when Skype contacts are online alongside their existing phone contacts. If a Skype contact is online, users can either send their Skype friend an instant message or make free and low-cost phone calls via a 3G cellular connection or Wi-Fi. Skype-to-Skype calls will still remain free and SkypeOut calls will adhere to the low calling rates we are accustomed too.

Globetrotters Targeted

The Nokia and Skype partnership will be a major benefit to any mobile user who either frequently travels or otherwise needs free/inexpensive calling. Skype has long been a great option to communicate while traveling internationally. With today's announcement, Skype will be as close as your mobile handset. For anyone who travels frequently knows, it is alarmingly expensive to make phone calls while abroad. Having Skype on a mobile handset will make it very cost-effective to communicate with your colleagues, friends, and family.

Skype was wise to partner with Nokia. The Finnish handset maker is the world's largest and most dominant mobile handset maker with roughly 40% of the phone market. Now, with a Nokia/Skype partnership, both parties stand to benefit. For Skype, they will see a rise in SkypeOut calling and yearly calling subscriptions, and Nokia will see globetrotting professionals look to NSeries handsets for their communications needs.

Carrier Reaction

It will be interesting to see how mobile network operators will rereact to this new Skype offering. SkypeOut minutes, if heavily used, could seriously dent international calling revenue. In today's mobile network market, where carriers are looking for any method to monetize the mobile communication experience, Skype on a mobile could cannibalize international calling and texting profits.

What are your thoughts? Could you see using Skype on your mobile handset, especially if the Skype experience is tightly integrated into your mobile phone book? Please leave a comment and lets discuss!

Skype Journal columnist Jason Harris, engages communities for corporations and explores internet telephony, mobile technology, and the leaders who bring them to market on his Techcraver blog and on Twitter.

To follow Jason further: see his website, follow him on Twitter.