As stated by Skype earlier this year, free calls within the United States and Canada will be discontinued on December 31, 2006. PC-PC calls and chatting through the Skype software will not be affected and will remain free as always. If you wish to continue making calls Skype has a $15/year (not month, it’s year!) plan which will allow unlimited calls to the United States or Canada for 2007. Pricing will double to $30/year after Jan 31st, 2007, so make sure you sign up before it’s too late. SkypeIn numbers are also available to turn your computer into a digital “land line” for ~$38/year.

Along with announcing the year of free calls, they also released Skype 3.0. The new program includes an updated interface which has some performance improvements and a new look. Skype has also added “live” chat talk rooms similar to Yahoo’s feature. Another neat feature Skype includes is a plugin for Firefox, which automatically converts any phone number on a page into a special Skype link. When clicked on, the number will automatically be dialed in Skype right from within your browser. Skype is currently available for Windows, Macs OS X, and Linux. If you have a previous version we suggest updating since this is a major upgrade.

Links: SkypeOut | Download Skype
Related: Skype Press Release

Today on May 15, 2006, Skype announced that all “Skype Out Calls,” which are PC to Landline calls, would be free in the United States and Canada until the end of this year. Starting today, anyone that lives in the U.S. or Canada will be able to make calls anywhere within either of the two countries at no cost. To utilize this feature, if you live in the U.S. or Canada, download the latest version of Skype and create a free account.

“Millions of consumers around the world are flocking to Skype every month … SkypeOut calling will rapidly accelerate Skype adoption … We’re very excited to be bringing Skype’s convenience & voice quality to so many people for free.” – Henry Gomez, Skype Manager

The Press Release stated that PC to PC will remain free, however “Skype In” (Landline to PC) and International calls will still cost money. Skype has been growing rapidly for over two years now, and as of May 1, 2006, Skype reached over 100 million members worldwide. Skype now is available in many languages and runs on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and a few portable devices. As Skype Out will remain free until the end of this year, I suggest utilizing or at least trying out this service sometime.

Links: Skype | Download | Press Release
Related: eBay Buys Out Skype | Skype Out Info

Update: (11/28/05) There are now over 2,500 downloads in total of both the New York and Canada episodes every day. Many are ending up here from either Google or Yahoo’s search engines, searching for keywords such as “Russell Peters Full Video Download,” “Russell Peters full-length show,” “Russell Peters Complete,” “Russell Peters 45-Minunte Video,” “Russell Peters Torrent” and “Indian Russell Peters Comdian.” Please also check out the New York Video!

UPDATE: (08/25/06) NEW ‘Russell Peters: Outsourced’ VIDEO