The latest version of Skype's VoIP software can host up to 10 users on a conference call, but only if your PC has a dual-core processor from Intel, Skype and Intel announced on Wednesday.
Intel's Core Duo and Pentium D processors have been designated the mass conference-calling processor of choice for Skype 2.0, launched in December 2005. The limit will remain at five callers for PCs using single-core chips and AMD's dual-core Athlon 64 chip, which some tests have shown outperforms Intel's dual-core chip.
Skype's software allows PC users to make free voice calls to other Skype users over the Internet and to call mobile phones and landlines for a fee.
Despite both AMD and Intel releasing dual-core chips to the market last May, Skype 2.0 software will allow 10-way conference calls only if it detects code specific to Intel's chips when the PC boots, said Rob Crooke, vice-president of Intel's Business Client Group.
Intel approached Skype with its plan to optimise code on its chips for Skype's software so users would have a good experience while hosting conference calls, Crooke said. In recent years, Intel has increasingly touted its software development resources as a competitive advantage over AMD, which also trails Intel in the marketing budget category.
Other x86 processors obviously will not come with the same optimised code found on Intel's chips. Intel and Skype announced a partnership at the Intel Developer Forum last August to make sure Skype's products would run well on Intel's chips.
VoIP conference calls are a compute-intensive undertaking. Skype's minimum system requirement of a 400MHz processor applies only to a single person-to-person VoIP call. Adding multiple users to that connection requires the PC to simultaneously host multiple sessions with those new users, which strains the processor, a Skype representative said.
AMD is gaining some market share at Intel's expense. Intel still dominates the market for desktop and notebook processors, but AMD took several points of market share from Intel in the fourth quarter, according to Mercury Research and Current Analysis.
Skype did extensive performance testing before releasing this feature for Intel's chips, said Henry Gomez, general manager of Skype's North American operations. He declined to comment on whether the company tested Intel's dual-core chips against AMD's dual-core chips, but said Skype was very satisfied with the performance of the Intel chips.
The 10-way calling feature will be exclusive to Intel's chips for a limited time, Gomez said. Skype is not releasing the time frame for the expiration of the exclusive agreement, he said.
An AMD representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Talkback
This is the type of action that makes people hate a company (Intel).
While I expected such a thing from Intel, I didn't expect it from Skype !
For a pretty young company, Skype should be more careful with it's image and should not interfere in disputes like Intel vs. AMD.
What you see is all you get.