Skype at CES 2009: Initial Steps Towards Liquid Communication

At a Skype's CES 2009 press conference today recently appointed COO Scott Durschlag provided the first hints of a vision statement for Skype under its new executive team along with some initial software offerings that hint at the direction Skype is taking towards "liquid communications" or "Skype Whenever, Wherever". In leading up to the new software announcements, Scott made a few points about Skype's recent accomplishments and focus going forward: Skype now delivers 8% of the world's telecom minutes through clients that now support 28 languages New software will drive a liquid experience on the desktop, web, TV and mobile devices A key goal is to liberate the Skype experience from a captive device (desktop) to more user aware devices (mobile, TV as well as embedded into appliances) 41% of Skype calls on Christmas day involved video, only to be surpassed at 47% on New Years day. New software offerings have to pass a bar of four basic criteria: high call quality super simple user interface sensitivity to power management issues security He then went on to talk about new software offerings: New desktop clients: Skype for Mac 2.8 (launched as beta at Mac World Monday), Skype for Windows 4.0 (with a February release date) Release of Skype Lite, a thin client for Java-enabled mobile phones with Skype for Android to be available within a few days on Android Market on T-Mobile's G1TM and Skype Lite general availability in the U.S. (in addition to several countries previously announced) resulting in Skype availability on over 100 mobile smartphones. Internally developed new Skype "SILK" audio codec which is twice as efficient with respect to bandwidth requirements for the audio and video experience. Skype for Mobile Internet Devices with a demonstration on a couple of MID platforms. Skype for Mac 3.0 to be available by year end with the feature set of Skype 4.0 for Windows. This afternoon Phil and I spent an hour with Scott discussing the restructuring, support issues, the TOM Skype Breach and how Skype will work with its developer partners to provide a win-win direction for the development and marketing of partner applications. These topics will be the subject of future posts over the next week. First impression: it's the first event where a senior Skype executive has provided in a public forum an outline of its vision, guidelines for achieving that vision and how it wants to work in the real time communication and IP-based conversation space. The real challenge now lies in the execution.

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“Un ratón en la Luna” (A Mouse in the Moon)Live Show In Malaga this Christmas

Living here in Andalucia we are always looking for events and activities that will keep our children entertained especially during the school holidays and even more so during the winter months when the weather is not so good and the children start to get bored as they can get out and play. Me and my family have lived here for 5 years now and have been settled in our town house in Alhaurin el Grande for the last 4 years, and our 8 year old boy has settled into his life here in Spain very well and has asked me what can he do during the holidays. Serching around I have found a great event which sounds like a great bit of fun for all the family at an exceptional cost The Gades hall in Malaga which is part of the Teatro Canovas is the venue for a production known as "Un ratón en la Luna" (A Mouse in the Moon) The show is an an adaptation by Julia Ruiz of a story writain by Paco and José Vigueras It tells the story of Ulises, a traveller ,glutton -and also a mouse- who once tried to eat the moon because he thought it was cheese hanging down from the sky. He turns to his friend Cali for help after failing in his attempt to eat the moon on numerous occasions . His friend agrees to help and the mouse then embarks on a space journey in search for his longed-for delicacy The two actors are Fran Machado and Verónica Pérez who together are known as PINPONCLOWN Like many performances of childrens theatre there is also a lesson to be learnt though the story and that is the lesson the  appearances can be deceiving, It is part of the "Tales of Science" programme, a wonderful project which is the brainchild of the Granada Science Park . The idea reconciles science with the performing arts The show is going to performed over two days with 1 show per day Performance Dates/Times/Cost 27th December 18.30 6€ 28th December 12.00 6€ For More Information On the Show please contact Gades Hall C/ Cerrojo, s/n MÁLAGA Or visit the website: www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/teatrocanovas