Skype and Logitech Join Forces Promising High Quality Video Calls

I have a longstanding love-hate relationship with Skype. I think a lot of us do really. And when it comes to video calling, I'm pretty much convinced that there isn't a desktop solution that holds a candle to SightSpeed. And yes, I've tried many solutions.

Earlier I got email from Chaim over at KAPLOW. They've really done a pretty solid job of helping Skype with PR, and I appreciate the regular updates they send out. Here's the gist of his note.

Earlier today, at media events held simultaneously in London and New York City, Skype and Logitech unveiled a new standard in video calling over the Internet: High Quality Video on Skype. Having already brought video calling to the masses - Skype and Logitech are now taking further steps to bring people closer together and make the world an even smaller place with High Quality Video.

High Quality Video is video calling with improved image quality – 640x480 resolution and up to 30 frames per second. It offers clearer, sharper and smoother video images than ever before. It’s almost as good as being there. High Quality Video is achieved through the collaborative functioning of Skype software, Logitech webcam technology (both software and hardware) and a fully redesigned set of drivers. High Quality Video is created when all three elements work together; the extensive collaboration between Skype and Logitech is what makes the High Quality Video experience possible today.

With any one of the three Logitech webcams certified by Skype for High Quality Video – the QuickCam® Pro 9000 ($99.99), QuickCam® Pro for Notebooks ($99.99) or QuickCam Orbit AF ($129.99) – loved ones will be able to see each other face-to-face all year long. High Quality Video calling is available on computers that feature a dual-core processor and the latest Skype software for Windows (version 3.6 or higher, currently available in beta).

Here are a couple of comparison photos that were part of the package.

While the samples do show visibly better quality, I'm not at all sure this is something I'll take advantage of any time soon. Frankly SightSpeed already looks better than the high quality one they show using all three of the existing webcams I have. I find I jsut don't use Skype video very often. That could change, but the change would be driven by the behavior of the people I talk to most often, not a new offering that requires me to go buy something.

Here's the press announcement -

Sharper, Smoother, Better: Skype and Logitech Join Forces, Fulfill Promise of High Quality Video-Calling Experience
High Quality Video Provides VGA Resolution and 30 Frames Per Second for People with Certified Logitech Webcam and Dual-Core PC

LUXEMBOURG and FREMONT, Calif. — Oct. 30, 2007 — Skype and Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI), the world’s leading manufacturer of webcams, today announced a collaboration to deliver a new standard of video calls over the Internet: High Quality Video. With High Quality Video on Skype™, people worldwide can enjoy free video calls that are sharper and smoother than ever before. The experience is so good, it might be better than being there.

“This is a major leap in the clarity and smoothness of free video calls over the Internet,” said Gareth O‘Loughlin, Skype’s general manager, mobile and hardware devices. “High Quality Video is a tremendous opportunity to delight our more than 246 million users and take their Skype experience to a whole new level. One in four Skype calls already involve video, so we know our users love to show and not just tell. High Quality Video will take Skype conversations to a whole new level of realism. In the past, only big businesses could afford this kind of video quality. It’s now time to take it to everyone else.”

“High Quality Video takes all the promises of video calling – staying connected with family and friends, traveling the world without a suitcase and increasing collaboration among colleagues spread across a global network – and dramatically enhances the quality of the experience,” said Gina Clark, general manager and vice president of Logitech’s Internet Communications business unit. “Once people start enjoying High Quality Video at VGA resolution and 30 frames per second – a level of quality that is sharper and smoother than we’ve ever seen on Skype before – we’re confident that it will quickly become an indispensable way to stay connected.”

About High Quality Video
Whether it’s a father reading a book to his kids back home while he travels for work, grandchildren giving their grandparents a close-up view of their first lost tooth, or colleagues connecting across continents to discuss a business proposal, High Quality video offers image-perfect detail and clarity that help people connect better with their friends and families, co-workers and clients – without having to buy and install expensive video-conferencing equipment.

High Quality Video (Skype 3.6 for Windows and Logitech QuickCam® software, version 11.5) brings VGA-quality video calls (640-by-480-pixels) at up to 30 frames per second (fps) to people using a broadband connection (384 kbps connection or higher), a High Quality Video-certified Logitech webcam and a PC with a dual-core processor. (Both parties require minimum system requirements to experience High Quality Video.) As a result, people can enjoy significantly sharper, smoother video calls – even in full-screen mode.

A collaborative effort between Logitech and Skype, the High Quality Video experience is created through Skype software, Logitech webcams, and a fully redesigned set of drivers in the QuickCam software, all optimized to work together in a way never achieved before on Skype. Logitech’s new webcam drivers are specially tuned to recognize callers who have the new Skype software.

Logitech Webcams Certified for High Quality Video
High Quality Video on Skype is only available with the following premium Logitech webcams: the Logitech® QuickCam® Pro 9000, the Logitech® QuickCam® Pro for Notebooks and the Logitech® QuickCam® Orbit AF (Logitech® QuickCam® Sphere AF in Europe).

All three High Quality Video-certified webcams offer a Carl Zeiss lens and a premium autofocus system for fast, fluid focusing that helps eliminate the inconvenience of manual focusing. Logitech’s autofocus system refocuses images in less than three seconds and helps ensure that images remain crisp even in extreme close-ups (up to 10 cm from the camera lens).

For the office and the home, the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 comes with a flexible universal base, which allows it to rest comfortably on nearly any monitor. For the on-the-go professional, the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks is sold with a protective travel case and an adjustable, spring-tension clip that accommodates even large laptops with panels up to 20 mm thick. The QuickCam Orbit AF webcam can cover 190 horizontal degrees and 100 vertical degrees of a room and offers a unique pan-and-tilt tracking technology.

Pricing and Availability
Skype 3.6 for Windows is expected to be available as a free download at skype.com in November and will support 28 languages. The Logitech QuickCam Software version 11.5 is available now for free download at www.logitech.com/downloads.

The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks webcams are now available for a suggested retail price of $99.99 in the U.S. and EUR 99.99 in Europe. The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF (QuickCam Sphere AF) is available now in the U.S. and Europe for $129.99 and EUR 129.99, respectively. These webcams are also available for purchase at www.skype.com/shop.

About Skype

Skype sets the standard in 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 246 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.

About Logitech

Logitech is a world leader in personal peripherals, driving innovation in PC navigation, Internet communications, digital music, home-entertainment control, gaming and wireless devices. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

# # #