Tag: Skype
Spinvox teams up with Skype
Spinvox, the voice-to-text service, has been quietly gaining plaudits for a number of years, and they’ve just announced a deal with VoIP service Skype whereby you can get your voicemails as texts.
You’ll be charged 17p per message, plus any SMS charge you’ve got, but depending on how much you’re charged to listen to voicemails and how annoying you find listening to them, you might think it’s worth it.
Skype gives away its SILK speech codec for free
Skype has just announced that it’s giving away its SILK speech codec, which is the bit of software that processes your voice into a small enough stream of data for you to be able to communicate over a slow internet connection. A codec is basically a balancing act between file size and audio quality.
The SILK codec has been in development for three years at Skype and was finally bundled with the most recent release of the software – Skype 4. It’s a major step forward in audio quality and scales depending on the bandwidth available.
So if it’s so great, then why is Skype giving it away royalty-free to its competitors? Good question. My best guess is that Skype has the VoIP market so firmly tied up that it wants some competition to help grow the whole market. Then, I suppose, it’s confident enough that those users will switch to Skype thanks to its fantastic software.
It might also be a sign that Skype’s considering offering an API. Opening up the service, which is famously closed, would mean that other programs could be able to make Skype calls natively, without people having to open and install Skype itself. It could mean that you’ll just be able to highlight phone numbers on websites and right-click to call them from the browser.
More information’s available on the SILK website, and TechCrunch has an interesting take too.
O2 and Orange refuse to stock Nokia N97
A row has erupted between Nokia and network operators Orange and O2 over Nokia’s plans to pre-load the Skype VoIP service onto the N97.
The N97, Nokia’s flagship touchscreen phone due in June, is eagerly anticipated around here, but networks fear that including Skype on the device could cause them to lose voice revenue, with customers opting for cheap unlimited data plans over plenty of free voice minutes.
It’s prompted “high-level discussions” between the companies, which is code for “someone up top is very angry”. O2’s official comment says “We are currently working with Nokia to understand their Skype service and the business model around it.”
It’s interesting that the major operators have such a problem with the service, especially given the runaway success that Three has seen with its Skypephone and followup Skypephone S2, and the awards that the Facebook-and-Skype-integrated INQ has recieved. I’m sure Three will happily take O2 and Orange’s customers for the N97.
(via Pocket Gamer and Mobile Today)
Skype 4 for Windows now available
Skype has just announced “the most distinctive new release” of its communications software for Windows.
Version four claims to offer far better full screen video calling as well as optimising itself depending upon your PCs specifications. Those with at least a dual core processor, fast broadband connection and Skype-certified video webcam can get up to 30fps high quality video.
More importantly for many will be improved audio quality. Thanks to a new codec, there’s wideband audio quality but using 50% less bandwidth than in previous versions. There’s even super wideband audio for those with compatible headsets and fast broadband…
Sony surveys fans on PSP2 features
Sony has been roundly beaten in the handheld and the… er… non-handheld markets by Nintendo (seriously, we need a better name for full size consoles than that – suggestions in the comments). What’s the best way for them to fight back? That’s the question that Sony is asking its fans, with a survey floating several new feature ideas for the PSP2 and asking people to rank them.
Some of the new features include GPS, bluetooth, internal storage, touchscreen, a content download service and a social network including home support. Personally speaking, I’d rate GPS and social network features high, if only to compete with the growing influence of mobile phones on the gaming-on-the-go market. Adding in Skype features could just make the fightback possible.
(via Kotaku)
Related posts: Sony planning to revise PSP again in 2009 – with proper “PSP2” to follow later | Sony strengthens firmware portfolio – PSP hits v5.00, PS3 now goes up to v2.50
GMail adds voice and video chat
Yet more new features for everyone’s favourite webmail client, Google Mail. This time, the team has enabled video and voice chatting on the service, which joins SMS, OpenID, Calendar and Doc gadgets and emoticon support on the feature list.
Google’s going to be rolling out the new functionality over the course of today, so if you can’t get it yet, then try again a little later. To get to it, you’ll need to install a small plugin, which you can pick up here, and then it’ll appear in the bottom of your chat windows.
Let us know in the comments how it performs on your broadband connection, and how you think it compares to similar services, like Skype.
Google Video Chat (via Official GMail Blog)
Related things Google has added to Gmail recently: SMS | OpenID | Calendar and Doc gadgets | Emoticon support
Legitimate version of fring comes to iPhone and iPod Touch
fring, the VoIP and instant messaging aggregator software, has now received approval from Apple and is available to download from the App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
A previous beta version, which required a jailbroken iPhone to work, proved extremely popular. Now anyone can get hold of the app that allows them to instant message their contacts on Skype, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM, as well as make cheap calls via a Wi-Fi connection.
Finally, it’s possible to keep in contact with everyone when away from the desktop environment, and all from the single application…
Skype 4.0 beta 2 is out – five reasons why you should try it
Everyone’s favourite voice-over-IP application, Skype, released a beta version of its new application on Wednesday. It’s a near complete redesign from the ground up. It’s quite different, but I’ve been using it a few days, and I think it’s a very strong improvement on the previous version. Here’s why you should give it a shot…
Tech Trumpet: Mad Skype Mix
Welcome to a new weekly feature: Tech Trumpet. Each week, I’ll be attempting to create something vaguely resembling “music” using various gadgets and computers.
This week, to ease things in gently, here’s a track made up entirely of sounds from my favourite piece of communications software, Skype. I’ll leave you to judge whether it’s electronica, synth, ambient, all or none of the above.
Hit the jump to play the music and find out what’s coming next week…
Shiny Video Review: Skypephone S2
This is the Skypephone S2, which we covered more extensively here. I thought you’d appreciate my thoughts after using it for a month or so as a secondary phone. Its dongle functionality sustained us through an Apple press conference with no WiFi and two weeks of no internet, having just moved into a new flat.
