Skype takes to the sofa

The home videophone has had a long and less than illustrious career. Telcos such as AT&T and BT have all poured money into the 'futuristic' concept over the years, the videophone being seen as the natural next step for the telephone. But somehow, through the clatter of all that R&D, nobody thought to ask users whether they'd actually want to appear on one. They didn't, although at least one network technology - narrowband ISDN - was designed partly with the videophone in mind.

Now Skype, formerly a division of eBay, has come out and pre-announced a home video communications capability it claims it will launch in the Spring. Unlike your usual futuristic videophone, the Skype TV-based video approach seems to be the result of some deep thinking and a bit of research into the whats, wheres and whens of video communication.

Instead of squinting past a web cam on a laptop Skype claims the sofa experience is the way to go.