Skype Video on the Samsung Galaxy S
Can i just say I am loving this, and if Microsoft keep doing this, i may just have to go back to skype. Over Wifi this was clear as a bell. over 3G in a good signal area slightly ropey but usable..
why won’t Skype just Microsoftify itself and die?
So Microsoft bought Skype, the standard procedure after this purchase should have been a simple one, Skype slowly stops supporting all other platforms, services on those platforms become unbearable to use, we then all spend a few months trying alternatives on our macs and android devices, then Skype gets a brand renaming to a Microsoft product and some obscure replacement service comes up as competition on cross platform systems with few features than the new Microsoft one.
That’s what normally happens..
However not with Skype right now it seems.
First there were the OSX stability updates, maybe something which was a hangover from prior to purchase however very welcome. This was followed by an announcement of video support on android devices, which fell a bit short as it turned out only to be a handful, however today about 17 additional handsets were updated to support video calling. All of which have been big sellers.
Then in an almost impossible turn of business Microsoft penned a deal with Facebook to use Skype as facebooks video calling technology. Immense.
And as if there were magic happening in Redmond today use of an open source video codec within Skype was announced. Could this mean an api allowing IM tools such as Pigden or Trillian to link into skypes video calling?
Is this a new Microsoft or just intelligent business? There is competition out there, FaceTime and Google talk come to mind, Skype is a known brand name, and if you get it used by users, it makes getting the business product into comms rooms far easier if there is already a huge user base. And that is where Microsoft will monitor Skype. In business. Many scenarios such as support calls, interviews, teleconferencing become much easier for companies if the user already has the client, Skype in this case. Installed.
This has the potential for Microsoft of being huge having played this well so far, not alienating non windows users. Making a video call as a normal thing has just taken a huge step to becoming normal.
I hate writing nice things about Microsoft. This time it’s due..
Finally, Video Calling on Skype for Android..
Some big news for sociable people today, with the latest Android update of the Skype app unlocking full video call functionality on Android. It works cross-platform, too, so you’ll be able to video chat with people on their PCs, iPhones or even televisions that come with the app pre-loaded. Works over both wi-fi and 3G, too. Lovely. Just keep your webcam pointing at your face, OK, James? Get it via the Android Market or have a look at a video of some very attractive promotional people using it on YouTube. Here’s the press release:
Microsoft Office 365 may include Skype
Details on the addition of Skype, a massively popular chat application, to Office 365 were vague during yesterday’slaunch. That’s because, while U.S. regulators are allowing the merger to move forward, Microsoft is still awaiting approval from antitrust regulators in other countries. On the Seattle Times’s site, Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft’s Business division, mentioned Skype in connection with Lync, Microsoft’s rebranded and revamped instant messaging, audio- and videoconferencing product. “The ability to connect Lync users with Skype users is a huge opportunity for us,” DelBene said.
We could be seeing the first result of the Skype-Microsoft union with Office 365, Microsoft’s new cloud office suite.
ooVoo
ooVoo is free, supports Mac OS and Windows, mobile devices, and video calls among all of them. Best of all, the participants on your video call don’t have to be ooVoo members if they don’t want to sign up: they can join your video call via Web browser. You can share documents, record video calls for posterity, share desktops, and collaborate on documents. Best of all, it’s free – as long as you’re only video chatting with three other people. Any more than that and you can pay per use, or per month, depending on the features you want.
Migrating from Skype I found a better option for me.
I’ll be upfront about this, I’m disappointed that of all the companies who bought Skype it ended up being Microsoft. Mainly because Microsoft has just become a huge well where innovation goes to die in the last few years. Having a huge market share doesn’t make you relevant. So with the news breaking this week, I decided to kill off my Skype account, and find an alternative. It might seem to be cutting my nose of to spite my face however i’m one of the handful of people who does pay for Skype services each month. And i’m not investing in Microsoft.
Some Thoughts on why I’ll end my Skype Subscription..
Today Microsoft bought Skype, and according to all the press releases, this is a good thing. apparently things will “not change” with their multi platform client, and it’s all going to be good in the VoIP Hood..
Well, i’m sorry, there is a tingling in my spidey senses, and let me tell you they are not wrong often.
Skype, is the worlds most prominent VoIP telephony service, as close as a household name as you can get. Offering over Desktop OS’s and a plethora of mobile platforms. Indeed on Three Mobile in the UK, they offer a free Skype to Skype calling service.
And the keyword in that above paragraph is “free” because i’d guess that while there are opportunities, which i myself use, to moneytize skype with the ever so useful VoIP number, the international services. the Voicemail the multi webcam services etc. Essentially Skype is seen as a free service.
So why did Microsoft buy Skype?
Three key technologies, the P2P network which Skype uses to provide its services, this is built on the backbone of the old Kazaa music sharing services, and highly useful if your looking to provide your own phone service with an edge over Android and IOS.
Then there are the Codecs, the Audio compression codec is legendary and what provides skype with the clear calls world wide it offers, however the recent purchase of Qik, a service similar to uStream, however designed for streaming over 3G networks from mobiles, also introduced a codec for Video calls, again, something a mobile vendor not having much luck in the IOS/Android marketplace may see as an edge.
Microsoft needs to move into, and create new Markets, they are becoming stale, not seen as an innovator especially next to Apples meteoric rise over the past few years.
So while it may seem that Microsoft may have bought Skype for a VoIP Client, what they have bought is actually an infrastructure and asset of superb codecs, and a group of people who know how to use them. While it makes good PR to state that you will keep the client going. I’ll state the farm on the fact that within the next 12 months its a dead duck, Windows only, Client, working best on Windows Mobile devices, with a shadow of 
a Linux and Mac Client, and that Android Client with video calling will be dead.
Unless the guys in Redmond see fit to embrace all platforms and spread the love, however if past history is anything to go buy, its time to find an alternative to Skype and do it fast.
As a footnote, this was announced as the “Microsoft Skype Network” which is worrying as thats “Microsoft Skynet”
With 3G Voice, Could Skype for Android Be Your Phone?
An updated Skype client for Google Android devices is available beginning Wednesday, with two notable improvements: a security patch and support for voice calls over 3G networks around the world, including the U.S. The free software, found in Google’s Android Market, includes mobile calls on the Skype network, instant message text chat, call forwarding, voicemail, and low-rate calls to mobile numbers and landlines. Wider adoption of 3G voice calls for Skype could hint at a future Skype phone.
SKYPE 2.2 BETA FOR LINUX RELEASED SKYPE ACCESS SUPPORT, IMPROVED AUDIO / VIDEO QUALITY
After more then a year since the last beta, a new Skype beta version has been released today: 2.2 beta.
Skype 2.2 beta brings “Skype Access” support which you can use to connect to “over 500,000 WiFi hotspots worldwide using your Skype Credit”, improved audio and video quality.
Skype Buys Mobile Video Startup Qik
At last count, Qik, which enables mobile phones users torecord and stream videos in realtime, has 5 million users.
It looks like Skype has just picked up mobile video startup Qik.According to a release, Skype has entered an agreement to buy the startup. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but sources tell Business Insider that deal was around $150 million. We’ve embedded the release below.
Where does FaceTime fit into this?
There is no doubt that when it comes to cross platform VoIP systems there is one company which right now are head and shoulders out in front. Skype have been pushing this technology and codec for a long time, long enough to have survived several buyouts and legal disputes. However they still end up being the service people seem to be using.
Skype Video Chat Coming to Facebook?
Comment:
It seems to be only a matter of time before the worlds most widely home and business used VoIP application and the worlds largest social network get together and do things right.
To be honest its an obvious match, and one which could spark finally the use of Video communications as the norm.
In my head the service merging doesn’t end there, and see’s Skype being what it should have been years ago. The hub for phone communications. From Skype communicating with Facebook Users, Apple’s Facetime and then you have 500,000,000 desktop users, and all those Android and iPhone users too..
Bung into that the simple Skype Online phone number, and just as IM is country agnostic telecommunications becomes the same way. No more worrying about changing your phone number or transporting it when you get a new phone/sim card your number is your skype number..
If you dream it, it will come..
Skype 5 Beta for MAc
When Skype announced the new version of their VoIP software forWindows, many Mac users were left wondering if they were ever going to be invited to join in the fun. Well, we finally got our invitation, because today Skype announced that Mac users everywhere will be bumped up to first-class with a heck of an update.
