They should fix their core business. I loathe skype. Instant messaging on multiple devices is just dreadful as you get all conversations as unread again on any device you log on to skype. The mobile client sucks your battery dry and is super slow...i hate it with passion... Still i need to use it as most of my clients do..
I have a small side business providing consulting and equipment services to broadcasters using Skype/Google Hangouts/Spreecast/etc. as a cheap way to put remote interview subjects on the air. While this could be exciting depending on price, locking into Skype isn't ideal. In my experience letting the interview subject select the platform they're most comfortable with yields better results.
The best contribution from Skype is freeing the Silk codec which became part of Opus (luckily it happened before MS bought them). The rest is just a proliferation of closed and non federated communication networks and protocols.
They don't list any pricing, I wonder if they provide it for free with the caveat that you have to have a Skype logo and mentions.<p>Example, Oprah: <a href="http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/06/0604_oprah_tech_effect/3.htm" rel="nofollow">http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/06/0604_oprah_tech_effe...</a>
So this is not my industry, but it's interesting to think about the requirements of a studio environment. I was recently handed a card by someone who did voiceover work, and he was "The ISDN guy" or something.<p>I assumed that ISDN died in like 1996, but it turns out it's still considered vital for some remote voice over work. <a href="http://www.alisocreek.net/vo-articles/ISDN-for-voice-over.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.alisocreek.net/vo-articles/ISDN-for-voice-over.ht...</a>
At first I thought it was a Chromebox for meetings [1] competitor. But they seem to have created a more enterprise product for broadcasts. I would imagine this is a very niche product.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/business/solutions/for-meetings.html?utm_source=0214cfmlaunch&utm_medium=blog" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/business/solutions/for...</a>
They're demoing this at NAB this week; it's a pretty stale show, filled with legacy tech, so this was one of the more interesting highlights (actual exchange with a sales <i>engineer</i>: "what kind of APIs do you have?" "what's an API?"). The text is definitely written for broadcast professionals.
> Using our technology, you’ll be able to interact with Skype callers across the globe – this includes experts, interviewees, audiences and even big-name stars.<p>Wow, it even works for big-name stars! Who writes this stuff, and who are they writing it for? It's just insulting.