With Its New Version,Skype Phone Service May Enter Mainstream
One of the cult hits of the Internet has been a service called Skype, based in Luxembourg, that allows its registered users to make free computer-to-computer phone calls to each other anywhere in the world. Millions of people world-wide use it, and the company was recently snapped up by eBay, the e-commerce giant.
Still, for all its success, Skype has been a niche product, little used by mainstream, non-techie consumers. Much less popular in the U.S. than in Europe, it has mainly appealed here to budget-conscious folks like students and recent immigrants, who often want to make lots of international phone calls.
There are two big reasons for Skype's niche status. First, many computers aren't equipped with microphones. Most modern laptops come with built-in mikes, but the vast majority of PCs are still desktops, which typically lack mikes. Second, even when computers have mikes, they make clumsy telephones when compared with real phones, which are specifically designed for voice communication.
In addition, free Skype calls can be made only to other Skype users. If you want to call nonmembers who use real phones, you have to sign up for a prepaid service called SkypeOut, although, at two cents a minute, the calls are cheap.
Now, however, Skype is putting those hurdles behind it. Today, the company plans to release a major new version of its phone-calling software, Skype 2.0, with added features -- including video calling -- and a cleaner interface. It is taking steps to make computer microphones cheap and easy to obtain. More importantly, it is moving its service off the computer to a new breed of Internet-based telephone handsets.
I've been testing Skype 2.0, along with the new, cheap, Skype-branded microphones and a new Skype-compatible phone that frees users from sitting in front of a computer while talking. Despite some flaws, this new combination of hardware and software generally worked well, and I believe it stands a chance of propelling Skype into the mainstream.
There's nothing new about using a computer as a phone. And free computer-to-computer phone calls, among fellow users of a service, are also common now. America Online, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple Computer, Google and others have offered this service for a while. Most also already offer free video calls -- something Skype is just now adding -- for users with Web cameras.
But Skype is the company most identified with free Internet phone calls, and it is trying hard to keep that status. The new Skype 2.0, available at Skype.com, is ready now for Windows and will soon be released for the Macintosh and other platforms.
In my tests of Skype 2.0, I used two different Windows computers to place voice calls to Skype users in California, New York and Berlin, Germany. I also made a couple of SkypeOut calls to phones in the Washington, D.C., area.
The new Skype software was easy to use. It searches for people you know to see if they are registered members, and it lets you add them to your contact list with one click.
All my test calls were very clear, though in most cases there was a slight problem in the first few seconds, when callers couldn't hear me. In a couple of cases, the sound dropped out briefly during a call. And Skype disconnected my call to Berlin in the middle, forcing me to redial. Still, as a tradeoff for free calls, the glitches were tolerable.
I used a variety of microphones, built-in and added-on, cheap and expensive. In general, the built-in and costlier add-on mikes worked best. Skype's new cheap mike, which comes with an earbud as part of a $4.99 Skype "starter pack" available at RadioShack stores, was a little muffled unless I held it close to my mouth.
I also made a few video calls, using a Logitech Web camera. These worked fine, though they displayed the graininess that marks most Web video calling. An audio conference call also worked well, though you can't use video if you're calling more than one person. Skype also offers a conventional text-based chat system and a feature for transferring files. I tested both, and they worked fine.
But I was most impressed with the new Skype phone I tested, the $100 Linksys CIT200. It looks and works like a regular cordless phone. But it links wirelessly to a little base station that connects to your computer. And it has a big Skype button that connects you to the Skype service via the PC. The phone displays your Skype contacts, and you call them with the press of a button. You can also make calls to non-Skype phones, via SkypeOut.
I tested the phone by calling both Skype users and non-Skype users, and it worked great everywhere in and around my home -- upstairs, downstairs, even outside in the yard.
There are other phones that can now use Skype, ranging from a $16 handset that connects to the PC with a cable to a $100 cellphone-style wireless headset and a $140 cordless phone that can use both Skype and your regular phone service to place calls. All of them liberate Skype users from the PC.
Skype has escaped from its niche and is heading for the mainstream. You might want to give it a try.
Skype免费网络电话瞄准主流市场
当前，一家名为Skype的公司成了互联网上的热门。这家位于卢森堡的公司能让用户通过电脑在全球任何一个角落免费通电话。全世界已有上千万的人使用过这项服务，而Skype最近也被电子商务巨擘eBay收购了。
尽管Skype取得了巨大的成功，但其产品并非主流产品，广大普通消费者鲜有问津。它在美国的知名度没有在欧洲那么高。在美国，它对于注重节省开支的人比较有吸引力，如经常打国际长途的学生和新移民等。
Skype没有成为主流产品的主要原因有两个。首先，许多电脑没有配备麦克风。现在，大多数笔记本电脑都带有内置的麦克风，但人们最常用的依然是台式电脑，而台式电脑通常是没有麦克风的。其次，即使电脑带有麦克风，它们的通话效果与电话相比显然差远了。可别忘了，电话是人们为传递声音而专门设计的交流工具。
此外，Skype的免费电话只能在该公司的注册用户之间进行。如果你想给其他使用真正电话的非注册用户打电话，你就得购买名为SkypeOut的预付费服务，但它的收费很便宜，每分钟只要2美分。
不过，Skype正在克服上述障碍。目前，该公司打算推出名为Skype 2.0的新型通话软件，它添加了诸如视频电话等新功能，运行介面更清晰。该公司还努力使电脑麦克风变得价廉物美，让消费者买得起。更重要的是，该公司力图使服务突破电脑的限制，扩展至新一代的网络电话。
我对Skype 2.0进行了测试，同时还试用了新推出的价格低廉的Skype品牌麦克风，以及一种与Skype相容的新型电话机。有了这种电话机，用户在通话的时候就不必非坐在电脑面前了。尽管有些小问题，总的说来这套硬件和软件还不错，我相信它有可能让Skype进入主流产品的行列。
如今，通过电脑打电话并不是什么新鲜事；使用同一项服务的用户通过电脑免费通话也不希奇。美国在线(America Online)、雅虎(Yahoo)、微软公司(Microsoft)、苹果电脑公司(Apple Computer)以及Google等公司均推出了这样的服务。而且大多数公司也向拥有网络摄像机的用户提供免费视频电话服务，而Skype才刚刚添加这项功能。
但Skype是公认的免费网络电话提供商，而且该公司也在尽力保住这一地位。新推出的Skype 2.0可以从Skype.com上下载，它适用于Windows操作系统，并且很快将推广至Macintosh等其他操作系统。
在测试Skype 2.0的过程中，我使用了两种不同的Windows操作系统分别向在加利福尼亚州、纽约和柏林的Skype用户拨打语音电话。我还通过SkypeOut向哥伦比亚特区打了几个电话。
这种新版软件使用起来很方便。它能自动检查通话对方是否为Skype的用户，而且你只需轻轻一点，就能把他们添加到你的通讯录中。
在我的测试中，所有的通话音质都非常清晰，尽管最初几秒钟总有一点小问题：对方听不见我的声音。还有几次通话中，声音时断时续。在向柏林打电话的时候，电话中途突然断了，于是我不得不重新拨号。尽管如此，考虑到它是免费电话，这些瑕疵也就可以忍受了。
我还测试了各种麦克风，包括内置的、外置的，便宜的、昂贵的。总体而言，内置麦克风和价格不菲的外置麦克风效果最好。Skype新推出的廉价耳机包括在其售价4.99美元的“新手套装”产品中，它的价格不贵，但声音有些不清楚，除非把嘴贴近麦克风。
我还采用Logitech Web摄像机拨打了几个视频电话。虽然它们也和大多数网络视频电话一样模糊不清，但总体效果还是令人满意的。音频电话会议的效果也不错，尽管与多方通话时无法显示视频图像。Skype还提供一种传统的文字聊天系统，同时还能传输文件。我对这两种功能也进行了测试，运行良好。
但最打动我的是Skpye的新型电话机Linksys CIT200，它的售价为100美元。它的外型和功能与一般的无绳电话没什么两样，但实际上它是与一个小基站相连的，基站又与用户的个人电脑相连。电话机上有一个大的Skype按纽，让用户通过电脑使用Skype的服务。这种电话机能显示你在Skype系统上的通讯录，你只要揿一下按纽就可以与他们通话了。你还可以通过SkypeOut给非Skype用户打电话。
我使用这种电话机与Skype用户及非用户通话，它在家里的效果简直棒极了，无论是在楼上、楼下，还是庭院里。
其他一些电话机也可适用于Skype，售价从16美元、100美元到140美元不等。其中16美元的电话机是通过线路与电脑相连的，100美元的是类似于手机的无线电话，而140美元的无绳电话能同时使用Skype服务和普通电话服务拨打电话。这些电话机使Skype用户不必拘泥于电脑桌前。
Skype正逐步从特定市场走向主流市场。有兴趣的人不妨一试。
