Skype is offering up its high quality audio codec, SILK (as in "as smooth as") for other companies to use. What is Silk (PDF link)?
SILK is Skype’s signature super wideband audio codec which achieves super wideband audio quality using 50% less network bandwidth than previously required. It is the outcome of a three year long development process in the Skype labs, which focused on four things:
improving audio bandwidth going from 8 kHz to 12 kHz
providing real-time bandwidth scalability to deal with degraded network conditions
balancing codec optimization between voice, music and background noise
delivering a robust solution that deliver
