Elderly Sisters Reunited After 30 Years via Skype11/29/2013 in Play Blog by Shana Pearlman

87-year-old Mary Helen and her sister, Betty, have always enjoyeda close relationship even though they live over 1,500 miles apart. They speak on the phone with some frequency, but, due to finances and – more recently – health issues, they had not seen each other for some 30 years.

Photo credit: Brandon McNabb (http://www.brandonmcnabb.com)Mary Helen, a stroke survivor, had never met Betty’s children. Now in an assisted living community in Port Charlotte, Florida, Mary Helen had just one wish: to see her sister Betty again and meet her children.

Mary Helen’s assisted living community is part of Brookdale Senior Living, one of the largest network of senior living facilities in the country. Brookdale is also a founding sponsor of Wish of a Lifetime, an organization (started by Olympic skier and former NFL football player Jeremy Bloom in 2008) that “fosters respect and appreciation for deserving seniors by fulfilling their life-enriching wishes.”An application was filled out on behalf of Mary Helen and submitted to Wish of a Lifetime via Brookdale. Her story was compelling and Wish of a Lifetime made arrangements to realize Mary Helen’s dream — however, it became clear that, no matter theresources, Betty was not in good enough health to make the trip from her home in Omaha, Nebraska, to Florida.

Wish of a Lifetime flew two of Mary Helen’s nieces from Omaha to Port Charlotte. It was a tearful meeting and Mary Helen was ecstatic to get to know her sister’s children over the course of a weekend. However, Mary Helen still felt the aching absence of her sister.

On the morning of November 9th, Mary Helen and her nieces  sat down in front of a computer. They had one last surprise for theiraunt. Not having much experience with technology, Mary Helen simply thought she was going to watch a recorded video from distant family members.

The nieces (in cahoots with Betty’s grandchildren in Omaha) initiated a Skype Video Call and the two sisters suddenly found themselves staring into each other’s eyes for the first time since Jimmy Carter was President.

“I could not believe that I could see my sweet sister’s face and hear her voice so clearly,” Mary Helen cried. “I was in shock!”

After the surprise reunion, Mary Helen and Betty now have plans to stay in regular contact over Skype. “This experience was very emotional for the both of us,” she smiled. “Everything went beautifully, and… I guarantee it won’t be thirty years before I see my sister again.”

Celebrating Small Business Saturday in the US11/29/2013 in Workspace Blog by Blake ShepardSmall businesses are some of the most prolific Skype users – and certainly some of the savviest. They collaborate across borders, communicate with dispersed teams, reach new audiences and conductbusiness on-the-go, and all without breaking the bank.In honor of Small Business Saturday in the US on Nov. 30, entrepreneur and author Mike Michalowicz did a bit of recon work to discover great stories about small businesses using Skype in their work in interesting ways. Head on over to Mike’s site for several days of ideas and inspiration.Where will you be “shopping small” this Saturday? Tell us in the comments.

The Road to Skype for Xbox One11/26/2013 in Garage & Updates by Todd RoshakSkype and Xbox came together to create a marriage of two divisions to bring communications to the living room. In July 2012, less than a year after Skype was acquired by Microsoft, theSkype team embarked on developing Skype for Xbox One.There were three core things we knew we needed to get right: performance, simplicity and Kinect integration. All the while, knowing full well, Skype needed to run seamlessly and efficientlyin the background and in tandem to all other apps and services.

We reached our first huge milestone less than a year ago – our first transatlantic audio call took place in January 2013. The work continued, and our real moment of celebration came with our first video call in March 2013. Of course, there was more work tobe done.

We knew we needed to move away from Skype’s own existing code base and instead move toward building Skype into the hardware of Xbox to create a deeply integrated, embedded app. One of the critical keys to success was performance. We wanted consumers to take and make calls easily, and while doing other things. We wereable to use learnings from recent Skype developments on mobile like working in the background of a device, and the results meanta 20 fold improvement.

Skype has always been more than 1:1 video calls, and we wanted to create a total communications experience with Skype for Xbox One. Voice recognition is a key differentiator in the living room. The technology was a joint effort between Microsoft Research, Information Platform & Experience, Xbox and Skype. You use your voice to call yourfavorites. Just say: “Xbox, call Mom”. Or “Xbox, answer” when someone is calling. You can call land lines and mobile phones with low cost Skype credit. All of these commands are supported with local language recognition intelligence where available.1

There are a number of global commands you can use from anywhere on your Xbox. Just say “Xbox” and any number of commands, including, “Call <person’s name>,” “Go to Skype,” “Hang up,” “Answer,” and “Ignore” among others.  It’s also possible to navigate through the Skype app just by using your voice.

Finally, the new Kinect camera in Xbox One is incredibly powerfuland Skype takes full advantage of the wide view lens and auto zoom functionality. We initially talked about wanting to implement auto zoom with Skype calls back in May 2013.

Thanks to the incredible work and brainpower of the IEB incubation team, they created a fantastic prototype that used the new Kinect APIs. We were able to use this prototype and rewrite it to work with the Skype video pipeline. This is a great example of collaboration across Microsoft.

Today, the team proudly describes Skype for Xbox One as an intuitive, immersive and complementary experience allowing consumers to relax – interwoven with what you’re already doing inthe living room.

We’d love to hear how you are using Skype for Xbox One and what else you would love to see. This is just the beginning, and we’llcontinue to enhance and add to Skype for Xbox One.

Skype in the classroom and reddit Team Up for Teachers11/26/2013 in Social Good by Wendy Norman

During this time of year I always find myself reflecting back on the year that was.  As I look back at 2013 and remember the different ways we at Skype tried to give back and make life better for others, the recent “reddit gifts for the Teachers 2013” drive stands out as one of the clear highlights.If you are not familiar with reddit, it’s a news and entertainment website that only features stories created by its users, known as ‘redditors’ (reddit editors, get it?). For the second consecutive year, reddit held a campaign to help teachers get much-needed school supplies. Teachers were invited to sign upto receive a “care package” for the new school year, while other redditors were invited to sign up as matches to send those teachers something thoughtful that will help in their classrooms.The campaign was a huge success: nearly 6,000 redditors got involved – collectively contributing more than $300,000 in supplies to teachers around the world! That’s double what participants sent last year.

But even with their generosity, 1,000 teachers went unmatched.

When we caught wind of this donor deficit, we wanted to find a way to help, and donated $25 Amazon.com gift cards to every one of the unmatched teachers.

redditor responds to the gift from Skype in the classroomSince the gift cards have been received, we’ve seen photos popping up all over reddit, showcasing the goodies the teachers we matched have purchased using their gift cards and the smiling faces of the students who are benefiting from them. We live for that smile.

Teacher shows off the supplies she bought with her gift from Skype in the classroomIt’s no secret that teachers are the core of the Skype in the classroom program. More than 70,000 teachers now use Skype so that their students can talk to experts, share in new cultural exchanges with other classes, and explore the world around them. Along with a gift card, we also gave our new friends on reddit a free subscription to Group Video Calling, a benefit enjoyed by all Skype in the classroom teachers, and an invitation to take part in new lesson opportunities that enrich learning made possible by the Skype in the classroom community.Are you interested in exploring dynamic ways to use Skype in yourclassroom? For more information on Skype in the classroom and to sign up, visiteducation.skype.com.

A new relationship for a better experience in China11/25/2013 in Big Blog by Judd HarcombeWe are excited to share that an updated version of Skype is now available for users in China through a new relationship. Today, Skype and Guangming Founder (GMF) announced a strategic partnership to deliver Skype across multiple platforms, includingPCs and mobile devices.Skype has been at the forefront of changing the way people communicate and GMF is a strong partner with a deep and rich understanding of mobile technology. Our shared excitement about communications and vision for the future will pave the way for usto enrich real communications in China.

The beta period starts today, as we migrate users and update the Skype software in China. Users in China will receive guidance on how to upgrade. The new version of Skype will be available on Windows 8.1, Desktop Classic (Mac and Windows desktop versions), Android and iOS (Phone and Tablet versions) and coming soon to Windows Phone.

Skype for Mac 6.11 – Find Content More Easily with Improved Search11/25/2013 in Garage & Updates by Nick Kocharhook and Tom Huang

We have released Skype for Mac 6.11. We focused on quality in this release, with fixes for several different crashes and hangs reported to us by users. We also fixed a host of other bugs, including:

Full-text search of messages with Unicode characters was failing on 10.6.

Infinite scrolling was sometimes broken on Mavericks. A disk I/O issue prevented a small number of users from

logging in.

Dragged links were blurry when dragged to a display of a different resolution.

File transfer messages were displaying incorrectly if they were scrolled just right.

 

In addition, we improved searching to allow you to more easily find all relevant content. You’ll see this in the new behavior ofthe conversation’s find toolbar, which now searches into the pastfor you. Less scrolling FTW! You can also search for more types of messages in the Search field, including file transfers.

You can download Skype for Mac 6.11 by clicking here. We hope youenjoy this update. To share your feedback or to get the latest news and tips, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and joinus on the Skype Community.

Travel More, Travel Less with Skype11/21/2013 in Workspace Blog by Blake ShepardThe more I talk with Skype’s small-business and entrepreneurial users, the more I’m aware of an interesting tug-of-war of sorts. I call it the “travel more” vs. “travel less” benefit.

What’s that mean? Well, for every person who tells me she loves Skype because she can be on the road frequently and remain seamlessly connected with clients and colleagues, another tells me he appreciates Skype for offering alternatives to traveling for in-person meetings. Skype seems to be the ally to both the road warrior and the in-the-office-every-day worker.I thought I’d dig a little deeper into this duality.

Travel more:  Joan Barrett, owner of the communications consultancy Content Factory, told us about using Skype to continue working when she visits family in far-flung locales. AmyMcIlwain, founder of Financial Social Media, traveled for the entire first year that she was building her business, depending on Skype to hire staff and stay in touch with business contacts.Joan and Amy are what small-business expert Mike Michalowicz calls backpack entrepreneurs.  They’re among a

growing cadre whose home office is in whatever country, city, or coffee shop they happen to be in that day.How do they do it? By using features like Skype Numbers, calling subscriptions andSkype WiFi. It means they can be “open for business” 24/7, with just a laptop, tablet or mobile phone that has Skype on it.Travel less:  Tracy Foster reviews product prototypes via Skype video, decreasing the number of visits she needs to make to the Dominican Republic-based factory of her camera-bag company, ONA bags. Dutch producer and songwriter Rene Kaaijuses Skype to collaborate with musicians around the world without leaving his studio in The Hague.When I hear from people like Tracy and Rene – who reduce travel by using Skype – I often hear them tout Skype’s one-to-one or group video calls.  They use video for everything from “touring” manufacturing sites to conducting “in-person” meetings that let them see and react to colleagues’ facial gestures.That’s the crux of “travel more” vs. “travel less.” Skype helps people craft the work life they want – whether that means rackingup the frequent flyer miles or making it home for 6 o’clock dinner every night.

Do you fall into either the “travel more” or “travel less” camp? Tell us about it!

The Great Debate: Does Technology Hinder or Improve Human Relationships?05/23/2012 in Big Blog by Tony Bates

An article I read recently included the following incredibly striking photo of Liu Bolin, a Chinese artist who is commonly referred to as “The Invisible Man.” He earned this nickname sincehis most popular works of art (including this image) are his “Hiding in the City” series.

 (Photo by Asiatic League on Flickr, via OpEdNews. Discovered on io9.com)

Bolin regularly turns himself “invisible” in various city landscapes to make a statement about “the effect development and technology are having upon humanity.” He feels strongly that technology hinders human relationships, actually hiding us from each other in plain sight.His sentiments certainly have a degree of merit. After all, I’m sure we’ve all experienced scenes like this during the course of our daily commutes to and from work:

(Image via U.S. Yahoo! Editorial on Flickr.com; Image via TIGGlobal Blog)However, I’ve seen incredibly strong examples of how software like Skype actually creates deeper, more meaningful connections between people. By bridging the gap created by physical distance,technology can facilitate very personal experiences that would otherwise be impossible. The ability for technology to enable face-to-face interaction helps maintain strong relationships. USAToday recently looked at how social media technologies like Skype

and Facebook are keeping military families connected during long overseas deployments. And it’s important to note that technology has made international relationships and business communications easier and much more personal. We’ve continually highlighted stories illustrating these benefits on our blog beyond the obvious time and cost efficiencies of not needing to travel.Cars, computers, cell phones and the Internet – ultimately, theseare just tools to reach a greater means. Like any tool, how people utilize them greatly changes their impact. It’s all what you make of it.

Skype Social Good – Making Life Better Through Technology12/06/2012 in Big Blog by Tony Bates

After I finished speaking on stage at the Social Innovation Summit in Silicon Valley earlier this week, I found myself reflecting on both the number of innovative and passionate peoplededicated to changing our world for the better and the role technology is playing to drive these changes within our global society. At Skype, we’ve always believed in the power of technology to bring the world closer together by enabling people everywhere to share experiences. Nowhere is this more evident than in the way Skype is playing a social transformation role in a number of areas – education, peace efforts and humanitarian aid. As the year comes to a close, let me share some highlights of the social innovations we’re currently involved with in these areas:Education   Our pinnacle achievement this year has been the expansion and continued growth of Skype in the classroom, our free and easy to use online resource that enables teachers around the world to connect their students with other students and guest speakers, and to create amazing learning experiences. Launched almost 18 months ago, Skype in the classroom now has more than 44,000 teachers registered – more than double where we were a year ago –and thousands of teacher-created lessons for classes to participate in. This resource is truly global, with a presence in

more than 200 countries around the world and classroom lessons available in 66 languages. We estimate that this initiative has already impacted over 1 million students around the globe.To make the learning made possible by this community even more effective, we’ve worked hard this year to forge relationships with key organizations to provide interesting Skype in the classroom projects that teachers could share with their students.To date, 13 notable organizations around the globe, including NASA’s Digital Learning Network™, The National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Victory, Education through Expedition and Penguin Group, have come on board to deliver more than 40 unique experiences or field trips that utilize Skype video calling.The diversity of the projects that teachers are conducting through the Skype in the classroom community is extraordinary. They range from simple lessons in a foreign language and culturalexchange between classes in two different countries to video calls with a Yellowstone National Park Ranger giving students theopportunity to learn more about geology, ecology and cultural history or a NASA representative discussing the living and working environment of astronauts and the effect on the human body of a prolonged stay in space.

Skype in the classroom works because it removes the social, cultural and technological barriers to communications and allows teachers to connect their students with the world beyond the walls of the classroom. Think of it as “the ultimate field trip.”Through the shared learning made possible by Skype in the classroom, we believe that young people everywhere can receive a better education and gain a better understanding of our world andits most pressing issues.

Our greatest reward is hearing stories from teachers about how they are using Skype in their classrooms and the reactions they see from their students. Allison Holland, an eLearning coach at an intermediate school in Plymouth, Indiana recently told us: “Using Skype, the kids get really excited! When the call comes in and they can see people’s faces, everyone just yells…but after that, they always stay quiet in absolute

wonderment. To get a full room of grade school kids completely silent and engaged…it’sincredible.”Peace EffortsRunning parallel to our Skype in the classroom initiative is our long-standing collaboration with Peace One Day. As our head of Social Good Andy Schmidt recently said, “Skype has been a proud partner of Peace One Day, an organization devoted to saving lives by promoting worldwide peace, for over three years. Sincefirst joining forces, our collaboration has evolved to focus on raising awareness of Peace Day, September 21st, an annual day of non-violence around the globe.”Working together with Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley, Peace One Day created a free Global Education Resource for teachers featuring 15 interactive lesson plans which teach that peace, non-violence and anti-bullying are absolutely paramount. The resource is currently being used by classrooms in 193 countries. Skype recently showed our continued commitment to Peace One Day’smission to world peace and understanding by announcing a $100,000gift on #GivingTuesday(November 27, 2012) to help underwrite the expansion of Peace One Day’s Global Education Resource with the goal of eventually making it available to every classroom around the world.In addition, Jeremy regular schedules Skype video calls with students in classrooms around the world with the goal of mobilizing a generation of young people in support of Peace Day. Already, he’s spoken with students in more than 50 countries, including Lesotho, Venezuela, China and Ukraine, among many others.

Humanitarian AidAs I alluded to earlier, Skype’s mission has always been about enabling people to stay in touch with those they care about most – especially when they are apart. It is the unfortunate nature ofconflict and natural disasters that they often cause the displacement and separation of loved ones. Whether trying to locate family members following an earthquake or staying in contact with friends during a hurricane, we take pride in helpingpeople who are unable to help themselves keep in touch due to their dire situations.

It’s in this area where we first began our social good efforts about three years ago, when we forged a partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help them overcome one of the greatest staff welfare challenges they faced – how to keep their humanitarian aid workers connected with theirloved ones that are often thousands of miles away. While we were happy to help, when we took a closer look at the situation, we realized that internet connectivity was a major issue in the hardship locations where their staff was deployed for months at atime. So we developed a low-bandwidth version of Skype that is now used in all UNHCR hardship locations. The feedback from aid workers who now get to stay much more closely connected to their loved ones – sometimes even seeing their children take their first steps – has just been overwhelmingly rewarding to us all atSkype.Earlier this year, in April, we expanded our efforts in this areaby becoming a technical partner of emergency.lu, a global public private partnership that is supported by the government of Luxembourg. Typically, in the first few hours after a large-scaledisaster, communication is often a major problem. Emergency.lu was designed and developed to serve as a rapid response solution that would restore communications within hours – not days. This ensures that disaster relief and humanitarian aid organizations are able to coordinate their efforts to save lives and rescue those who may be in need of assistance. As part of this free global public good available to the international community, Skype helps emergency.lu   bridge the communication gap during times of crisis.With a new year just over the horizon, we remain committed to these efforts. We are strongly focused on enriching learning experiences around the world with Skype in the classroom, and we’ll continue our commitment to Peace One Day and Skype’s support of humanitarian efforts worldwide. We have always believed that communications brings people together and has the power to change the world. We’re seeing tremendous life-changing results in these three areas and are excited to see what’s next in the world of social innovation.