Photo: Facebook

Rumour sirens should be buzzing right now, but this is too huge to ignore: word is a Facebook voice calling service is imminent, and it will be deployed in partnership with none other than the VoIP company, Skype. A Facebook Skype pairing should scare every VoIP service on the web.

‘Call me’ using Facebook

TechRadar reports that a number of Facebook’s users have reported sighting a ‘call’ button upon looking up people’s profiles, which is why a voice calling related announcement is what Facebook has planned for a press event it is holding next week Monday.

The publication followed up with both Skype and Facebook, with both companies, unsurprisingly, offering the classic ‘no comment’ line. Facebook’s spokesperson went one further and gave us the classic: ‘We don’t comment on rumour and speculation and have nothing to announce at this time’. Incidentally, ‘nothing to announce at this time’ reads as ‘something Facebook Skype related to announce later. Like Monday later,’ to me.

The very important connection

Incidentally, Facebook and Skype share a key investor – Silicon Valley ‘statesman’ Marc Andreessen. Known for his ability to connect powerful companies together, and given his elevated position as a member of the board of directors of both companies, it’s safe to say if a viable, mutually beneficial partnership opportunity existed, he would likely push for it.

Be afraid, tech entrepreneurs

In the 80s and 90s, if you were a technology company, no matter what niche you were in you lived in fear of Microsoft coming into your space. The same was true in the 00s regarding what Google would do. Now the same seems true with Facebook.

And while it may be exaggeration to say this brilliant partnership with Skype is proof that Facebook is the new ‘it’ company, how long can the world pretend that it is not? Sure, it’s ‘just’ a social network, but a social network with 600 million strong users is something very different. This Facebook Skype hookup could be very telling. Very telling, indeed. VoIP vendors need to prepare for this potentially huge announcement.

Photo: stevegarfield / Flickr

Perhaps one can file this in the ‘obvious’ cabinet, but it’s a major announcement nonetheless. Word has it that the iPad Skype client will see a video calling service to the incoming iPad 2, which is widely expected to have at least a front-facing camera for video conferencing built in, if not a dual one as well.

It’s inevitable

TechRadar got the scoop from Heather LeRoy, who is senior project manager at Skype for iOS devices. She told the publication that there are plans to significantly improve the iPad Skype client and that, if all plays out with hardware, video calling is coming to the iPad 2.

She said: ‘Skype on the iPad is currently the basic Skype iOS client, but we really hope to support the iPad in a much more thorough way in the future.

‘And of course, if iPad 2 has cameras, then you bet we are going to be very interested in supporting video, because that is a company priority for us.’

I don’t know what Apple is doing

Just like the rest of us, whenever LeRoy speaks about cameras coming to the iPad 2, she does so with a raised eyebrow since nobody really knows what the company is cooking up, except for the folks within the company. But come on, dual cameras are inevitable.

She says: ‘Apple plays it close to its chest with all new product announcements – which is what makes them so mysterious and exciting! – so we don’t yet have any concrete information,’ which she prefaced by saying ‘it would be fantastic’ if video tech came to Apple’s next tablet PC.

Retreading your footsteps with better shoes on

Basically, Skype is merely retreading the path it has been going in recent months, following successfully launching video-calling on the iPhone 4, as well as many new announcements, including the acquisition of video service Qik. The Qik acquisition is perhaps the most exciting of the company’s recent developments, since that video-streaming software provided ways to natively record calls/videos in-app, something Skype no doubt want to deploy with immediacy.

We’re big fans of Skype’s VoIP phone replacing service, and improvements to the iPad Skype client are inevitable. Given the tablet PCs that already have video calling functionality, we would be shocked if the next iPad did not, too.

Photo: rnair / Flickr

It doesn’t matter who you ask, but most the world is in agreement that video calling technology is on the verge of exploding. While the technology has been around for years, it’s only now with the sharp rise of contemporary smartphones that the tech seems to be on the verge of reaching critical mass.

No other company in the world is more poised to take advantage of the inevitable explosion of video calling technology than VoIP giant Skype and the company’s acquisition of Qik, a high-flying startup, confirms its intent to be number one.

Acquisition philosophy

Skype CEO Tony Bates put up a blog post confirming that the VoIP giant had acquired Qik. Citing Qik’s ubiquity, being ‘available on over 200 mobile phones running Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile,’ Bates came across as genuinely excited about the deal.

‘Through this acquisition, we’ll also be able to take advantage of the engineering expertise that is behind Qik’s Smart Streaming technology, which optimizes video transmission over wireless networks.’

Price

The Skype Qik deal has been reported at two different points by various publications – $100 million (around £64,64m) and $150 million (£96.96m). All of this is based on information from sources, though, and not through an announcement by either company.

Given how Qik went from 600,000 users at the beginning of 2010, to having over 5 million users now, it’s safe to say the video service has proven its growth potential, and VoIP giant Skype probably paid a premium for the video calling technology company’s momentum alone.

The promise

Speaking on the Skype Qik deal further, Bates said that: ‘Together, we’ll focus on providing great products that will allow people around the world to share experiences in real-time video across different platforms, as well as storing those moments so they can be viewed later.’

As far as we can tell, this is a very good acquisition, and Qik’s video calling technology can only get better with Skype’s engineering experience and vast resources.

Photo: sparktography / Flickr

When Obama came into power, he was greeted with cheers premised on his campaign slogan, ‘change’. This not being a political blog, and we hold no opinion on how much he’s succeeded at that. What we will say, however, is that for online rights, the Obama administration has concerned us since day one.

And they’re taking it a step further, with the FBI looking to tap your telecoms and your emails.

First the phone, and now your Internets

The FBI wants the right to tap text messages, websites and emails in its quest to track down rogue groups. Citing the shift away from telephones for communication, the bureau claims that it is struggling to keep up with extremist groups, drug cartels, and other naughty organisations. This idea is being mulled around in the Whitehouse today, friends.

Ethically technical challenges, or technically ethical challenges?

The problem with this bill is two-fold. Firstly, there are serious ethical question that need to be addressed here. This is akin to FBI snooping, with the authorities asking for the right to monitor the private activities of anybody they deem suspicious. Hmm, sure sounds like Big Brother to us.

The second issue is that it requires a fundamental change in how much of today’s popular technology is built and works. Applications like Skype, and BlackBerry’s messaging service, which are directly in the firing line with this FBI snooping consideration, are heavily encrypted, and would require significant resources and funds to develop this fed-supporting backdoor. What’s worse is that it could also mean that online predators could find a way to this backdoor, and exploit the vulnerability.

In case it isn’t perfectly clear in the language used here, we’re completely against this FBI snooping initiative. We hope President Obama’s team abandons the initiative altogether.

Honestly, this makes the Digital Economy Act look like child’s play.

Photo: Cisco

Well, well, well! VoIP giant Skype recently announced its intentions to file for an IPO, but it looks like that may no longer be happening. Networking giant Cisco is apparently sniffing around the VoIP company, and if it wants to take the plunge, it’s going to cost them a pretty penny!

Lots of monies

If this Cisco Skype acquisition gets pushed through, it will likely cost the company $5 billion (£3.25 billion) and up. Big monies. More than that, it would put Cisco, whose legacy business is in routing, networking and switch manufacturing, in the services industry. The problem here for the company, if these Cisco Skype rumours are true, is that through Skype it would be in direct competition with many of its present day clients, like telecommunications firms and cable firms. But, at the same time, Cisco cannot afford to become a dinosaur, and needs to be proactive if it is to protect its core business.

Guess who else wanted some – Google

Reports also suggest that Google was interested in acquiring Skype but wisely chose to back down due to concerns about anti-trust regulations. Google has its own VoIP service through Google Voice, classic Gmail voice and video chat, and the newly released service that lets you make phone calls through Gmail. In short, the company Google knows regulators wouldn’t let it pass.

VoIP services a looming battlefield

Photo: Skype

We’ve long argued that VoIP services is where things are headed and, if not today, will someday soon erode the core businesses of telephony companies. This, however, makes you wonder whether a terrestrial landline or mobile carrier shouldn’t be sniffing around Skype itself. This would give them an exit out of their dangerously precarious business into the hotbed that is VoIP services, and though it would cannibalise its core business, it could be considered planning for the future.
With over 560 million users up for grabs, the Cisco Skype acquisition could be colossal because it puts a company clearly poised for future dominance under the care of potentially the most gifted engineering talent in the world.

What do you make of this, and do you think Cisco will push through for the VoIP services provider?

Photo: Stock.Xchng

We all love our mobile phones, don’t we? But the reality is not everyone can afford contract bundles and, like teens, have to settle for pay-as-you-go options. The problem here is it’s really easy to burn through your call units, particularly if you use a lot of data and make frequent calls. Here’s a surefire way to reduce your phone bill by up to 50 per cent!

Step 1: Be disciplined

The most important thing is being disciplined. Do you really need to call that person during peak times, let alone at all? Will a text message suffice, particularly if you end it with a firm ‘Thanks, I’ll catch up with you soon,’ so as to avoid the classic back-and-forth messaging? If you answered yes, you’re already on your way to reducing your phone bill charges as long as you stay disciplined.

Step 2: Alternatives

If you have the Internet in your home on a fairly generous bandwidth bundle, do you use VoIP services? Convert all your friends and family to Skype, or just IMing, and watch your phone bill charges crater without having to reduce how frequently you make contact with them.

Step 3: Turn off always-connected apps

Some applications rely on ‘phoning home’ or ‘push notifications’, meaning you’re always bleeding data – and this costs you money. This may not be a problem if you’re on a contract with a data bundle, but it is a problem if you’re on pay as you go. Your credits just seep away. Watch out – this is a surefire way to eek out some recourse from your phone bill charges.

Extreme measures: purchase a budget phone

Photo: Stock.Xchng

Some people cannot help but use their phones. It’s like muscle reflex, particularly if the user interface is fun to play around with. One tactic I used for several months was to keep a budget phone on my person. Generally speaking, these handsets do only two things well – make/receive calls and send text messages. And they’re not as much fun to use as contemporary smartphones, which leads to using them only when absolutely necessary. It’s extreme, yes, but the tedium of use (relative to smartphones, that is) makes for an awesome deterrent. Think of it like reformed alcoholics’ relationship with alcohol – they go out of their way to not be in an environment where there is alcohol, so as not to relapse. The difference is your smartphone-dependent self won’t keep tossing coin after coin to your carriers at whim because you don’t have your vice on you.

What techniques and methods do you have for saving on your phone bill?

Photo: Google

Oh snap! The millions of us who use Gmail everyday logged in and saw a very peculiar and unexpected notification – you can now make VoIP calls right out of the mail client. That’s Google’s way of saying ‘What’s good, Skype? What’s really good?’

How it works

Basically, when logged into Gmail with the classic view, where your Gtalk icons are, you will see a green phone icon. Pressing that button brings up a keypad on the bottom right of your screen – where your Gtalk conversation would default to if that. Now dial the number you’re trying to contact right out of the window. It can be a landline or mobile number – Google is non-descriminatory – and it will connect through its Google Voice protocol to the person you’re trying to contact, wherever in the world they may be.

Super cheap

Calls to the US and Canada within Google Voice for Gmail are free. Calls to regions like the UK, China, Europe and Japan will be as low as 2 cents for each minute of talktime, according to the folks at Google. Google was smart enough to give every user $0.10 of credit to test the service out, and like all responsible users the first person I called was, well, myself. Verdict? It works pretty well.

Google Voice a big deal

Photo: Stock.Xchng

This move to integrate Google Voice into Gmail is just one piece in a puzzle Google is slowly beginning to flesh out with its phoning system. TechCrunch had a report on how Google Voice payphones would begin sprouting up in US universities and airports, while others noted the push for Google Voice on the iPhone continues, regardless of Apple’s obvious resistance.

And though Google VoIP seemed a mere hobby for the company, it’s clear with this move that Gmail has Skype squarely in its sights.

A sign of the future

Google VoIP, Skype, and VoIP handset manufacturers all point to a future that can no longer be ignored – the day when Internet protocol-based calls circumventing the traditional networks are our default way of calling one another. Google Voice and Google VoIP are here to stay and Gmail is the gateway drug to get us all hooked on the service.

Photo: Skype

VoIP giant Skype has just filed for an IPO, signaling the end to its time as a private company. The requisite SEC IPO registration statement filing has revealed fascinating tidbits on the company and the economics of freemium Internet service.

Only 6 per cent of users pay

Skype revealed it has over 560 million registered users (wow), of which 124 million are active users. Of those 124 million active users 8.1 million of them pay for the service. This represents about 6 per cent of the entire active userbase, showing the type of volume large-scale freemium Internet services need to reach to become viable.

The economics

The filing also revealed that Skype’s revenue throughout the first half of 2010 totalled $406 million, of which net income was a mere $13 million. This represents an unappetizing net margin of only 3 per cent, which is especially low for a company that’s been running for as long as Skype has. Cash reserves currently total $85 million, so the company can, even on its own, shoulder a few bad quarters.

Growth plans and other pretty numbers

Photo: djking / Flickr

The VoIP service plans to grow its business by getting more of its user base to pay for the service. Six per cent, especially considering how compelling Skype’s service is for some countries, seems a very low number. Furthermore, with Skype looking to monetise mobile 3G users on platforms like the iPhone, direct revenue streams may steadily expand. In addition, Skype is looking to monetise its service through advertising of some sort, but details on that are still scant.

In the filing, the VoIP service took the opportunity to put other insane usage figures up to confirm how big a deal Skype actually is. Try this for size: Skype VoIP ‘users made 95 billion minutes of voice and video calls’ in the first half of this year, with 40 per cent of that time used for video calls. Crazy.

In addition, the VoIP service saw 84 million text messages sent using its platform. Nuts. People use Skype a lot. Now the question is whether Skype can get more of them to pay for it, making owning a stake in the company an interesting prospect. It’ll prove an interesting case study for freemium Internet services gone public. More importantly, Skype may have a halo effect on other VoIP handset manufacturers and services.

Photo: Skype

A mere few days after the release of its 3G-enabled iPhone Skype app, the VoIP company has revealed that the application has been downloaded nearly 5 million times already and these downloads are distributed across its main areas of business – Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region.

Quick flip

This brings the lifetime total of the iPhone Skype apps to well above 12 million, given that was the figure reported to GigaOM on 31 May, two days after the 3G version was released. Until we know how many units were downloaded between 29 May and 31 May, it is difficult to say just where the grand total sits, with Skype likely to announce it soon.

So are people beating it up?

The big question, of course, is, how much is it being used? In the Reuters report that revealed the download stats, the reporter seemingly forgot to ask this telling question. Considering the application is available for non-3G devices like the iPod Touch, in addition to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, it stands to reason some people who do not have 3G have the app downloaded, too.

Photo: Apple

What the usage figures will further reveal is how much of a drop off the 3G service will see once Skype begins charging users for it. Currently, making calls over the 3G network is free, but Skype has publicly stated that they plan on charging for the service sometime after August this year. This fee could have a major impact on adoption and usage, something Skype VP of mobile Russ Shaw is well aware of, in saying ‘we’re not going to price ourselves out of the market’ and, ‘I can’t ignore the fact that consumers use us for free (at present).’

Have you downloaded the iPhone Skype app? If yes, are you prepared to pay for using it later on?

Photo: Apple

Having Skype only able to work over wi-fi on the iPhone crippled the services ability to become the mobile VoIP platform. That’s finally gone with Skype over 3G available! Alas, the VoIP gods have found yet another way to hinder the service – payment. Yes, even for Skype-to-Skype calls.

So much for that all you can eat data plan

For those who are on unlimited data plans, thinking they would be able to make Skype-to-Skype calls and, hopefully, cut the fringes off of their phone bill, iPhone Skype has crashed that party, announcing Skype-to-Skype calls over the iPhone’s 3G network will be free for a limited period only. How long this period will be is as yet unknown, but the release notes within the application say it will be free until August 2010, at least. After which it will cost an as-yet-unspecified amount to make 3G calls over the mobile VoIP service.

Leading the VoIP charge

Photo: Skype

In recent months, talk of mobile VoIP calls replacing traditional voice calls has begun to gather steam and iPhone Skype is poised to take charge. The core technology is now in place, with capable smartphones fast becoming ubiquitous. The bottleneck lies in two places, though – the networks that do not have the necessary capacity, and widespread adoption.

Skype, with its 500 million plus user base, is best poised to take what has historically been cellular carrier’s cash cow – calling time charges. But the inclusion of a price tag on the iPhone Skype is as unexpected as it is wise. Two things will come of this strategy, though – the first is the service will have a potentially lucrative revenue stream, and the second is it will save networks like AT&T, who are already struggling with the demand, the additional bandwidth strain.