Microsoft has banned VoIP applications from its upcoming Windows Mobile Marketplace, according to PCWorld.  The blocking move is part of a 12-point restriction on applications sold in the Redmond giant’s online marketplace, the opening timed to coincide with the introduction of Windows Mobile 6.5. But is the software giant fighting a rear-guard action against an inevitable future? Continue »

Skype is really looking to ramp up its revenues: It’s offering a 25 percent discount on its unlimited packages if you sign up for a 12-month plan. For instance, if you sign up for the Unlimited World plan, which costs $12.95 a month, you get 25 percent off the $116.55 annual tab, bringing it to just $116.55. The good news — you can opt out of the plan whenever you want.

Ever since Skype’s iPhone client enabled Skype-to-Skype calls (and send IMs) for free over Wi-Fi, I’ve been wondering what the next step towards the mobilization of Skype would be. The answer came today by the way of 3 UK, a 3G wireless operator. The company unveiled a new $3, Skype-enabled SIM card that will allow anyone to make Skype-to-Skype calls and send IMs from any phone on 3’s wireless broadband network. Of course, for the service to work, mobile subscribers would have to buy 3’s data plans, which are often more expensive than those just for voice. Skype accounts for 1.5 million minutes on the 3 network everyday. Continue »

Regardless of what happens to Skype — if it’s resold to founders, merged with another web giant or spun off via an initial public offering — one thing remains clear: The company is showing raw growth in both its revenues and registered user numbers. For the first quarter of 2009, the company reported revenues of $153.2 million vs. $145 million in the first fourth quarter of 2008.

It added 37.9 million new users during the quarter and now has a total of 443.2 million registered users. In comparison, the company ended 2008 with 405 million subscribers. In the previous quarter it added about 35 million new registered users. Skype, which has become the largest long-distance company, has been experiencing slowdown in its per-user revenues. The company logged 2.9 billion Skype Out minutes, or about 6.53 minutes per user.

It was in a conversation with Skype CEO Josh Silverman last fall that I raised the question: When will eBay spin off the mammoth Internet calling service via a public offering? Of course, he didn’t answer the question. The answer to that question came today, when eBay CEO John Donhaoe announced that Skype will have an IPO, sometime in 2010. Making the announcement and admitting to Meg Whitman’s $3.1 billion blunder, Donahoe said:

“But it’s clear that Skype has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal. We believe operating Skype as a stand-alone publicly traded company is the best path for maximizing its potential. This will give Skype the focus and resources required to continue its growth and effectively compete in online voice and video communications. In addition, separating Skype will allow eBay to focus entirely on our two core growth engines—e-commerce and online payments—and deliver long-term value to our stockholders.”

eBay management has been under tremendous pressure to do something about Skype. Wall Street has been clamoring for some sort of a resolution for a business that had sales of $551 million in 2008 and ended the year with 405 million registered users. Skype expects to top $1 billion in revenue in 2011, nearly double its 2008 revenues. Despite that, the company has been unable to find a buyer who would pony up around $1.4 billion, eBay’s asking price. With Silverman in charge, under normal circumstances, a Skype IPO would be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, there are some problems eBay will need to address in order to make this IPO happen.   Continue »

Skype Founders Niklas Zennstorm and Janus Friis are talking with private equity firms KKR, Warburg Pincus, Providence Equity Partners and Elevation Partners to raise money to buy Skype back from eBay, reports the Wall Street Journal’s Deal Journal blog. According to the report, the private equity groups would kick in about $1 billion. eBay is said to want $1.7 billion for Skype, though I bet they would settle for a lower offer. Given that Skype and Joltid, a company controlled by Friis and Zennstrom, are embroiled in a legal fight, eBay’s options to sell Skype might be limited. As some of our readers have pointed out, Skype has a bright future if the management continues its focus on innovation.

By now you know that I think the Skype-for-iPhone app is simply awesome. After spending some more time with it, I’ve come up with four things that would make the app not only better, but nearly indispensable.

1. The software needs to be much more tightly integrated with Apple’s address book. At present, you can’t really use your entire address book for making SkypeOut calls. Adding a Skype field (just like IM) to the Apple Address Book would make Skype more useful. Continue »