Skype to release "WiFi" Phone

[Spike]

As of July 2006, Skype will be selling a WiFi-enabled phone with color screen for use with their service.

This phone, made by the popular networking company Netgear, will allow you to sign into your Skype account and send and recieve calls anywhere you have a WiFi signal using your SkypeIn and SkypeOut services.

From their website: "[This phone] is the world's first wireless Internet phone that can make free calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world, anytime you have WiFi access, without a PC."

The phone uses 802.11g, and is WEP-enabled (you can use secure WiFi networks if you have the key). The battery lasts for a mere 3 hours of talk time and 50 hours of standby time. Not as much as a conventional phone, but for a WiFi-Skype phone, it's better than nothing.

And the price tag on this bad boy? You'd better save up for this one, it's a whopping US $299.99. So...is it worth it?

Netgear Skype Phone (Skype Accessories Website)

[Jeff]

This is cool, but pricey. I spend a lot on electronic gizmos (just ask my kids), but I can't see paying $300 for something that just works with Skype. You can get a PDA with built-in Wifi and Windows Mobile for about that, and there is already a version of Skype for Windows Mobile, so while it might not be as slick, it works just the same and you have a full-fledged PDA in addition.