Keep in mind the video recording was done using a TelyHD and gives a good indication of the audio quality. Also calls to a couple of very non-technical relatives engendered no complaints about any difficulty hearing the voice. Skype has been supporting this beam forming technology since the launch of Skype for TV webcams two years ago. (And the Call Technical Info on the Windows side of the video recording said SILK codec with 16000 Hz sampling. Low jitter, no packet loss on either side.)

It was in beta for Rogers consumer customers; it does not load onto BlackBerry but rather a web browser. Links are in the post.

Update Feb. 7, 2012: Rogers One Number was officially launched today: http://www.rogersonenumber.ca/

As mentioned in the post, it's also supports GTalk/GMail video; you can upload recorded videos to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

I am not the TV vendor, just a blogger reporting on what I saw at CES. You will need to contact LG about such a question; they are in control of the feature set.

The Tely Labs people are looking into adding text chat to TelyHD; if it becomes available it can be activated via an firmware upgrade over the Internet. The device does support working with any USB wired or wireless keyboard.

I would not expect any of the traditional TV vendors to support chat; but I can be proven wrong at some point in the future - especially if, say, Google TV Android-based platforms (such as Sony was demonstrating) become available.

I did ask if Vidtel worked with Google Hangout but answer was only GTalk. (Recall the focus of this post is interoperability.) The one time I tried Google Hangout there was nobody to talk to. Obviously need to give it another try but two conditions: has to be someone to talk to and a subject to talk about. (And I have to be suitably attired.)

Check out the list of Nokia phones supported by Skype for Symbian. Scroll down to Compatible Symbian phones.

With the launch of Windows Phone on Nokia phones demonstrated at CES 2012 I would not expect to see any further support for Symbian phones as Nokia has stopped using Symbian on new phone models. Eventually they should include a Skype for Windows Phone now that Microsoft has acquired Skype ... but it takes time to finish the software required. Don't expect this until later in 2012.

I am aware of this thread and recently received a GE phone set to check out its operation. I do recall it did a firmware upgrade in early January 2012 but don't know if this addressed the issue. Will report on my experience when I can check this out.

The Freetalk Connect Me supports automatic call routing provided you have a "distinct" area code where all calls within the area code are "local" or free. It does not work where you have multiple overlay area codes (416/647) and area codes where some calls are local and some are long distance (905/289). Thus calling landlines by starting with the "#" key overcomes this issue. In my case (in the 905 area code) all calls to 416/647 are "local" while only phones within a "free" calling area (nearby cities and towns) in 905/289 are "local".

Businesses can manage their Skype activity using Skype Manager which establishes "Business owned" Skype accounts, allows allocation of Skype credit and tracks calling activity amongst other features. It provides fully secure centralized administration.