Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Skype

Skype P2P VoIP

Severe iOS 4.2 VoIP Ringing Bug Fixed

November 22, 2010

Senao SN 358 Skype - Long Range Cordless Phone Reaches 15 km

November 22, 2010


A few months ago I came across a multi-handset Skype cordless phone product that claimed their phone system worked up to 10km from the wireless base unit. "Great Scott! A cordless phone that works up to 10km," I thought to myself. It supports both Skype and PSTN.

Use Skype to Video Call Any Video Endpoint: Polycom, Cisco, Tandberg, etc.

November 22, 2010

Christian Bongiovanni, co-CEO and CTO for Imagicle gave me a demo of SkyStone Video, which enables video conferencing everywhere to any video endpoint. Using SkyStone Video you can call any video endpoint using Skype, including Cisco/Tandberg, Lifesize, Polycom, Radvision, Sony, and others, enabling you to call video phones, video conferencing systems, and telepresence solutions. Guess this means the VoIP Videphone War is over!

To do the demo I simply went to their website and clicked this button (Note: you can do this too):

If you hover your mouse over the button above you'll see it's a Skype link.

Skype 5.0 Beta for Mac Launches

November 4, 2010

Skype for Mac 5.0 is now available for Mac in beta, which includes a revamped look that aims to simplify navigation and provide a "more Mac-like experience". For instance, the Skype app has been brought together in one window and the Mac address book has been integrated.

Perhaps the biggest new Skype for Mac feature is group video calling, which allows you to make video calls with >2 people.

The new Skype for Mac also includes the following new features:

  • New call control bar — Hang up, mute and more from a mini Skype toolbar that sits on top of any web pages, documents or photos you’ve got open
  • Search chat content to easily navigate past conversations
  • Offline IM so that you can send and receive instant messages even if the recipient is offline
  • Personalise contacts via user profiles
  • Quickly rejoin calls if your Internet connection fails momentarily
  • Floating Contacts Monitor to see your online contacts and contact groups

Check out this video:

Read more




Skype Tells Nimbuzz to Buzz Off

October 25, 2010


Skype has ordered Nimbuzz to remove support for Skype in their application by October 31st - Halloween no less, but this is no trick. Nimbuzz currently has 30 million users and the theory is that Skype is removing support for third-party access to their service ahead of their planned IPO. You probably recall the fring vs. Skype battle where fring also lost access to Skype services back in July.

However, a Skype spokeperson denied the IPO was the cause:
We believed that Nimbuzz’s application was in violation of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement (EULA).



Asterisk 1.8 - Major Release Sports 200 New Features

October 21, 2010

Digium today released Asterisk 1.8, a major new release of the popular open source telephony platform. According to Digium, it includes more than 200 notable new features.

I spoke with Digium's Product Manager, Steve Sokol, to learn more about this important release.

Truphone to Take on Skype & Offer Windows VoIP App

October 15, 2010

Truphone, headquartered in London, U.K. will soon be releasing a VoIP client for Windows PCs, as well as the Mac OS. Truphone is known for their mobile VoIP apps supported on several mobile platforms including Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Symbian, but this will be their first foray into the desktop PC environment. Unlike Skype, Truphone leverages the standard SIP protocol, so essentially Truphone will be releasing a SIP softphone client customized to work with their service offering.



Skype Meets Facebook - But Not Without Problems

October 14, 2010

Skype 5.0 has been released with some new features, including Facebook integration. A new Facebook tab appears within the Skype client, which shows Facebook's 'News Feed' and a phone book. When I linked my Facebook account, I noticed under the privacy settings it said "Access my data any time. Skype may access my data when I'm not using the application".

UM Labs Brings 256-bit AES Secure VoIP to Mobile Phones

October 5, 2010

I met with Mike Wilson, VP of Sales & Marketing for UM Labs at ITEXPO today to learn more about their secure VoIP offering. At ITEXPO they announced their 1.5 release, which steps up interoperability amongst various IP-PBXS and now it works with Skype (Skype Connect).
Mike explained that a lot of independent dealers across the world who also use Skype, can now connect their PBXs to these Skype users and save a lot of money on conference calls. Their solution acts as the "glue" allowing Avaya to connect to Cisco, or Shoretel to Avaya, etc. They have a built-in scripting engine and can adjust paths between switch and trunking provider or two switches to ensure interoperability.

As part of this release they are stepping up encryption, which he claimed already had incredibly low latency.


Important ITEXPO Happenings

October 4, 2010


I wanted to share some important highlights for Internet Telephony Conference & Expo happening this week. I should point out that we have over 200 exhibitors participating including Asterisk / Digium, Cisco, Packet8, ShoreTel, Skype, and more. Seems like ITEXPO is the week for important telecom / VoIP news to break, including Skype looking to hire a new CEO. I'm excited for Startup Camp. Now for some important ITEXPO happenings:

Monday at ITEXPO West 2010

The doors open to ITEXPO West 2010 today!




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