Amex Launches touch phone for Skype

AMEX announced today that the The first Touch Senses 2-in-1 cordless Internet telephone TSP-VS501 on the market.
 
At first glance this is a conventional, cordless telephone. But on closer examination, there is a remarkable addition – an extra button that enables free Internet calls.

Utilizing a USB connection to a standard PC with softphone, the Cordless DUALphone can route calls over the Internet. This is the market’s first cord¬less Internet telephone that works with Skype. It has been developed with user simplicity in mind, and utilises the latest technology, to eliminate complicated installation processes and expensive telephone bills.

The Cordless DUALphone is both an Internet telephone and a normal telephone in one device. Incoming or outgoing calls may either be received or dialed via the normal telephone line or over the Internet.

Free Internet calls worldwide
The Cordless DUALphone works with Skype for free Internet telephony from Skype-to-Skype and with SkypeOut for calling regular and mobile telephones worldwide at local rates. It is also possible to receive calls with SkypeIn.

Plug’n dial
The telephone is cordless and simply has to be connected to a normal USB port on a PC and a telephone socket. Just insert the CD, and the software is installed – just like plug’n dial. The telephone is then ready to make and receive calls using Skype/SkypeOut or the ordinary, analogue telephone line from anywhere in the house.

Cordless calls via Skype
The display shows whether the user’s friends, who also use Skype, are online. If they are online, the user simply presses the appropriate green button and talks to them for free – no matter where they are in the world. If the PC is switched off, or the user wants to call someone who doesn’t use Skype, he or she simply needs to press the other green button and call via the ordinary telephone connection. It is even possible to set up simultaneous telephone calls in which case one handset uses the PSTN (ordinary telephone line) while another handset calls via SkypeTM.