Press releases

LUXEMBOURG, January 6, 2009 - Skype today released Skype™ 2.8 Beta for Mac, the latest version of its internet communications software for Mac users. This new release, which was first demonstrated during ShowStoppers® at the Macworld Conference & Expo® in San Francisco, contains a number of new Skype features, including Skype Access™ and screen sharing. Both of these features will be built into versions of Skype for other operating systems sometime in 2009.

Continue reading “Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac Delivers WiFi Hotspot Access Management & Screen Sharing to Mac Users”

LUXEMBOURG, December 10, 2008 — Skype today announced the appointment of Daniel Berg as Chief Technology Officer and Christopher S. Dean as Chief Strategy Officer. Both roles are newly-created and will report into Skype President, Josh Silverman.

As Chief Technology Officer, Daniel Berg is charged with driving and developing Skype’s full range of technologies and products, and enhancing and leveraging the architectural vision of other technology teams. He will have responsibility for growing and maintaining a global research and development team of more than 300 staff, fostering excellence in both execution and innovation. He assumes his role on January 1, 2009.

Christopher S. Dean joins Skype as Chief Strategy Officer, focused on driving Skype’s strategic development. His team will lead global business and corporate development, strategic planning and an incubation function tasked with generating new ideas and developing projects which support Skype’s technology vision and long-term corporate goals. He assumes his role effective immediately.

“The appointment of these pivotal roles for technology and strategy, at a time when many technology companies are cutting back on resources, demonstrates Skype’s commitment to driving forward a vision of technological innovation coupled with the creation of a world-class leadership team,” said Josh Silverman, Skype President. “With the team in place, we are better-placed to scale and develop with the rapid growth and potential of the business, and respond swiftly and dynamically to new opportunities as they arise.”

Mr Berg joins Skype from Sun Microsystems, following 15 years working with technology and exploring new ways to exploit its benefits. Most recently, he was Chief Technology Officer for Sun's Global Sales and Services Division and Vice President of Systems Engineering for Sun's Emerging Markets Region (India, China, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America), roles in which he led the technical strategy and direction of the organization. He also received the title of Distinguished Engineer at Sun, in recognition of his work in multithreading, concurrent programming and Java. A best-selling author, he has written a number of books, including Advanced Techniques for Java Developers and Dot-Com & Beyond: Breakthrough Internet Based Architecture & Methodologies. Prior to Sun, he worked for IBM and Honeywell.

Mr Dean brings over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, specializing in business and corporate development, strategy consulting and start-ups. Most recently he was co-founder of Texada Capital, an investment management firm. Prior to Texada, he spent three and a half years as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at FaceTime Communications, a leading vendor of security, management and control solutions for instant messaging within the enterprise. Earlier in his career he was Senior Vice President of Business Development at Epoch Partners, EVP eCommerce Services at smartage.com, VP of Marketing at Worlds, Inc. and a Senior Consultant at Regis Mckenna, Inc. He holds a BA in Economics from Vassar College and a MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Skype also recently appointed Anne Gillespie as the new Head of Human Resources. Anne spent much of her career with major technology corporations, including Compaq and HP. Prior to joining Skype, she led HR for all of HP’s Global Functions in EMEA. Prior to that, she worked for HP in U.S. Corporate Headquarters supporting the Global Marketing organization and then moved to Switzerland to support Global Operations and IT as HR Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Anne holds an MSc in Human Resource Management from Sheffield University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD). She assumed her role on November 10, 2008 and reports into Skype President, Josh Silverman.

About Skype

Founded in 2003, Skype is revolutionizing the way people communicate around the world. Skype has more than 370 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). Learn more and download Skype at www.skype.com.

Access to a broadband Internet connection is required. Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and can not be used for emergency calling.

Skype, associated trade marks and logos and the “S” symbol are trade marks of Skype Limited.

Continue reading “Skype Appoints Lead Roles for Technology and Strategy”

KIEV, 8 December — PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank, is announcing a partnership with Skype in Ukraine. This partnership provides Ukrainian Skype users with easier access to the whole range of communication possibilities available via Skype including free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls to other Skype users, free instant messaging and low cost international calls to mobiles and landlines.

The agreement between PrivatBank and Skype has led to the creation of a co-branded version of the Skype software client, available for download at https://skype.privatbank.ua. The agreement also enables easy online payments from PrivatBank web properties and the ability for users in Ukraine to purchase Skype Credit from thousands of offline PrivatBank cash kiosks, ATMs, and branches. While calls to other Skype users are always free, Skype Credit is needed to make low cost calls to mobiles and landlines using Skype.

The Skype-PrivatBank partnership will allow Ukrainian Skype users to communicate more easily over the internet, as a range of new ways to pay for Skype Credit become available. Users can now pay via PrivatBank’s extensive terminal network, online via their web properties, and via SMS dedicated to mobile banking users of PrivatBank. Prior to this partnership there were few options to buy Skype Credit in Ukraine. Now it has become simpler to access Skype’s paid-for features, using Skype Credit to purchase everything from online numbers on which to receive phone calls to making low cost calls to mobiles and landlines worldwide, from as little as € 0.017 per minute to Portugal for example.

“Facing new economic realities, we consider it very important to offer our clients ways to significantly reduce expenses on voice, video, and instant messaging communications, for the most part making them free,” said PrivatBank chairman Aleksandr Dubilet. “I’ve been using Skype for a long time myself and I am certain that the development of this product in our country will let people communicate freely without unnecessary expense and let business, particularly small to medium sized, optimize their communication expenditures.”

“We are thrilled to be able to partner with PrivatBank to bring an even better Skype experience to Ukrainians all over the world,” said Enrico Noseda, Skype’s European Director of Market Development. “While many people in Ukraine already use Skype to stay in touch with family, friends and business contacts around the globe, PrivatBank is providing payment options and content that is both convenient and relevant, thus playing a key role enabling conversations for millions of Ukrainians around the world.”

“A reliable connection becomes even more important as time and distance becomes less of an obstacle for communication” added Oleksandr Vityaz, PrivatBank’s Director of Electronic Business. “It is easy now – one just needs to download Skype software from PrivatBank’s website to start contacting business partners all over the world to carry out video calls and conference calls for cost effective and convenient negotiations and meetings.”

About PrivatBank

With a network of 2,859 sales points and branch offices and 5,750 ATMs all over Ukraine, PrivatBank is the largest Ukrainian bank. It has 3 million customers and 500,000 corporate clients. According to 2008 image research conducted by GFK Ukraine, 88% of Ukrainians can name the leading bank and PrivatBank’s logo is recognized by 60%. More than 34% of respondents were clients of PrivatBank. The bank has also been acknowledged as the Ukrainian bank with the highest reputation by international research “Global Pulse 2008”. The high level of respect, trust and benevolence which Ukrainian customers feel towards the bank (71.75%) has allowed it to enter the top five leading international and Ukrainian companies which enjoy high levels from Ukrainians.

About Skype

Founded in 2003, Skype is revolutionizing the way people communicate around the world. Skype has more than 370 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). Learn more and download Skype at www.skype.com.

Access to a broadband Internet connection is required. Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and can not be used for emergency calling.

Skype, associated trade marks and logos and the “S” symbol are trade marks of Skype Limited.

Continue reading “PrivatBank and Skype to Become Partners in Ukraine”