SOYO moves further into comms and CE with Skype-compatible USB phone

SOYO's latest introduction, a Skype-capable phone, looks to signal yet another step for the company away from motherboards - the products for which the company has been best known - and into the world of comms and consumer electronics.

The phone, the U201 IP - pitched at a US SRP of $49.99 but UK price still unknown - is the company's second. The other model is a standalone handset-and-cradle Ethernet phone, the G668.

SOYO says that the USB phone's keypad and LCD are all that's needed to manage Skype software and make calls - without having to use the PC to which it's attached.

Features include a headset socket, mute button and hands-free speaker (with adjustable volume), personalised ring tone, caller ID, Skypeout balance display and call history. The phone is reckoned to have an integral 16-bit sound card for optimum quality and is compatible with Windows 2000 and XP

For more information about the phone and the company's new-look lineup, check out http://www.soyogroup.com. and http://www.soyo.com.tw/.

Have any thoughts on the company's change of direction? Then dive over to the HEXUS.community.