Archive for April, 2008
April 30, 2008
We’re glad to report that the the corrected production version of iSkoot for Symbian S60 v3 is now available for download here. Because this is a critical security release, we will also be releasing a forced upgrade for current users around midnight tonight, California time.
Thanks again to everyone who helped us to identify and resolve the issue quickly!
Edit: Particular thanks go out to Phone Boy, as well as Andy Abramson, Dan York, Jonathan MacDonald, and Jim Courtney — who not only helped us to identify the issue but also kept the online community up-to-date on our efforts to resolve it.
The blog community is an amazing resource — particularly for new companies like us, where the participation and feedback of our users is fundamental to our success. Enabling real-time communication with in-the-know users like Phone Boy, the blogosphere served as a truly invaluable advocate during a critical security breach. We are incredibly grateful for the support, and warmly welcome continued feedback.
Posted in: Releases | 4 Comments
Tags: forced upgrade, security update
April 28, 2008
When The Phoneboy Blog reported over the weekend that iSkoot appeared to be transmitting unencrypted Skype credentials in the clear, we were surprised, because every production version of our iSkoot client uses SSL encryption to safeguard user data.
However, we take very seriously any potential security concern, and as it turns out we owe Phoneboy our gratitude. A recent build allowed a development/pre-production version of the Symbian client to be downloaded in place of our production version, which did indeed produce the issue Phoneboy reported. We have checked our other platforms (Blackberry, J2ME, Windows Mobile, etc.) and fortunately this issue impacted only Symbian devices. We’ve pulled the development/pre-production build and fixed the bug and will be doing a forced upgrade to every Symbian user no later than Wednesday (4/30).
We wish to express our sincere thanks to Phoneboy for identifying the issue. As he notes, “there’s absolutely no excuse for not encrypting the information with SSL” - we completely agree, which is why we use SSL encryption on every production build.
-Mark Jacobstein
CEO, iSkoot
Posted in: Releases | 4 Comments
Tags: forced upgrade, Phoneboy, security update
April 24, 2008
CNN.com’s technology journalist Cherise Fong highlighted iSkoot today in a piece called “The Revolution Will Be Mobilized,” which looks at the myriad of ways that friends and family stay connected on their PCs, and what’s being done on the scene today to transfer that connectivity to the mobile world.
Cherise points out that when it comes to Voice over IP, “it’s clear today that Skype itself is the big winner in the VoIP game.”
Cherise noted that:
“Most recently, iSkoot has extended its partnership with Skype, following its collaboration with mobile operator 3 for the global launch of the 3 Skypephone in October 2007, which was the first mass-market Skype-enabled handset as a carrier-integrated solution for mobile-VoIP IM services.“
That new partnership is geared up for us to deliver more cool new products like the 3 Skypephone to more more places than ever in the coming year. Mobile revolution, here we come!
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, agreement, CNN.com, Skype
April 23, 2008
The industry implications of the 3 Skypephone’s “Best Mobile Handset” Silver Medal win back at the Mobile World Congress certainly sparked interest over at Wireless Week, and in her article “Around the World with VoIP” journalist Monica Alleven looked to iSkoot to get the insider perspective on the ostensible push for VoIP-enabled handsets.
In an interview, our CEO Mark Jacobstein affirmed that “getting the nod from the GSMA awards was a big thrill, and iSkoot is getting inquiries from operators around the world, including North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. It’s fair to say there’s a high degree of interest both for solutions with brands like Skype and for white-label solutions.”
Monica surmises that operators are going to inevitably beef up their data networks to meet consumer demand for mobile broadband. So couldn’t they–in theory–offer their own flavor of mobile VoIP?
Mark explains that “much like voice mail or any number of other services that carriers provide using third-party specialists, the same can happen with VoIP. iSkoot can power [carriers'] VoIP solutions with any number of VoIP communities or provide a white-label solution. And with IP, iSkoot can boost voice minutes without requiring carriers to pay termination fees, historically a big expense.”
Mark went on to espouse the carrier-friendly aspects of the iSkoot solution, one of many features that makes our VoIP-enabling technology unique.
“A big differentiator for iSkoot is it uses the voice channel, not the data channel. That’s far more operator-friendly than a lot of other solutions. Plus, [in the case of the 3 Skypephone] iSkoot is deep in the stack, so it’s not just an application. It’s tied into the call log and address book and uses a gateway that sits inside the carrier’s network operations center, allowing the connection between mobile devices and the IP cloud.”
Monica’s conclusion: “A lot remains to be seen in terms of how U.S. operators incorporate VoIP into their offerings. In the meantime, to say the VoIP players have their heads in the clouds could mean a very good thing.”
We like to think so. 
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, awards, Mark Jacobstein, trends, voice vs. data, Wireless Week
April 22, 2008
The 3 Skypephone earned the second place ‘Highly Commended,” Silver Award in the “Best Mobile Handset” category by the GSMA Mobile World Congress! The first ever mass-market Skype-enabled mobile handset, the innovative 3 Skypephone leverages iSkoot technology to give customers push-of-a-button access to their online Skype accounts. Skype contacts and presence information are even integrated into the core features of the phone–like the general address book and call log–so users can enjoy seamless Skype calling and chat anytime. And best of all, all calls between Skype users are free of charge. It’s a pretty sweet deal and a one-of-a-kind mobile handset–and the folks at the GSMA Mobile World Congress (previously 3GSM) have definitely taken notice!
The 3 Skypephone was recognized for offering complete, first-of-its-kind integration of Skype functionalities and a wide range of features at an affordable price point. The award was given at the Global Mobile Awards Gala Dinner during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the world’s largest and most important communications conferences.
Our CEO Mark Jacobstein, on the 3 Skypephone’s Silver Medal win: “iSkoot is extremely thrilled by the accolades that the judges of the GSMA Mobile World Congress bestowed upon the 3 Skypephone in the Best Mobile Handset category. This award is a testament to the powerful synergism of our collaboration with 3 and Skype to develop the device. Together, we’re redefining the mobile handset experience for a worldwide audience of consumers-on-the-go.”
About the GSM Association
The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 215 countries of the world. In addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association’s initiatives as key partners. The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association’s members serve more than two billion customers - 82% of the world’s mobile phone users.
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, awards | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, awards, Mark Jacobstein, Mobile World Congress
April 21, 2008
Pat Phelan, telecom blogger and Cubic Telecom entrepreneur, joined the growing ranks of 3 Skypephone fans recently, as evidenced by his latest post, “Skype returns to its telecoms roots.”
Pat also expressed some serious enthusiasm about today’s announcement from Skype regarding their new unlimited long-distance calling subscriptions. Skype’s new calling packages enable users to place unlimited calls to a number of select countries for just 10 euro a month!
Pat says that whether you’re enjoying the unfettered mobility of the 3 Skypephone, or taking advantage of these great new unlimited calling subscriptions with Skype on your PC, all in all Skype offers a truly irresistible calling solution these days.
In his words, “These packages are certainly going to make me re-examine my Skype usage, couple this with the excellent quality I have been getting on my 3 Skypephone lately and its time for a package change on my Vodafone corporate account.”
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, New Things | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, Pat Phelan, Skype
April 18, 2008
Lee Dryburgh, eComm coordinator and telecom technology expert, sat down with Chief Analyst at STL Partners and long-time telecom strategist Martin Geddes a while back to mull over the short- and long-term industry effects of the telecom-broadband convergence. It was supposed to be a 15 minute conversation. It ran about an hour and 15 minutes. Yowza.
So what happens when you put two telecom thought leaders into a room to chat it up for 75 minutes? 2 things:
1. They confirm that mobile VoIP calling via the voice channel is the only viable solution, of course.
2. Jim Courtney takes notice.
You can hear the audio of the interview in its entirety here. But we’ll go ahead and share a few of our (and Jim’s) favorite excerpts with you.
For one, Lee sums up that when it comes to getting VoIP calling on mobile, “Ingeniously, Martin has been thinking of the Internet as a means of signaling and coordination rather than always also the best means of delivery.”
Martin proposes, “Why don’t we focus on allowing the “IP” part to do what it does well,” things like providing “presence data” and “location information….and let the phone[voice] network do what it does well, which is phone calls.”
He also points out that to get a 100% data-based VoIP calling system in place that will actually, reliably work for people, you essentially “have to throw an awful lot of [VoIP] technology at a problem [voice quality/delivery] that does not exist” otherwise.
Martin advises that we should “stop worrying about trying to do voice over IP until the technology is super duper mature until we can not possibly afford to maintain two networks -which is quite a long way away still.”
That’s what we’re saying.
*VoIP solution that sticks calls on the Voice network: Check!
*VoIP solution that uses the Internet as a “signaling system” to deliver presence info: Check!
So does this qualify our solution as (dare we say) “ingenious?”
As Jim Courtney says in his Skype Journal recap on the interview, “Sounds like iSkoot…may be on to something here.”
Posted in: The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: Jim Courtney, Lee Dryburgh, Martin Geddes, Skype Journal, voice vs. data
April 17, 2008
Didya hear? iSkoot has a Facebook Group! Come on by! If you’ve already got an account, you can check us out here.
We’re eager to round up iSkoot users to join our group - another great way to bridge the gap between our team…and you! It’s super easy: just open our page, and click on “Join this Group.”
You can even share the Group with your friends and family, by clicking the “Share” option. So show your iSkoot pride and spread the word.
Still not on Facebook? (And you know who you are.) Join today, and come hang with the iSkoot Group!
Posted in: New Things | No Comments
Tags: Facebook, Friends
April 16, 2008
Sarah Reedy penned a great piece entitled “The Next Great Mobile Phone” for Telephony’s Wireless Review recently, examining nontraditional hardware and software manufacturers’ new inclination to build and market their own branded mobile handsets. In the wake of the iPhone’s big stateside adoption and the 3 Skypephone’s successes around Europe, it’s now leaked that Sony has a PlayStation-branded mobile device in the works. This may be just the beginning. As Sarah puts it, “other hardware and software vendors [are] questioning if they too have a strong enough name and service — not to mention the money, time and expertise — to make the leap to mobility.”
So just how navigable is the terrain of the increasingly enticing mobile handset market? For in-the-know answers, Sarah went straight to the source: our iSkoot CEO, Mark Jacobstein.
When asked about the mobile Skype solution iSkoot devised to enable the 3 Skypephone, Mark comments:
‘I think the funny thing people sometimes say is, ‘That is really clever, but there is not much to it — you just take an IP PBX and stick it in between an ordinary phone call and the Internet, right?’ No: We’ve had 45-plus engineers in Israel banging on this for two years. So there are a couple of pieces that are really interesting and challenging.”
Mark makes the important distinction that while mobile handsets are becoming increasingly capable, the large majority are still far from qualifying as a ‘pocket PC.’
“Issues concerning software creation are radically different on a mobile handset, where battery consumption must be minimized and memory is constrained. The best method is to follow the BlackBerry’s example and do all the “heavy lifting” on the server side to ensure light client work and a simple user interface. As a result of the heavy lifting on the back end, they can have a very simple experience for the consumer on the front end.”
To get this kind of set-up just right though, Mark cautions that you really have to know how to make your way in the mobile environment.
“Even before you write the software, the most important thing is an architectural understanding that offloading as much of the CPU work and heavy memory usage and open socket and multiplexing to the back end as opposed to having the device do it, is really, really important. It is one of the reasons why frankly the number of successful transitions from consumer Internet services to mobile is actually very limited if you think about it. Guys who are used to working in a PC environment on the Web or with desktop clients don’t understand some of the limitations and, as a result, some of the architecture choices that have to be made.”
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, Management Team, New Things | No Comments
Tags: Mark Jacobstein, Telephony's Wireless Review
April 15, 2008
Eyeing Skype’s somewhat conspicuous lack of public commentary since new CEO Josh Silverman came aboard, our friend Andy Abramson over at VoIP Watch has taken matters into his own hands, cooking up a handful of projections for we can expect (and what Andy eagerly awaits!) to see on the Skype horizon.
With suspicions of a new beefed-up developer program and hopes that Skype revives last year’s “unlimited bundle” in place of Skype Pro, Andy also anticipates a lot more action in the mobile Skype department, spearheaded by iSkoot’s MVP executive roster!
In his words: “I’d expect to see more of the Skype Mobile play develop. iSkoot is on a roll with a new management team so sooner or later that has to benefit Skype.”
Armed with a new partnership aimed at unleashing iSkoot’s Skype-branded mobile products on a whole slew of new territories, we’re happy to tell Andy - that’s the plan.
Posted in: Management Team, The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: Andy Abramson, Skype, VoIP Watch
