Tag: VOIP

It seems that Skype 5 for Mac, by design, blocks any other application from using your webcam while it's installed. A commenter on the bug report suggests that it also affects Windows machines, but we were unable to replicate the bug with Windows 7. The crazy thing is that you have to uninstall Skype 5 before using your webcam with other programs, including Flash applets on websites. It almost ...

Skype 5 for Mac is now out of beta, bringing its shiny new single-window interface to the masses. Early adopters have gotten used to having contacts, chats and video in the same window, but it's a big adjustment for folks who will be upgrading from Skype 2.8. For people who've been using Skype 5 Beta, the final version has some pluses and minuses. The good news is that Skype has slimmed down ...

Over on its website, SayNow says it's "reinventing the phone call." With Google doing its best to reinvent the phone carrier, the two certainly seem like a good match -- which is probably why Google decided to purchase the startup. SayNow made a name for itself by offering to connect music fans with their idols, including artists like 50 Cent, Trisha Yearwood, and the Jonas Brothers -- who have ...

Google has just officially announced the availability of phone number porting for Google Voice. From now on, you will be able to port your existing phone number to Google Voice, for a one-time fee of $20, paid via Google Checkout -- exactly as anticipated a few days ago, when word of the new feature first got out. Number porting is available right now for all existing Google Voice users, and ...

One reason users shy away from Google Voice -- or any alternative calling solution -- is because they can't bring their existing phone number with them. That could all be about to change, however, as several users happened upon an option to port their number to Google Voice. After checking to make sure Google is able to port a given mobile number, a $20 payment via Google Checkout is all that's ...

Skype hit a new significant milestone yesterday, by having, at one point, no less than 27 million people simultaneously connected to its service. Skype's previous record, of 25 million users signed onto the service at the same time, was achieved back in November. Adding two million concurrent users in little more than a month is undoubtedly connected to the launch of Skype video calling for iOS ...

After a lengthy stay in Skype's beta sandbox, group video calling has finally been given the green light. The new stable Windows version now includes this feature as part of Skype's $8.99/mo premium offering. You can also get a group video calling day pass for $4.99. The official Skype blog post also mentions that the new build includes several improvements to video stability and quality. In ...

Skype has announced it will acquire mobile video service Qik. In a blog post (and accompanying video) Skype CEO Tony Bates said that Qik's technology and team of 60 employees will complement Skype's existing video calling service. Qik is a cross-platform mobile app that can broadcast and save video from a wide variety of mobile devices. It currently has over 5 million users. The two most ...

Now that Skype has recovered from the serious worldwide outage on December 22nd, CIO Lars Rabbe has blogged about what went wrong behind the scenes. The problem began when a group servers that handle Skype's offline instant messaging became overloaded, in turn causing some Skype clients to receive delayed responses and crash. The bug only affected users of version 5.0.0.152 on Windows -- ...

Skype for iPhone may be getting video calling very soon, if a Skype help document posted on Engadget is any indication. The document, called "How do I make video calls with Skype for iPhone?" actually walks users through video calling steps that aren't part of the app ... yet. That should change in early January, when Skype hits CES for a panel called "Video Calling Gets Ready for Primtime." ...

If you were lost without your Skype connection yesterday, the company's official blog has some heartening news for you this morning. Skype's engineers have been working hard to re-build the network of supernodes -- which had failed due to a software bug -- and have started seeing some encouraging signs. Users in various locations have been able to sign in again, and Skype reports that around 5 ...

Gmail's free phone service to numbers in the US and Canada has been extended until the end of 2011, according to the official Google Blog. Introduced earlier this year, the "call phone" button lets US Gmail users dial any phone number using their Google Voice numbers. The service was already guaranteed free through 2010. Google hasn't announced what its eventual domestic rates will be or revealed ...

Skype has updated its Android app today, and the latest version (finally) supports the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, as well as moving the app to the SD card. Both improvements come with caveats, though. The app will only work on a Samsung Galaxy S if it is running Android 2.2 Froyo. Also, as moving apps to the SD card storage is a feature only found in Android 2.2 or newer versions of the OS, ...

A few weeks ago when the Google Voice app finally went live in the iTunes App Store, it only had support for the iPhone. Today a new version has been released, which includes support for the iPad and iPod touch. You can use all the app's features on the iPad and iPod touch, save for actually making phone calls. However, you can use it on an iPad or iPod touch to initiate a call on your ...

Nimbuzz, one of the best-known cross-platform multi-IM and VOIP clients, has updated its Android application to version 2.0.2. The main addition here is added support for 'HD voice' (which is just a very fancy way of saying that it supports the AMR-WB codec). The improved voice quality is only available on Nimbuzz-to-Nimbuzz calls at the moment, and both parties need to have version 2.0.2 for ...