Sony’s mylo: Ahead Of Its Time, Or Just In Time?
When we heard this past week about Sony’s new handheld WiFi device, the mylo, we weren’t sure what to make of it. At first, anyway.
About the size of a PSP, mylo uses wireless broadband to view web pages and MPEG-4 videos and download MP3 music files. It has a slideout QWERTY keyboard for writing emails and sending IMs, and - it has Skype.
Skype is eBay’s free (or practically free) VoIP phone service. We’ve been reporting on the rollout of Skype-enabled handsets this summer. But Sony’s mylo takes those handsets a step further by combining multimedia and email capabilities in one package.
The price of admission for mylo isn’t cheap - $350. Of course, we’re used to buying cell phone devices with these kinds of capabilities at lower prices. But those devices come with airtime contracts - and providers use the money they make on airtime to subsidize the price of the devices.
Here, there’s no long term contract. Having a mylo gives you access to Skype’s phone network anywhere you can find a hot spot. (mylo comes with JiWire’s directory of 20,000 hot spots across the U.S.) With Skype service you’re able to call other Skype customers free - and access landline phones for a few cents a minute.
Now we think we get it - this device is all about putting Skype service in the hands of a lot more people, bundled along with other cool features, from a manufacturer with enormous credibility (Sony).
For Skype, it’s also all about keeping ahead of other uber-popular free destinations on the web, such as MySpace. Skype now has 113 million users worldwide, versus 100 million for MySpace. And with devices like VIVOPhone Voice Key that hook “ordinary” telephones up to Skype through a USB connection, the battle for VoIP versus landline ratchets up a few more notches.
[via IndyStar]
Leave a Reply