Skype 2.0 Adds Video 192
Golygydd Max writes "Skype is showing that there's life after the eBay purchase. Techworld reports that the company has just launched the beta of Skype 2.0, having added video to its telecommunication software. The company is already lagging behind the likes of AOL and MSN in offering this, but Skype must be hoping that the size of its user base will help it - its store is to start selling videocams almost immediately." The LA Times has a review from a 2.0 beta tester, if you're interested in a hands-on look.
Wow.. this is so like.. 1997 (Score:4, Informative)
Demand for the video phone? (Score:5, Informative)
I can't see it myself. Plenty of programs have supported webcams, but in my experience most people don't use them, only a very small minority. So why is everyone clamouring to add this? Is it merely to say "look. We've got a new widget!"? Or is there truly demand for this, that I'm just ignorant of?
Re:Wow.. this is so like.. 1997 (Score:2, Informative)
Computer science is like fashion. Old stuff of yesterday with a little change is the big boom of today. The little change is what makes the big difference...
Skype line quality (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Skype line quality (Score:4, Informative)
512 kBit/s bandwith? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How does it perform on Linux? (Score:5, Informative)
1) Only uses OSS, not Alsa. So it's not always happy sharing the sound device. (You can use OSS emulation, but still, not quite that happy)
2) Occaisionally forgets my configuration and won't let me log in. I've seen posts, that say the solution is to whack your
I'd love to see Skype 2.0 working under Linux, but even more importantly, I'd love to see an Alsa version and see if my experience is better.
My biggest gripe is that I use it to talk to my brother when gaming (instead of Teamspeak). For the whole once a week we game, it's fine. But under Linux, I can't run my game & talk on Skype. So I've got to boot into Windows to game.
But if you want to use skype to only talk, and not game, it's certainly fine for that.
Re:I'll wait for SIP (Score:3, Informative)
Asterisk also supports video over SIP and has done for years. There just aren't many phones about that do it (I think cisco do one).
Re:Mac (and Linux) users (Score:5, Informative)
Since the version 1 skype never came out of beta for linux it's debatable whether there will *ever* be a linux version.
Anyway it's hardly the first cross platform video communication program - there are literally hundreds of the damned things.
Most important... (Score:5, Informative)
"Skype Out" price gouging (Score:5, Informative)
This is a shame, in my opinion, because it quashes the internet's promise to break the stranglehold that the regular/government telecoms have over citizens. The ISPs in some countries in this region, for example, have skype's website blocked specifically to prevent people from paying the normal $2.50+/minute rates to call Europe or the states.
If technology is going to fulfill its promise to lift the burden off of those struggling in developing countries, companies like Skype would do well to do a better job of leveling the playing field - price differentials of a factor of 15 just seem downright unfair.
Whilst I welcome the news... (Score:5, Informative)
iChat's Audio Conferencing lags behind Skype but its Video Conferencing (4 way no less) is just crazily good. Apple built iChat from the ground up using the powerful Quicktime 7 implementation in 10.4 and it shows.
I'd used plenty of Video Chat products but iChat was the first time I got the feeling that the technology had reached "Batman" standards.
(Oh sure Batman, it takes you a day to decrypt some stupid riddle, you use a massive magnifying glass to spot a buoy on a bit photograph of the ocean and your computer is a selection of flashing lights without a graphical or even command line interface but perfect quality video conferencing? Piece of cake!)
BugMeNot (Score:3, Informative)
pwd: vapidcity
Re:How does it perform on Linux? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:I'll wait for SIP (Score:2, Informative)
Checkout eyeball.com or counterpath.com -- both make (commercially) SIP soft devices that support video.