Skype to Support Internet Voice and Video Calls on Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices
LAS VEGAS (CES BOOTH: HILTON #5121), January 7, 2008 — At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Skype announced its plans to collaborate with Intel Corporation to develop a new mobile Skype™ experience for Mobile Internet Devices (MID) based on Intel low-power processors and chipsets. MIDs are a new category of small, truly mobile consumer devices enabling a PC-like Internet experience, coupled with the capability to communicate with others, enjoy entertainment, and access information on the go.
The collaboration builds on the familiarity and ease of use of Skype software and makes that experience mobile. MID users will be able to make Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages on the move, while harnessing the PC-like performance of Intel’s new ultra-mobile platform. MID devices with WiMAX and WiFi capabilities will enable free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and cheap SkypeOut™ calls – calls from Skype to landline and mobile phone numbers anywhere in the world at low per-minute rates – to be made on open wireless networks.
“Many of the more than 246 million Skype users around the world are increasingly mobile and want to stay connected on the go,” said Gareth O’Loughlin, Skype’s general manager of mobile and hardware devices. “Making the richer Skype experience available on mobile devices partly hinges on the need for more processing power, which in turn tends to shorten battery life. Intel’s focus on lowering power consumption helps us minimize that conundrum, underscoring our evolution beyond the desktop. And it‘s good news to anyone who has found themselves missing Skype on the road.”
As part of this effort, Skype will enable its software to run on the small, thin and light ultra-mobile MID devices with touch-screen LCDs, which are powered by Mobile Internet Linux. With the performance offered by Intel’s low-power processors and chipsets, some MID devices will even support mobile video calls over Skype.
“The emergence of Mobile Internet Devices represents an exciting new user experience,” said Pankaj Kedia, Director of Global Ecosystem Programs for the Ultra-Mobility Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel’s low-power technologies, combined with Skype’s optimized software, will enable MID users to easily stay in touch with their family and friends wherever they go.”
Skype is working with Intel to deliver its application software on the Mobile Internet Linux platform (www.moblin.org) through Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). By bundling the Skype software on their devices, consumer electronics manufacturers can provide consumers with a rich internet communications experience – instant messaging, group chat, voice and video calls – right out of the box.
The first implementation of the Skype software for Mobile Internet Linux on Intel-based MID products is expected to be made available during the first half of 2008.
For more information about Intel Mobile Internet Devices and Ultra Mobile platforms, please visit www.intel.com/products/mid.
About Skype
Skype sets the standard in providing new and easy ways to stay in touch over the internet. Millions of people every day make free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages using our software. Some pay a little per minute for long-distance and international calls to phones and mobiles and for SMS, voicemail and call forwarding, or they buy subscriptions that give unlimited calls nationwide.
We certify and sell hundreds of hardware products from more than 50 partners and work with third-party developers to create software to extend Skype’s functionality. Skype has been downloaded more than half a billion times and over 246 million people from almost every corner of the globe have registered.
Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY), and you can learn more and get Skype at www.skype.com. Make your world a smaller place: talk, share and do more with Skype.
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