3 Skypephone

Andy’s Tech Blog has reviewed the 3 Skypephone after having used it for over six months - the verdict is one of a happy satisfaction.

Despite indicating that the candy bar style Skypephone is likely to be changed soon because he needs a mobile that’ll hook up with iSync, Andy sees the 3 device as an easy recommendation. This is primarily due to the value it offers, in terms of both the purchase price of £39.99 and the low cost of calls; something he goes into detail on, making clear how he has been using the device.

Andy has found the phone “invaluable” since he started using it back in December and you can get some more details on the specifications and possibilities it offers by leaping through this link.

Lenfirewood of Flickr has been experimenting not just with his 3 Skypephone 2MP camera, but with some after effects also. It is fair to say he’s quite the dab hand.

You may have seen his images filtering through into the 3mobilebuzz latest photos stream. Lenfirewood has been using GIMP and picnik to adjust colours, get in some vignetting and layer up multiple images, and the results are impressive. Not bad at all by any stretch, and clearly demonstrates the possibilities of the 3 Skypephone camera combined with some photo editing know how. It is also good to see the handset and camera referred to positively in his profile, explaining that the device serves as a great way to keep connected to friends and family across the globe and that the camera performs beyond his expectations.

The two images below are from Lenfirewood’s Flickr account, which you can visit here.

Remember Skype Nomad Rebecca who recently set out on a round the world trip to show “she could be in “perpetual motion” and still communicate via Skype?” Remove The Labels have reported that she’s made it back home safe and sound; according to Rebecca “It was an epic adventure”, and achieved many Skype related goals such as Skyping while camel riding, on a Gondola and traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles in an RV.

Rebecca was impressed by the 3 Skypephone she took with her, stating ““It was the best bit of technology I took with me. It worked like a walkie-talkie. I could use it for free phone calls and text messages.” It saved her plenty of cash as she Skyped her way through Italy, Britain, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. She also kept in contact with her mother and grandmother who live back in her home country of Australia via Skype, as the 2 ladies both have 3 Skypephones of their own.

Rebecca also raised more than £7000 for her charity of choice, Motivation. Well done Rebecca! Anyone want to sponsor 3mobilebuzz on a round the world trip?

Neil Bird from iGadget Life has kindly pointed out that there are only a few days left to sign up and receive half price mobile broadband; the offer ends this Saturday, the 31st May. Existing customers of 3 can receive a 50% discount on line rental when taking out an 18 or 24 month contract which means mobile broadband can be yours for as little as £5 a month.

Neil mentions how he’s just recommended the deal to a friend who’s taking the leap on to the property ladder for the first time, which Neil realises is an expensive process and internet access can be an expensive addition. “This is where 3’s great offer of 1GB for £5 a month appealed, as she is already a 3 subscriber (thanks to me)” writes Neil. “This means that no landline is required, and she will be able to surf the net for next to nothing!” As Neil points out, where else can you get broadband, be wireless, and surf the net where ever you like, all for £5 a month?

You can sign up to 3’s half price deal here, but only until Saturday!

NEWSFLASH! We’ve just had it confirmed by 3 that the offer has been extended to the end of June, so that’s half price mobile broadband tariffs for existing 3 customers for another month!

Skype Nomad Rebecca is on a round the world trip and is keeping in touch with people via YouTube, her blog and also, as demonstrated by this video, her Skypephone. Her objective is to “not stop to sleep or eat. She will do everything on the move, using as many different forms of transport as possible” and the Skypephone is one method she can use to organise her trip while on the go. In the video, she explains what the 3 Skypephone is, mentioning the different colours it’s possible to get it in, demonstrates how to access Skype and uses it to call her friend Zoe in London. All in all, it’s a beautiful demonstration of the ease of communication using the Skypephone.

Gadgetspeak have given the 3 Skypephone a nicely detailed rundown; in the first half of the article, author mfereday describes the ergonomics of the Skypephone, then follows with a guide to what happens when you switch the phone on. How to log in or sign up to Skype is then covered, and the way to navigate the application, after which mfereday declares “I was reasonably impressed with the Skype capabilities of this phone”, highlighting the ease of use and the free calls to other Skype users.

Mfereday moves on to describe the methods of surfing the web through Planet 3, using MSN, Facebook, Ebay etc and a list of the various applications the phone itself contains. When addressing the camera, mfereday is not too fussed, but writes “you do get reasonable images within the 2 megapixel limitation”. He also finds the insertion of the SIM card to be slightly awkward, but ends by saying “I found the Skypephone to be a well-featured and useful device. I shall miss it when the company recalls my review unit.” Read the full length review at Gadgetspeak.

Over on SMS Text News a guest blogger who only goes by the name Terry has written a piece discussing whether the Skypephone will be taken up by mainstream users, or ‘normobs’ (normal mobile users). ‘Terry’ works in the mobile industry and has an “influential marketing position” which prevents him from speaking about such things on record, but unofficially he has plenty of interesting thoughts to contribute.

In an entertaining narrative involving early morning tubes, Polish armpits and tinny hip-hop, Terry describes some teenagers he overhears discussing the 3 Skypephone as ‘early adopters’. After addressing the point where normal people start discussing new devices in marketing terms, Terry goes on to talk about the importance of Skype, declaring it “is a technology that people really need, free phone calls straight from a computer”, reporting how even his dad uses it despite not being the most technologically savvy of people.

Terry then analyses why the man in the street hasn’t yet gone crazy for Skype; firstly it’s because though Skype itself is free, phones are not and to get the free aspect, users must buy the handset and top up, or buy a contract. His second point is that he believes the Skype application will instill fear in to the hearts of normal men, those who are used to just using their phone book and text messages. However, we should point out that on the Skypephone the phone book and Skype contact list are integrated with one another you can simply access your contacts from the standard phone book.

Time is the answer, thinks Terry, plus “cheap data and the ease of use of a rock”. These things will enable the masses to embrace mobile Skype, Terry suggests that perhaps he’ll even receive a Skype mobile call from his dad one day.

Check out ITProPortal.com for an extensive eight-page investigation into the 3 Skypephone, written by Desire Athow. Desire certainly goes in to depth, beginning with a quick catch up on its history: “It was the first phone which allowed you to make VoIP calls out of the box without any hacks and with the explicit approval of the service provider.”

Making note of the smallness of the 3 Skypephone, she carries on “It feels fairly sturdy and much slimmer than your average mobile phone”, mentions that the firmware can be updated from version 18 and how it can accept MicroSD cards of up to 1GB. She likes the screen, stating “The colours are vibrant and good enough to watch a few short movies”, but is concerned over the ease with which the screen scatches.

Desire doesn’t think too much of the 2 MP camera “Don’t expect miracles though as the camera struggles to deliver quality photos under low light conditions with an excess of noise” and wonders why there is no front facing camera for video conferences but is impressed by the sound quality. After a shortlist of 10 issues she had with the 3 Skypephone, Desire concludes “The Skypephone is not the ideal phone but it is certainly the cheapest way to access Skype and MSN messenger on the move; and does it in style.” Check out the full review at ITProPortal.com.

UK Gadgeteer has brought us the welcome news that the 3 Skypephone has, since its launch last October, climbed in to the fifth position of the best selling mobile internet devices in the UK, “based on the number of adverts served to mobile devices”! The news was initially mentioned on the AdMob metrics site, which informs those with a liking for figures that the 3 Skypephone has 2.7% of the market. Also present is the ZTE dongle at number 8, another 3 related product. For the full top ten, head over to UK Gadgeteer.

Anthony at Fresh Plastic has noticed that the bizarrely-Jackie-Chan-endorsed Woolworths has a great offer for anyone who hasn’t yet picked up a 3 Skypephone. They’re practically chucking them in the faces of consumers at £39.99 to buy on Pay As You Go.

As Anthony astutely points out, this includes £10 of pre-paid credit (according to a post he found over at MoneySavingExpert forum) which actually means the phone itself costs a penny under £30. All this adds up to Anthony’s belief that this could indeed be the best £30 handset in the world, and who are we to disagree?

He’s also included a handy bullet-pointed recap of just what you’ll get for your £39.99, so what more could you ask for?

VoIP Watch blogging bigwig Andy Abramson has posted a nice little love note to his 3 Sykephone. After speculating about why iSkoot will not be acting as mobile client for 30 new Skypephone handsets, Andy is momentarily overwhelmed with the glory of our favourite travel-friendly phone and 3’s tarrifs: ‘The H3G SkypePhone is one of the most amazing platforms around. And, personally I can’t beat the cost savings for calling back to the USA when I’m in the UK.’

Read more about just why he digs the device here.

We’ve all had one: the flatmate that hogs the phone talking to their girlfriend in Wales, spends hours trawling through online porn in their room, yet bickers about every last penny of your landline/broadband bill.

Well, Lolly of Blog Til You Drop thinks that 3’s dongle could be the perfect solution for anyone who shares a pad but is reluctant to tie themselves down to a 12 month phone contract which may well outlast the friendship. Having found installation very simple, Lolly has had plenty of use out of her mobile modem as she travels across the UK for work. She finds the signal strength pretty reliable, and is impressed with 3’s tariffs -although she does think that the dongles have been released in a few too many formats too soon.

In her entertaining post, Lolly also speculates that 3’s dongles will also really appeal to itinerant London-based Aussies, whose Skypephone contracts would secure them a discount - especially if they came in a few more colours. Pink dongles? I’m not going to rise to the bait.

There are a few cunning tricks to help you avoid paying long-distance fees when calling home while travelling abroad. As Ant UK points out on Fresh Plastic, the ol’ ‘three-rings-and-hang-up’ routine is by far the preferred choice amongst monetarily diminished jet-setters – but relies heavily on the subject of your calls wanting to talk to you badly enough to call you back. The other method mentioned by Ant UK is (of course) using the 3 Skypephone!

Ant UK’s sister is working on business in Hong Kong, which is one of the seven countries that supports the 3 Like Home service. This means that (if Ant had remembered to offer her his Skypephone), not only could she Skype call home for free, phoning any Skype-less friends she may have the misfortune of having can still be contacted for the same cost as a UK call.

Thanks to Ant UK for kindly reminding everyone about the benefits of the Skypephone and 3 Like Home…

To stay true to our roots, we thought we should link to Rational Geekery and his post on the 3 Skypephone, and the post about the same subject from Butterfly Mind.

Aaron Heath, the man behind RatGeek, has had his piece in the works for a while and it shows, as he lays down insightful specifications followed by analysis of value. He then discusses the 3 Skypephone in relation to using a client for Skype via a smartphone.

Butterfly Mind approaches the 3 Skypephone summary from a more anecdotal angle, and relays woes of porting her number all over the place, due to a variety of consumer woes. Armed with the 3 Skypephone, these troubles are behind her and all for an excellent price. As they say “The kids are already asking if they can ditch their providers and get Skypephones too”.

Doesn’t it feel pleasant to return to a bit of 3 Skypephone action just once in a while…

Ben Smith of SMS Text News has been skiing and has fully informed everyone, through the power of a blog entry, of his gadgetry themed escapades while away carving edges and putting his rear on chair-lifts.

Featuring among the many devices that feature is the 3 Skypephone, Ben’s choice for accompanying him out on the peaks. A selection he made because “it’s a great-sized handset with a decent camera for pictures on the slopes and USB charging means no proprietary adapter is required. Also at £50 I won’t be too distressed if it’s damaged.”

To read the extensive details of his time away and all the gadget action he got into click here.