I hate it when strangers Skype me out of the blue “wanting to talk” but now I hate these damn robots even more. Here’s an exchange I had this afternoon and I think you’ll agree that my mom needs to get some new friends and maybe get her life back together.
(JK! ROFLKOPF! My mom is swell.)
Running a Skype client on a cellphone isn’t really new, but this is the first time Skype has made it’s own client available for almost 50 different models, including many popular low-end and mid-market phones. The new client allows you to talk connect your cellphone to your Skype account. It uses cellphone minutes like usual, but adds all your Skype conacts and gives you a mobile presense.
The application is Java-based, so it’ll take a moment to load, and you won’t have access to many of your phone’s other features while you use it. Still, if you’re on plan with decent data but crappy minutes, this might be worth looking into.
To get it, just go here on your mobile phone.
Despite the nasty rumors going around about eBay selling Skype, the VoIP provider is poised to introduce an unlimited international calling plan that will cost $9.95/month. The 34 countries included are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and most of Europe. This new plan will, of course, include calls to domestic land-line phones and cell phones as well as calls made to cell phones in Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, but no other countries. Maybe I’m missing something here on the latter half about cell phones, but $10/month for unlimited international calling isn’t too shabby.
Do any of the other reputable VoIP services offer a deal such as this?
The brave new age of talking to your loved ones on the TV is finally here. Brandon Holland created a native Skype plugin for the Apple TV. It will take a bit of doing to get it on there, but it apparently lets you make calls and obtain your contact list.
This plugin is basically an Apple TV front end for the Mac version of the Skype Application. It uses Skype’s powerful and well documented API to obtain information, set preferences, make calls, ect.
To Do:
-Add Contact Controller
-Search Contacts Controller
-File Transfer Controller
-History Controller
-Chat + SMS Controllers
-View Profile Controller
-Contact Avatars when the API supports it
*Login + Downloader Controller maybePlease contact with me with any ideas or bug reports.
Not sure where/how you put in the microphone, but this isn’t even out of Alpha so don’t expect miracles.
So I’ve been trying to get Skype to work on my Darth Vader PSP all morning and for some reason the headset that was included doesn’t want to transmit my audio. During my test, I pinged Biggs and I could hear him loud and clear. There are no visible switches on the headset and nothing in the tools section to allow me to adjust the volume. I’ll keep fiddling with it and update later when it’s completely up and running. it works! Just tested with Doug and he was impressed by the voice quality. Hell, I’m impressed by the whole thing, too. i even ordered lunch and the fella on the other end didn’t have any problems hearing me. Sweet. Now, can someone tell me why Sony decided to let loose the Mylo 2?
I’ll be testing these bad boys out a bit later tonight when I get my PSP set up with the latest firmware. Skype and PSP FTW!
The official announcement that Skype would be coming to the PSP (PSP-2000 series only) came at CES and now we’re seeing signs that firmware v3.90 is set to roll out this week. It’s pretty straightforward. If you’ve used Skype then it should be a simple and painless process. In case you’re wondering what to expect later this week today when you’ve downloaded the firmware then check out the instructional video or keep reading to see how it works: Read More
Are you a shut-in? Live in your mom’s basement and spend our life on the Internet? Looking for a combo text-and-speech device to interact with others? Buffalo has what you need in this new QWERTY keyboard / Skype phone combo.
It’s just what it sounds like: a USB keyboard for your computer with a detachable handset for making Skype calls. When Skype goes all Skynet and takes over, it will be how you communicate with our technologically superior robot lords.
Feel like a powerful exec with the Buffalo keyboard/Skype phone combo [Dvice]
I hate it when people call or chat with me on Skype randomly. I know some people use this opportunity to share stories of their native lands and to brush up on their English, but I use it as opportunity to share pictures of the Lemon Party (don’t search for it. Trust me.) This, however, is a wonderful new method of getting attention by spamming thousands of accounts with fake spyware links and then offering a crazy fake spyware-checking page that ultimately encourages you to pay $16 to buy a full version of some software that is probably free. Very classy!
Interestingly, this just started happening at the end of December. I did a quick whois on the domain and found that it’s protected by WhoIsProof, a masking service. This kind of stuff really burns my beans, to coin a phrase.
Call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system.
Skype 2.7 Beta for Mac OS X was released a few days ago and, in case you missed it, the popular VOIP service now plays nicely with Leopard and offers 640×480 video if your camera can handle it.
"Leopard compatible – if you have the latest Mac OS X 10.5 then you can use Skype with confidence.
Better video resolution – your video conversations are now set at a whopping 640 x 480 pixels by default with up to 25 frames per second. If your webcam can handle this resolution you’ll soon be appearing in an improved and bigger format on friends screens."
Download Skype Beta for Mac OS X [Skype]
Remember how on G.I. Joe, or M.A.S.K. or pretty much every rad cartoon how they had giant wall sized screens they’d use to make videocalls to each other? And how, even though they couldn’t find him, they always seemed to be able to dial-in Cobra Commander? They were using Skype. Read More
Pretty interesting read over on The Register concerning Skype and its place in the telecommunications industry.
The basic idea is that, if you really think about it, Skype operates very similarly to a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) in that it relies on 3rd-party networks to operate. Keeping this in mind, the irony here is that Skype is like a “parasitic virus that threatens to bring the host to its knees – but which can’t survive without a living host.”
Good news for our readers across the pond today. Skype and mobile provider 3 have partnered on a handset that will allow you to make free Skype calls using your account. Bearing a striking resemblance to NETGEAR’s SPH-101 Skype WiFi phone, the phone will cost 49.99 pounds (about $102) on a pay-as-you-go plan and goes on sale Friday, November 2nd. Get this though: if you’re already a 3 customer, you can score a Skype phone for absolutely free.
Of course, you’ll be able to use the phone as a normal cellphone as well. You can text, make regular calls, etc. all without hassle. A dedicated Skype button makes it easy to make VoIP calls to your friends. It’s topped off with a 2-megapixel camera and a microSD slot. Sounds like a great phone for the price of free. Countries like Italy, Australia, Denmark, and others can expect to see the phone by the end of the year. No word on a US launch yet.
Skype and 3 launch mobile phone [Reuters]
From our big brother TechCrunch comes news that Skype will be releasing a branded mobile phone later this month. The device will be released in partnership with 3 Mobile in Britain, Italy, Hong Kong and Australia, with three more countries to follow by years end. Unfortunately for us patriots here in the USA, we won’t be seeing this mystic Skype phone anytime soon, as there are currently no plans for a US launch.
Rumor is that the handset is being developed by iSkoot and will feature high-speed web browsing, a 3G network and buddy lists. There’s no word yet on cost or availability, so be sure to keep a close eye on this story if you’re looking to get some calls on the cheap and across the pond.
Skype To Launch Own Mobile Phone [TechCrunch]
Auction powerhouse eBay posted a Q3 loss of roughly $936 million dollars, making it the second time in the company’s history that it’s reported a loss. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, considering that the company claimed a $1.4 billion charge to write down its purchase of VOIP provider, Skype. Take away the Skype purchase, and eBay more than doubled its earnings per share compared to last year.
Heads up. There’s another Skype-related virus on the loose. This one pretends to be something called "Skype Defender" and takes on the look and feel of your Skype login screen while trying to get your username and password from you.
Most major virus definitions have been updated, so removal shouldn’t be too difficult. You can also search your computer for a file called "65404-SkypeDefenderSetup.exe" and, if found, simply delete it.
Photos of the bogus login screen can be seen at the source link below…
Skype Defender malware alert [Skype Blog] via Digital Trends
MySpace users will soon be able to call and/or instant message anyone else on the network with the click of a button, thanks to Skype. The service will be called "MySpace IM" and will be rolled out in November, although there’s a Beta version available now. It looks similar to AOL’s popular Instant Messenger program.
This news comes not a moment too soon the for two struggling companies. MySpace currently only has 110 million subscribers, while Skype is only doing marginally better at 220 million users. This partnership could be just the thing to save both of them from an almost certain extinction.
The entire last paragraph was sarcasm.
MySpace, Skype Announce Partnership [Associated Press]
MySpaceIM [MySpace.com]
Hahahahaha. Skype has announced what was the root cause behind last Thursday’s major outage and it was you, Windows users. It seems as though it was Patch Tuesday (Windows Update) on the 14th, which caused everyone and their mother to reboot around the same time. This in turn caused a high number of log-in requests and shoddy P2P network resources resulted in what we saw last week.
Normally Skype’s peer-to-peer network has an inbuilt ability to self-heal, however, this event revealed a previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly.
Better get on that.
What happened on August 16 [Skype Heartbeat]
