This past spring, we reported that one of our iSkoot Board members had signed on to brave the elements in the 2008 edition of the world-famous Dakar road race. (Details here) Things went awry when the rally was canceled just hours before the race, but a few months later Izhar Armony was back in action - for Dakar’s historic, first-ever Central Europe Rally.

At long last, and to our great delight, we’ve gotten our hands on a candid shot of Izhar’s Central Europe Rally rig in action! It’s way too good not to share.

iSkoot leadin’ the way! Too cool.

If you know your iSkoot trivia, you probably know the story of iSkoot’s Bostonian roots, and of our headquarters’ migration westward a few months back. (What? News to you? Get up to speed with the tell-all Welcome to San Francisco post.)

What you may not know is that much of the heart and soul of this iSkoot operation still lies to the East. Way to the East. With a good 10-hour time difference and an ocean between us, we’ve got an all-star team of engineers cooking the code in Israel. And if Tamar Snyder’s recent article in The Jewish Week is any indication, that’s precisely where they should be. Israel is, as Tamar explains, rapidly emerging as the undisputed hub of mobile innovation.

In her piece “Next-Gen Cellphones To Have Israeli Ring,” Tamar shines a light on many of the pioneering efforts happening on the mobile scene in Israel, including those of our own iSkoot Israel team. “Israeli startups with fun-loving names like iSkoot…plan to leverage the draw of social networking on-the-go to change the way you use your cellphone — by introducing and marketing software applications that incorporate Web 2.0 sites like Facebook and make the cellphone experience much more personalized,” she explains. “The days when a phone was used primarily to make calls are over.”

Tamar has also got the numbers to prove it, pointing out that mobile technology outfits are claiming more and more of Israel-bound venture capital. According to Israel Mobile & Communication Association, of the $1.76 billion invested in 2007 in Israeli startups, more than 15% went to companies in the mobile space. As our president and founder Jacob Guedalia told Tamar in an interview, this makes perfect sense:

“There are 3 billion mobile users and only 1 billion PC users,” he said. “As the phones become more like PCs, the opportunities will grow exponentially.”

Fellow entrepreneur and former partner of VC firm Israel Seed Partners Jon Medved told Tamar it comes as no surprise that Israeli start-ups are leading the pack toward these mounting opportunities in mobile. “Israel is a natural hub for mobile technology and innovation. The first cellphone was essentially built in Israel,” he says. There’s also the military advantage. “Wireless communication was always an important military tool. Israelis are very good at wireless.”

Guess our secret’s out now.

iSkoot for Skype is two-for-two this month!

After being selected as “Nokia’s S60 Application of the Week” two weeks ago, iSkoot for Skype earned kudos last week from John Halamka–Chief Information Officer at Harvard Medical School and the CareGroup Health System (to name a few)–as his “Cool Technology of the Week.”

With iSkoot enabled on his BlackBerry 8320, John has cleverly unlocked the secret of using local SIM cards to enjoy iSkoot for Skype when he travels internationally. His assessment: “iSkoot and local Sim Cards - a Cool Technology solution for the international traveler.”

iSkoot offers network service in over 40 countries around the world. To use iSkoot when you’re on the road abroad, just pick up a local pay-as-you-go SIM, enter the local phone number into the iSkoot application, and you’re in business. Another handy way to bring Skype with you, wherever you go.

And a big thanks to John for naming iSkoot as his choice of “Cool Technology” last week!

Kicking off July with a bang, our iSkoot for Skype solution is enjoying the spotlight as Nokia’s S60 featured Application of the Week. Not a bad gig, since iSkoot for Skype gets face time on both the Nokia and S60 websites. That’s some pretty excellent real estate!

Our friends at Nokia have been great about giving our iSkoot for Skype S60 software a spot in the sun - they invited iSkoot to demo our mobile Skype solution at Nokia’s CTIA booth last fall and selected iSkoot for their invitation-only Forum Nokia PRO developer program. (Details here)

So be sure to check out the Nokia and S60 sites to get their latest take on the iSkoot for Skype s60 experience!

OK, so it’s not exactly breaking news that a certain mobile software provider packed up shop earlier this year and moved out to sunny California.

But at long last, we’ve got the photographic evidence to back it up! With brand new digs, a few shiny new faces, and one seriously abused acoustic guitar, iSkoot’s gotten a happy home in SF all fired up. Meet the team:

That’s our fearless Mark J owning the show up front, plus office manager Liz, Marketing guru Jake, and Product masterminds, John & George.

Occasionally, when not circling the globe, Jim Hudak has also been known to make an appearance (possibly related to the free breakfast stash we keep in the kitchen? hmm…) and once in a very great while, we’ll even get a cameo from one of our Israel-based team members (Eyal Elyashiv: towering over Liz. Yours truly: not so much).

And finally, the snap our team has deemed the “Reservoir Dogs” shot: That’s our UI whiz Victoria, rolling with an iSkoot entourage.

There’s no doubt the team is feeling right at home in our new space and in the new neighborhood. Next stop, Office-warming party?

Definitely stay tuned.

Ah, hardware. You can’t live without it, but nonetheless it seems to have a funny way of deciding all on its own when (and how) it’s going to suicide mission on you.

Eerily, Friday the 13th left more than one case of “learned that one the hard way” in its wake. This iSkoot blogger recently witnessed the watery demise of her BlackBerry Curve in the Barton Springs of Austin, Texas. Last week, Dameon Welch-Abemathy (a.k.a. PhoneBoy) reported the untimely end (in spite of his best attempts at resuscitation) of his MacBook at the Ottowa airport. Jarring as these hardware casualties may be, they do have an interesting way of bringing into sharp relief those Web 2.0 features that are truly indispensable. Case in point: our favorite VoIP service, Skype.

Dameon warns those folks with a serious dependency on PC-based Skype to ready a contingency in case your computer suddenly bites the big one. A handy alternative? iSkoot for Skype of course! Dameon points out that iSkoot for Skype was prepped and ready on his Nokia handsets to save the day when his Macbook met its bitter end. Nice! And an interesting reminder that iSkoot for Skype doesn’t just free you from your PC, it can actually come to the rescue when your PC leaves you in the lurch.

And for those of us who watched an iSkoot-enabled BlackBerry take a fatal dip in Barton Springs? Lucky I work at iSkoot, I was able to sneak a 3 Skypephone out of the office to use for a couple of days. Jealous?

Great news: Last night iSkoot for Skype earned the 2008 MITX Technology Award for outstanding innovation in the “Mobile” category!

The MITX Technology Awards, presented by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, recognize “innovative technologies developed in the New England area, as well as the individuals and organizations responsible for driving these advancements.”

The award was presented last night during a swanky dinner at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, just up the road from the original iSkoot headquarters - where it all started 3 years ago.

A big thanks to MITX for this fantastic honor!

Robert Poe over at VoIP News did a stellar “how to” piece on our iSkoot for Skype software recently. With a step-by-step explanation of how to get going with iSkoot, Robert’s “How to Use iSkoot’s Mobile Skype Service” takes the reader by the hand through the basic iSkoot for Skype experience.

Another step forward for Operation: iSkoot Education.

Underscoring the Skype community’s eagerness to get mobile with their favorite Internet voice community, Robert explains, “Until recently…mobile users hoping to use the [Skype] service were mostly out of luck. iSkoot Inc. was among the few to recognize such users’ pain, having introduced in 2006 the beta version of a service that allows consumers to make Skype Internet calls from their mobile handsets. The client software earned Skype certification in January 2007.”

Robert’s write-up goes on to detail the 3 easy steps for “Getting Started” with iSkoot:
1) Register on our website
2) Choose to either get iSkoot delivered to your phone OR to download to your PC first
3) Install iSkoot on your phone

As he explains, “Once you’ve loaded the software, iSkoot for Skype will be one of your handset’s applications. Launching it will take you to a sign-in screen requiring your Skype name and password. You can also opt to log in to Skype automatically every time you launch iSkoot.”

Robert then dives into the good stuff - making and receiving calls with Skype. Step one: program iSkoot with your complete mobile phone number, so iSkoot can route your incoming and outgoing Skype calls to the right place.

“First, enter your mobile number in standard international format, including country code. Then scroll down to the field that says “Receive Skype calls to mobile” and click “Yes.” This setting is important because of how the calls arrive.”

Once you’ve set this up, you can easily call and receive calls from anyone on your contact list.

Robert reminds that “[a]ll iSkoot Skype calls, including SkypeOut and incoming and outgoing Skype-to-Skype calls, travel between your handset and a Skype Internet gateway via your cellular voice network.”

For those of you who haven’t tried our software yet, this set-up lets us offer you the highest quality sound for those Skype calls. Just ask our users!

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.

“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.