Linksys' Skype Phone

Introduction

Despite the rumors about Skype being purchased or done in by competitors, it appears that Linksys thinks Skype will be around for at least a little while longer. Using information from the FCC website, I've pieced together a quick look at the upcoming CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit

The CIT200 will be OEM'd from Ascalade Technologies, a Richmond, B.C.-based design house specializing in DECT, WDCT, and VOIP technology.

Figure 1: Letter of Authorization
(click image to enlarge)

The CIT200 will essentially be a physical repackage of an Ascalade reference design but be electrically identical (Figure 1).

As illustrated by Figure 2, the CIT200 consists primarily of:

• a base station that plugs into the USB port of a computer (most likely Windows only) running Skype
• a handset
• a charger / base for the handset

Figure 2: The CIT200 kit components
(click image to enlarge)

Like the soon-to-be-available-in-the-US Olympia Dualphone [reviewed here], the CIT200 uses a US version of DECT that operates between 1.920 and 1.930GHz, staying clear of interference from the overcrowded 2.4GHz band. Unlike the Dualphone, however, the CIT200 appears to be Skype only and doesn't let you plug in a regular PSTN line for non-Skype calling into its base station (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The base station