Skype's Secret Weapon
For all the buzz about Google Talk, Skype should continue to be a strong player for several reasons. Among them is the developer community, which has reportedly created more than 400 applications since Skype opened its API last November. Skype recently held a competition for its developers, which was won by the Jyve Plugin. The Jyve plug-in adds Skype functionality to Web pages. Khaos Labs, Columbus CRM, Iskoot, Audiomatic and SalesForce.com were also cited. The growth of the Skype software community has been interesting because there are now dozens of companies generating revenue from Skype users. At the same time, Skype is working to get its own revenue and business model to the next level. In some cases, this pits Skype against its developer eco-system but Skype's future depends on its appeal to as many as users as possible, which means the more third-party apps the better. Skype's also got a new version of its software, which was released last week.
Speaking of applications, Andy Abramson has a good post on how it's the applications, not the price of minutes, that will drive VOIP. “The use of price will still attract some, but the real money will be made with the invention and deployment of the next voice mail, three way calling and call waiting types of apps hit the market,” according to Andy.
