Skype on Thursday announced new cordless phones that will let users of its Internet phone service make calls without a computer or Wi-Fi connection.

The new Phillips VoIP841 and Netgear cordless phones plug into a broadband connection and come preloaded with Skype software, allowing users to make and receive phone calls without requiring them to have a computer turned on.

Skype, which is owned by eBay, is essentially a software application that turns broadband connections into phone lines. Users have traditionally downloaded the Skype software onto laptops and PCs, then used headsets and microphones to make calls from their computers over the Internet.

In the past 18 months, Skype has expanded its service to appeal more to the mass market. It introduced the SkypeIn and SkypeOut services that allow calls to be made to and received from cell phones and regular landlines for a fee. And with its partners it has introduced special Skype handsets that plug in to PCs, Wi-Fi phones that connect users to the Skype service through a wireless broadband connection, and several other products that enable users to connect to the Skype service.

Thursday’s announcement takes this strategy a step further.

Full article: ZDNet News