Archive for May, 2008
May 29, 2008
The BREW 2008 Developer Awards were last night, but sadly iSkoot didn’t end up taking home the gold. In the running against just 2 other finalists for BREW’s “Best Community/Social Networking Application” award, our iSkoot for Skype solution was bested by loopt - a mobile social network that uses location-based services to let users map where their friends are.
Fair play, loopt. And while the gang here at iSkoot is (admittedly) a tad disappointed, we’re not inconsolable…
We have, after all, laid claim to loopt’s former EVP. Perhaps we’ve mentioned him: Mark Jacobstein? 
So a big congrats loopt, Match.com for mobile, and to all of this year’s BREW 2008 Developer Award nominees and winners.
Posted in: awards | No Comments
Tags: BREW 2008 Developer Award, Loopt, Mark Jacobstein
May 27, 2008
“While I’ve got you folks on the voice bandwagon, I just have to rave about yet another up-and-comer in the VoIP space: iSkoot.”
Compliments of mobile junkie and general tech enthusiast Mobile Buzz, aka Lilia M, iSkoot enjoyed a great blog write-up a few weeks back. Who doesn’t love an introduction like that?
Lilia and Mark Jacobstein had a chance to catch up recently; and in her post “Free Long Distance Calls from your Phone,” Lilia puts forth her analysis of what we’ve got going here at iSkoot.
“iSkoot’s value prop for the moment is Skype for the mobile phone. Through a downloadable client you can access all of your Skype contacts on your phone, and call or IM with other Skype users whether they’re on a PC or another mobile Skype phone. This is particularly enticing when it comes to making long distance calls.”
Of course, you can’t talk iSkoot value props without prompting discussion about our unique, carrier-friendly approach to mobile VoIP. Lilia comments:
“[U]nlike some of its popular competitors such as JAJAH, iSkoot uses the circuit-switched data network. From the operator’s perspective it also eliminates long distance termination fees due to other operators. At the same time it is a very good way to drive…minutes of use; the argument being that people would rather wait to get home and make a free call on their PC using Skype than pay for a call right when they want to make one.”
And so the official conclusion from Mobile Buzz:
“iSkoot is already doing extremely well. It has successfully launched its client on a number of devices…[and] has already received tons of good press and awards. Plus one thing I am certain of is that iSkoot has many other things cooking.”
We won’t argue with that.
Posted in: The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: Mark Jacobstein, Mobile Buzz
May 23, 2008
Our friend Jim Courtney over at Skype Journal knows a thing or two about the happenings in the world of Canadian wireless. In his piece “The Canadian Wireless Scene Gets Interesting,” Jim spent some time weighing the implications of Canadian wireless operator Rogers being the only GSM service provider in the country.
With Roger’s singular claim on GSM, Jim surmises that there are really “four potential suppliers” for the mobile operator from the smartphone camp:
* Apple, with its iPhone which requires GSM
* RIM, whose WiFi -enabled 8×20 Blackberries require GSM to be able to use the UMA/GAN feature
* Nokia, who basically only builds GSM-compatible devices
And…
* iSkoot with their Skypephone which requires GSM
That’s what we call a line up.
But until the Skypephone - which is currently available in Europe, Asia and Australia - makes the hop across the pond, Jim reminds that our FREE iSkoot for Skype software enables mobile Skype calling today on a variety of devices, including those BlackBerry and Nokia smartphones - plus a load of others. So get your mobile Skype on, Canada!
Posted in: 3 Skypephone | 2 Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, Jim Courtney, Rogers, Skype Journal
May 22, 2008
In our book, you can never hear too much of a good thing - especially when that good thing is more news that the 3 Skypephone is owning the show in the UK.
The latest batch of proof comes from AdMob’s April 2008 Mobile Metrics report: In its first month of AdMob Mobile Metrics tracking, the 3 Skypephone is already grabbing enough ad requests to place it in the UK’s top 5 handsets! The first-of-its-kind, iSkoot-powered device accounts for more than 2.7% of AdMob’s total traffic in the United Kingdom, and is running neck-and-neck with Sony Ericsson and Nokia’s top devices. Go 3 Skypephone, go!
AdMob serves ads for more than 4500 mobile web sites. It’s monthly report offers a snapshot of the data in their network to provide insight into trends in the mobile ecosystem. You can inspect AdMob’s full Mobile Metrics report for April 2008 right here .
Posted in: 3 Skypephone | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, AdMob
May 20, 2008
They say good things come in threes! iSkoot has just gotten its third developer award finalist nomination of the season - this time for a BREW 2008 Developer Award in the “Best Community/Social Networking Application” category. And we’re one of just three finalists in our category! Coincidence?
The BREW 2008 Developer Awards features seven total award categories of commercial and pre-commercial BREW applications and services that represent the best and brightest in wireless data innovation. Winners in each of the categories will be revealed and honored in a special ceremony next Wednesday, May 28 at the BREW 2008 Conference in San Diego, CA.
The iSkoot-powered 3 Skypephone, which utilizes iSkoot technology integrated into the device’s BREW OS, has already picked up a Global Mobile Award Silver Medal for “Best Mobile Handset.” Will lightning strike twice? We’ll find out soon enough! Stay tuned.
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, awards | No Comments
Tags: 2008 BREW Developer Awards, 3 Skypephone
May 19, 2008
We’re pleased to report that iSkoot was selected for UIQ Technology’s invitation-only UIQ Alliance Partner Program!
This means that iSkoot is deepening our relationships with the major players in the UIQ community, and that we’re entitled to the great technical and marketing benefits that UIQ affords its partners. The folks at UIQ will be standing by to support us as we continue development of new mobile products for the UIQ OS, and we’ll get to play around with UIQ releases before they hit the market. Very cool.
The word on iSkoot’s contribution to the program from Elisabet Melin, VP Ecosystem at UIQ Technology:
“iSkoot answers the increasing demand for mobile VoIP with a solution that benefits UIQ customers and end users alike. Their mobile-to-VoIP technology is a bright and innovative contribution to the UIQ community. We’re pleased to be welcoming iSkoot to the UIQ Alliance and facilitating the continued development of their exciting mobile products.”
Big thanks to Elisabet and all of our people at UIQ for this excellent opportunity!
Posted in: New Things | No Comments
Tags: partners, UIQ Alliance
May 16, 2008
When you’re in the business of connecting people with their friends and family all over the world, you’re bound to get the “warm fuzzies” from time to time. The stories from our users are awesome - college students Skypeing home to Japan while strolling around campus in California? It’s a beautiful thing!
But with a mobile VoIP solution that connects users like never before AND jives with the carrier business model, the love doesn’t end there. When interviewed by Monica Alleven of Wireless Week recently, our CEO Mark Jacobstein pointed to our collaborations with Skype and 3 as great examples of how when mobile VoIP is done right, it doesn’t rock the business model boat. In the case of our carrier-friendly, circuit-switch-based iSkoot for Skype solution, our approach is–as Mark puts it–all about “harmonizing.”
In her piece “Calling our Neighbors…In China?” Monica gives a quick breakdown of the carrier appeal of iSkoot’s mobile VoIP solutions:
“The value proposition goes something like this. People aren’t likely to call their friends or family in other countries using their mobile phones because they don’t want high toll charges. Instead, they’re going to wait until both parties are in front of their PCs and use something like Skype. But if you add iSkoot to the equation, the mobile operator can offer cheap international calling and capture minutes that otherwise wouldn’t get used.”
And that’s just the beginning. Pointing to our deployment with 3, Mark reminds that calls via the Skype/iSkoot application don’t involve any termination fees either, which are “traditionally the big concern for mobile operators after network buildout and payroll.”
In 3’s case, they decided to take this feather-in-cap and run with it, offering 3 Skypephone users those Skype-to-Skype calls for FREE. Thanks to iSkoot’s carrier-friendly architecture, that’s a pretty appealing customer acquisition tool right there.
And from the look of global 3 Skypephone sales to date, we’d say a lot of new people are feeling the love.
Posted in: 3 Skypephone, Management Team, The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, iSkoot for Skype, Mark Jacobstein, Wireless Week
May 13, 2008
On the heels of our recent selection as a MITX Technology Award finalist, we just got more good news: iSkoot for Skype has been selected as a finalist in the “Best Handset Application” category of the 2008 Mobile Content Awards. Exciting stuff!
The MCA’s are open to entrants from every part of the value chain, from operators and handset manufacturers, through to software developers, with entries invited from around the world.
The winners will be announced at the Mobile Content Awards Presentation Ceremony and Gala Dinner on June 19th at the Kingsway Hall Hotel in London’s Convent Garden.
We’ll keep you posted - One more reason to stay tuned to the iSkoot Blog!
Posted in: awards | No Comments
Tags: iSkoot for Skype, Mobile Content Awards
May 9, 2008
Jahangir Raina over at iLocus nabbed a few minutes with Mark Jacobstein last week to discuss the nuts and bolts of the business model behind our carrier-deployed mobile VoIP solutions. You can check out the full Q & A here.
In the meantime, we’ve got a few of the finer points of the conversation right here!
On why iSkoot’s low-cost international calling solution is a friend, not a foe, to the operator, Mark comments:
“For Skype-to-Skype calls what the operators have determined is that we are not cannibalising their business. In fact we are adding to their business because if I am on Skype and my friend in Hong Kong is on Skype, I was not going to call that person for two dollars a minute anyway. I would have waited to Skype them over PC and completely cut out the operator. So by putting Skype on mobile phone at least the operator is able to use up the free minutes. With SkypeOut which involves calls to a non-Skype user, you probably had no choice but to call with very expensive ILD rates. So some of the operators prefer not to turn SkypeOut on. At least not at first. They are however realistic about the ILD rates substantially reducing over time with the calling cards and callback and Skype etc. At some point therefore they will also turn on SkypeOut.”
On the technical challenges facing mass implementation of mobile VoIP:
“A couple years back people thought that mobile VoIP is as simple as putting a client on mobile phone just like putting it on PC. 3g had good enough speeds on paper. Had that turned out to be true, iSkoot would not exist. I think the idea of using circuit switched network thought of by our founders was brilliant.”
And on the effect and reception of iSkoot-powered mobile products from multinational operator 3:
“iSkoot-led service is not only available on Skypephone, but the capability is preloaded on every single H3G phone that is being sold now. Skypephone is to H3G what iPhone is to AT&T.“
Posted in: Management Team, The Word on Mobile VoIP | No Comments
Tags: 3 Skypephone, iLocus, Jahangir Raina, Mark Jacobstein, voice vs. data
May 7, 2008
Great news! iSkoot has been selected as a finalist in the MITX Technology Awards’ “Mobile” category.
The MITX Technology Awards competition recognizes innovative technology products and services developed in New England. Within the mobile category, finalists are identified creating technologies (component-level breakthroughs, new devices, network advances) or services that support mobile workforces or customer applications on wireless networks.
That would be us! Awards are announced at the 2008 What’s Next Forum and Technology Awards Ceremony in our old stomping ground, Cambridge, Mass on June 3. Stay tuned!
Posted in: New Things, awards | No Comments
Tags: iSkoot for Skype, MITX Awards
