More (helpful!) 3Skype links

Goooood morning! This morning we greet you with 2 helpful links :) The first is for those of you still teetering on whether you should go ahead and splash out on this new mobile. Ant from the UK took his 3Skype phone on a (photo) shooting spree on the weekend, and posted the results on Vox. Click to check out picture quality.

For those of you early adopters who already have a 3Skype phone, you might want to check out the 3Skype phone mobile forums, coded and sized to be viewed on your mobile. It's got handy hints on getting the most of your mobile and troubleshooting any problems you might have on your new phone.

Confusion about launches

Just to clear things up: when the 3SkypePhone launched for sale yesterday, it only launched for sale online. This is so we can try to ensure that preregistrees get their very lucky paws on the phone first before people who just walk into a store. At this point I'm not sure of when they will start trickling in store, but from the response we have gotten so far.. best be quick and start clicking :)

Breaking News.. 3SkypePhone on sale

Told you it was going to be soon.. and its also the reason why I've been so quiet online lately - it's absolutely mental in the office! ;) Anyway, you can check out the www.threeskypephone.com.au minisite for links to buy, or preregistrees will be getting a message to say its available today this afternoon.

iGadgetLife Unboxing Video

Whet your appetite for the 3SkypePhone with this unboxing and demo video from igadgetlife.

Great TFTS Review

Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend.. we had some issues with Blogger here (excuses excuses excuses I know :P) Anyway, could we win you back with an awesome 3 Skype phone review from TFTS? Click here.

Definition of Spruik

I've had a couple of emails from people who are asking what exactly does "spruik" mean. Spruiking is the act of standing in a public area (usually outside the related store) and advocating (quite loudly) the offers and bargains to be found inside (usually with the aid of a megaphone). Have attached an example spruik from the wonderful guys from the Chaser for your amusement ;)

Did you know: 3 Skype Help Site

Did you know that Hutch global has set up a handy mobile enabled info and FAQ minisite for the 3 Skype Phone? To learn more, point your mobile browser to http://3skype.mobi/english/.

You heard it here first - 3 Spruiker Comp

So a shiny new Skype phone to chat to your Skype buddy is nice.. but how awesome would it be to be able to actually fly over and visit them? Well that's what we are proposing you have the chance to do with our fabulous Spread the word to win comp. Just pick out a public area and spruik your little heart out about the 3 Skype Phone/3 in general, submit your video to supervirals.com, and then badger your friends to vote for your video. After the cut off date, we will tally up all the votes and whowever has the most votes for their spruik wins the trip.

Some things to keep in mind:
- Spruiking must be in English, and the video and audio must be of reasonable quality.
- No swearing, racial slurs or other offensive language please!
- You might have a body like Colin Firth, but we would prefer you spruik with your clothes on.
- Please don't endanger yourself or any other person during your spruik
- Have some common sense about appropriate times and places to spruik. This is not a competition to get yourself arrested people :P But apart from this being the usual legal disclaimer about how we won't bail you out/represent you in court etc exercise some consideration also. For example: Great Aunt Ethel's funeral: Public and a captive audience, but probably not such a good place to spruik ;)
- You will win garnering the most public votes - and its the public voting for you/or how many friends you can badger to support you by voting, so it's in your best interests to think about how to make the video as entertaining and original as possible to your audience, both in content and in spots to spruik. Now we aren't advocating Telstra, Vodafone or Optus stores.. but it would be bloody funny though :P Good luck! ;)

Around the office water cooler....

.....we've been talking about the preregistration competition and which celeb we would skype. Though I am lucky enough to have a Skype phone already to play with, I still had a think about who I would call.. and if I were to skype anybody.. it would have to be Colin Firth. Now I know that Mr Darcy is just a character and they have been exploiting that wet shirt thing forever but.. well let's just say I'm a sucker for happy endings and wet men in ponds. If you want to chip in your 2 cents about who you would like to skype (and perhaps win yourself a Skype Phone in the process) then click here to enter.

What the 3 Skype phone does.. (besides Skype)

So we have the Skype logo emblazoned everywhere and anywhere, as it should be, since Skype is one of the cooler features of the 3 Skype Phone. However, I think that it would be prudent at this point to remind all that the 3 Skype Phone also makes normal calls (You would be surprised at how many people have dropped by my desk to ask me about that this week!) Yes, 3 does provide you with a sim card, so you can use the Skype phone as a normal phone if you so wish.

Apart from its obviously superior skills in call making, the 3 Skype Phone is also great for taking photos with its 2MP camera (See example on the left.. you will have to click in to see the full detail of the pic), and you can save pics to the microSD memory card (512MB included free in the box), bluetooth them to nearby devices (sharing incriminating pics/files with friends, anyone? ;P) or MMS/Email them.

The 3 Skype Phone is also great for music (yes, you can keep music on the memory card too) and there is a stereo headset included with the phone, though you may want to splash out on a bluetooth stereo headset if you want to cut down on the wires. The 3 Skype Phone is also 3G enabled, which means lightning fast access to Planet 3 and all the online goodness that comes with that - download games, ringtones, mobile tv just to name a few :) The phone is also very small and light, just a tiny bit bigger than a Nano, and very sturdy (though we can't guarantee it will survive any wash cycles).

Did you know: Alt Tabbing

Isn't it annoying when you are listening to music or playing a game when a call comes in and you suddenly have to quit what you are doing to take it? The 3 Skype Phone has an awesome task switcher that lets you multitask and switch back and forth between Skype, music and other applications easily, just like alt-tab on your computer :)

3 Skype Phone Specifications

So after the newbie lesson yesterday, I thought I should show you techie types out there some love by publishing some geeky info about the mobile. So without further ado here are the specs for the 3 Skype Phone. Don’t say I never do anything nice.

Available in:
White with blue trim
Black with black trim
White with pink trim

Dimensions:
Size: 44 x 13.6 x 100 mm
Weight: 86 g

Battery Life:
Standby: 202 hours
Talk time: 199 minutes
Video time: 118 minutes

Networks :3G

Camera:
2.0 Megapixel main camera, no secondary camera.

Screens:
Main Screen Size: 2.0" QCIF (176x220), 256K screen colours
No secondary/external screen

Memory:
Handset Memory: 16MB
Expandable up to 1 GB MicroSD

Connectivity:
Connect to a PC (USB Cable & CD ROM supplied)
Bluetooth (A2DP [stereo], AVRCP)

Additional functionality:
Media player
Java (for games etc)
Video Calling
Video Downloading
Video Streaming
Speaker Phone

What's in the box:
1150mAH Battery
USB Cable
Charger
3 User Guide
Stereo headset
512MB micro SD card
CD ROM for PC connection

A bit cheeky of us...

... but we have managed to get hold of the first 3 Skype Phone unboxing pics. Visit the album to see more pics, including this one of the phone showing off its miniscule proportions next to a Nano.

3 Skype 101

Before we delve any further into the exciting adventures of the 3 Skype Phone, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to give a short intro to Skype (and for those of you groaning impatiently in the back row, remember we were all newbies once!) Skype is a social internet service that lets you make calls for free when you call from one Skype account to another, using a technology called Voice Over IP. It’s really easy, visit the Skype site, download the software, set up a username and password, and providing you have an internet connection, a microphone, headphones/speakers and of course, some friends to call, you are up and running. And what if your friends don’t use Skype? You can purchase some Skype credits and call their normal landline or mobile numbers, whether they live locally or overseas.

But what happens when you are away from your pc? This is where the 3 Skype Phone comes in, doing away with the software installation, the computer, net connection, microphone, headphones.. in fact, all you need is the phone, a login and uhh.. yes. you still need that friend! It’s got Skype built right in, so not only is it a normal mobile phone, but it also has a Skype client installed seamlessly into the phone’s menu system (in fact, there is a dedicated Skype buton so you can choose whether you want to call a number using your normal mobile plan or whether you want to use Skype). Major savings there if you have tech savvy or overseas friends.. you might find that having such convenient 24/7 access to Skype will bring y’all closer.. awww ;)

But I have to admit that being logged on 24/7 to Skype is not always a good thing. It leaves you open to support calls from your boss at 6pm on a Friday evening, early morning weekend wake up calls from your mother and maybe 3am catch up calls from your friend in Texas who has never quite figured out the mathematics of time zones. But never fear! We know that on purchase of the 3 Skype phone you will immediately become totally popular* as people realize how easily (and far cheaply) you can be reached. So when you log in to Skype, you can also set up (and at any point change) your status – known in Skypespeak as Presence. Your Skype buddies can instantly see whether you are online, offline, or most crucially I think, in a state of do not disturb!

There is one more awesome Skype feature that I simply can’t leave without talking about, and that is Chat Messaging. No longer do you have to be shushed in movie theatres for taking calls, or wait impatiently for someone with pudgy fingers to slowly compose a SMS and send. Apart from voice, the 3 Skype phone also has Chat Messaging (an IM service) that lets you type instant chat messages to anyone on your Skype buddy list. Cool huh? Very cool methinks ;)

*Disclaimer: The 3 Skype Phone has not (yet) been proven to make anyone totally popular. We think it couldn’t hurt though.

Welcome

So, from all the media hoohah lately, you might have noticed that a mobile, the 3 Skype Phone was released this week, spurring the creation of this blog. Welcome! :) Over the next few weeks we’ll be bringing you the latest information, insider peeks and first dibs on the exciting competitions that are heading your way to celebrate the launch of this awesome new handset, as well as hot tips and tricks to get the most out of your phone if you happen to be lucky enough to get your paws on one. So keep us bookmarked, join our Facebook group and don’t forget to comment/leave feedback for us. Apart from feeling rather wanted whenever we get mail here, we would also love to know your views and what you would like info on, so help us make this blog relevant to you!

By the way, not to blow our own trumpet or anything, but have you preregistered for more information on the 3 Skype Australia minisite? You will be the first to know when the mobile goes on sale, and just by registering you have the chance to win a brand new 3 Skype Phone. So what are you waiting for? Get cracking! ;)