Skype to offer 3G handsets with free calling & TV Services

I know the article say's the UK is 1st to get this, but they don't mention what other countries will be getting this in early 07

3G Handsets Offering Free Skype and Home TV Services

Hutchison 3G, in Partnership with Skype, Sling Media, Yahoo!, Nokia, Google, eBay, Microsoft, Orb and Sony Ericsson, are launching a new handset and services package, called the X-Series.

Customers will be able to make unlimited calls from their mobile using Skype, watch their home television via their mobile using Sling, access their home PC remotely using Orb and have access to the best of internet and messaging services from Yahoo!, Windows Live Messenger and Google.

The X-Series from 3 will be priced like fixed line broadband. It will offer use of mobile internet services free at the time of use, for a flat fee. There is a "fair usage" clause in the small print though, and roaming may be an issue.

The global launch of the X-Series from 3 is being made possible by the first two handsets that will support this full range of services: the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i.

Canning Fok, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Whampoa, said "This is the internet as it was meant to be and what people have been waiting for. Mobile broadband is the natural next step for mobile services, extending the full power of the internet to mobile handsets. By partnering with the leaders of the internet and the leading handset makers, the X-Series from 3 will give everyone access to more of what they want, when they want it, and however much of it they want, all free when they use it."

At today's launch presentation the 3 Group announced global partnerships with major internet brands Sling Media, Orb and Google. These partnerships build on global agreements announced earlier this year with Skype, Microsoft and Yahoo!

An X-Series customer will be able to make and receive unlimited Skype calls with Skype PC users anywhere in the world, and to any other Skype 3 mobile customer. Skype to Skype calls on a 3 mobile will be free.

Your TV where you are

An X-Series customer who purchases a Slingbox will be able to watch anything they are able to watch on their own TV, including their terrestrial TV, Freeview, cable, and satellite TV, at the same time, on their mobile. Slingbox will also let X-Series customers control their home personal video recorder (PVR) to watch shows they have recorded, pause and rewind live TV, or even queue a recording when away from home using their mobile.

Your PC where you are

Using Orb means people can access the digital content that they have stored on their PC at home, including music files, playlists, digital photos and videos, on their X-Series handset. Orb has specifically designed a user interface for X-Series handsets, which will ensure the X-Series customers taking Orb will receive the best user experience.

Messaging

X-Series from 3 will offer customers text instant messages, to or from Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, to another X-Series handset, or a PC. Sending and receiving text instant messages with an X-Series mobile will be free.

The X-Series from 3 will be available in the UK from the 1st December 2006 and in 3's other markets around the world in early 2007.


www.cellular-news.com/story/20459.php