3 Skypephone archives

This week Stephen Timms, the Minister for Digital Britain (@stephenctimms) made the billionth Skype minute on the 3 network to the CEO of medical aid charity Merlin. 3 have donated some skypephones to Merlin to help them keep in touch with their staff on the ground in Haiti.



Stephen at UKGadgeteer (@ukgadgeteer) and Craig at geekcomputers (@geekcomputers) share their views on this milestone.



Between them, 3 customers make 3 million minutes of Skype calls a day. Do we have any avid Skype users in our midst that help contribute to this?!

If it’s tips on how to get the best out of your INQ Mini you’re after, then you’d be well advised to get yourself over to UKGadgeteer, where they’ve posted a second useful piece of advice.

You might remember that we drew attention to Sam’s first INQ Mini tip, which suggested hooking your mobile’s browser to m.inq.getjar.com to get access to an array of free and paid for apps.

The latest snippet will help you to capture new fixes and features into some of the applications of your device as INQ rolls them out, such as Skype, Facebook and Twitter.

UKGadgeteer says: ‘It’s nice to know it’s this easy to get updates.  As you may remember, the INQ1 had a number of updates delivered this way after a few months of release. We should also add that INQ also stated they update their manufacturing build with these new updates, so a brand new phone may not need updates when taken out of the box.’

If you’re a social networking type and you think that the INQ Mini could be your bag, don’t forget that 3 last week dropped the prepay handset price last week. Sounds like a decent stocking filler… Santa can expect a lot of new Facebook friends and Twitter followers this Christmas.

Over at Mobile Shop, there’s news that the number of people using Skype is set to grow in the future. But analyst Rupert Wood predicts that:

‘Until…operators start offering [VoIP] as a primary line service then people will probably be largely uninterested’

3 are leading the way with the support of the service, first with their Skypephones and latterly with the INQ range. Do you Skype? Whay do you think more people don’t? Let us know your feelings on the matter.

“Because free is what you want — and free, increasingly, is what you’re going to get” says Chris Anderson of wired.net, and this increasing consumer predilection forms the basis of the second of the ‘Game Changers’ events organised by the IPA Strategy Group.

Hosted by three truly inspirational speakers, including Marc Allera, Sales and Marketing Director at 3, the event happens at the Arena at Partners Andrew Aldridge, (60 Great Portland Street), on Tuesday 14th July – and kicks off at 5.45 with the first speaker on at 6.15pm.

In the spirit of ‘Free’, there is no cost for tickets, and places for this ‘lo-fi, informal event celebrating game changers’ can be booked online here - with the organisers only asking for attendees to tweet, blog, take photos or film in return.

Other speakers include Ian Clark, Managing Director of thelondonpaper and MT Rainey, Founder and CEO of Horsesmouth.

A particularly interesting article turned up this morning courtesy of top10-broadband.co.uk, effectively setting everyone straight on those points of concern that still may rankle when considering the purchase of mobile broadband.

Reassuring everyone that “the days of punitive charges of £45 per GB are a relic of the dim and distant past”, as well as the fact that EU legislation to promote competition “will slash costs for overseas use even more” – they even applaud aesthetic steps that have been taken with the dongle. “3 sells dongle skins to let you add a dash of colour to your mobile broadband experience.”

Ideal for those investigating their first foray into Mobile broadband, or those with a pressing question – go and take a look now.

According to Amy-Mae at Pocket-Lint, 3’s original Skypephones, the S1 and S2 which offered ‘a dedicated Skype key and free Skype calls’ are being retired. But the good news for Skypers is that with the promise of ‘as many as six INQ-branded mobiles in 2009’ Amy-Mae reckons that we ‘could be on for an imminent new model in the range, to fill the S1 and S2’s shoes’.

What would you like to see in a new Skypephone? Head over and let Amy-Mae know your thoughts.

The guys over at Mobilenews have revealed some quite interesting news. INQ are apparently in talks with Twitter about the possibility of including the micro-blogging platform in their array of applications – joining Facebook, Last.fm, Skype, Windows Live Messenger and eBay.

INQ chief executive Frank Meehan has said, “Twitter is something we are very much looking at” - good news for anyone who loves their social media.

Head over, read the post and leave them your thoughts.

UK Gadgeteer, reports on the announcement that iPhone is now Skype compatible, and they point out that even though you can’t use Skype over 3G, “Skype chats, and setting your Skype status and mood message will work over EDGE / 3G”. However, it is the not being able to keep the app functioning in the background that they take note of, “Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian (via clients like fring), [and] even the INQ1 and Skypephone all benefit from the ability to leave the app running.”

There is more on this discussion here, or if you want to read the full UK Gadgeteer post click through…

Neville Hobson has Skyped up his iPhone and given a comprehensive overview of the service. He points out that , “[…] if you’ve used Skype before on a computer or a mobile device – with Skype Mobile, for instance, or perhaps with a 3 Skypephone – you’ll know what to expect: it’s simplicity itself, both to set up and use.”

He also mentions though that “[…] you can’t run Skype while you use your iPhone for anything else.” This is also pointed out by Karooze in a three page long thread at the O2 online forums, where discussion also takes in only being able to use the service via WiFi.

This is echoed in Digital Spy where the talk of ‘advancement’ is countered by Ricardodaforce among others, “the OP’s talk about something that “will revolutionise the phone market in the coming months/years?” seems a bit weird when VOIP on the iPhone has been here for ages!”

Boards.IE pit the app against Fring and there is more general discussion in AVForums should the above not give you the fill you need.

News of Skype on the iPhone has prompted a response from 3, as reported by Pocket-Lint’s Amy-Mae Elliot.

The operator has pointed out not only have they been offering the service since 2006, but also that Skype on the iPhone functions differently. Whereas the iPhone relies on Wi-Fi, 3 use the 3G network meaning customers can make a Skype call whenever they have a signal.

Available on contracts from £9 a month and for regularly topping up PAYG customers it is no surprise that the network sees “over 1 million minutes of Skype to Skype calls [being] made on 3 every month.”

For Pocket-Lint’s full article click through…

mattywoz from the HotUKDeals forum has snapped up a 3Skypephone for £12.49 at his local Sainsbury’s for his mother-in-law to keep in touch with her son abroad.

Ant UK spotted this and posted on his Fresh Plastic site, along with a few details about Skype and topping up. He says that in these ‘global credit meltdown thingy-majig’ times the price represents a good purchase. He recommends snapping up a couple or three.

The INQ1 has just been re-released in a fetching black variation. Mobile Phones have covered the news giving some details on the device overall. Currently only have an image from the 3 Store, as yet to see one in the flesh, or plastic, I suppose would be more appropriate. Anyway, they’re available from today.

Skype’s upgrade to the 4.2 version of their software has prompted a post from Chris Dawson at Tamebay in which he turns his thoughts to their other recent ‘big news’, Skype Out on 3’s Skypephone.

Being able to have a mobile package on which you can call any number in the world via Skype is a significant change, something that is not lost on Chris; “This is a huge step forward, with other mobile providers attempting to limit VOIP on mobiles, even over WiFi, 3 have taken a brave step in fully embracing Skype.” This concurs with the thoughts of Andy from VoIP Watch, and is certainly the reaction 3 are hoping to provoke as the market moves forward.

Friend of 3mobilebuzz, Ant UK has been getting a ’sweet’ deal from 3. After spending some time, “at most, quarter of an hour,” doing a piece to camera for them, he received a text thanking him and suggesting that for his help they’d send him a “cake or something”. And they did! Nine delectably topped cupcakes in fact, direct from the The Hummingbird Bakery. A nice touch indeed - they look very good… I may follow my own link, then check out ordering information…

I had no idea what Flashpacking was before reading this post. To be honest, I still had no idea immediately afterwards. In fact, it took a Google search and a visit to Wikipedia before I discovered that Flashpacking is simply ‘backpacking with a bigger budget’. That explains why I had never heard the term before.

Flashpacker guideblog, The Tux in the Backpack, shares its top ten online resources for the affluent backpacker. Alongside such sites as Tripadvisor, Travelpod and (of course) Wikipedia, the 3 Skypephone is praised for bringing the most popular VoIP service out there into your pocket – rescuing our wealthy wanderers from those “call abroad for cheap” phone booths.

While it’s great that the 3 Skypephone continues to attract attention for its unique benefits, I hardly think it’s the reserve of well-off wanderers. Have any ordinary backpackers taken the 3 Skypephone abroad with them? If so, how did it work out?