Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Skype

Skype P2P VoIP

Skype for iPhone Passes 1 Million Downloads!

April 2, 2009

According to Skype, "In less than two days, Skype for iPhone has been downloaded more than one million times - around six downloads every second. This is a phenomenal performance, and we're confident that it's one of the fastest-downloaded iPhone apps ever. We'll be back next week with an update, but for now, Skype on "

That's pretty damn fast. Now imagine if AT&T allowed Skype over 3G on un-jailbreaked iPhones? That number might be double or triple.

Skype in Legal Fight with Joltid over P2P technology

April 2, 2009

Skype and Joltid Limited are in a legal dispute over Skype's licensing of Jolitid's P2P communication technology. This is news to me, since I thought Skype invented the P2P technology used in Skype. Skype's technology roots are in Kazaa, the P2P file-sharing network. Both Skype and Kazaa were co-founded by Niklas Zennstrom.

What Skype & Rich Tehrani Do in Vegas Stays in Vegas

April 2, 2009

I won't comment on Rich taking pictures of scantily clad women unawares. In fact, I won't comment at all. I'll just steal Rich's pictures of the Skype CTIA event party in Las Vegas. The glass pool table with the Skype logo looks pretty cool, as does the giant mockup of an Apple iPhone.

How to Use Skype over 3G on iPhone

April 1, 2009

If you are looking to use Skype over 3G, look no further. I found several good tutorials online, but many of them were incomplete, so figured I'd write my own tutorial. As you probably know, Skype by default requires WiFi in order to make calls, but we're going to fix that so you can have some nice Skype over 3G action!

First, you will need to jailbreak your phone.

Skype for iPhone Blocked in Canada

March 31, 2009

I learned that the Skype for iPhone app is unavailable to our Canadian friends across the border in the Apple iTunes App Store. I contacted Skype for comment and their representative told me, "There are some patent-licensing issues which prevent us from offering it there."

I then asked if other countries were affected or if it was just Canada and was informed it was just Canada. When asked whose patent it was or what category it involved (i.e. mobile VoIP), the representative told me, "I can't go into many more details other than it's codec related."

Sounds to me like their was some sort of patent settlement which Skype can't talk about.



Skype on iPhone works over 3G

March 31, 2009

The Skype on iPhone application is working over the 3G data connection if you are running the beta 3.0 firmware. VoIP over the 3G cellular is clearly forbidden in the SDK rules, so it's obviously a bug on 3.0 that it works. How long before Apple closes the hole? It is surprising that Apple "approved" and certified the Skype app for their App Store without first "testing" if Skype would work on the 3G connection.

Skype on iPhone is Official

March 30, 2009

Gigaom's Om Malik was right about Skype launching a native Skype app for the iPhone. The WSJ and CNet are confiming Om's scoop today. When I say the news hit the wires, my initial reaction was "I hope Om go credit for breaking this story last week. He's one of the premiere bloggers and deserves credit from the mainstream media and other tech journals".

Alas, I was sorely disappointed that they didn't give Om credit.

IPEVO Wi-Fi Phone for Skype Review

March 27, 2009

The IPEVO Wi-Fi Phone for Skype launched just last month and IPEVO sent me a review unit to check out, which I've been testing for a few weeks.

Installation
Installing the IPEVO Wi-Fi Phone was a snap. Although it only has a numeric keypad for entering in alphanumeric characters for entering in the WEP/WPA/WPA2 key. As you hit a key, it shows you the current key where your cursor is located, but it also shows you a horizontal list of all the characters that key can produce and highlights the current key.


Bring Out Your Dead! Wait! Skype for Asterisk is <em>not</em> dead!

March 26, 2009

Digium has an excellent post today titled The Rumors of Our Death discussing Skype for Asterisk (SFA) and the recently launched (beta) SkypeforSIP (SFS). There has been much discussion on the blogosphere, twitter, and elsewhere if SFS means the death of SFA. Some were even seen carting Skype for Asterisk away into the trashbin of other failed software endeavors, as seen here:

It's not a pretty sight when people write you off for dead when you're really not. But wait just a second.

Native Skype for iPhone app coming?

March 26, 2009

Om Malik is reporting that a native Skype for iPhone app is coming next week.

According to Om:
A tipster -- a very reliable one -- tells me that Skype is almost ready to launch that iPhone version, perhaps as soon as next week. CTIA Wireless, a large mobile industry trade event, kicks off in Las Vegas next Wednesday, so perhaps the announcement will be made there. I am working on getting more details, as well as screenshots of the service.
But, if you can't wait that long, here's a good list of various workarounds to run Skype on the iPhone, including fring, which is an iPhone app you can get today (screenshot to the right), as well as Nimbuzz.

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