While I still have SkypeIn and SkypeOut, I don't use Skype very much these days, I stick to an older version for some personal compatibility issues, but here's news about the latest from Skype - Skype 3.2 Gold has gone live today.

PERSONALISE YOUR SKYPE
LUXEMBOURG, 9th May, 2007 – Skype today announced Skype™ 3.2 for Windows, which includes a series of new features that give users more options to personalise Skype. With Skype, you can now keep all your online relationships together by putting all your friends and families’ contact details in one place. This makes it even easier to stay in touch with friends, family or colleagues around the world.

You can also take a picture of yourself using your webcam with our new video snapshot feature and add it to your profile so that friends and family can see how you are doing. Video snapshot builds on the popularity of video calling, which has grown rapidly since Skype introduced the ability to make a video call in beta in December 2005. Already, nearly one fifth of Skype calls are made using video.

These new features, combined with an updated, user-friendly interface, are signature to Skype’s continuing innovation to offer a simple and more interactive way for its vibrant community of more than 196 million registered users to stay in touch with one another.

Carter Adamson, director, desktop products for Skype said, “Skype has always been committed to giving people the best internet calling experience possible and we feel we’ve hit the mark with the latest version. Now you can really individualise your profile and make it even more unique with video snapshot, put all the contact details for your online relationships in one place and enjoy exceptional sound quality so much so that you feel like you’re actually in the same room as the person you’re calling.”

The latest version makes it even easier to stay in touch with friends and family by allowing users to import address books from other applications, such as MSN Hotmail® and GMail™ and Yahoo! Mail™. Users can now also "Share Skype” by sending convenient email invitations to those online contacts that are not yet using Skype.

Every individual has a slightly different and personal preference for how they use Skype. Some use handsets or headsets. Others use Skype when they’re travelling abroad on business or to enable grandparents to see their grandchildren grow up using Skype video calls. At times users find it more convenient to use Skype ‘hands-free’ allowing them to talk directly into their PC rather than using a headset. The latest version of Skype includes enhanced echo cancellation and background noise reduction technologies in order to improve the sound quality regardless of how people are using Skype.

Also included in the new release is the Send Money feature which allows Skype users to send money to any of their Skype contacts via PayPal. This is an excellent example of how PayPal and Skype connect people through payments and communications.

Skype also continues to update its client interface, by giving users easier access to their personal Skype accounts, including SMS history, transactions, paid for products, as well as the ability to purchase more Skype Credit.

Skype’s popularity originates in letting people make free and very cheap calls over the internet. As the world’s largest internet communications community, Skype is committed to improving people’s individual Skype experiences and giving them the ability to set their own conversations free at home, at work and on the move.

About Skype
Skype sets conversations free by providing new and easy ways to stay in touch over the internet. Millions of people every day make free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages using our software. Some pay a little per minute for long-distance and international calls to phones and mobiles and for SMS, voicemail and call forwarding, or they buy subscriptions that give unlimited calls nationwide.

We certify and sell hundreds of hardware products from more than 50 partners and work with third-party developers to create software to extend Skype's functionality. Skype has been downloaded more than half a billion times and over 196 million people from almost every corner of the globe have registered.

Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY), and you can learn more and get Skype at www.skype.com.

Make your world a smaller place: talk, share and do more with Skype.

Access to a broadband Internet connection is required for Skype and all Skype Certified devices and accessories. Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and cannot be used for emergency calling.

Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Me, Skype Certified, Skypecasts, associated logos and the “S” symbol are trademarks of Skype Limited.
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