Skype (pronounced /ˈskaɪp/ ) is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.
Skype was written by Estonia-based developers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn, who had also originally developed Kazaa. The Skype Group, founded by Swedish-born entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and the Dane Janus Friis, has its headquarters in Luxembourg, with offices in London, Tallinn, Tartu, Stockholm, Prague, and San Jose, California.
One of the initial names for the project was "Sky peer-to-peer", which was then abbreviated to "Skyper". However, some of the domain names associated with "Skyper" were already taken. Dropping the final "r" left the current title "Skype", for which domain names were available.
Skype has experienced rapid growth in popular usage since the launch of its services. The company was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion. eBay has written Skype down to $1.7 billion on its books and announced a public stock offering for 2010 to spin Skype off as a separate company. Some media outlets have characterized the proposed sale and ongoing provision of Skype as being under threat, because of a software licensing dispute with the original creators. On September 1, 2009, a group of investors led by Silver Lake bought 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion. Later this amount was adjusted when eBay and the new investors settled a lawsuit that had been brought by a holding company set up by the original founders. It turned out that the holding company had always owned the underlying peer-to-peer technology. The lawsuit was eventually settled with ownership being divided with the new investors owning 56%, the original founders owning 14% and eBay retaining 30%.
Features
Main article: Features of SkypeSkype allows users to communicate by both voice, and more traditional textual instant messaging. Voice chat allows both calling a single user and conference calling. It uses a proprietary codec. Skype's text chat client allows group chats, emoticons, storing chat history, offline messaging and (in recent versions) editing of previous messages. The usual gamut of features familiar to instant messaging users - such as user profiles, online status indicators, and so on - is also included.
SkypeIn allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed by regular phone subscribers to a local Skype phone number; local numbers are available for Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A Skype user can have local numbers in any of these countries, with calls to the number charged at the same rate as calls to fixed lines in the country. Some jurisdictions, including France, Germany and South Africa, forbid the registration of their telephone numbers to anyone without a physical presence or residency in the country..
Video conferencing between two users was introduced in January 2006 for the Windows and Mac OS X platform clients. Skype 2.0 for Linux, released on March 13, 2008, also features support for video conferencing.
Skype for Windows, starting with version 3.6.0.216, supports "High Quality Video" with quality and features, e.g. , full-screen and screen-in-screen modes, similar to those of mid-range videoconferencing systems. Skype audio conferences currently support up to 25 people at a time, including the host.
A discontinued feature called "Skypecasting" allowed recordings of Skype voice over IP voice calls and teleconferences to be used as podcasts, which allow audio or video content to be syndicated over the Internet. Skype launched its "Skypecasts Beta" service in 2006. It remained in beta until its end. Skypecasts hosted public conference calls, up to 100 people at a time. Unlike ordinary Skype p2p conference calls, Skypecasts supported moderation features suitable for panel discussions, lectures, and town hall forums. Skype operated a directory of public Skypecasts. On August 26, 2008, Skype announced that Skypecasts would be discontinued beginning September 1, 2008. Skypecasts were shut down without any concrete explanation on 1 September 2008 at 12:00 UTC.
Skype does not provide the ability to call emergency numbers such as 911 in the United States and Canada, 000 in Australia, 112 in Europe, or 999 in the UK. The FCC has ruled that, for the purposes of section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, Skype is not an "interconnected VoIP provider". As a result, the U.S. National Emergency Number Association recommends that all VoIP users have an analog line available as a backup.
Skype Name
Registered users of Skype are identified by a unique Skype Name . Users may be listed in the Skype directory.
Skype clients applications and devices
- On April 24, 2008, Skype announced that they offer Skype on around 50 mobile phones.
- On October 29, 2007, Skype launched its own mobile phone under the brand name 3 Skypephone, which runs a BREW OS.
- Skype is available for the N800 and N810 Internet Tablets, which use the Linux Maemo environment.
- Skype is available on both the Sony mylo COM-1 and COM-2 models.
- Skype is available for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) Slim and Lite series, but the user needs to purchase a specially-designed microphone peripheral.
- The new PSP-3000 has a built in microphone which allows communication without the Skype peripheral
- PSP Go has the ability to use Bluetooth connections with the Skype application, in addition to its built-in microphone.
- Skype is available on mobile devices running Windows Mobile.
- The official Symbian version was under development in 2006, but was not released.
- Official Skype support is available as part of X-Series together with mobile operator 3. However this uses a regular mobile phone call and iskoot to a Skype gateway, rather than mobile internet. Other companies produce dedicated Skype phones which connect via WiFi.
- Third party developers, such as Nimbuzz and Fring, have allowed Skype to run in parallel with several other competing VoIP/IM networks (Nimbuzz has even NimbuzzOut as competing paid service) in any Symbian or Java environment. Nimbuzz has made Skype available to BlackBerry users.
- An official free Skype application for the iPhone OS was released in the iTunes store on March 31 2009. However, some network operators do not allow Skype calls to be made over their 3G network, restricting it to WiFi use only.
History
- September 2002, investment from Draper Investment Company and at that time, original name was Skyper.
- April 2003, Skype.com and Skype.net domain names registered.
- August 2003, First public beta version released.
- September 2005, SkypeOut banned in South China.
- October 2005, eBay purchased Skype (Oct 14).
- December 2005, videotelephony introduced. In April 2006, Number of registered users reaches 100 million.
- October 2006, Skype 2.0 for Mac is released, the first full release of Skype with video for Macintosh.
- December 2006: Skype announces a new pricing structure as of January 18, 2007, with connection fees for all SkypeOut calls. Skype 3.0 for Windows is released.
- In March 2007, Skype 3.1 is released, adding some new features, including Skype Find and Skype Prime. Skype also released a 3.2 beta with a new feature called Send Money which allows users to send money via PayPal from one Skype user to another.
- August 2007, Skype 3.5 for Windows released with additions such as video in mood, inclusion of video content in chat, call transfer to another person or a group, auto-redial.
- August 15, 2007, Skype 2.7.0.49 (beta) for Mac OS X released adding availability of contacts in the Mac Address Book to the Skype contact list, auto redial, contact groups, public chat creation, and an in-window volume slider to the call window.
- August 16 / August 17, 2007, Skype users unable to connect to full Skype network in many countries. Skype reports the system-wide crash was the result of exceptional number of logins after a Windows patch reboot ("Patch Tuesday").
- November 2007, Skype users are set to lose their 020 7 numbers after December 20, 2007.
- January 30, 2008, Skype released for the Sony PSP hand-held gaming system.
- March 13, 2008, Skype 2.0 for Linux released with support for videoconferencing.
- July 9, 2008, Skype 4.0 Beta is released, changing Skype into a full-screen application.
- September 1, 2008, Skype discontinues its SkypeCast service, citing difficulties in moderating chat rooms.
- September 8, 2008, The seventh season of the U.S. syndicated game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire premieres, with a new Ask the Expert lifeline that uses Skype for video chat.
- September 30, 2008, Skype 4.0 Beta 2 released, introducing 'Compact mode', after user criticism of the new default full-screen mode.
- October 2, 2008: Analysis reveals TOM-skype sends content of text messages and encryption keys to monitoring servers.
- November 2008, Skype added internal monthly an
BEYONCE KNOWLES - VIDEO PHONE LYRICS
Watch me on your video phone, on your video, video If you want me, you can watch me on your ... of excess with our list of like, totally awesome tunes. 10 Best '80s Songs; 10 Best ...
Vringo: Phone Video Sharing , video phone, free cell phone video ...
Get the best Internet video or create your own video clips and send them right to your phone. Vringo is the fun and easy way to share video clips with your friends using your ...
Samsung Instinct HD: Best Cell Phone Video Ever
"I have the WD Worldbook 1TB drive for over a year. It is worthless! Here are the reasons: - The MioNet software is full of problems. I spent more time reinstalling ...
best video phone - Forums
best video phone Hardware Interoperability ... I am looking for a high quality video sip phone (h264/h263) ideally with a tactile screen.
Best Video Phone Part 1 Of 2 on Yahoo! Video
See your friends, family and associates while you are talking with them with no additional monthly service fee.$28.99 Per Month FREE Unlimited Calling To The U.S., Canada & Puerto ...
Best Video | Facebook
Phone: 1-800-727-3843 Mon - Thurs: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm Fri - Sat: 9:00 am - 11:00 pm ... Best Video Too many titles to list! 3000+ VHS bought from collector and available for you.
YouTube - The Best Phone Ever? Video Phone Revealed!
http://www.VideoPhoneRevolu.... The Video Phone is the next must-have gadget. Whether you call it an IP phone, digital phone, or voip phone, it is the new way to communicate and ...
Best Video Phone Part 2 Of 2 on Yahoo! Video
By becoming an Independent Representative (IR), you can make an average residual income of $3,000 to $25,000 a month. ACN is the world's largest direct selling telecommunications ...
How to: Get Best Quality Phone Video up onto YouTube - All About ...
Analysis, tutorials and tips for your Nokia and Samsung Phones
YouTube - The BEST VIDEO PHONE & CELL PHONE DEALS
check out www.myacn.com for VIDEO PHONES, cheap home phone & voip service. Rep id of 01386502 on any order. www.acnwireless.com great pricing on cell phones and air cards for ...