Summary
Skype’s vice president of marketing said that video services have been discussed and suggested. Skype has also launched Personalize Skype, which allows callers to receive and send pictures, sounds and ringtones over the Skype network.
Original source:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9076-1803303,00.html
Details
The telecoms group will launch a set-top box that will enable users to download programmes over broadband internet lines.
Skype's foray into content distribution starts today with the launch of Personalise Skype, a feature that means that callers can receive and send pictures, sounds and ringtones over the Skype network.
Part of the message we want to send out is that Skype is open for business and that people, third parties, can work with Skype to provide content."
Skype also announced the full release of a call-forwarding service that allows people to forward free internet calls to mobile phones or a conventional landline for 1p a minute.
Ringtones might be just a "first move" into content for Skype, but they are a significant market in their own right.
Ringtones now account for more than 10 per cent of the $32.3 billion worldwide music market, according to industry estimates.
It is to explore advertising models where its clients pay for sales leads via Skype calls.
However, Skype also appears to be be moving towards becoming a platform for online video content in a move that could eventually see it square up against conventional television companies.
Skype could offer a massive audience for content producers.
Since its launch in August 2003, its software has been downloaded more than 174 million times in 225 countries and territories.
Around 56 million people are registered to use Skype's free services, with more than 3 million people using Skype simultaneously at any one time, according to the company.
Earlier this month, Terry Semel, the chief executive of Yahoo!, said he wanted to develop a global internet television
network, and invited British broadcasters to provide programmes that his company could distribute.
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Sunday, October 16, 2005
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