The first result of the companies’ joint technical efforts is the availability of free, ten-way voice conference calling for up to ten people in Skype 2.0 — an industry first for peer-to-peer Internet calling. The new feature is available exclusively for home and business users with Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology-based laptop PCs, and desktop PCs based on Intel Pentium D processors, Pentium Extreme Edition processors, and the recently introduced Intel Viiv™ technology.
The two companies plan ongoing, additional feature extensions and optimization of Skype for Intel’s dual-core processors to take further advantage of the high throughput and simultaneous computing capabilities of Intel’s dual-core processor architecture. Later this year, Skype will release video calling optimized for Intel dual-core technology, boosting performance and bringing free, high-quality video calling to millions of users with Intel processors. Beyond laptops and desktops, Intel and Skype share a common vision to enable Skype to function seamlessly across a wide variety of Intel-based computing platforms and network environments, including handheld computers as well as WiFi and WiMAX wireless networks.
We want to make communicating over the Internet simple and accessible,” said Alistair Shrimpton, general manager of Skype UK. “Through our partnership with Intel we can ensure that Skype performs better than any other Internet calling application and drive widespread business and consumer adoption.” “Intel views the PC as a tool for collaboration for home and business users,” said Robert B. Crooke, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Business Client Group.
Skype is advancing this capability and today Intel dual-core processors allow you to host Skype conferences of up to ten participants with enhanced call quality on both laptop and desktop PCs. We will continue to work together on aligning our future PC platform technology with Skype’s growing roadmap of rich application features.