Skype

Research about Skype.

I wanted to research about Skype so that i could see how well it was doing as a business since this would be my main service to combine with Siemens phone. However from this article from the Skype site it seems that Skype is a very popular service which is rapidly growing.  http://about.skype.com/2009/03/skype_opens_up_to_corporate_si.html

About Skype
Founded in 2003, Skype is revolutionizing the way people communicate around the world. Skype has more than 405 million registered users globally who use Skype software to communicate for free through voice and video calls as well as instant messages. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings, such as calls made to and from landlines and mobiles, voicemail, call forwarding, and SMS. Skype is used in almost every country on Earth, and people have made more than 100 billion minutes worth of free Skype-to-Skype calls. Conversations over Skype can take place on computers, mobile devices and Skype Certified™ hardware. Skype certifies and sells hundreds of hardware products from more than 50 partners, and works with hundreds of third-party developers who have created plug-ins to extend Skype's functionality.

Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY)

Rationale

I want to research into how house phones could be developed into a multi-platform device where it can coexist and cooperate with modern services but to not compete with them.  This is something some companies have already been working on to provide, but they are still constraint with the fact that you need your computer on or that they don’t make full usage of the services available.

Research I want to carry out.

Do we need the telephone? Or is it still a popular form of communication?
I want to carry out a questionnaire to see what is it people most common for of communication.
Can the convention of the hand set be broken, and will it be accepted?   

Research other forms of communication.

How people interact with the communication devices?

Philips VOIP855

The Philips VOIP855 is a Skype phone that doesn't need a computer. From first instincts of this phone it is clearly an expensive piece of equipment, it retails at £150. As this phone uses Skype it does use some neat features such as voice mail and integrates itself with Skype like a phone. However like the Siemens it's still afraid to break through conventions of a standard phone with a limited interface. I would like to research this to see whether a new generation of more technology adapted people would be able to accept a new new interface.  

Unlike the Siemens product this product doesn't mention Email which is a smart move by Philips as this would be a wasted feature on such a small screen. 

Product S685 IP

I'm looking at the 'Next Generation' Product line from Siemens Gigaset as this boast of internet calling, although it doesn't give any popular services such as Skype, Microsoft Live Messenger or Apples facetime which seems odd for an internet phone. However this is because it uses an older form of communication, Email. This is a nice feature to have although made awkward with Siemens bad choice of 'a classic design hand set' meaning no QWERTY keyboard and leaving replying up to the mobile or computer again. Meaning conventional phones could maybe do with a user interface upgrade to break away from that convention of the standard 1-9 buttons.

From further research at http://gigaset.com/hq/en/cms/PressRelease_IP_Services_20100426.html i found that the Gigaset actually utilises other internet applications such weather forecast and Ebay account viewer.     

Client

I chose Siemens as my client because they produce well priced phones for a mass audience, although retailers offer more from other companies like Panasonic and BT because they have a larger range of products.I still thought Siemens would be a good client as they are make innovative and quality products. Plus i have been interested in Siemens for a long time as they manufacture products themselves as well as produce products for other companies as they have become renowned for producing high quality products.

As a brand Siemens seem to put function ahead of form for their Gigaset products as they all look like they would work well but in comparison to Philips they don't look as attractive.  But there more expensive range do look a lot more aesthetically pleasing as they use fashionable brushed metals and clean sleek design.

The strengths in the Siemens Gigaset is purely technology based with it being able to connect to the internet as well being a wi-fi host but it doesn't claim to use any of the online services. This is probably because the user interface is quite old considering it is still based around the first digital phone which was made some 30 years ago. Also the phone claims great sound quality and long wireless range.

Brand Research

I went to John Lewis, Currys, PC world and House of Fraser today to research what brands are available to the consumers and which of those brands are most popular.

John Lewis Brands available:
Panosonic
John Lewis
British Telecom (BT)
Seimens
Wild and Wolf
Magic Box Colombo

PC World/Currys Brands Available:
Panosonic
Philips
iDect
British Telecom (BT)
Siemens
Magic Box Colombo

House of Fraser Brands Available:
British Telecom (BT)
Panosonic

This was quite helpful and interesting because I knew BT would be quite high up there in popular brands as they make cheap affordable phones with a aim towards more function than aesthetics. But I found that Panosonic also make I wide range of phones, ranging from 20 pounds to 100. Also iDect is a brand that I had never heard of so I would like to research into them further to see what other products they produce as their phones were quite expensive in comparison to the large companies like Philips and Panosonic. Other brands I want to research more into is Magic Box Colombo, Wild and Wolf and, but they have a more modern take on the telephone classics.      

My Research Brief

My Brief {In this project you will take on the role of researcher for a selected product design brand or company (your client). You will prepare a research report to support that company’s development of a new product targeted towards a specific market area. This product may take the form of a physical object, service or system.

You will produce a detailed rationale and product specification recommending a course of action for your client based on well documented research methods.

In industry, there are many roles a designer takes on, and increasingly design consultancies depend upon well informed consumer focused research conducted in-house, or provide this type of research to a diverse range of other businesses including governmental bodies, multinational brands and SMEs. This project will help you to develop the skills in initiating, defining, researching, and justifying design decisions which are necessary to these types of role.}

I'm thinking of looking at an electronics based company to do with audio as this is what I'm generally most interested in. One of my favourite brands is Philips as they make very stylish products in a new and innovative way. They keep to modern fashion trends so they never really bring a shock to the market but yet this allows them to create something in keeping with the present time so that it will belong with your other products in your home. 
Another possible contender is Creative as i own a couple of their MP3 Players and i think they used to make very good products but the quality of their products has fell and they are now just another struggling company in the shadow of Apple. However with new legislation coming in so that ipods will no longer use the 30 hole pin and instead a micro usb(source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20026874-1.html), this should loosen the strangle hold that Apple has on the market as docking stations will no longer be 'made for ipod' but instead for everything. This market for portable audio devices is a very unpredictable market with products being based on new technologies such as, HD, 3D, touch screens ect, it is very difficult to predict what would be the next new thing. Plus with phones now being able to pretty much do everything you need it seems people probably won’t want to have another device in their pocket just for listening to audio. 

Therefore after doing some quick brain storming i think i might move into communication and in particular home communication. With products like Microsoft’s Kinect and Apple’s iphone this means you can video chat anywhere to communicate; this opens up a whole new media of communication that brings back the face to face conversations but allows the users to communicate from opposite ends of the world.

Things I need to research further,
Services of communication: Skype, MSN, Face time ect
Products of communication: Telephones, mobiles, computers ect
How we communicate?