3 Skypephone Series - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 3 Skypephone series is a range of 3G

3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...

mobile phones made as a global project by the 3 network. The project was initiated by the 3's global handset team, some of whom later went on to found the new mobile phone company INQ. The phones were sold in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, but the service has now been discontinued everywhere except Australia, Ireland and the UK. 3 offers four thousand free Skype

Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...

outbound voice minutes with the phones. Initially the quota expired after 90 days (30 days in Ireland) unless the user purchased another top-up or was on a pay monthly plan. This restriction was lifted by the network in 2009, where calls could still be made and received without the need to "top up" with credit. The service is advertised as "unlimited" in the UK; however, it is subject to fair use limitations, as in other countries.

The Skypephone series of phones support UMTS/W-CDMA

W-CDMA

W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...

2100 MHz, GSM and GPRS (900/1800 MHz), as well as HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is an enhanced 3G mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access family, also dubbed 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo 3G, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity...

with the 3 Skypephone S2.

The Skypephone series uses the normal 3G or GSM voice network for handling Skype calls, which permits users to make Skype calls within 3's 3G

network or when the user is out of range of the 3G network and is roaming on one of 3's partner 2G

2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...

networks. The two Skypephone models are not unique in using normal GSM or 3G

voice protocols for handling Skype

Skype

: Three's Symbian

Symbian

Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...

and now-defunct Java ME

Java Platform, Micro Edition

Java Platform, Micro Edition, or Java ME, is a Java platform designed for embedded systems . Target devices range from industrial controls to mobile phones and set-top boxes...

-based Skype clients also do this, but they do also need a data connection for low-bandwidth communication with Three's servers while the voice call is being set up. All other mobile Skype

Skype

applications (such as Skype for iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

) use a GPRS, EDGE

Edge

- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...

or 3G

packet data connection to handle Skype

Skype

.

The Skype

Skype

application used is native to the 3 Skypephone series and is a Brew application , whereas other mobile Skype clients are 3rd-party downloads and are either Symbian

Symbian

or Java ME

Java Platform, Micro Edition

Java Platform, Micro Edition, or Java ME, is a Java platform designed for embedded systems . Target devices range from industrial controls to mobile phones and set-top boxes...

based (the latter is now defunct). An advantage of using the standardized 3GPP

3GPP

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as the Organizational Partners...

circuit-switched (CS) voice protocols for handling calls is that it does not require a constant GPRS, EDGE

Edge

, 3G

or WiFi

WIFI

WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

data connection, all of which consume significantly more battery life than CS voice.
The 3 Skypephone series use a USB connector for recharging and Phone-to-PC communication – allowing them to recharge when plugged into a computer. Phone-to-PC connections are also possible over Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

Usage terms

Free Skype-to-Skype calls and instant messages are only available in the country where the phone was purchased, or while roaming on 3’s sister networks. Skype-to-Skype calls and instant messages are subject to a fair use policy of 4,000 minutes of outgoing calls and 10,000 instant messages per month (depending on country).

For 3 Pay As You Go customers, the Skype functionality was subject to activating a minimum top-up (value depending on country) and valid for 90 days (30 days in Ireland) from activating their last top-up, but 3 removed the minimum top-up requirement on 1 May 2009. There is now no need to add any top-up at all. Skype is fully available instantly.

Future models

The future of the series is unclear, as the carrier's parent company have launched their own phone manufacturing subsidiary, INQ. The Skypephone project was a collaborative effort, with the 3's global handset team working closely with Skype and Qualcomm. According to Skype, the Skypephone series, if it were to continue, could possibly be continued on a different network from 3.

In the Irish market, the phones have been discontinued since the introduction of INQ handsets in January 2009.

External links

Stephen Fry's blog and Guardian article about Skypephone 2
Victor Keegan at the Guardian on the Skypephone 2
Three Skypephone Portal in English, Danish, German, Italian and Swedish
http://3skype.mobi/Three Skypephone WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...

Portal] in English, Danish, German, Italian and Swedish
Three Skypephone at three.co.uk
Three Skypephone Review at Gadgetvenue.com
Skypephone S2 on Skype official website
Video walkthrough of main features on YouTube
christianlindholm.com's review
tonyblews.co.uk's review (part 1) and (part 2)

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