Hasta La Gadget!

Get ready for the second major wave of video chatting — not only is Apple about to bring video calling to the masses with the iPhone 4, but Skype today announced the SkypeKit beta SDK, which devs can use the SDK to interface their apps and devices directly with Skype’s service starting tomorrow. That means there’s no need to run the Skype desktop app — it’ll just be integrated into whatever you’re running, like the recent Panasonic VIERA connected TVs with Skype integration. Once they’ve passed a UI certification, devices and apps will be billed as “plugged into Skype,” but don’t expect to see anything happen too quickly: the SDK is Linux-only at the moment, with Windows and Mac desktop versions forthcoming, and Skype will be testing apps and devices before they go live.

The new SDK can use H.264 hardware encoding to supplement the relatively slow ARM chips that will be running Linux in an embedded manner — like the Panasonic TV, for instance, which was developed using an early version of SkypeKit. We asked Skype about its SDK membership (which costs $20), and the other slight restrictions of the SDK, and they assured us it’s to keep fraud from happening (Skype interacts with your wallet in its paid services), “not to keep out people we don’t like.” There will also be a verification process for an as-yet-undefined cost, where Skype will go over any software or hardware released with the SDK. Additionally, Skype is open sourcing its Silk audio codec (which was recently added to its iPhone app), and they’re working with the IETF to make it an open, patent-free standard for use with anything, not just Skype. Check out the Litle Webbook running some custom Skype on video after the break. It’s in early beta right now, and will be pushed as an update in September, along with video functionality (it’s audio-only right now). We also have shots of the Grandstream GXV3140 making a Skype video call in the gallery below.

Continue reading SkypeKit beta SDK adds Skype to any application or device

SkypeKit beta SDK adds Skype to any application or device originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surprise! If you happen to be among those who pre-ordered the iPhone 4, go check your inbox, if you haven’t yet. Apple has reportedly sent out a number of notes to early iPhone buyers to let them know that their “delivery will occur on June 23rd” (Engadget is reporting that it has received “well over three dozen” such tips in a 30 minute period).

The packages will be arriving via FedEx. If you didn’t get an e-mail but still have your fingers crossed for early delivery, you can check your handset’s shipping status over at www.apple.com/orderstatus.

Unpowered sound bars get rid of a surround-sound speaker system, but still require an AV receiver. CNET rounds up five powered sound bars that don’t need an AV receiver and offer credible home theater sound from a single speaker.

Perhaps you should have read this new paragraph in the software license before installing iOS 4. You know, the one that now says that Apple has the right to “collect, use, and share precise [your gadget’s] real-time geographic location”: More »

iPad Scrabble playable on your iPhone? Pretty neat. Desktop Asteroids playable on your Android smartphone? Rather more action-packed — and a little less expensive to get into. Androideroids is a project of Grant Skinner and runs on Adobe’s Air platform. It’s an eight-player game hosted on a desktop, with each participant given a first-person smartphone view of the vast expanses of space and the hollow rocks scattered throughout it. Meanwhile, a desktop client displays an overhead perspective of the shenanigans, displaying everyone’s life and score. Players can either shoot asteroids or each other, tapping on the screen to thrust and fire while tilting to turn. Honestly the move to first-person doesn’t seem to have done anything to improve gameplay, but this is still one game of Asteroids we’d make room for in our games folder.

Continue reading Android + Asteroids + multiplayer = Androideroids (video)

Android + Asteroids + multiplayer = Androideroids (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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