Skype partners create more than 400 products

Skype, the pioneering Global Internet Communications Company which makes it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to make free high-quality phone calls, has awarded Jyve the first prize in Skype's hotly-contested first developer competition. More than 100 developers entered the competition, which was open to Skype's thriving community of partners and independent developers. More than 400 hardware and software products that integrate with Skype's rich features have already been developed by Skype's expanding network of partners.

"I'm thrilled to congratulate Jyve for winning our developer competition," said Niklas Zennstrom, Skype CEO and co-founder. "The competition was fierce and we are so excited by the creativity of the developer community and can't wait to work more with this ever expanding network of partners. We also want to give special mention to Khaos Labs, Columbus CRM, Iskoot, Audiomatic and SalesForce.com for their outstanding products."

Jyve won the top award of 2 000 Euros for a plugin that lets Web masters enable Skype and call forwarding, presence, browser synchronisation and auto-responding features on their sites. Khaos Labs received a special mention for its Free ActiveS COM wrapper, which has been used by numerous other developers to help build a range of Skype Extras, which are readily available for download from the Skype Developer Zone. The Skype's Developers' Competition was launched on 26 April.

The Skype Developer Zone is a resource for developers interested in working with Skype's Application Programming Interface (APIs), which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Skype's APIs have been integrated into a wide range of community, enterprise, entertainment and productivity products, as well as hundreds of hardware products and services. Some of the highlights

include:

* Hardware - Siemens and RTX cordless phones
* Software - such as Skype virtual business cards, ways to listen to your MP3 collections and personal assistants

In addition, Skype announced last week its Open Web programme and the availability of its SkypeWeb and SkypeNet APIs to enable developers to plug Skype's instant messaging and presence into their Web sites and software applications.

To support and steer its platform development, Skype has formed a Platform Advisory Council. The Council currently has 15 members, which are drawn from some of the best and brightest of the Skype developer community, both partners and individuals.

"Skype's Platform Advisory Council is a group of trusted partners who are willing to share their knowledge of the industry and provide Skype with feedback on our plan for the industry," said Lenn Pryor, Skype Developer Platform Manager. "Thanks to them, we will be able to have more visibility on how we can positively impact our developer community, and we take their advice and implement it into our roadmap. We are honoured to have people of this calibre willing to share their time and energy to help us shape our future."

To support the interest in its Developer Programme, Skype is holding a series of partner events around the world where its growing community of partners and developers can get together to learn more about the on the latest opportunities for working with Skype. The next in this series of worldwide events will be held 22 September in Palo Alto, California, 12 October in London, England and 7 November in Tokyo, Japan.

Partners can also visit the Skype Developer Zone at http://share.skype.com/sdp.

Keyword: International Europe Technology_IT
Industry Keyword: Telecommunications Software Internet E-Commerce Hardware Product

Notes to Editor:

The following showcase products that were finalists in the Skype Developer Competition, as well as highlight the range of commercial and non-commercial developer partners, such as call forwarding, CRM integration, video, voicemail, expressive content, personal assistants, integration with mp3s and collaboration tools. Partner quotes are also provided below.

Jybe, a simple and easy to use tool for sharing office documents and enabling real time collaboration over he web with Skype contacts.
http://www.jybe.com

Dial Mp3, which allows you to listen to any mp3 in your collection on your phone.
http://www.voxu.com/projects/DialMP3/

Pamela Basic, a personal assistant for Skype that answers calls and chats for you in 32 languages when you are away.
http://www.pamela-systems.com

Gizmoz, which lets all Skype users communicate with animated, 3D talking headz:
http://www.gizmoz.com

Yabber Nut Answer Machine for Skype, which offers voicemail, delayed messaging and allows you to receive and send messages when away from the computer.

Spontania Video4IM, a high-quality video solution
http://www.video4im.com

Commercial mentions:

* Columbus CRM (Skype integration with CRM solution)
* ISkoot (free call forwarding)
* Audiomatic (voice activated macros including Skype commands)
* SalesForce CRM integration

"Incorporating Skype with Jybe enabled us to bring voice and presence awareness to our collaboration product quickly and easily though the use of a well documented API," said Andrew Hansen, Jybe.com

"It's a revolution to have Skype services with Dopod hand-set. From now on the whole world can talk for free without boundary. Being a smart phone brand, Dopod is glad to have Skype as a close partner, our cooperation will break all rules of telecommunication industry," said Jack Tong, Dopod.

I found the Skype API to be very well documented. For a developer, that is crucial. I was able to get the job done fast and well because I didn't have to guess, it's an open book," said Steve Buikhuizen, SalesForce.

"Communication costs have always been an issue with business; how to be more personable and still enhance profitability. Columbus CRM Partner has been taking advantage of the Skype API to build better communication bridges between SuperOffice CRM users and their customers, prospects, business partners and teammates. Together with Skype, we are making a much needed impact on the commercial landscape" said Robert, Columbus CRM.

"We have had a terrific experience working with the Skype API. Skype is the clear market leader for voice-chat and their open approach has enabled us to bring our mobile-to-PC solution to market sooner and with more impact than we imagined. Skype is blazing a trial and through its Developers Programme, inviting companies like ours to build successful businesses that bring maximum benefit to Skype's tremendous community of users," said Jacob Guedalia CEO, iSkoot.

"Working on the ActiveS library has given me the opportunity to collaborate with some great people, especially the guys at KhaosLabs and Skype. To me, one of Skype's biggest attractions is its commitment to third-party developers. I enjoy playing a roll in helping people extend and add value to Skype," said Jason Terando, ActiveS.

"Having worked on consumer VOIP solutions since 1999, without much demand, partnering with Skype literally from day one (we started working with Skype mid-2003), has brought us the demand we were looking for. We have continued to work with Skype over the last two years and have enjoyed watching user numbers across the world grow at a phenomenal rate. The people at Skype are a pleasure to work with, and with their support and evolving feature set, we have succeeded in making a place in the market for consumer internet telephony hardware. We look forward to continuing to work along side them and develop new products with cool features that delight our customers," said David Holder, VOIPVoice.

"Because the Internet Phone Wizard is a unique product bridging regular phones with Skype, we were really pushing the envelope on third-party developer capabilities of Skype. Our development team was very pleased with the ease of technical integration and we were able to bring the product to market in a short time," said Gunjan Bhow, Actiontec Electronics.