February 2008

Those of you who take an interest in such things will have noted 3mobilebuzz’s very own Flickr roll updating rapidly recently. This all down to the photo-go-go work of Paul and Aline, extremely active members of the photo-sharing community.

Since purchasing the 3 Skypephone (a moment captured above), the device has had it’s camera shutter well and truly exercised, on the beach, at the airport and in the home. I’ve included a couple of the best and should you want to immerse yourself in the Paul and Aline AMOI WP S1 experience further you can, see them all here.

Adam Caitlin has written on the 3 Skypephone and it seems that it’s variation of pink is quite a hit, “Pink colour has its own appeal. It signifies anything that is beautiful and valuable. And hence the fact that the 3 Skypephone is available in the colour pink is like divine providence.”

Once Adam gets past the joy of pink, he delivers his review of the device mentioning all the important details, Skype, 2MP camera, music player, web-browsing, bluetooth and so forth. It is all the features that lead Adam to his conclusion, a conclusion that contains his final mention of the pink detailing on his handset, “All these features combined together make the pink 3 Skypephone a very dependable gadget.”

Feature-laden, dependable and pink. What more could you want?

Across the pond, Venture Beat is discussing the benefits to the consumer of a U.S. based mobile price war. Embroiled in the article is a paragraph regarding Skype.

After covering the news of Skype’s 100 billion minute success, author of the piece MG Siegler mentions the other peak Skype reached, over 12 million concurrent users!

The article goes on, pitching the 3 Skypephone as a smart move, because in light of the trend toward VoIP across the market (a change that Seigler believes will be slowed by the current price war), the device ensures Skype are prominent in the space and ahead of the competition. Can Skype’s ascendancy be challenged?

Ben Werdmuller, co-founder of Elgg, has divulged the five technologies he can’t live without, one of which, is Skype.

Stating that when he is on the phone, he is almost invariably on Skype, a service he describes as “invaluable” when talking to people overseas, as well as being excellent for video conferencing and IM-ing. He then suggests that pre-empting the market and moving into mobile VoIP with the 3 Skypephone, is likely to keep Skype as the market leader in the VoIP melee, something which will undoubtedly be assisted by the 100 billion minutes mark recently based by the company.

To read about Ben’s other four choices and Ben in his own right, click this link.

Ciaran Moore of CiaranMoore.blogspot.com has been getting involved with the 3 Skypephone for a few months and has just posted his thoughts in an article titled “This Is Cool”.

A man preoccupied with style, his attention first falls on the look of the device, which he commends using a selection of words including nice, simple, comfortable and solid. That box checked, he moves on to the functionality. Despite having some frustrations getting the Skype connection as consistent as it should be, Ciaran was impressed, especially with some of the other features that the 3 Skypephone offers. Mostly this revolved around enjoying the 2MP camera for its “social-snapping” abilities, and being able to use Windows Messenger to instant message whilst on the move.

And what of the Skype Revolution? “Wouldn’t it be great if everyone had a 3 Skypephone, so we would be able to rid the world of costly communication. That day will come, people.”

It has been reported that Skype has reached the ever impressive milestone of 100 billion minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls… Now that is a lot of free conversation!

IT Wire have three pages on the story, reflecting on the impact Skype has made since its global launch in 2003. They make sure to mention the user statistics relating to the service, 276 million registered with 30 million of those added in the 4th quarter of 2007.

Further to this is the addition of the 3 Skypephone, which has had an important impact as discussed on page two of the article. With Skype now mobile and in a format easily accessible to the masses, those Skype-to-Skype minutes are going to keep clocking onward and upwards, meaning no slow up in sight for Skype or VoIP in general.

Bring on the trillion!

At BrendanCooper.com, Brendan has sat down with Joël Céré for a friendly chat about all that is Social Media.

It is a interesting read, taking on board some of the developments that Céré is watching and predicting big things for, some of which he is involved in and others that he just likes the look of. Another topic he discusses is Skype, a service he uses and believes in, referring to it as an “amazing invention.” This leads naturally into his experience of the 3 Skypephone which he trialled, “Fortunately, it came at exactly the right time for me. I use Skype a lot, and I happened to really like the device.” This is done in the context of whether his being perceived as ‘techy’ is a barrier when spreading Social Media awareness. He believes not, suggesting that communication is the point and that the technical aspect doesn’t have to come into it.

All compelling stuff I’m sure you’ll agree, to read all of the interview dive through here.

After almost bagging the best mobile handset award at the GMAs there have been a few mentions of the awards dotted across the blogosphere. Following on from our coverage of Gizmozworld’s post regarding the 3 Skypephone’s honourable mention, we thought we’d highlight some of the posts in a similar vein that are being perused by the eyes of the blog reading community.

Firstly is Villu Arak, who commends the judging panel for commending the 3 Skypephone and believes that as more Skype enabled devices enter the market place the 3 Skypephone will be the standard by which others are measured. This post prompted a response from Peter at Skype blog U.K. who discussed the literal concept of ‘free’ in relation to the device.

And finally, there was Sue at Tamebay referring to the 3 Skypephone as “lovely” and offering her congratulations in a link round up.

Sue at Tamebay has been writing on the move toward VoIP providers having to offer emergency call support. This means that by September 2008, a company such as Skype will be required to facilitate a 999 call via their service.

It is a point that undoubtedly needs addressing, as according to Ofcom, over three quarters of VoIP users were unaware of the fact that they were unable to ‘holla for help’. The problem with implicating this is that the user will need to verify location every time they sign-in - a step that is likely to annoy. Sue highlights that the 3 Skypephone does get around this problem, as it provides mobile access to the emergency services. Obviously though, this is an exception - which can only mean that VoIP is set to alter.

The GSMA’s for 2008 have been announced, and sadly the 3 Skypephone missed out in the Best Mobile Handset or Device category.

Bravely punching above it’s weight in terms of price bracket, the plucky fellow missed out to the Sony Ericsson W910 Walkman Phone. Nevertheless, all was not lost, and as Gizmozworld points out, the 3 Skypephone did receive an honourable mention from the Judges. In their words, “The Skypephone is an innovative partnership between Hutchison 3 and Skype. In addition to the headline Skype service, the phone offers extremely good value for money with a wide range of features not previously seen at this price point.”

Maybe next time…

Hub of all that is 3 Skypephone, the 3 Skypephone forum was posed the question of whether or not the device was suitable as a business solution.

The inquiry was made by relative newcomer to the venue Entity, responses came from those moving towards forum veteran status Cundy, Wonko and Elmer. Each gave their own opinion on the device, all of which were fairly positive. Wonko related his Italian based findings, Cundy heavily recommended the PAYG option over the contract and Elmer, although stating that the contacts limit may not be enough for a business, believes that there is no better handset with Skype capabilities.

All the minute nuances of the discussion can be read here.

Over in the Vox community, Fresh Plastic has been outlining some plans for his Eee PC. One of these endeavours is set to involve his 3 Skypephone.

FP intends to get his Harryhausen hat on and try his hand at stop animation, utilising the combination of 3 Skypephone and Eee. He has suggested that the animation will be short, but this does not lessen our intrigue. With the promise of Lego stars (hopefully a man called Jason and some argonauts) 3mobilebuzz awaits the premiere with eagerness.

As soon as it arrives you’ll know about it here.

Mobile Choice UK have collaborated with 3 for the sake of all those wanting to win a 3 Skypephone. The union has spawned a competition of the multiple choice variety, and with only 3 possible answers you have to fancy your chances.

The question is as follows, which internet-based technology is the Skype service an example of? The choices are similar, but we reckon you’ll manage:

1 - VOPI
2 - VOIP
3 - VOPA

To enter, simply head to this post and fill in your answer and details - a 3 Skypephone could be yours. Hurrah!

Robski was faced with the decision of choosing a new device when his employers ended his current mobile contract. This reason for requiring a new phone is not the most exciting, as he admits. It is no dramatic accidental drop from a lofty tourist attraction, say the Eiffel Tower or as amusing (to everyone, except you) as seeing your device disappear around a u-bend. Nevertheless, Robski was incommunicado and not relishing the prospect of having to solve the issue.

Heading into the cluttered world of the mobile market, Robski stumbled across the 3 Skypephone and with minimum deliberation, due to the price and feature set, he ordered his device. It arrived promptly and what were his thoughts? “It’s a great little package […] I would recommend anyone to get this phone, for a pleasant sleek and stylish mobile solution.”

Robski’s review offers some finer details on his new phone that are well worth a read, especially if you are faced with the quandary of ‘what mobile?’

At Collections Mobile Phone Blog there is a super skinny review of the 3 Skypephone that relays a small clutch of details on the device. However, it is accompanied by some rather excellent images of the white and blue variation of the phone.

Judging by the watermark, the images appear to have been procured from ePrice, who have set the 3 Skypephone against an ancient chart of the world. A clever association for a phone that breaks the boundaries of international communication, one might even say, map-nificant! Sorry…