Internet Phone is Evolving
Skype President Suggests New Methods of Communication
Josh Silverman, President of Skype, was in Korea to announce how the Internet has provided a rich communication experience that goes far beyond voice calling.
"Skype is breaking down barriers, opening new opportunities. Today on Skype, millions of people are communicating with friends, family, and business," Josh Silverman said at a press conference today in Seoul, Korea. Silverman was appointed president of Skype on March 24 and was in Korea to attend the OECD Ministerial Conference. He took the opportunity to promote Skype services in Korea, where the service is only in an infant phase.
The Future of Video
"Couples can maintain relationships when one member is abroad. For me personally, I live 10 timezones away from my family, but my children have deep relationship with their grandparents through Skype video. The quality is pretty compelling."
Silverman gave a short demonstration on how Skype video is used.
"That was a real video call using Skype technology using standard laptop or desktop, using standard broadband connection, standard webcam. The future of video calling is here today. Oprah is using Skype regularly on TV," Silverman said.
Taking Skype Beyond the PC
He said that Skype currently has 2 goals: working to make Skype easier to use and taking Skype beyond the PC.
"The Sony PSP, for example, can run a Skype application with a Wi-Fi hotspot," Silverman said. " Most recently, we announced beta version of Skype mobile."
Profitability of Skype was 126 million in revenue in Q1 of 2008. "That's not bad for a 4 and a 1/2 year old company. That puts Skype roughly on the trajectory of eBay and Google," Silverman said. "It was 5th consecutive quarter of profitability. Skype is transforming the way people communicate."
When asked how Skype can guarantee secuirty from malware and phishing, Silverman said that Skype was designed with wordclass encryption. "It's an extremely secure network, (but) nothing can protect user from giving their data away." He said consumer education is important to prevent malware. "Consumers should only give their information to a trusted source," he said.
Skype Denies Sellout
Silverman also turned down possibilities of an imminent sell-out. "Ebay is a believer in longterm- they bought the earnout so we can realize longterm potential," he said. "My mandate is to build best possible product for users. If there are synergies, we will pursue them with vigor but synergies in themselves are no a goal."
"There are over 100 billion minutes of communication on Skype. That goes beyond traditional voice communication. It is one of fastest adopted technologies in human history," Silverman said.
What is Skype?
Skype is a software program that allows users to make free telephone calls over the Internet. It was created by Niklas Zennstrom, Janus Friis, and a team of software developers in Estonia. It was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion.
