Skype
Skype for iPhone is here
At long last the free Skype application is available for the iPhone. Now you can easily see who is online, chat with them and even make VOIP calls... if you are on WiFi connection. Read More...
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Skype is alive and well
12/09/05
If you have not checked out the latest Skype updates there are 2 big news worthy items. Number one is that the latest Windows beta of Skype allows you to redirect incoming calls to 1 or more phone numbers when your Skype account is offline. No more fancy Skype phones!
Number 2 is that Ebay has apparently agreed to buy Skype for $2.6 billion dollars! Reported here and here Wow, I did not realize how powerful ebay had become.
Number 2 is that Ebay has apparently agreed to buy Skype for $2.6 billion dollars! Reported here and here Wow, I did not realize how powerful ebay had become.
Latest Skype has free video conferencing
04/12/05
In case you use Skype (free voice chat over the Internet) there is a new update released (2.0.0.43) under their beta testing that allows videochat on Windows. Although they do not have many details on what cameras it works with it does indeed work with my logitech ones.
There is a full screen option and windowed video too. Previously, I would use Skype to talk with my folks on the west coast but for showing video I had to throw something together in Macromedia's Flash Communication Server.
Although the quality is not as good as the AppleiChat (especially at full screen) the Skype video chat does run on Windows and hopefully soon on Linux and MacOSX too.
You can download the upgrade at the Skype website HERE. Assuming this works fine I wonder how much congestion this will make on the Internet for Christmas.
There is a full screen option and windowed video too. Previously, I would use Skype to talk with my folks on the west coast but for showing video I had to throw something together in Macromedia's Flash Communication Server.
Although the quality is not as good as the AppleiChat (especially at full screen) the Skype video chat does run on Windows and hopefully soon on Linux and MacOSX too.
You can download the upgrade at the Skype website HERE. Assuming this works fine I wonder how much congestion this will make on the Internet for Christmas.
Skype video with DV Camera
23/04/06
Apparently not every DV video camera will work directly with Skype. Why would you want to... higher video resolution and low-light detection than a cheap webcamera. Unfortunately our Sony MV450i seems to be one of those cameras. Even though other software can see the DV output Skype was not able to.
Fortunately, Skype forums had the answer. Either of 2 free softwares will allow Skype to see the DV video stream.
Once either of these is installed you can link it to your camera and then tell skyp to use "virtual" cameras that have the same name as the software that you are using.
Of the 2, Split cam seemed to show the biggest image, Trackrcam crashed if I tried to make the image too close to fullsize.
Also, at least for me, the camera mode of our Sony Camera would time-out if let unused for too long (a few minutes). This of course can cause a problem when the video just drops out. Our solution is to be sure that the DV camera does not have a video tape inside. Then, for some reason, the timeout seems to be much longer.
Fortunately, Skype forums had the answer. Either of 2 free softwares will allow Skype to see the DV video stream.
Once either of these is installed you can link it to your camera and then tell skyp to use "virtual" cameras that have the same name as the software that you are using.
Of the 2, Split cam seemed to show the biggest image, Trackrcam crashed if I tried to make the image too close to fullsize.
Also, at least for me, the camera mode of our Sony Camera would time-out if let unused for too long (a few minutes). This of course can cause a problem when the video just drops out. Our solution is to be sure that the DV camera does not have a video tape inside. Then, for some reason, the timeout seems to be much longer.
New Skype Beta (v2.5) sends SMS!
05/05/06
Wow, I was just checking out the Skype web page and saw there was an option to send SMS messages to cell phones. It is only about 10 cents (US) too and at least for the 2 I sent they went fine. The user sees the sender as being your skype name and the messages are outgoing only, incoming is not yet supported.
Optionally, you can "authenticate" your own cell phone number so that instead of your skype name, the SMS receiver would receive your actual cell phone number. This would allow them to simply click reply to send a message back to you.
Here is the webpage to get the latest beta (for Windows only):
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/skype25beta.html
Optionally, you can "authenticate" your own cell phone number so that instead of your skype name, the SMS receiver would receive your actual cell phone number. This would allow them to simply click reply to send a message back to you.
Here is the webpage to get the latest beta (for Windows only):
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/skype25beta.html
Skype trying to release video on MacOSX
03/08/06 Filed in: Apple
Skype has at last released a MacOSX version with "Video Preview" as they call it or "Video Chat" as others call it. We have been waiting for this integration since we have lots of networking issues with the integrated MacOSX iChat and would like to do video chat between Windows and MacOSX (as easily as possible).
However, while we were able to receive the video fine on the Mac platform, each time we tried to activate our Logitech camera in the MacOSX Skype, the whole program crashed in a puff of smoke. Here is the link to try it yourself. HERE .
However, while we were able to receive the video fine on the Mac platform, each time we tried to activate our Logitech camera in the MacOSX Skype, the whole program crashed in a puff of smoke. Here is the link to try it yourself. HERE .