The codec is available for third party users on a royalty free basis. Skype claims that SILK can beat all of the codecs available in the market like iSac, AMRWideband and the open source codec Speex.

The Mac version of the SILK will probably come in April. SILK is a great codec and if both people calling over Skype have a version of Skype that includes the new codec, the call quality increases. Skype says that it is giving it away to set greater standards in the VoIP services industry. Skype has 400 million registered users worldwide so it doesn’t need to worry about the competitors.

The Skype API allows developers to access only the limited features of the service. If Skype were opens its calling functions as an open service, the number of applications that would come up in future would be staggeringly large in number.