VoIP – Page 5 – Digital-Lifestyles

Mac OSX Support For USB Polycom Communicator On The Way

One of our limited number of gripes (thinking about it, it was the only one) we had with the Polycom Communicator was that it was only supported on the Windows platform.

Mac OSX support For USB Polycom Communicator On The Way We mourned the lack of Mac and Linux support. Given that all Polycom needed to do was write a driver or two to get it running, we were disappointed that there was no movement on this yesterday.

We got in contact with a Little Bird that’s connected to the company, and after some goading, we heard that Polycom _are_ working on the missing USB drivers. They came close to assuring us that the Mac support should be available this year. There was a lot less certainty about the Linux support.

We want to stress that there’s no official word on this as yet, but we’ve got reasonably high confidence in our source.

Vista Stinks
A point of interest. When we tried to install the Communicator on Windows Vista we found that there wasn’t a driver available for Vista as yet (frankly not a unique outcome with Vista).

Polycom Communicator: Other VoIP Support Beyond Skype

As you may remember, we at Digital-Lifestyles are big fans of the Polycom Communicator. It’s a well made USB-addon for Skype that lets you carry out clear, hands-free conversation over Skype – it also doubles as a quality speaker to listen to music when travelling.

Polycom Communicator: Other VoIP Support Beyond Skype Polycom have announced that they’re going to support more VoIP software than just Skype on the current Polycom Communicator C100S and bring out a non-Skype version of it too, subtlety called the C100 (no S). The outside of the C100 only differs by not having a (S) Skype button on the left of the cluster in the middle.

The newly supported VoIP packages are scheduled in two lumps – CounterPath’s eyeBeam and X-Lite IP soft phones and the Polycom PVX PC-based desktop video conferencing application, becoming available in April this year and BroadSoft’s BroadWorks Communicator IP soft phone anticipated in July.

Current owners of the C100S will be able to download software drivers to enable support.

The Polycom Communicator C100 is scheduled for worldwide availability in April, with a suggested retail price of $149, 124 Euros, £84.

C100

Skype Downloaded Over 0.5 Billion Times

Skype has announced that its VoIP software has been downloaded over 500 million times since its inception in August 2003.

Skype Downloaded Over 0.5 Billion Times A pretty staggering number, even when you realise that it includes all of the downloads and possibly all upgrades of the software (* We’re in the process of checking this with Skype HQ).

Working out that this averages just under 11m downloads per month is pretty meaningless, as in the early days there were very few people knowing about Skype, or even how to pronounce it. In the early days some numpties called it Skype-eee – and we bet that the guilty keep that one quiet these days.

Some numbers that are worth looking at – because they’re pretty mind blowing – are that Skype is being downloaded at the rate of six times per second; Skype to Skype minutes in Q4 2006 alone totalled 7.6 billion minutes; and in September 2005, Skype had 54 million registered users. Today it has over 171 million registered users worldwide.

Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennström shares the love and enthused, “The entire Skype team owes its success to the global community of registered users we have today who tell their loved ones how much they enjoy using Skype.”

The original Skype users were mostly people who had used Zennström previously wildly popular product, Kazza, a P2P file-sharing application. Much of the knowledge his team had built up in handling considerable amount of data sharing between machines was invaluable in building the bones of Skype.

Skype is now just part of everyday life. A product that you couldn’t imagine being without. A pretty impressive feat in anyones book.

Skype Pro: Europe Details Emerge

Sykpe Pro: Europe Details Emerge As you know, Skype Pro was announced in the middle of January. Today the pricing was confirmed.

For €2 + VAT per month, subscribers will be getting

Zero cents per minute calling to domestic landlines in the UK previously 1.7c per minute
Free Skype Voicemail (normally €15 per year)
€30 discount on SkypeIn numbers
€5 Skype Credit included as part of the introductory offer (see below)
A €30 discount on a Philips VoIP 841 cordless phone
A €10 discount on an SMC WiFi phone
Additional discounts on a series of Skype Extras are also available including desktop sharing, avatars, emoticons and ring tones

It’s not all free on the calls to landlines, as each call made will have a 3.9c connection charge made against it.

The lucky dwellers of Europe (specifically Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the UK) will benefit from this first.

Other countries worldwide will follow in 2007.

Skype Pro

Skype: Calls To Landlines Go Flat Rate & Skype Pro Announced

Skype are on the move again, this time changing the way that they bill for calls to landlines.

Skype: Calls To Landlines Go Flat Rate & Skype Pro Announced As is their want, it will be brought to in Europe, then rest of world during 2007.

The new charging scheme does away with per-minute charges for SkypeOut calls to domestic landlines, replacing it with a connection fee. This fee changes depending on the currency, with Europe paying 3.9 Euro Cents and the UK being spanked 2.9 pence per call, against the current exchange rate equivalent of 2.56 pence. All of these prices exclude VAT.

Skype: Calls To Landlines Go Flat Rate & Skype Pro Announced After the first five seconds of a SkypeOut call, the connection fee will apply.

Some countries will be cheaper, running at 1.7 Euro Cents, these currently include … Czech Republic (including Prague), Guam, Hungary (including Budapest), Israel (including Jerusalem), Luxembourg, Malaysia (including Kuala Lumpur), Puerto Rico and both Alaska and Hawaii in the United States.

This shift around isn’t a bolt out of the blue. Back in December a Skype Executive talked about these connection rates that became effective from 13:00 CET today.

The Skype Unlimited Calling plan in the US and Canada and the Talk for Britain campaign in the UK do not include a connection fee for national calls. Skype to Skype calls continue to be free and calls to mobiles will continue to be charged on a per minute basis.

Setup fees are usually bad news for people who make short calls, as the cost is front loaded, with the nattering classes gaining the biggest benefit from the flat rate.

Skype Pro
To have the privilege of a Skype Pro account punters will have to pay €2 per month. The new Skype Pro accounts also come with free Skype Voicemail and €30 off a SkypeIn number.

Skype Pro

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Announced

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Announced Nokia has announced an update to their 770 Nseries widget in the shape of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, which comes decked out in a natty industrial chrome look.

Sporting a high resolution display, Nokia say that the tablet has been “optimised for enjoying the familiar Web experience anytime, anywhere,” and comes with support for internet calling, instant messaging and email.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Announced Naturally, the thing’s stuffed full of multimedia gadgetry with stereo audio, media support and the ability to enjoy streamed content as you amble around your ~~Tower Hamlets bedsit~~ Hollywood-like mansion.

Boasting faster performance than its predecessor, the N800 comes with a full screen finger QWERTY keyboard (but not a proper pull-out hardware keyboard), easier connectivity via Wi-Fi or a Bluetooth phone, an integrated web camera packed up into a sleek new streamlined design.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Announced Software wise, Nokia are claiming “Internet enhanced navigation” with Navicore, support for RealNetworks’ Rhapsody music service and a deal with Skype to let users make Internet calls from Nokia N800s. They added VoIP support to the 770 back in May last year. It was GTalk at the time.

“As the Internet becomes an ever more integral part of daily life, Nokia
N800 has been designed to offer quick and convenient access to your favourite Internet services regardless of location,” insisted Ari Virtanen, Vice President, Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Announced “The Nokia N800 takes our offering to the next level combining speed, performance and mobility into a stylish, compact design,” he added, nearly running out of superlatives.

The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet runs on Nokia’s desktop Linux based Operating System and should be available immediately in the US and Europe for around 399 EUR/USD (around 250 quid).

Nokia N800

gPhone: Google/Orange Phone Set To Take On Apple iPhone?

gPhone: Google/Orange Phone Set To Take On iPhone? According to a report in yesterday’s Observer, Google has been cosying up to mobile giants Orange with a multi-billion-dollar plan to knock out a ‘Google phone,’ offering easy Web searches on the move.

The branded Google phone is expected to be manufactured by the Taiwanese smartphone/PDA makers, HTC, and come with a screen similar in size to a video iPod.

The phone will come with optimized Google software designed to speed up the notoriously cumbersome task of surfing and searching the Web on a handheld device, and offer mobile versions of Google applications such as Google Earth, Gmail and Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Palm Treo users will already be familiar with some of these programs with the superb Google Maps for Treo application scoring full marks in our recent review.

gPhone: Google/Orange Phone Set To Take On iPhone? The Observer reported that the phone could access Google’s databases to offer a wealth of location-based searches, including personalised listings of local cinemas, restaurants and other amenities, and maps and images from Google Earth.

Rumours of the Google/Orange partnership come as expectations of an Apple iPhone announcement are reaching fever pitch, with one Website suggesting that the leaking of the story could just be a cunning ruse to steal the thunder of an imminent Apple announcement.

The future for Orange could soon be Google in your pocket (Observer)

Skype Offers US Unlimited Calling Plan

Skype US Unlimited Calling Plan Announced While announcing the release 3.0 of their VoIP software, Skype have unveiled the US Unlimited Calling Plan.

Don’t panic – this doesn’t affect Skype to Skype calls, but calls to US landlines and mobile.

The offer to US Skype users is $29.95 per year. Those who sign up for the new plan before 31 January 2007 will get it for half price – $14.95 per year. Pay per call SkypeOut will continue.

Skype will be sweetening the deal further by giving 100 minutes of SkypeOut credit for making International calls and over $50 in discount coupons for purchasing Skype-certified hardware products.

Skype Zones Offers Wi-Fi Access On The Move Those Europeans who are surprised that calls to mobiles are included, should know that in the US owners of mobile pay to receive calls, so callers don’t pay extra to make them.

Until now, calls to landlines from Skype have been paid on a per calls basis, whenthey’re not offering free calls for a limited period which ends at the end of this year.

Skype are really doing rather well, with claims of over 11m Skype users, way in excess of any other VoIP services.

Palm 680 Goes On Sale In UK

Palm 680 Goes On Sale In UK Palm’s update to its well-received and long running Treo 650 smartphone goes on sale in the UK.

The new Treo phone sees Palm targeting the consumer market, with the 680 coming in a range of attractive colours (US store only) and a lower price.

The distinctive chunky aerial has gone (us Europeans apparently aren’t down with that antennae thang), and the new Palm is lighter and slightly smaller than the 650, measuring 0.1 inches slimmer at 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.8 inches (113mm W x 59mm H x 21mm) and weighing 0.8 ounces less at 5.5 ounces (157 grams).

As with the 650, the new Treo offers the same fantastic one-handed usability and ergonomics, with an improved backlit QWERTY keyboard and the same bright 320 x 320 pixel touchscreen display.

Palm 680 Goes On Sale In UK The Treo 680 also comes with beefed up Radio Frequency (RF) sensitivity for improved phone performance, a SD/MMC/SDIO-compatible expansion card interface and upgraded Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity.

Sadly, there’s still no Wi-Fi onboard (although new unlimited data deals like T-Mobile’s Web’n’Walk can now provide alternative, albeit slower, means to keep connected on the move) and the onboard camera can also only muster up a rather disappointing 640 x 480 pixels resolution. We have to say that this still outperforms some megapixel cameras we’ve seen on other phones.

Despite its age, we still view the Palm OS as the best choice for smartphones, with the platform offering an immense range of third-party programs and some lovely user-friendly touches (the threaded SMS interface is still a treat to use).

Palm 680 Goes On Sale In UK As with the Treo 650, the new phone offers the usual cornucopia of functionality and features including email, web browsing (via Blazer 4.5), the excellent Pocket Tunes music player, calendar, video, photo album and Documents To Go letting users view, edit and share Word and Excel documents on the move.

The interface on the 680 has also seen a few usability-boosting tweaks, with faster navigation and an ability to fire off a discreet “can’t talk now” text message when you’re too busy to answer a call.

Inside, the phone’s internal memory has been beefed up to 64MB, while the battery life has been slimmed down from the 650, with the smaller 1200mAh rechargeable Lithium Ion cell rated for four hours of talk time and 300 hours of standby time.

Palm 680 Goes On Sale In UK The product is available from today at the Palm e-store (US only) in red, orange, white and silver for £299 (contract free), although we’ve already seen discounted prices popping up elsewhere.

Treo 680

Smartphone Sales Soar

Smartphone Sales Soar Smartphone unit sales are soaring, with sales almost tripling between 2004 and 2005, and increasing a further 50% in the first half of 2006 compared to the previous year.

Figures revealed by the high-tech market research firm In-Stat reveal that the Windows Mobile operating system has now managed to grab an equal slice of the US market share with smartphone big boys, BlackBerry and Palm.

Bill Hughes, an analyst at the research firm says that much of 2005’s soaring smartphone shipment growth was down to a run on Linux-based handset shipments in Asia at the end of the year.

However, he’s a bit sniffy about calling these phones – mainly from Motorola, NEC, and Panasonic – proper smartphones because they don’t possess the same high end functionality seen in Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Palm OS devices.

Although the Linux-based handsets are capable of running Java-powered applications added by users, Hughes reckons they should really be called ‘feature phones’ rather than smartphones.

Smartphone Sales Soar Despite the spectacular sales, Hughes advised caution, pointing out that many smartphone users continue to lug around the very devices that smartphones are supposed to replace.

“Also, users have been slow to add new applications to their devices. Most users have only downloaded a few applications,” he added.

Other research by In-Stat found that business users given work phones were three times more likely to carry a second phone for their personal calls than other users.

In-Stat