Get your mind out of the gutter! That’s not what I meant.
One of the most requested developer features for Skype is now part of the Skype 2.6 beta. Called “Silent Mode” it allows you to switch off the visible Skype UI within your application. It’s the first indication that Skype will allow developers to separate the UI from the engine, and deliver what Peeter Mõtsküla referred to last April as Naked Skype.
When the original Voice 2.0 Manifesto was written, one of the things that it contemplated was the need to separate the presentation layer of an application from transport, and to standardize that presentation layer. Skype’s announcement today is a baby step on that road. Who knows… unless an alternative with sufficient momentum emerges, perhaps Skype will become the defacto standard.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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