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Potential Skype Acquirers

Larry — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:18:31 +0000

There is speculation that eBay wants to sell Skype again. London Times published a list of potential suitors and listed why these companies may be interested. The article estimated that Skype would worth $1.6 billion, which is quite a bit less than the 2005 price tag of $2.6 billion squandered by eBay.

Potential interested parties are:

Microsoft: integrate Skype into its consumer communication products
Google: Enhance its own messaging, audio and video services
Yahoo: Enhance its own product offerings
Facebook: Offer new audio and video features to its existing chat and notification product

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have the cash to pull the trigger; however I am not sure if Skype worths $1.6 billion to any of these companies.

Major Skype Announcements in 2009 CES

Larry — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:39:05 +0000

At the Consumer Electronics SHow, Skype COO Scott Durchslag made three major anouncements. Judging from these announcements, Skype is spending a lot of its R&D effort on finding more ways that people can make Skype calls. Smart Move!

The first announcement is the availability of a new Lite version of Skype for over 100 Java-enable phones. These phones are based on the Android platform and from companies like LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericssion. These phones are based on the Android platform which was initiated by Google and its partners. It would be interesting to see how this would compete with Apple’s iPhone.

The second announcement is the release of Skype 4.0 in early February. This version has been available in beta form for many months and provided major improvements in audio and video qualities. I am really interested to see its integration with Microsoft Outlook. It did not work when I tried it on a beta version.

The third announcement is Skype 1.0 Beta for Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MID). MID is a multimedia-capable handheld computer with wireless internet access capability. It is bigger than a cellular phone, but smaller than a ultra mobile PC or tablet PC. It runs mostly on Linux and its derivatives, although it is also capable of running Windows XP and Vista.

Unlike most Skype Wifi phones, a MID would have a browser and can be used in any hot spots around the world.

Video Chat is Becoming Our Lifestyle

Larry — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:29:38 +0000

Skype, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, and lately Google have all offered video chat as part of their services. Back in summer 2008, Skype reported that over 28% of the calls are video calls. This is way beyond my expectation.

With high speed internet becomes common household item and the cost and quality of web cams have improved significantly, video calls become very affordable. Most computers have speakers already and $20 investment would give you a very decent web cam along with a microphone. Calls are free.

How you use the video chat is only limited by your imagination; here are some examples:

Interview university applicants and job applicants
Tutor students remotely
Hold virtual parties and tours
Perform sales demonstration
Paint portraits by artists
Show off your new toys
…

Let me know on how you use video chat.

Skype releases Version 4.0 Beta 3 for Windows

Larry — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:43:56 +0000

Skype has been working on the beta version 4.0 for Windows for quite a few months already and I suspect that the offical release will come soon. I have been playing with the beta version for some time now and I like it — a lot. Here are some of the new features I like best:

Friendly User Interface
Full screen, high resolution video calls
History search by contact and event type
Automatic detection of hardware settings
Better record-keeping functions
View contacts from Microsoft Outlook
Import contacts from Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail
Better integration with PayPal
Better and faster installation process

I will review some of the new features later.

Peek Behind the Great Firewall of China

Larry — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:35:41 +0000

Many people consider internet a global, open and borderless network; however in reality this is never 100% true regardless which country you are located. Many countries perform extensive traffic monitoring and tracking and tap into every single data packet transmitted. Censorship is enacted because of fear, national security, copyright, legal and political reasons. Just try accessing BBC Planet Earth from outside of UK.

The Great Firewall of China, well publicized in the internet community, is a prime example of political/security/fear censorship. The firewall denies users within China to access politically sensitive information around the world. If you want to get a taste of the censorship, download and install the Firefox plug-in China Channel and you can find out firsthand the nature of the firewall. You can try some of the known blocked sites listed here.

You can download a copy of Firefox from Mozilla.

China Channel is a simple proxy that let your browser behind a China IP address. When turned on, you will be accessing the internet as if you were in China. The response time would be rather slow as you are running through a proxy server from the other side of the earth.

Get a feel on what it is like. There is no guarantee that you would enjoy the same level of freedom you have now. An aggressive administration can change it with little notice. Even if the supreme court catches up with the action, it will be many years later.

Skype In University Admission

Larry — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:42:43 +0000

Since dropping the SAT/ACT requirement for undergraduate admissions, Wake Forest University increases its emphasis on face-to-face interviews when selecting applicants. Wake Forest had been experimenting virtual interviews with about 30 early decision applicants since October. Starting from December, this option will be available to other applicants.

Virtual interviews use Skype video calls and last 20 to 30 minutes, the same as in-person interviews. Interviews, real or virtual, are treated as the same in the evaluative process. The online interviews are similar to what would take place if students were sitting in the admissions office.

“While a personal visit is the first choice, the virtual interview is an innovative way to use technology to connect individually with those who, because of financial or other reasons, cannot come to campus,” said Martha Allman, director of admissions at Wake Forest. “This combines Wake Forest’s historic commitment to personal attention with our emphasis on technological innovation.”

Skype is a time and money saving technology enabling applicants and admission officers to get to know each other better. This practice will spread to other universities soon.

Star Wars Gadget for Skype

Larry — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:12:41 +0000

This is for Star Wars junkies – R2D2 webcam and lightsaber Skype phone. They look awesome and are the right size for my desktop. The web cam has excellent resolution. You can drive it around remotely via Skype and see what is going on inside your house.

The following is the product description:

The supreme Star Wars robot! Comes with a lightsaber-styled, Skype-compatible phone.

Access it from anywhere in the world! Get yourself an R2-D2 Web Cam!

Record and playback digital movies and snapshots with this multi-function R2-D2 Web Cam.

Use it to take pictures or monitor your room… and do so remotely. Using Skype software, you can actually access it from anywhere in the world!

Bearing a remarkable resemblance to a certain well-known and beloved droid, this extraordinary little guy measures 8 1/2-inches tall x 5 1/4-inches wide x 5 1/2-inches long and arrives in a flip-top box.

Both fun and functional, he’s the supreme Star Wars goody for the supreme Star Wars fan or collector! Batteries included. This awesome machine comes with a galaxy of features: Full-function forward, reverse, turn 360 62 vertical adjustment lens 2.0 zoom lens with 628 x 582 pixel resolution Lightsaber VOIP/USB phone 14-day battery life in standby mode.

I would love to play and write a review on it; however I do not have $350 to spare.

Moka Chat Enables English, Chinese, and Spanish Speaking Users to Chat With Each Other

Larry — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:10:19 +0000

Moka has announced a multilingual chat service for Skype, called Moka Chat. The language translation technology for Skype gives Skype users the ability to chat in English, Spanish or Chinese with other Skype users.

Moka Chat for Skype is now available for free during the beta period and can be downloaded from www.moka.com. After downloading and installing the Moka Chat for Skype application and selecting a language pair, users can easily enable real-time language translation for any text messaging conversation with anyone on their Skype buddy list. Because it allows the user to see both the original and translated text every time a message is sent, Moka Chat is also a powerful language learning tool. Moka’s learning-while-chatting feature makes language learning fun and interactive for all Skype users.

We will certainly give it a trial as we have Spanish-speaking customers who would like to contact us via Skype Chat.

Google Increases its Pressure on Skype

Larry — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:06:50 +0000

google has announced a new video chat service that integrated voice, video chat into Gmail and collaboration tool. Users with webcam can download a plug-in to access the application.

With Google’s stature in the internet world, this would give additional competition to Skype and hopefully would force Skype to increase its customer service.

FCC Approves Two Major Wireless Mergers

Larry — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:01:57 +0000

Wall Street Jounral reported that FCC had approved two major mergers in the wireless industry and if they were completed as expected, the mergers would have significant impact on wireless internet access. You may be able to use Skype anywhere you desired.

Today FCC approved a $28 billion deal for Verizon to acquire Alltel Corp and a $14.5 billion deal for Sprint Nextel to combine its WiMax business with ClearWire. The Justice Department has already approved both deals.

WIMax can have a range measured in miles and provide up to 70Mb/sec symmetric broadband speed without cables. It has the protential of becomeing the “last mile” wireless broadband access replacing cable and DSL. Sprint has been working on WiMax since 2006. Currently, Pakistan has WiMax network implemented in 17 cities with plan to expand to 71 cities.

If Verizon and Alltel merge, Verizon will become the No. 1 US wireless carrier by subscribers.