Netgear announced their new Skype WiFi phone that needs no PC; Skype, of course, obviously comes pre-loaded since you don’t want to carry yet another phone just because you can. Just enter your Skype name and password and you’re set to call all of your Skype buds whenever you’re in range of some WiFi. What’s that, your peeps don’t have Skype? No prob since you can seamlessly use your SkypeIn or SkypeOut account just as well. We’re guessing that the WiFi flavor is either 802.11b or 802.11g, although Netgear also announced RangeMax to support Skype on their WPN824 RangeMax wireless router. No juicy details on pricing or availability just yet, so keep using that cheesy headset for now.

The NETGEAR WiFi phone will make mobile Internet telephony a reality for Skype users. Unlike other devices that must connect with a PC, NETGEAR’s Skype WiFi phone will work wherever a consumer is connected to a wireless Internet access point — be that in a home, office, cafe, open public hotspot, or any open municipal wireless access point being deployed worldwide. The Skype experience remains the same, in that users can make free domestic and international calls, as well as host conference calls and chat, with other Skype users anywhere in the world, and to non-Skype users for a small fee. With this device, headphones or USB phones plugged into a laptop or PC are not required.

“Customers can now call anyone on Skype, anywhere in the world for free without using a PC anytime they are connected to WiFi. We’re extremely proud to deliver the world’s first mobile phone enabling customers to enjoy all the benefits of Skype,” said Patrick Lo, NETGEAR’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Moreover, Skype integration with our RangeMax wireless router will further extend our leadership in innovative networking devices. Skype offers the simplicity, WiFi offers the connectivity, and NETGEAR offers the technology to innovate these market-changing products. Our teamwork with Skype is yet another way that NETGEAR is helping people to connect, all around the world.”

The NETGEAR device will combine the best of Internet calling and wireless. The NETGEAR phone is pre-loaded with Skype’s software, ready out-of-the-box to use with a wireless network. All a user needs to do after turning on the phone is enter a Skype username and password. The Skype software pulls up the user’s full contact list, displays the connection status on the phone screen, and allows the consumer to connect to any other Skype user for free. The phone will also allow users to connect to non-Skype users with the SkypeOut™ feature. More information on NETGEAR’s Skype WiFi phone, including pricing and availability, is planned for the first quarter of 2006.

“By collaborating with NETGEAR, Skype’s reach is extended to a new, important consumer platform. This new phone allows Skype to offer its global users improved mobility,” said James Bilefield, vice president of business development for Skype. “Simplicity and style were two qualities we looked for in a mobile phone and NETGEAR’s new device will offer both to Skype users.”

In addition to the Skype Wifi phone, NETGEAR and Skype also announced that the NETGEAR RangeMax Wireless Router (WPN824) with Smart MIMO technology, a 2006 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award honoree and the industry’s #1 selling MIMO-G product, will be equipped to optimize Skype. Adapting to changing wireless conditions is unique to NETGEAR’s RangeMax technology, and RangeMax routers dynamically avoid interference from neighboring wireless networks and eliminate dead spots to maintain the most reliable, high-performance, long-range network connections to each client, making them ideal for supporting applications such as Skype.

NETGEAR and Skype are participating in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center through January 8. During CES NETGEAR will demonstrate the new WiFi Skype phone in Booth #36219 in the South Hall 4. Skype will be present in the eBay/Skype kiosk (A129) in the Grand Lobby of the Central Hall.

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