The Official SMC Skype WiFi Phone Cradle – Sample Test Report

The Official SMC Skype WiFi Phone Cradle

Right after Jon and I finished the DIY SMC Skype WiFi phone cradle, the official cradle sample from SMC showed up at our front door. The cradle we received is the one without the access point built-in. Therefore, I’ll focus on the ID design and the mechanism for the cradle to charge the phone. The ability to connect the SMC Skype WiFi phone to the Internet through the access point built-in cradle will be covered when we receive the other sample.

The Look

The look of the Skype WiFi phone cradle is very elegant. The white color on the front of the cradle perfectly matches the color of the phone. The SMC earned the 2006 International Forum Design (IF) award for product design in Consumer Electronics / Telecommunications category. IF states, “…the product sticks out as a refreshingly clear, simple-looking, Zen-oriented device – in stark contrast to the mass of “over-styled” cell phones currently on the market.”

Lets just say that I would not hesitate to keep it on my desk – and I plan to!

Elevated Panel

Additionally, it is very thoughtful for the Accton engineers to elevate the bottom panel. With the elevated design feature, the SMC Skype WiFi phone sits as high as my laptop screen. Now, I can just roll my eyeball horizontally to check out where the Skype call is coming from. Good work, Accton!

Charge the phone

The Skype WiFi phone cradle sample we received does not have an AC power adapter built-in. At the back of the cradle, there is a mini USB connector where you can plug in your AC adapter, or your USB charging cable. On the phone panel, there are two metal clips. When you put your Skype WiFi phone on the cradle, the two metal clips will contact the two metal charging connectors at the bottom of the phone and start to do the recharge task. There are also two docking pins on the panel. When the Skype WiFi phone is on the cradle, the docking pins can be stick into the docking holes at the bottom of the phone. It will provide extra stability

Mini USB port at the back of the cradle:

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Ports and connectors on the cradle & the phone:

 

Conclusion

The Skype WiFi phone cradle is a good investment if you already have a Skype WiFi phone. It looks nice, and can serve the purposes of recharging the phone and organizing the desktop very well. I don’t have the chance to test the cradle with Netgear, Belkin, and Edgecore branded Skype WiFi phones. But, they all use the same blue prints as the SMC phone. The chance to have other branded phones work with this cradle is high. We are going to publish the test result of connecting the SMC Skype WiFi phone to the Internet through the access point built-in cradle later, when we receive the other cradle sample. Bookmark this page and come back to check on us later.

Click Here to see the Skype WiFi phone review

Click Here to see the DIY Skype WiFi phone cradle

 

Technorati Tags: Skype, VOIP, WiFi, SMC, Phone, Cradle, Netgear, Belkin, Edgecore, Tech, Technology