Posts Tagged ‘Skype’

Skype Hype: Are you using it for your business?

Now that the founders have become rich (again) and sold Skype to Microsoft – a questions must be posed.  “Did Microsoft completely overpay?” Not that question, but maybe (how the hell would I know).  “Will Microsoft underfund and completely destroy this new asset?”  yes…but not right away and that’s not the question. 

No, the real question is how will this new found attention to Skype change how will you use it for your business.   Before every cable company offered a VOIP solution, Skype was the way to talk over the internet for very little cost.  That uniqueness has gone away, but it still is the best way to talk internationally without it costing a lot.

The way we’ve been using Skype is for video conferences with our team (some of us are in Denver, some in the D.C. area) – and I’m sure we’ll continue to use it that way.  But Skype has competitors in that space with video chat already offered by Apple and other web camera services. 

One of the more interesting ways could be a combination of Skype into social media.  Don’t forget that Microsoft invested in Facebook a few years ago  — so forget poking, what about video chatting with your social network.

Any other thoughts on how Skype can help your business?

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Posts Tagged ‘Skype’

Google's Next Game Changer: Google TV?

I was reading this article in the USA Today the other day about how Google’s next big product launch this Fall is going to be Google TV.  Google TV promises to bring a more user-friendly web interface to our TVs than the consumers in this country have ever seen.  Google’s vision seems to be to offer up web content side-by-side with the same television programs that we have been watching for years. Google also plans to offer an “app store” where consumers can buy free and paid applications that can run on the set-top boxes that will also be required to use this new service.

Whenever I think of the Internet on my TV I always think of those annoying wireless keyboards and terrible user interface that I have been finding in hotel rooms for over a decade for a $5 per day fee.  I always thought that the major flaw in these systems was the terrible user experience – it is always very difficult to navigate the web on these systems because of the lack of a usable mouse and the slightly different web browsers that never seemed to support the web content I wanted to see.  Google seems to be promising a solution to these problems by simplifying the browser and keyboard and supporting all standard web technologies.

I am still going to wait until I am able to use the new Google TV interface to form my opinion but I am hopeful that if any company can successfully bring the Internet to our TVs that it is Google.  If they can convince consumers that the Internet on their TV is the same or comparable to the Internet on their PCs, then I think they have a good shot at being successful here.

On a side note, I also wanted to mention that today Skype announced that they have released a version of their product that is compatible with Android, the up and coming operating system for smart phones. Watch for the popularity of these mobile video calling applications to grow in the near future!

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Posts Tagged ‘Skype’

Top 5 Android Applications for Small Businesses

I have had the Sprint HTC EVO 4G for a little over a month now and recommend the 5 Android operating system applications below for small businesses to use on any Android phone.

Exchange by Touchdown– This application integrates with the desktop version of Microsoft Exchange and automatically syncs your email, calendar, contacts, and tasks wirelessly with minimal setup. I really like this application because it cleanly separates my work and personal email and is works just like I am sitting at my work computer.  This is actually the only application on this list that isn’t free and does cost $20 per license after a 30-day free trial.

Jorte– This is a calendar and “to do” list application that I think works much better than the calendar tool that came with my Android phone.  This application seamlessly integrates with multiple Google calendars and also gives you over 10 different widgets to add to your homepage in order to better access your events and tasks.

Google Voice– Google created the Android operating system so it would make sense that they have some of the best applications for the platform and the Google Voice app is no exception.  This application essentially replaces your default carrier-provided voicemail while adding a bunch of great features.  You can create custom voicemail messages for any of your contacts, get voicemail messages transcribed and texted and/or emailed to you, visual voicemail, and also can be used to place extremely cheap international calls all over the world.

BuzzBox– This application can be configured to provide any RSS feed directly to your phone and comes pre-loaded with hundreds of the most popular feeds for you to choose from in many different categories.  This application also comes with a handy widget for automatic updates and quick viewing.

Fring – This application integrates with Skype (and many other IM/chat applications) to bring video conferencing to your mobile phone for free.  I actually prefer this application to the included (and highly promoted) Qik application on the HTC EVO because it is easier to use and has less latency.  I would recommend using the video chat feature while connected to 4g or wi-fi but it works great and automatically imports your existing Skype contacts for easy calling.

What is your favorite Android application and how much more do you like Android over the iPhone 4?

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Posts Tagged ‘Skype’

Collaboration Tools for Small Businesses to Consider When Offshoring Their Software Development Work

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