October 24, 2013

Skype is down, blames offline supernodes

According to the company’s blog post, the downtime of the service is due to problems with the ‘supernodes’. ‘Supernodes’ are computers which worklike phone directories, except that they do sofor Skype, directing and determining the connection from one Skype user to another.There are large number of supernodes available under normal situation, but today, it seems that many were offline due to “a problem affecting some versions of Skype”.

New ‘mega-supernodes’ are created as we speak to return operations to normal though it may take hours. Some features such asgroup video calling may take longer.

Source: Skype Blog

October 23, 2013

Skype iPhone video chat to unveil at CES 2011

Skype is said tobe unveiling their new iPhone video chat service at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which starts next week. The service will work on both Wi-Fi and 3G, unlike Apple’s FaceTime video-chat which only works on Wi-Fi, according to documents posted on – and quickly removed from – the Skype’s website FAQ section last week.

Users of dual-camera iPhones or iPod Touch devices can switch between the cameras during a Skype video call, but those with iPhone 3GS will have to rely on the rear camera. In addition, a Skype mobile clientis also said to have been developed specificallyfor the AppleiPad.

Source: InformationWeek

October 22, 2013

Skype announces updated client for Android, brings video calling to supported smartphones

Skype may have been present onmobileplatformsfor a long time,but theunfortunate truth is thatthe Android version ofSkypestill has some way togobefore it can be proclaimed to have finally achieved feature-parity with the one that is currently available for Apples iOS. This is especially true, considering how Skype for Android still lacks support for video calls, a feature that was made available for iOS 4 in late December last year.

However, just as good things always comes to those who wait, it would seem that today is the day Android users can finally have something to phone home about, for Skype has just announced the availability of an updated version of its Android client, which is designed to bring that missing feature to what is currently recognized as "the fastest growing mobile OS".

According to the official press release, Skype for Android 2.0 will allow users of Android-powered smartphones to "make and receieve free 1-1 video calls over Skype between their Android phone", as well as withother Skype contactswho aremaking use of the service on otherplatforms.In addtion, the clientwill work with both WiFi and 3G data connections, although Skype recommends the use of a "strong WiFi connection" for best results.

Users will also notice that the user interface for Skypes new client has been given an overhaul, as shown in the image below. According to Skype, this was done to ensure that users can easily gain direct access to all of the key functions that are available in the client.

Of course, in addition to video calls, users can also continue to make use of Skypes services as a means to make calls to landlines and mobiles, as well as send SMS’s to theirfriends and family membersunderSkypes existingrates.

That being said, you might want to hold your horses first. VR-Zone was given the opportunity to interview Skypes Mark Douglas, who confirmed that support for video calls is currentlylimitted to only four devices in the initial rollout, and they are HTCs Desire S, Sony Ericssons Xperia neo and Xperia pro and Googles Nexus S, althoughSkype has confirmed thatmore devices will be added to its compatibility list in time.

However, there is no way to get the feature working on unsupported phones, as Douglas has confirmed that the app is closed-ended. This means that devices which fulfill the minium requirements (Android 2.3+ meets the OSs video requirements)but are not on the compatibility listwill be locked out from making video calls via Skype on their smartphone, althoughthey will still have access to all the other services.

Also, those of you who are hoping for a greater degree of integration of Skype into Android will probably be disapointed to know that the company has got no plans to do so, but that is only because the developers are limitted to what Google allows them to do via the SDK. And last but defintiely not least, no, group video conferencing is not available on this new release, although Douglas did suggest that such a feature might eventually make its way into future versions of its mobile Skype client once smartphones gain access to much more powerful and capable hardware.

October 21, 2013

Skype 2.2 comes to Linux…but only as a beta

Everybody loves to make internet phone calls via Skype, but for Linux users, the ability to do so is often more of a luxury than a tool, and for good reason. After all, most popular software applications available for download today lack a native Linux port, and those that do have Linux ports are usually well behind the Windows and Mac versions.

Unfortunately for Linux users, Skype is no exception to the rule, and the recently released update to the Linux version of the Skype client is the best proof of that. While Windows and Mac users are happily Skype-ing away on version 5 of the client, Linux users have to contend with a beta of version 2.2 of the Skype client, which was released only just recently.

According to a blog posting made by Marco of Skypes Linux team, the new beta of Skype for Linux brings a new feature known as Skype Access to Linux users. This feature will reportedly allow Linux users to make use of their Skype credits to connect to up to 500,000 paid WiFi networks globally.

Additional improvements made to the Linux client includes fixes to enhance audio and video quality, along with various distro-specific bugfixes such as PulseAudio issues in Ubuntu and visual corruption when attempting to use Skype under KDE.

It is also worth pointing out that while the various packages offered for download are likely to work for most Linux distributions available today. This is because we have received word that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is not supported out-of-the-box due to the fact that Skype requires GLIBCXX_3.4.9 to run, while the latest version available on RHEL is that of 3.4.8. Last but definitely not least, there is still no native x64 client for RPM-based distributions, although an x64 .deb package is available for Ubuntu and Debian.

More information about the betas system requirements can be found in the clients release notes.

Source: Skype

October 20, 2013

Skype 2.1 for Android gives video call for more Android devices

Good news for Skype users on Android waiting patently for video call support on their mobile device. An additional 17 devices were supported on their latest Skype 2.1 for Android.

The list of Android devices Skype added into the list are :

  • Acer A5
  • HTC Desire (2.2)
  • HTC Desire HD
  • HTC Evo 3D
  • HTC Evo 4G
  • HTC Flyer
  • HTC Incredible S
  • HTC Sensation
  • HTC Thunderbolt – Verizon (2.2) (US only)
  • LG Revolution – Verizon (2.2) (US only)
  • Samsung Droid Charge – Verizon (2.2) (US only)
  • Samsung Galaxy S
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro 2
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia ray

    For folks who are using Android devices not listed above but you are on Android 2.2, you could try some luck with enablingvideo calling in your Skype settings by going to "Skype settings" after launching the app and select "enable video calling".

    Of course, if you do not see the settings, you are out of luck and do not meet the minimum requirements set by Skype

October 19, 2013

Skyfire browser may be accepted on Apple App Store, supports Flash

As Apple and Adobe continue to fight over the positive or negative affects of Flash in the mobile universe, browser maker Skyfire has released Skyfire 2.0 for Android, which has pseudo-Flash support giving “access to Flash videos on a web page that otherwise would not play.”

The company has said it is creating an iPhone version, that it hopes to submit to the App Store later in the year.

When we say pseduo-Flash support, we really mean it. When the browser identifies any Flash content in a web page, it sends that content to Skyfire’s cloud servers which then converts it to HTML5 on-the-fly and streams it back in that format.

Apple has so far refused to allow Flash on “i” devices and at this point has said support is never coming. Skyfire says the cloud support allows for “faster and smoother video playback and extended battery life by off-loading more of the work to cloud servers.”

While Android is way more open in terms of Flash than the iPhone OS, Android smartphone users will not see OS-level support of the format until the release of firmware 2.2 (Froyo), which is expected later this year. Skyfire could help those who do not want to wait.

Source: Afterdawn

October 18, 2013

Skydivers help show off Google Glass camera

Sergey Brin, a figure of envy among nerds, geeks, normal people, and well, quite frankly the whole world is envious of his wealth, recently put some of his company’s money into a doing something that may not merit any investment at all.

During Google’s I/O event, Brin broadcasted live feeds of skydivers free falling while wearing Google Glasses. However, the Wi-Fi signals on the glasses were too weak so Google had to use antennas to amplify the signal to make the live feed possible.

Well? And then what? After the live feed, Google graciously announced that developers can pre-order the Google Glass for $1,500 smackers. Buying a Wi-Fi eye glass with mounted camera for $1,500 is hardly a justifiable investment.

Google’s promo video of Project Glass revealed some sci-fi-esque augmented reality features, but if the consumer version of the Glass (supposed launch is in 2014) is nothing more than a glorified Wi-Fi camera eye glass then Google may just have spent years working on, well, a head mounted camera.

That’s not to say that Google won’t achieve full augmented reality integration with their Project glass, but hiring stuntmen to jump out of an aircraft just to prove that Google Glass is capable of recording videos and broadcasting it is a rather questionable use of resources. Okay, Google has a lot of money to blow, but the point is people want to see some hints of the augmented reality from the promo video—not what a person sees when he is falling at terminal velocity.

Here’s a reminder of what Google has promised us.

Reference: arstechnica.com, gizmodo.com

October 17, 2013

Skydiver record could affect spacesuit design

The successful jump of skydiver Felix Baumgartner on Sunday could change how spacesuits for astronauts are designed.

Dustin Gohmert, head of the crew survival engineering office at NASA, said that the record-breaking achievement could help NASA improve its own spacesuits to ensure better survivability of not only astronauts, but also space tourists and high-altitude pilots and passengers.He said that spacesuits have changed little since Joe Kittingers jump in 1960, which held the record until this week when Baumgartner plummeted at 834 miles per hour, significantly faster than the speed of sound. Traditional spacesuits are meant for sitting down in, while Baumgartners one was designed specifically for the high-altitude fall.A huge amount of data was collected from the jump, including medical information like the skydivers heart rate and bloodpressure. This is being analysed by a team led by Dr. Jonathan Clark, a former flight surgeon for NASA, whose wife lost her life in the Columbia space shuttle accident.At the time of NASAs last shuttle flight last year the possibility of astronauts escaping a disaster situation required that they be no higher than six miles above the Earth and travelling at speeds no greater than 230 miles per hour. Baumgartners successful fall from 24 miles above Earth at 834 miles per hour shows that it is possible for a more daring escape.Baumgartners descent could have went very badly, however, and it almost did when he initially launched into an out-of-control spin for around 40 seconds, with two and a half times the force of gravity hitting his body, which could have caused him to black out and suffer a stroke. He managed to correct his position into a downward V-shape, and this could be the deciding technique for surviving similar jumps.Source: Associated Press

October 15, 2013

Skullcandy’s New Decibel Collection For The Hip and Young

Skullcandy is no newcomer to their hip looking headphones. In their recent launch -Decibel (dB) Collection, it gives consumers a wide range of wildly styled and hip looking headphones.

The dB Collection features a lineup of funky named modelswith high-quality materials, in-line volume, microphone controls and durable water transfer prints which literally explode with color in order to deliver an unique personal style.