Netgear’s next WiFi Skype: smaller and better connectivity

Netgear_wifi_skype_phone

Jeremy Toeman takes us through a video tour of Netgear’s headquarters, which is cool enough by itself. Add the fact that he bumps into Netgear’s CEO, Patrick Lo, who just happens to have a beta version of a second generation WiFi Skype phone and you’ve got a must-see video. Details aren’t readily available, but I can already see one big area of improvement. If you read my review of the first-gen SPH-101, you’ll know I wasn’t too happy with the stubby pointer in the middle of the front face. You can see that the stub was replaced by four directional buttons. The phone appears to be a little smaller overall and Patrick indicates that the battery life is better. Best of all: Netgear is working on getting seamless connectivity in hotspots and mention that all of the older phones can now connect to T-Mobile hotspots. Not sure on the deets of how they’re doing that, but it’s good news nonetheless. Now lets see what kind of price point these second gen Skype phones come in at. I’d still like to see them under $129 or even better: $99.

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