Skype, the IP-phone company owned by Ebay, has announced a collaboration with hardware partners to deliver the first WiFi phones for Skype software, in a sense creating a cell phone that is free to the user.
Skype said consumers will be able to buy the phones from Belkin, Edge-Core, Netgear (one of the Skype phones pictured above), and SMC, through Skype’s online store and use them without service fees.
The devices come with everything built-in to connect to Skype via any personal, business or free public WiFi access point that does not require browser authentication.
The phones are, according to Skype, easy to set-up and use with automatic synchronization to a Skype account and contacts. The devices support common WiFi encryption protocols including WEP, WPA, and WPA2 with PSK support.
The new Skype Certified WiFi phones will all be available in Q3 2006, from the Skype store at skype.com/store: “People who are not computer savvy can be reached now at any time through the Skype phones and they can leave them running all day,” said Manrique Brenes, director of hardware development at Skype to the business site RedHerring.com. “It opens up a whole world of possibilities.
Redherring.com reports that Skype’s new phones will cost between $150 and $250, depending on the model. The Shype software will be embedded in the phone and the user interface will be the same as with their PC-based software.
Skype dominates the IP-telephony market with over 110 million registered users and more than 300 million download.
According to recent data from research firm Strategy Analytics, Wi-Fi phones will work better in such countries as the United States where about 8.4 percent of Internet users use WiFi, rather than Europe, who trails with 6.1 percent in the United Kingdom, and 5.1 percent in Germany—below the global average.
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