I’ve been using the new 2.5 beta version of Skype for a week now and I am loving it. The main new feature is the support for SMS messaging. When I am out of the country I use SMS as a primary method of communication to home – however when roaming I am frequently charged about 50 pence per message sent (free to receive). Using Skype I can now text home for 0.08 € (about 5p – which is actually half the price I pay for my text messages when at home and 10 times cheaper than what I pay while abroad). According to the Skype blog, the feature set it due to increase but it already works for me. I text from my computer and receive replies to my cell phone, the recipient has no idea I’m using Skype to send the message apart from the fact that my messages are usually longer as I have access to my full Qwerty keyboard.
All I need now is to get one of those NetGear SPH101 phones and Skype will have 100% WAF. Until that point, I’ll have to pay for my phone / text messages home.
Hi Martin,
Can this (Skype SMS) be used to send SMS messages from another application? I'm looking for something that I can plug into an existing web project that will enable me to send SMS messages to a list of users (possibly for free, but realistically not...) There is a Web service here: http://www.webservicex.net/WS/WSDetails.aspx?CATID=4&WSID=60 that'll do it, but not to UK mobiles. Any ideas?
Cheers and I'll see you soon (at the next developer conference possibly).
Sean