Taiwan-based Accton Technology unveiled in Tokyo on November 7 its Skype-enabled Wi-Fi phone, the SkyFone WM1185-T, that can be used to make free peer-to-peer (P2P) via VoIP without the aide of a personal computer. Accton plans to ship 5,000 of the new wireless phones to Skype's business partners and wireless broadband service providers worldwide for testing in December, with volume shipments slated for the first quarter of next year, according to company sources.
The WM1185 Skype phone, which enables a talk time of up to four hours and a SBT (stand-by-time) of up to 20 hours, is likely to be initially priced at over US$150 in the retail market, according to market sources. In addition to supporting Skype-embedded technology, Accton will also introduce dual mode mobile phones that support both GSM and Wi-Fi technology in early 2006, the sources noted. Accton is now developing ASICs (application specialized ICs) for the Skype phone, aiming to lower the phone's overall production costs by 20% and bring the retail price to below US$100, said Ken Lu, Accton's executive vice president.
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News source: DigiTimes
