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Skype 1.0 For Windows Released, Updated Linux Beta 213
egjertse writes "Today Skype launches its free Skype for Windows Version 1.0 software, which includes SkypeOut, enabling Skype users to pre-pay and call any phone number in the world at highly competitive local rates. Also included in Skype 1.0 is a new file transfer feature and other software enhancements. New beta versions of Skype for Linux (Previous Slashdot Story) and Skype for Pocket PC with the SkypeOut feature are also available. Here are the release notes."
Grrr (Score:4, Informative)
Correction (Score:3, Funny)
1.0 is same as 0.98.0.68 ... only TEXT changes (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
Well, duh. It says 'Windows Version 1' in the story.
I would have thought they'd at least support Windows 3.1.
I'm just looking forward to the Prodos version!
Re:Grrr (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
Version 0.98.0.68 completely locks up the machine and requires a hard reset. I recommend version 0.98.0.28 though, there are certainly less of the problems with call competion in that version.
Note though that the option to ring the PC speaker can cause problems with Windows 98.
They already fixed it (Score:2)
Note:
Skype 1.0.0.10 was released July 27 which fixed an issue with Windows 98 / Windows ME.
They are on the ball over there. Class act all the way.
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
Quality (Score:4, Interesting)
I've had problems with other services like this in the past, but maybe they have gotten better.
Re:Quality (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Quality (Score:1)
Re:Quality (Score:1)
Re:Quality (Score:1)
Re:Quality (Score:2)
I'm just curious about the quality of service today vs. a normal day when it doens't make the front page of Slashdot.
Re:Quality (Score:2)
Re:Quality (Score:5, Informative)
In a nutshell, you may irritate the people you're calling, but less so than if you used a cell phone.
Re:Quality (Score:1)
Re:Quality (Score:1)
However on one (and only one) occasion there was a time delay of a few seconds which really had us confused.
Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC did... (Score:5, Interesting)
Fortune Magazine, 16th February 2004
I don't see a 2/16/2004 edition of Fortune according to their archives [fortune.com] but I did find an article on 2/9/2004 which I cannot see in its entirety (see here [slashdot.org] for more bitching about that topic).
Re:Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC did... (Score:2)
Fortune Magazine, 16th February 2004
Amazing perceptive for the FCC considering some of the stuff they've done of late (media consolidation rules for one). I have to agree with h
Re:Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC did... (Score:2)
Actually, Powell has been entirely consistent and frequently misunderstood. His policies and decisions come from his underlying belief in minimal regulation. This was first evident in the modifications to the FCC consolidation regulations (as an aside, many legal experts believe that the former regulations would never have stood up to court challenge and the revised version championed by
Re:Quality (Score:2)
Re:Quality (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Quality (Score:2)
There is a bit of latency, but nothing compared to other programs i've tryed like teamspeak.
How long until... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:How long until... (Score:1)
I don't imagine a wi-fi one can be too far behind.
One thing I like about vonage. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How long until... (Score:1)
Re:How long until... (Score:2, Informative)
VoIP Wi-Fi Phone [zyxel.com]
That one may not use skype, but its VOIP.
Re:How long until... (Score:1)
Re:How long until... (Score:2)
it has a web interface of its own that you can initiate phone calls if you only know the IP of the other person, in which case you don't even need a SIP server.
very nice phone, in my opinion.
No OS X version? (Score:3, Informative)
This would be very handy to have on my Powerbook, but alas it seems no such beast exists. If it compiles under Linux, it shouldn't be too hard to do a straight port, even if it has to run under an X client instead of being a pretty Quartz app.
Course, if they had used SWT this wouldn't be an issue.
Re:No OS X version? (Score:4, Informative)
"On June 16, 2004, there was an internal demonstration at Skype of the alpha version of Skype for MacOS. The alpha version worked well and the development team is working towards a beta launch of Skype for Mac. It will likely take about 2-3 months until release. When Skype for Mac is available, an email will be sent to you through Public Mind to let you know. Thanks for your patience."
Re:No OS X version? (Score:3, Insightful)
Aside from the standard POSIX calls, which don't include lots of things that a modern program that goes beyond the command line must do, Mac OS X and Linux are as different as can be. Although Mac OS X has an optional X11 server that can be used to porn X11 programs over, there is one other critical area where they are completely different: sound! Linux sound IO and Mac sound IO are completely different.
Not to mention that when somebody says "Linux", they usually mean "Linux on x86",
Re:No OS X version? (Score:2)
That has to be the funniest typo I've seen in a while. The best part being, of course, that on qwerty keyboards at least, "n" and "t" are quite far apart, making one suspect some sort of Freudian slip. Thank you!
Re:No OS X version? (Score:2)
I doubt if it's a freudian slip, because I always look at porn using native Aqua programs....
The new spyware (Score:4, Funny)
When you make a voice call, the spyware will listen to your conversation, then start producing popups on what you say
for example:
Me: "Hi Mom"
Spyware: *incest p0rn popups*
Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
Or Lepto in Greece.
I'll prob. call it a penny if it ever invades the UK.
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
The greeks have Lepto on the back of the coin [eurocoins.co.uk].
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:2)
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
Re:Any idea of pricing for the outbound calls (Score:1)
Once you install the software, there are links within the application to a page where you can check the rates out.
From what I understand, here's the hook on Skype Out: The software leverages a global P2P network such that, if I am in the US, and want to call Australia, my call is routed through the
What's all the Skype About? (Score:3, Funny)
*wharf ralf barf*
Skype (Score:3, Interesting)
Plus you can log into Skype onto multiple machines, if someone tries to contact you they both ring. I'm not sure about messaging yet though!
Still, I'll be downloading this and upgrading. I like it! Its definately worth a try out if you're interested in making phone calls. I've only tried the IP2IP connections btw, and have no idea of IP2POTS
Dug
P.S. I often make up words due to psudeoapathy.
We need an Open Source Skype (Score:5, Interesting)
Until someone does, Skype, a proprietary closed protocol, but the only "zero configuration" VoIP application I know of, is likely to continue to acquire users.
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:2)
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:2)
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:1)
VoIP - local exchange shared POTS line. (Score:2, Interesting)
Why can't we take VoIP and modify it to utilize all the phone lines that most people own that are usually sitting idle?
If I want to call from LA to NYC, then my outgoing connection is made from my PC to a PC that has a local NYC phone # so all toll charges are avoided.
As a user, I would specify which area codes (Exchanges) I want to allow people to be able to di
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:3, Informative)
They're all preconfigured to use free world dialup if that's where you download them. Pretty much zeroconf. I think X-ten also does GSM codec (though it doesn't say whether it uses EFR).
Too bad the default codec is G.721 muLaw (64 kbps, feh!).
X-ten is pretty good... (Score:2)
Too bad it's only for Windows and MacOS X. Still, there's gnophone and kphone for Linux.
You forgot (ahem) MSN Messenger (Score:2)
Re:You forgot (ahem) MSN Messenger (Score:2)
Re:You forgot (ahem) MSN Messenger (Score:2)
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:2)
John Walker [fourmilab.org], of Autodesk fame, did, back in 1991.
He discontinued it [fourmilab.ch] because the increasing ubiquity of proprietary routers and firewalls made it less and less easy for the average user to open a port to use P2P applications like SpeakFreely.
Unlike Skype, SpeakFreely is entirely point-to-point (although at one time Walker set up a directory) which more or less means the caller must know the receiver's IP address. Skype automates this.
Spea
Re:We need an Open Source Skype (Score:2)
Ability to call strangers? (Score:1)
Re:Ability to call strangers? (Score:1)
Malware? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Malware? (Score:5, Interesting)
I might well be wrong and they've seen the errors of their ways, but I doubt it. I'll just wait and see. It is quite possible I'll not support it simply because they've been *really* bad before and people who behave badly should not get away with it by just starting over.
Re:Malware? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Malware? (Score:4, Informative)
This out the top of my head, since I don't have the documentary lying around. It was shown to me at the Copy=Right? festival of my ISP, XS4ALL (.nl).
Re:Malware? (Score:2)
Actually, they seem to have a business model that might work without being assholes this time too... which makes you wonder what plans they had the last time, if any. Maybe they were just a bunch of hackers hacking away at some cool stuff. =)
Still no go on linux... (Score:1)
It looks nice, loads fast, but you still can't specify what device you want to use for a microphone. It automatically assumes that you are using
I've posted this on their forums but no official response so far.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Still no go on linux... (Score:2)
I may have found something useful... (Score:1)
http://www.cproducts.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe
Yea, found it on froogle. Have at it.
Re:I may have found something useful... (Score:1)
http://www.telex.com/computeraudio/products.nsf
Re:I may have found something useful... (Score:2)
Cant wait to port this to my Treo 600 (Score:2)
>8(
Re:Cant wait to port this to my Treo 600 (Score:2)
The old "Wireless Web" plan was 14.4kb/s (~1.4 KB/s) which sucked but at the time there wasnt anything better
Oh, and i
embrace and extend (Score:2)
Re:embrace and extend (Score:2)
Rohan Mahy (co-chair IETF SIP and SIPPING Working Groups) said [theregister.co.uk]:
Dell X30 (Score:1)
Remember - take a full backup first using Active Sink so that you can restore from a cold reset if needed. If it works on your unit - great!
Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
you will still have to wait for 1.0 (Score:1)
Latest version is:
Skype 0.98
Doesn't look like 1.0 (Score:2, Funny)
Dagnabit, you slashdotted my telephone! (Score:2)
How simple are those USB phones in terms of setup (in Linux)? I wouldn't mind paying for one, but as long as I can still use Asterix (or just POTS), Skype isn't compelling enough to mess around with.
And do they have a free trial? Say, 5 minutes to check sound quality, ease of use and all that?
Yeah, I know, easy questions. But as long as the site's
Re:Dagnabit, you slashdotted my telephone! (Score:2)
Then they'll add advertising (Score:2)
You think I'm kidding? Call Sprint PCS information. Not only do they charge you, they run an ad "For movie listings, times, and more, call...".
And it's not even encrypted end to end.
To use separate devices for sound input/output (Score:4, Informative)
For those (like me) who use two different soundcards (webcam microphone + internal soundcard) for sound input and output, there's something called skype_dsp_hijacker, which uses an LD_PRELOAD trick to redirect sound I/O to another device. I wrote a small patch for this useful wrapper to enable use of separate devices.
It's located at http://195.38.3.142/skype/ [195.38.3.142]
Do tell me if you find it useful!
Windows version 1? (Score:2)
Softice (Score:2, Interesting)
Use a SIP VoIP provider charging per minutes... (Score:2, Interesting)
SIP services traverse NAT without a problem.
There are several VoIP provider that will let you pick your software, and/or hardware to connect to their PBX. I have been using Nikotel.com for that http://www.nikotel.com/ [nikotel.com].
The only "good thing" about Skype seems to be that the per minute rates are slightly better than the competition. For example, where Nikotel charges 2.9c/min, Skype seems to charge 2.0c/min.
For this price difference, I would stick with an open standard, SIP, and
Echo cancellation (Score:2)
Review (Score:2)
There is still about 1 second lag before the other end recieves, but it could be a result of my choice of networking hardware. Soon, I will test it with my wi-fi laptop and the Windows version of t
Re:Important change (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Important change (Score:2, Informative)
no, you're wrong (Score:2)
Re:Meta: Slashdot theme (Score:2)