Skype Play

Say it with Skype scoops two awards

Say it with Skype has already helped huge numbers of people celebrate special occasions, and now it has something of its own to cheer about.

Our group video greeting app picked up two Drum Marketing Awards this week for 'Social media strategy of the year' and 'Digital strategy of the year'. The awards were dished out at a glitzy ceremony at Arsenal Football Club's 'Emirates Stadium' in London, UK.

The recognition of Say it with Skype's popularity in social media came largely due to the massive volume of greeting messages that have now been created on Skype.com (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/group-video-calls/sayitwithskype/) and via our Facebook app .

Say it with Skype lets you join bands to send extra special group video greetings to friends and loved ones, such as 'happy birthday' and 'you rock'. The ever expanding list of bands on the app includes Ash, Body Language, Imogen Heap, Shlomo and the Lip Factory, The Parlotones and Scarlet Grey.

You can find out more about our award winning app here but the best thing to do is head over to Skype.com or Facebook and give it a try. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter @SayitwithSkype for the latest updates on new content. There may just be a few surprises in store on there too.

Skype Nominated for 2012 Webby Awards!

We love The Webby Awards! Last year, we shared the exciting news that Skype won the 2011 Webby People's Voice Award in the Best Practice category - a real honor.

Today, we're ecstatic to share that for the second consecutive year, Skype has been nominated in not one, but two mobile and apps categories. Skype for iPad was selected to be included in the "Social (Tablets & All Other Devices)" and "Best Use of Device Camera" categories out of nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries worldwide. We're proud to be recognized for excellence among other nominees including Yahoo!, SoundCloud, JPMorgan Chase and Gilt Groupe.

In each category, Skype has two chances to win either The Webby Award (votes from The International Academy of Digital Arts) or The Webby People's Voice Award Winners (votes from the Skype community). We hope that you can help us make our mark at the 16th Annual Webby Awards on May 21 by casting your votes for Skype to win The Webby People's Voice Awards.

Please support Skype by logging on to cast your vote before April 26, 2012!

Skype in the Classroom wins Summer 2011 Tomorrow Award

A few weeks ago, we learned the exciting news that Skype in the classroom won 1 of 5 Summer 2011 Tomorrow Awards. The Tomorrow Awards, an international award honoring advertising creativity that pushes new boundaries in technology, awarded Skype in the classroom for its "potential to change the world," as one judge noted.

Yesterday, the Tomorrow Awards team released a wonderful video including teacher stories and revealing the judge's discussions as to why they awarded Skype in the classroom. We encourage you to watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

We are extremely proud to be a part of the Tomorrow Award community, representing new technologies and the creative possibilities they provide. With all the teachers and students who use Skype in their schools and in educational settings every day, we are able to illustrate the innovative possibilities Skype video calling provides and the meaningful connections it facilitates between classrooms across the globe.

To learn more about our Skype in the classroom community, visit education.skype.com or view our Tomorrow Award entry here.

You can also add Skype in the classroom to your network on Facebook or Twitter.

Skype Wins World Technology Award and 3 Lovie Awards

We received great news this week and wanted to share our enthusiasm with all of you.

The excitement began when we received news that Skype was a finalist in the "Communications Technology" category in the 2011 World Technology Awards, an annual awards show presented to outstanding innovators in various sectors of the global technology industry. With awards categories ranging from energy, biotechnology, the arts, finance, environment, health and medicine, communications, space, policy, and law, Skype was honored to be among the many technology companies and individuals who have made significant long-term contributions to society.

The thrill of being a finalist was topped when we learned that Skype had won the "Communications Technology" award for our innovation with video calling - ranging from enabling classrooms in hundreds of countries worldwide to connect and learn to making Skype available to aid workers in refugee camps around the world and from allowing a new mother to share her joy with far away family members to making it possible for a traveling parent to read their child a bedtime story.

We also learned this week that Skype won three awards (Skype for iPad, Skype for Android, Skype in the classroom) at The Lovie Awards, the only pan-European award that honors content created for the internet, such as Web sites, mobile apps, Internet video and online advertising. Thank you to The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) who selected Skype for these honors.

With these acknowledgments from the tech community and beyond, we wanted to take a moment and thank you, our millions of users around the world, for allowing Skype to help you communicate with those who matter most to you every day.

Skype at The Webby Awards

You may remember that last month, we learned the exciting news that Skype won the Webby People's Voice Award in the Best Practices category. Well, the excitement didn't stop there! This week, two members of the Skype team, Mark Lacroce, Head of Design for Skype.com, and Cathy Powell, Campaign Strategy for Skype.com, headed out to the Big Apple to pick up our award.

A hallmark of The Webby Awards is the 5-word acceptance speech that winners must deliver. While challenging to accept the award in just five words, Mark Lacroce put his creativity to use and The Webby Awards generously captured it for all of us to hear (and chuckle at).

Skype Wins People's Voice Award for Best Practices

Thank you for our Webby Award!

We just learned this morning that Skype was chosen for the People's Voice Award in the Best Practices category, thanks to all of your votes.

You may recall a few weeks ago we told you that we were very excited to find out Skype was named a Webby Awards 2011 finalist in the "Best Practices" category. Today, we're thrilled to share that your votes led to our win of the People's Voice Award. Past People's Voice Award winners in this category have included companies such as NPR and Digg.

In addition to the news of our win, we also learned that this year nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries worldwide were submitted to the Webby Awards. This means that Skype had a great deal of competition, but still made it to the finals and, ultimately, to the People's Voice Awards' winners' circle. We are so honored and we can't thank you all enough for your enthusiasm and ongoing support.

Skype Named Webby Awards 2011 Finalist: Cast your vote today!

The Webby Awards are a leading international award that honors excellence on the Internet such as interactive advertising, Websites, online film and video. Last year, the Webby Awards received close to 10,000 entries from over 60 countries worldwide.

This year, out of thousands of entries, Skype was chosen as a finalist in the "Best Practices" category. Skype, among other nominees which include NYTimes.com, Hulu, Dropbox and Guardian.co.uk, has been recognized as having some of the most innovative and current practices in Web development.

Past winners in this category include industry leaders such as Twitter, NYTimes.com and Flickr, and we hope to make our mark at this year's award ceremony in New York City on May 3, 2011. You can help us do so by clicking here to cast your vote for the People's Voice Award. Your votes will be taken into consideration, along with the opinions of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), a global organization of industry experts and technology innovators.

Please support Skype by logging on now to cast your vote! You have until Thursday, April 28th to register your support for Skype.

Skype named Best Money Saving Mobile App by Carphone Warehouse Appy Awards

We're in celebration mode here at Skype after receiving some great news last night. Thanks to voters in the Carphone Warehouse Appys Awards in the UK, Skype's mobile apps for iOS, Android and Symbian were named Best Money Saving App. It was a tough category with some really useful and varied apps nominated, which makes the victory even more exciting.

Keeping in touch with friends and connecting with colleagues is so important to us all, but doing this on the move can hit our wallets hard. With free Skype-to-Skype calls, Skype has made this cheaper than ever before. And with the new Skype for iPhone, you can do free video calls too.

Skype also gives you the ability to make affordable calls to any phone number with low-cost Pay As You Go rates or one of our Subscriptions to over 170 destinations.

What makes this award extra special for us is that after being shortlisted by a panel of judges, including TV's Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, the winner was chosen by our users - thanks!

Skype is free to download on to your phone and is available for iOS, Android and Symbian.