Hasta La Gadget!

If you are a heavy or frequent user of the Skype for Android app, we are the harbingers of good news today – Skype for Android has turned 3.0 today, where this latest version is said to be specially optimized to scale to your tablet’s bigger display, allowing you to experience Skype in the best manner possible on a far more generous display no matter where you are. Needless to say, the slew of the most popular Android-powered tablets out there such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, the Google Nexus 7, Acer Iconia, Asus Transformer Prime, Motorola Xoom and Sony S will play nice with the latest version of Skype for Android without missing a beat.

Of course, where would great visuals be if there was no decent audio quality to accompany it? Skype for Android 3.0 is said to introduce support to their very own wideband audio codec known as SILK. SILK was specially designed to capture the richness of human speech, where it is capable of handling often varying speeds of Internet connections, making sure that the receiving end always gets the best audio quality possible, even over a shaky connection.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Skype for Android passes 70 million download mark, Skype 2.5 for Android announced,

Skype is doing its part this time of year to make it easier for its users to get a hold of their loved ones during the holiday season. Last week, they offered free calling for an entire month, but you only had one day to claim the deal. The next best thing is gift cards, which Skype just launched today.

Skype is offering both digital and physical gift cards that offer $10 or more in credits. These can be used either for the service’s VoIP calling or even some Skype WiFi at the airport. If you want a customizable Skype gift card, you’ll have to get one online, but if you’re looking for a physical gift card, the Microsoft Store, OfficeMax and Target have them available.

While $10 may not sound like a lot, Skype reassures you that $10 will get you plenty of calling time with your favorite people. They even made a quick infographic comparing different things that $10 will buy you compared to calling people over Skype. For instance, $10 will roughly buy you 1.62 cups of beer, according to Skype, but it will also get you a one-month premium subscription to Skype. When they put it that, it certainly sounds like a deal.

For those who live overseas from their family, a Skype gift card can certainly be a great Christmas gift. While Skype-to-Skype calls are free no matter where you’re located, calling landlines and mobile phones can cost a few pennies depending on who you’re calling, so if a family doesn’t have access to a computer, a Skype gift card is great for those who are forced to use a landline or cell phone.

Skype launches gift cards just in time for the holidays is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re looking for a way to get a hold of your relatives who are in a different country, and aren’t wanting to pay a whole lot in international calling fees, Skype is offering free international calling for one month, as well as free calling to landline and mobile phones. However, in order to claim it, you have act by the end of the day or the deal will be gone.

Skype-to-Skype calls have always been free inside of the country, but if you ever wanted to call your dear Aunt Tilda who lives across the pond, you have to make use of your Skype credits. Same thing goes for calling landline phones and mobile devices. However, Skype is making all of that free for one month starting today.

We’re not sure if a lot of people actually make phone calls nowadays, but if something’s free, you might as well as take advantage of it. There is, however, a “fair usage policy”, meaning that you can’t chit-chat for too long and hog the line, and premium and satellite numbers remain ineligible. Still, though, the policy seems pretty generous.

You’ll also have to attach some sort of payment method to your account, just in case you want to use it after your free one month is out, and international calling is eligible in over 40 countries. You must claim your free month by the end of today, so be sure to head to Skype’s website as soon as possible to grab your free month.

[via Ubergizmo]

Skype offering free international calling for one month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Everyone knows that Skype-to-Skype calls have always been free, but not when you have to make use of your Skype credits to call other landlines or mobile phones. While you need to pay some money, it is still far cheaper compared to the standard rate that traditional service providers charge. Good news now – Skype is offering a full month of unlimited calling to mobile devices and landline locations – and these need not even be people in your contact list alone, all you need to do is use the dialer. Sounds too good to be true, as though Christmas has come early? Well, the “fine print” says that fair usage policy is still applicable, which means you cannot chat for too long and hog the line, and premium as well as satellite numbers remain ineligible.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Skype for iPhone updated, Skype security flaw lets hackers claim ownership of account using email address [Updated],

Skype has fixed the loophole allowing accounts to be compromised with little more than an email address, claiming that only “a small number of users” may have been impacted by the flaw. In a new statement, the Microsoft-owned VoIP company said that it had “made updates to the password reset process” after temporarily blocking the feature in response to the alert.

According to initial reports, the hack was facilitated by Skype’s handling of new account setups which, paired with the way account recovery was managed, created a way for third-parties to change the passwords of existing users. By attempting to create a new account using an email address already used by an existing user, Skype would give a reminder of that existing username.

A second stage to the exploit allowed the password to be reset by the interloper. If the targeted user was not paying attention to their account, they could find they were locked out and their Skype credit – as well as the cloud-hosted chat logs from the past few months, which Skype offers no way to delete – were accessible by a third party.

“Early this morning we were notified of user concerns surrounding the security of the password reset feature on our website. This issue affected some users where multiple Skype accounts were registered to the same email address. We suspended the password reset feature temporarily this morning as a precaution and have made updates to the password reset process today so that it is now working properly. We are reaching out to a small number of users who may have been impacted to assist as necessary. Skype is committed to providing a safe and secure communications experience to our users and we apologise for the inconvenience” Skype

However, Skype is yet to comment on suggestions that the Russian hackers who initially identified the flaw alerted the company several months ago, but received no acknowledgement of the issue. We’ve reached out to Skype for further comment on the allegations.

Skype patches account hijack that affected “a small number of users” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.