Skype’s new strategy for 2010: Your flat-screen TV in your living room can now be your phone. Or, if your tastes run more toward “The Twilight Zone,” think of it as your TV watching you — as you watch TV.
The makers of popular software that allows users to make free phone and video calls via the Internet announced new deals Tuesday with LG and Panasonic that put Skype inside new Web-connected versions of their HDTVs. Starting sometime in mid-2010, consumers who buy new Panasonic Viera TVs and LG sets with NetCast Access will be able to plug in special webcams (sold separately) and enjoy face-to-face conversations with family and friends.
Skype earned its reputation as a low-cost alternative to traditional phone calls via your PC, and that particular platform wasn’t ignored in Tuesday’s spate of announcements. The company also said it is now supporting 720p high-definition video calls over computers, and those attending this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will get a chance to check out new HD webcams from Skype partners faceVsion and In Store Solutions that do all the software encoding within the cameras.
Isn’t this a little 1984ish? I don’t want a web-enabled video camera that can be hacked on my TV set. I’ll have to move to that little alcove next to the TV where it can’t see so that I can get some private time… War is Peace. The Ministry of Truth is almost at my door.
Oh, wait, they’re taking me to the room with spiders now..
other than on Big Bang Theory, does anyone actually use this?
I think the main purpose for this is going to be for “adult” entertainment.
this has been a bpromise sense the 60’s and 70’s…
WOW, you really think so???
#1 is right…TV and the place we watch it is not an interactive/two-way environment. Many have tried, and it never succeeds. I doubt this time will be any different.
#5. It works for video games…sort of.
Postman said,
other than on Big Bang Theory, does anyone actually use this?
Total user accounts 521
(in millions)
Active users — daily presence 42.2 (Q1. 2009)
(in millions)
Skype to Skype minutes 27.7
(in billions)
SkypeOut minutes 3.1
(in billions)
In 2008, about 8% of cross-border calls were carried by Skype
So, it is not just me and my friends and family that use Skype
And some ISPs still throttle Skype P2P traffic.
The NEt in the USA SUCKS…
this wont happen until we can BYPASS what Japan and CHINA have already done..NATION WIDE.
Why not build the camera into the TV? Video chatting only took off when Apple started to build cameras into Apple monitors. The cost to the manufacturer is quite low. Maybe its another accessory gauge idea.
Want to keep a conversation private?
Skype is the only secure protocol in mainstream use.
Even your https:// session with your bank (or anywhere else) can be reconstructed by your ISP on a coppers (Judge) request. Seen it done.
Fancy spook shops have their own encryption systems that are un-crackable, to be sure.
Files transfer “skype” encrypted too.
Drives Johnny Law nuts …
Kudos to skype for not giving up their keys !!!
/T.
I could really use skype on my PS3..
“other than on Big Bang Theory, does anyone actually use this?”
Sure. My sister mentioned to me that she and her husband “Skyped” their son and his family on Christmas.
What we need now is a source of lots of colorful backdrops just like Pee Wee Herman used in his video phone booth in his Playhouse!