Emerge Inc. Blog

I’m a huge fan of Skype, software that allows people to make free calls and instant message other users or low-cost calls to landlines and mobile devices.

It came to my attention around two and a half years ago, when during a get together with some friends over the holidays, we were able to “skype”, or call our friend also using skype, serving in the Army in the Middle East, absolutely free on a laptop. Each computer had a webcam so it gave us a chance to see him for the first time in many months, and gave him a chance to see all of us. I was sold from that moment on.

Earlier this year, Skype and Verizon struck a deal to allow Skype calls and messages on the Verizon network at no extra cost. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog post, I use the HTC Droid Incredible, a Verizon phone. I got the chance to test out the system, and I was more than impressed.

We tested the app using three Skype numbers, one locally, one on the west coast, and one in England. The results were nearly the same for the two stateside, with some issues to the call in England. The two here in the US had great call quality with very little lag. We did have some lag issue with the call to England, but we were also driving (I was in the passenger seat) so it’s hard to say where the lag issue was coming from. Even with the lag, it was still good quality for a free call “across the pond.”

I encourage others to check the service out and if you’re a Verizon customer with a 3G phone, definitely check out the app.

Update: I didn’t mention initially but Skype is available on the iPhone and Symbian phones, just not the same deal as for the Verizon phones.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 11:39 am . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.