July 26, 2006
Dual-Mode Skype Phones To Come
Not satisfied with the Skype WiFi VoIP phones already announced by four companies (SMC, Belkin, Netgear, Edge-Core), Skype is working with other manufacturers to produce dual-mode phones for later this year.
Current parnters for these GSM/ WiFi dual-mode phones include Nokia and Motorola. Surprisingly, I didn't see this announced on Skype's website. One of the issues still to be worked out is whether the dual-mode phones will be released SIM-free, or whether they'll be able to work out deals with cellular providers. I hope it's the latter, as this sort of Skype experience would be more seamless than some of the current efforts to run Skype on smart phones, including PDAs such as Palm.
While GSM isn't going to be to everyone's liking, this is the kind of step forward that is likely to catapult Skype to the top of the VoIP market share, regardless of service category, and help them earn their keep. (Remember that eBay purchased Skype for US$2.6 billion.) Hopefully they'll be following up with similar announcements for other types of cellular networks.
Sources: [via Silicon.com]
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