I have evaluated the VOIP841 from Philips before and was overall happy with the device, minus the OK audio quality.  However, recently I heard about and received IPEVO’s new Wi-Fi Skype handset for review.

This little unit is as small as most candybar mobile phones and contains the Wi-Fi chip directly in the handset.  Contrary to the Philips VOIP841, which requires a separate base station along with the handset, everything with the IPEVO phone is housed on the handset itself. Â

This means you can take the IPEVO phone and use it wherever you can get a Wi-Fi signal for free Skype calls and ridiculously cheap calls to traditional landlines and mobile phones.

Opening the Box

First impressions with the IPEVO Wi-Fi Skype phone are postive. Â The black handset has a bright and readable screen and well-sized buttons that are used to navigate the handsets traditional Skype menus. Â Anyone familiar with the Skype user interface on a PC or Mac will easily be able to adapt IPEVOs implementation of them on the Skype phone.

The Skype handset takes about 4-5 hours to charge and after doing so, you are ready to assign the device to your wireless network and start making and receiving Skype phone calls.

Setup

On my home wireless network, I employ WPA-PSK encryption. Â When I tried to utilize the phone’s wizard interface to join my Wi-Fi network, it had issues and would not properly connect. Â As a result, I had to manually select my home network and enter in the security setting and details by hand. Â After successfully joining the network, the phone prompts you to log in to your Skype account.

With the IPEVO device, you can either sign into your existing Skype account or create a new one directly on the handset without having to log into Skype on a computer. Â I thought this was a nice little feature.

One note about the IPEVO Skype phone: if you have special characters in your Skype or Wireless password, it is a little tricky to figure out how to input these into the phone. Â When you press the pound key, aka #, you are presented an on-screen menu with all the special characters you might have in your passcodes.

Usage and Performance

The IPEVO Skype phone is quite easy to use, especially after you are set up on your wireless network and signed into Skype on the phone. Â Upon signing in, your Skype contact list is available and shows your contacts’ presence information. Â Like the Philips VOIP841, from the IPEVOs home screen, you press the “Contacts” button to load your contacts for easy dialing. Â The homescreen also displays the current local time, the current user name that is logged in, and the current Skype balance.

The call quality with the  IPEVO Skype WiFi phone was outstanding for a handset.  My callers were very audible to me, in fact, they were clearer and louder than when I called them with the VOIP841, for comparison.  Callers said I sounded great as well.  This was true for both Skype-to-Skype calls and Skype to landline/mobile calls as well.

While call quality was good, battery life left a lot to be desired. Â I found that with moderate usage and keeping the phone powered on, the IPEVO device could only stay powered on for about 5 hours. Â

This is understandable, considering the IPEVO has the power-hungry Wi-Fi chipset on board the device, but this poor battery life is something to keep in mind if you are a heavy Skype user who needs a handset that will last a considerable amount of time.

Conclusion

Overall, the IPEVO Skype Wi-Fi phone is an attractive, feature rich handset that makes great sounding calls. Â Anyone who wants to be able to talk to their Skype contacts or make/receive very inexpensive Skype calls should consider this device for a purchase. Â Having Skype on a handset like this really makes Skype no different than a normal cordless phone for regular dialing.

One important note: if you have areas of your house that have weak Wi-Fi signal quality, this specific phone won’t work in those areas. Â The IPEVO handset does have a Wi-Fi signal indicator, but I noticed choppy calls in rooms that are far away from my wireless router.

The IPEVO Skype Wi-Fi handset is Skype Certified and is available for around $130 at various Intetnet-based retailers.

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Review: IPEVO Wi-Fi Skype Phone

A few weeks ago I was in Barcelona for Nokia World along with a group of other writers. I’ve had some thoughts over the last week about how companies and organizations are treating independent journalists that I’d like to summarize.

To start off, lets state the obvious.  Because independent journalists write mainly online (for me it’s here at (Techcraver and a few other online outlets) and not for the New York Times or Newsweek, companies don’t traditionally grant us access product announcements, briefings with key executives and we have a harder time accessing review equipment for evaluation and exploration.

I encounter this bias when working many with many different types of technology companies, with a few shining examples that are the opposite. One company that has embraced social media is Nokia and their practices and patterns should be emulated by any company or organization who is looking to engage social media for outreach purposes.

What Does Nokia Do That Is So Great?

There are a few efforts that Nokia employs to bring social media into the picture. These PR-type efforts include WOMWorld, a program which grants loan devices to bloggers and tracks the buzz in the blogosphere surrounding the current Nokia handset models. There is also the Nokia Blogger Relations program from that is now run by Nokia’s Social Media Team.

These are active engagements whereby the large Finnish mobile phone company has reached out to social media to generate attention with their products, gain feedback, and have a conversation surrounding their mobile handsets and services.

At the Nokia World 2008 conference, Nokia representatives were available, including key product managers from inside the company (including numerous Senior VPs). I was able to meet with a variety of officials from throughout Nokia, including handsets,  services, and even corporate sustainability.

As a result, the Nokia Social Media team turned this huge monolithic company and organization into an open book for us to start conversations and adequately analyze the new offerings. They invited us to interview anyone from Nokia and went out of their way to arrange these meetings.

Another key facet to Nokia’s Social Media Team’s strategy: they’re engaging large, well known writers from popular blogs as well as well-known, up and coming writers. Rather than just engaging outfits such as Engadget, TechCrunch, and Gizmodo, , and others, Nokia invites me along with other smaller Nokia writers as well. Very smart!

It is apparent to me that as a company, Nokia’s intent with engaging social media is to start conversations and appreciate feedback, both good and bad. The Nokia Social Media team takes negative feedback and routes it to the appropriate manager or team within the organization.

So in summary, Nokia has embraced social media by bringing us to the table, giving us access to different aspects of the organization, and appreciatively listening to what we have to say. More companies and organizations should use this approach, as there are benefits for both parties when it is employed.

What other organizations are doing a stellar job of interacting with and engaging social media? What approaches do they take that you feel should be repeated? I look forward to the comments!

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Companies Embracing Social Media: A Case Study With Nokia

Nokia HQ - Photo Courtesy Flickr User rooreynolds

Nokia, the Finnish mobile giant, has arguably the most well-equipped mobile handsets in the industry. The N95 made waves two years go by offering an outstanding feature set including on-board GPS, a 5 megapixel camera, great video recording capabilities, dual action slider, and Wi-Fi connectivity. What has followed are other handsets both in the Nseries consumer line and the Eseries business line that also feature awesome hardware portfolio for on-the-go techies and business-types.

The Market Demands Good Customer Experience

In the mobile press I follow, Nokia is known for having fully featured handsets with a lackluster customer experience. It is known amongst Nokia users that advanced options and capabilities are hidden in a maze of menus. Additionally, common actions take 7-8 clicks to conduct.

iPhone fanatics revel in the Apple phone’s ease of use and take the iPhone’s lack of features in exchange for a fluid and easy-to-use experience with the device. With the 5800 XpressMusic and upcoming N97, Nokia has acknowledged that a touch interface is a good first step. However, a lesson Nokia needs to learn about the iPhone is: a touch interface is only part of the iPhone’s success, a sexy and superb user experience is the larger part of the equation. The same goes with Research in Motion and their Blackberry Storm.

The iPhone has changed the game in the mobile industry by making it so the average consumer demands more from the mobile. We now expect our mobile phones to be easy to use as well as fully functional.

Recent Examples

In the recent months, we have seen more examples of now Nokia has failed regarding consumer experience. For example, just a few months ago, the Finnish company refreshed their product line by offering the new “Flagship” N96. The update to the ubiquitous N95, the N96 added a few new features including DVB-H video, an added 16GB of memory, and a 2.8 screen on the piano black body.

However, the N96 is a pain to use because of its ridiculously poor firmware. In my experience, the N96 resets itself constantly, is slow when hopping on wireless networks, and hangs while composing messages. It was such a bad experience, I shelved the device. Friend Jonathan Greene also noted his frustration. The N96 software was so bad, it seemed as if Nokia released the monster superphone with test firmware. Off the record, my contacts inside Nokia have commented about the poor firmware and are embarrassed by it.

More recently, Nokia released Nokia Maps 3.0 and the corresponding Maps on Ovi service. Early accounts show that installing the Maps application is painful at best.

While we’re excited about new products and services, we as customers DEMAND that the experience be graceful and fluid. When Nokia charges $700 – $800 for a handset (in the case of the N96), customers have a right to demand a positive customer experience.

Drawing Parallels

For a similar situation, look at the desktop market.

Microsoft has always had a rock solid market share with deep roots amongst their customers. In recent years, they have failed in regards to customer experience. Windows computers are plagued with problems including driver issues, stability problems, and security issues. For the longest time, it seemed Redmond was oblivious to the plight of the average frustrated Windows user. Popularity in Apple products, as a result, has surged. Apple computers serve the same basic functions as a Windows computer, but with a much more enjoyable and effortless user experience.

What Can Be Done

So, is all hope lost? Has the boat left the dock? HECK NO!! The first thing Nokia can do is conduct adequate research and testing with user experience in mind. If the N96 firmware wasn’t ready to ship…why ship the device?! It should be known that the complaints against the N96 were not from a loud minority, rather were widespread across multiple audiences. The sad part is that many of the issues and complaints about the N96 were repeats of issues made known when the N95 was launched years earlier.

The N97 is coming out sometime in the first half of 2009. With the new device, Nokia has a huge opportunity to make a splash in the mobile handset market. My advice: Test, Test, Test. Engage with testers outside your traditional channels. If need be, Nokia has a blogger relations program set up – use this knowledgeable group to test the device in an in-depth manner. If the N97 release needs to be pushed back in the name of quality, then by all means – delay it! Customer experience demands it.

The US market is one where customer experience is even more important than in Nokia’s strongholds of Europe and Asia. Consumers here are finicky and not as likely to read manuals. Where the iPhone market share is strong, so is consumer demand of a positive experience with products we consume and buy. If Nokia wants to gain traction in North America, installation, use, and ongoing support of software and mobile services will be of most importance.

On the bright side, Nokia is a company who is chock full of imaginative engineers, designers, and marketers. I’m confident the Espoo can pull this feat off.

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Why Nokia Must Nail The Customer Experience