Olympia (not to be mistaken with Olympus) has come up with a new kind of wireless phone. Plug the base into your PC-USB port and make Skype calls. I remember reading about this one somewhere before… not sure where. Plug a regular telephone line and use it as a plain vanilla cordless handset. In other words it is a DUALphone. It seems a lot of phone makers are embedding Skype into their devices, and perhaps that is the killer strategy Skype needs.
You probably read it at http://james.seng.sg/archives/2004/11/21/skype_dualphone.html .
Please note that this phone does not have Skype embedded in it; for that matter I don’t think I have seen a stand alone Skype “phone”. My suggestion to people who are looking for such a device to consider the following requirements:
1. Does the handset support wider frequency to exploit the broadband codec that Skype uses?
2. Does the handset handle sidetone and minimize echo issues given that the mic and the speaker are materially connected?
2. Do you have to use the computer’s screen for navigating the buddly list and to “dial”?
Aswath, you raise good points. there is no information of any sort on their website which is a shame. anyway you are right, i did read it on james’ blog. thanks again for setting the record straight.
The sad part is that these phones are platform dependant. That is, they only work with Windows. Just sent them a note asking them to add Mac support.
(Typing this from a PowerBook way down south in rural Chile –Valdivia– using GPRS thru my P900. It’s amazing how much you take broadband for granted!).
I’ve been collecting links to “skype phone” vendors… and, as you mention, I don’t think I’ve seen any that claim to support MAC, though I know some MAC users who are looking for these things.
Phil
Links to “Skype Phone” vendors:
http://www.summitcircle.com/wsnlinks/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=7