I Told You So About The Netgear Skype Phones

Back in January at CES I pointed out to the lovely and witty Lisa Hempel, CEO of Spark PR-the agency that handles Skype, that the press release around the announcement of the Netgear Skype wireless handset had one big hole. It wouldn't work in places that are Boingo or The Cloud like (both are Skype Zone partners.)

At the press conference I posed the question to Patrick Lo, the head honcho over at Netgear when he was up on stage. Needless to say his repsonse then which was aimed in the direction of needing to work things out with partners was the type of answer I halfway expected.

Well finally, now five months later, it seems that Netgear is now admitting what I pointed out to Lisa and them. It won't work if you have to authenticate onto a network, beyond WEP.

I really like Netgear products but the fact that they licensed the Skype marks and software, without getting access to the Skype Zones of Boingo and The Cloud is equal to not having HLR access and trying to claim you have a Fixed Mobile Convergence service related offering. The HLR is the Home Location Register (HLR) is the main database of permanent subscriber information for a mobile network and is what allows seamless handover between mobile and fixed IP addresses.

To me this is like selling half a loaf of bread, and taking away the crust.