Skype - Onwards and Upwards

It goes on.

Check out the current data here!!

When I started using Skype there was peak users of 635,120 and 28,267,164 downloads.

Skype, Firefox, Thunderbird

It's interesting you know. I don't read my own blog much but I went back to do a review of my current template and content a few things really hit me:::::

This blog is now 16 months old. My "About Stuff In A Blog!!!" profile has not changed one bit. I still love and only use Thunderbird, Firefox and Skype for their fantastic compatibility, usability and security in their specific fields. And for the most part they are free!!

If there are any Internet Explorer or Outlook Express users reading this then do yourself a favour and CHANGE!!! Don't take my word for it, Google it and see what they are all saying!! Firefox has 349,000,000 hits, Thunderbird has 39,000,000, Skype has 284,000,000.

The power is in the numbers.

Edit: I just did a Google search on Microsoft and it returned 2,000,000,000 hits. If we consider the amount of products that they have then their % is not so high when it comes to browsers. It goes to show that the exposure of these fantastic new products really are starting to eat into the Microsoft margins.

None for one and free for all!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry But It's Skype Again

Firstly, is blogging under the unfluence a crime?

I hope not!!!

Skype 2.5 Beta is out and it's yet another quantum leap into the future.

The most fantastic improvement of a most fantasitic product is the ability to SMS.

Enjoy!!!

SkypeIn Australia

Today, or yesterday depending what part of the world you're in, SkypeIn Beta landed for Australia. That means that you can purchase a number in Austalia and even more specifically in area codes 02, 03, 07 and 08. The price is Euro10.00 for 3 months or Euro30.00 for a full year. And included in the price is Voicemail.

The service works like this; you give out your SkypeIn number to those that don't have a Skype account and they call you on that number. Skype then forwards that call to your computer if you are logged on. If you are not logged on then you can Call Forward it to a telephone number basically anywhere in the world.

Well done again Skype!!!!!

By the way, within the next 24 hours Skype will officially have 100 million registered user names. (edit: actually while I have been writing this the 100 M has been passed)

That doesn't convert into active users though. I have two user names but on actively use one. My step son has three but he only uses one. People that registered, tried it out and then never came back are also included in that number.

My guess is that there are something like 20 million active users. The daily peak usage generally occurs between 14-16 GMT at a bit over 6 million users online and growing.

Myself and a mate, Pete, started using this service back in Oct 2004 and on 19/10 there were 635,120 users online with a bit over 28 million downloads. There have now been in excess of 290 million downloads of the software.

Australian VoIP Services

A friend of mine in Australia asked me what VoIP provider I used and went on to say that he was looking at either Engin or Firefly. So I thought that I better check these other 2 out and compare them to the service I use which is Skype.

So, the following tables are what I found (prices are per minute unless otherwise stated).

Service	Skype Euro	Skype AUD	Engin	Engin
Monthly Fee	Free	Free	$9.950	$29.950
PC to PC worldwide	Free	Free	Free	Free
Local Calls Aust	$0.017	$0.027	$0.100	$0.100
Capital Cities Aust.	$0.017	$0.027	$0.100	$0.100
Mobiles Aust	$0.165	$0.266	$0.270	$0.270
13/1300 Aust.	$0.017	$0.027	N/S	N/S
1 800 Aust	N/A	N/A	N/S	N/S
US	$0.017	$0.027	$0.035	$0.035
UK	$0.017	$0.027	$0.035	$0.035
NZ	$0.017	$0.027	$0.035	$0.035
NZ Mobile	$0.252	$0.406	$0.590	$0.590
Brazil	$0.044	$0.071	$0.140	$0.140
Brazil Mobile	$0.173	$0.279	$0.290	$0.290

Service	Skype Euro	Skype AUD	Firefly	Firefly Sub
Monthly Fee	Free	Free	Free	$5.950
PC to PC worldwide	Free	Free	Free	Free
Local Calls Aust	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.049
Capital Cities Aust.	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.100
Mobiles Aust	$0.165	$0.266	$0.300	$0.290
13/1300 Aust.	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.100
1 800 Aust	N/A	N/A	Free	Free
US	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.039
UK	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.039
NZ	$0.017	$0.027	$0.069	$0.049
NZ Mobile	$0.252	$0.406	$0.500	$0.500
Brazil	$0.044	$0.071	$0.145	$0.145
Brazil Mobile	$0.173	$0.279	$0.305	$0.305

Green text - service to service e.g. Engin to Engin
Blue text - $25 worth of calls included in monthly fee
Yellow text - untimed call
N/S - not sure
N/A - not available
Euro to AUD X-rate 1.6116 (as of 16 Feb 2006)

Further Info

If you were to use $9.95 worth (i.e. Engin) of Skype you would have 363.176 minutes (6.053 hours) to fixed lines in Australia and most parts of the world or 37.418 minutes (0.624 hours) to mobiles in Australia.

If you were to use $29.95 worth (i.e. Engin) of Skype you would have 1,093.177 minutes (18.22 hours) to fixed lines in Australia and most parts of the world or 112.63 minutes (1.877 hours) to mobiles in Australia.

Skype has no monthly fees; you only pay for what you use.

With Skype and Firefly you must have your PC turned on. They are both softphones.

Skype wins hands down on the international front.

Skype currently offer what is called "SkypeIn" in 12 different countries, unfortunately not yet in Australia but I believe that it will become available in the next 12 months. This is a service where you get a number in your country but for sure it will be one of the capital cities Engin will not be intersted in this because they use your existing land line and Firefly are still quite a small outfit.

I can't see how with any of these services that you can yet do away with your existing line so that you can still receive calls but the time will come some day soon.

For Australian customers Skype has the disadvantage that the servers are located in Europe meaning that if your are in Sydney and call your neighbour then your voice will travel to Europe and back as will the voice of your neighbour. You may experience some latency (delay) but in saying that I llive mainly in Brazil and call my parents 1-2 times per week to their land line and I would say that generally it is better quality than land line to land line.

I have saved a minimum of AU$3,000 in the last 16 months. I call more frequently and for longer to family and friends around the world.

Conclusion

I will definitely stick with Skype.

Google Talk and Skype

"Skype" is a great telephony product; quite feature rich.

"Google Talk" is also a great product but with more limited features.

For PC to PC calls they are both free :-)

I've been using Skype now for 12 months and it has revolutionalized my use of telephony BUT you need a minimum of 36.6 kbps dial-up or broadband for it to function well enough to overcome the latency factor (delay and breakup).

Google, on the other hand, needs only 24-28 kbps to maintain an excellent quality conversation without latency.

The only problem is that you must have a gmail account but they are not too hard to come by (if someone wants an invite then let me know).

So, for those of you with "not so great" dial-up that have been missing out so far then give it a go.