Nokia to pre-install Skype on handsets
theregister.co.uk
theregister.co.uk
I'm quite excited by this development... it's another hint that the balance of power has shifted from carriers (who have every interest in keeping the services basic and expensive to maximise their profit margins) to the handset makers (who have every interest to build a handset with more cool stuff than other providers, but have been held back by the carriers for a decade).
I think we all know who to thank for this development... Thank you Mr Jobs!
Maybe, but I've been using Skype on my Windows Mobile phone for longer than the iPhone has existed. I guess we can thank Mr Ballmer instead. (Eww, gross.)
To really take advantage of this you need a decent/unlimited data plan. To get that (with most mainstream carriers) you need a voice plan. The cheapest voice plans are $40/mo and offer a boatload of minutes already.
So yeah, the carriers might miss out on charging some overage fees, but they are still going to charge their $70+ a month either way. This would be more exciting if you could get a 'naked' wireless data plan (like 'naked', or dry loop, or toneless DSL).
Of course, at least with skype chat you can stop paying an arm and a leg for text messages.
No handset included, but no minimum subscription period either. $300 for a unlocked Nokia E71 from eBay still leaves you $1188 up on a 24 month $70 contract.
That's 1650 minutes a month on VOIP over WiFi or 3G, or 198 minutes a month even at out of bundle carrier rates if your VOIP service breaks, with the bonus that calls you don't make you don't pay for.
On the flip side this opens up a market for traffic shapers in the 3G world. DPI would be the only way you can block P2P VoIP. I forsee good times for DPI companies. :)
Don't expect to see Skype on any of those subsidized phones you get for cheap from your phone carrier, though.
I'm seeing an approaching point of convergence to PC's with every new generation of phones and computers. Current top-of-the-line multimedia phones and the newest pc-netbooks are quite different beasts than traditional GSM/CDMA cells and PCs. Soon netbooks and phones might be one. At that point Skype/Twitter would make more sense than call on air/SMS.
See Nokia corporate history for evidence on planned abandonment.