Now Skype have completed the renovation and put the new catalogue live. There are now a total of four application categories:

• Business Extras
• Collaboration Extras
• Expression Extras
• Productivity Extras

Of our products the following are listed:

• Business: PamFax (Windows & Mac)
• Productivity: Pamela for Skype (currently not yet all editions)
• Expression: RichMoodEditor for Skype

Link to the page: http://shop.skype.com/extras

But this shut-down also includes the Skype Credit payment, which will be switched off shortly. No third-party software will then be able to accept Skype Credit payments.

So how does this affect Scendix/PamConsult products? The simple answer is: not very much.

Let’s take a look at all our products we have for Skype:

Pamela: Pamela only uses the Skype Public API and not the Skype Extras system. So this will not affect Pamela at all.

PamFax: With our upgrade to Pamfax 2.0 including a complete new architecture back in april this year, we are now completely independent from Skype’s Extras system. Current version of PamFax runs on any Windows or Mac machine even if Skype is not installed at all. What we loose in PamFax will be the possibility to buy PamFax Credits with Skype Credits and the entry in Skype’s “Extras” menu (once it will be removed by Skype; “later”). We are already investigating in other payment methods to use PamFax pay-as-you-go for some time now, as we heard from our users that only Skype Credit payment (which was not available on Mac or Linux at all) is not enough. So this is a very good time to add some more payment flexibility to PamFax.
As the fax-sending process is done by our own datacenters all around the world and not by the Skype network, PamFax will even work if they shut off Skype completely. Sometimes, independence is something very nice

Pamela Call Recorder: The Pamela Call Recorder can be seen as a small version of Pamela. So it will work even after this change in Skype. More then a year ago we built a “stand alone” version of the Pamela Call Recorder which can be downloaded from www.pamcorder.com. This version will work even if the user has a Skype version without the Extras Manager system. Just like PamFax you can just keep using the product.

mcePhone, Skype for Salesforce and others: Do not use the Skype Extras system at all. As the public Skype API will live on, there will be no change in these products.

We are still thinking about why Skype goes into this direction: the latest history has shown that opening up a product as a platform and to allow third-party software to connect and to enhance the core products can turn into a real self-runner making the platform and therefore the core product itself much, much more valuable. Think about what these products would be without any third-party software, plugins, addons or whatever they are called for each product: WinAmp, eBay, Apple iPhone, FireFox and thousands of other software products more that are good because there are good plugins for this product.

Could you imagine using an iPhone without any third party software installed on it? What if there would not be a possibility to buy iPhone apps as easy as it is right now? Would you enter your credit card data into a shop system you never saw before from a company that you have never heard before to buy a fun app for USD 1.99 just to try it out? Apple has shown that a very well done “Extras system” with a safe, easy and WORKING payment possibility can boost sales of the apps and the core product.

If Skype did not believe in their Extras System 1.0, perhaps it was because it had so many problems and was not extended for at least 2 years now. It was developed once and then there was no progress at all. Some major things that made the Skype Extras system a flop in our eyes: a) only on windows, not available on Mac or Linux, b) horrible client-only Skype payments implementation, c) very unflexible (games as developer-examples shows the focus when it was developed…), and loads more.
But why it’s so hard for a multi-billion-dollar company to hire some people with the according knowledge and make it better? Skype Extras System 2.0? Just shutting down the whole thing is just a decision at the round table, but standing up for a product platform and fight to make it better than it was before to make it a success is a hard and long road to go.

We believe that some changes are always a good chance to make something much better than it was before. For us, this means finding more ways to market our software and the opportunity to change the pay-as-you-go payment process in PamFax will be a great step forward in making our products even better.

So: R.I.P. Skype Extras System. Let’s find something better out there!

2008 has been a fanstastic year for us. Some of the highlights…

• Increased revenue by more then 100%
• Completed company consolidation, all software products are now sold via Scendix Software GmbH and all consulting is concentrated in PamConsult GmbH
• Expanded our staff
• Improved our IT infrastructure for future growth
• Major PamFax infrastructure update done in January 2008
• PamFax reached 130.000 users
• In Q2 2009 we plan to release PamFax 2.0 with fax-in and Macintosh support (yeah!)
• Our Pamela for Skype products have seen great user growth with a total of over 5 million downloads
• Pamela for Skype version 4.5 is almost ready to go with exciting new functions and improvements
• Implemented a new and professional shopping platform on PamFax, Pamela and Scendix websites
• mcePhone, the Skype integration tool for Media Center, made it to version 3.0 and will be out of beta soon
• In June we received the Ebay Innovation Award for our Jaast for Wii solution which provides you with Ebay access from your Wii
• With our annual charity BBQ we raised €400 which we double to €800 and give half/half to the “Tafel” in Ebstorf and Freising. These are voluntary projects which provide food supply for poor(er) people.

It has been a fun year. We want to thank you for your continued support and are looking forward to an exciting and successful 2009.

Dick Schiferli & Christoph Bünger

Download now

You can get a quick impression of the new user interface in the YouTube video of mcePhone for Skype 3.0.

Be aware that there are still edges and problems in this beta version. Just let us know what you think or if you experience any problem. Our contact form is the best way to submit any feedback about mcePhone.

Software Products

PamFax – www.pamfax.com

Pamela for Skype – www.pamela.biz/download

Pamela Call Recorder – www.pamela.biz/download

Jaast – Digital Home Solutions – www.jaast.com

mcePhone for Skype – www.scendix.com/mcephone

mceAuction – www.scendix.com/mceauction

mceContacts – www.scendix.com/mcecontacts

mceWeather – www.scendix.com/mceweather

SyncFolder – www.scendix.com/syncfolder

TapiRex – www.scendix.com/tapirex

Services – Consulting – Development

PamConsult – www.pamconsult.com

As of October 1st, Pamela has been switched over to this new company. In addition we upgraded the Pamela Store to a complete new solution. After 2 years of working with the old store, we now have a real solid platform. The PamFax store already uses the new system.

The new store provides a much better shopping experience as products are grouped better with detailed descriptions, requirements and direct download possibility. Now we are able to offer license packs for all products. Support for multi currency is built in. The new system provides you with an account login area where you can retrieve your activation code as well as download an invoice. Upgrading Pamela is also a lot easier. In addition the new platform allows us to do promotions and affiliate deals much simpler, so stay tuned!

This is a screencam of the complete overhauled version with new UI:

Unfortunately, Skype was unable to add an API to Skype in the past 3 years to give us access to the video of Skype calls directly, although we have asked and pushed hard for so long. As Skype video calls on TV was the most requested feature of mcePhone, we have invested a vast amount of time to make this possible even without any change from Skype’s side. With this new version, you will get fullscreen Skype video of the person you are calling on your TV and even see your video in the lower left corner (see ~1:30 in the video above).

Another very nice new feature is Skype chat integration: While you can still see the current media playing in the lower left corner of your TV (i.e. while the commercials are playing), you can chat with your friends and family. You even get a notification overlayed over your current media (TV, DVD, …) if a chat message comes in. With one click, you are in the chat conversation to answer the incoming chat message (see ~3:30 in the video).

We plan to make a beta of this new version available very soon to you. Be prepared to get a totally new feeling of Skype in your living room

Let us know what you think.

We are very proud to welcome our fourth add-on for Skype in the “Skype certified” family: Pamela for Skype was the first add-on that passed this certification by Skype at all, then our mcePhone for Skype was the second one, Pamela Call Recorder for Skype (which is also Skype Premium directly under Tools -> Do More in every Skype) and now there is also PamFax for Skype as Skype certified add-on application.

Is there any other company out there which has 4 Skype add-ons certified by Skype?