The latest Skype update has arrived in the iOS App Store and this one has a focus on video calling. Specifically, those sporting an iPhone 5 or fourth-generation iPad will now be able to make 720p HD quality video calls. While the 720p video is limited to the Retina-display devices, that is not where this […]
Microsoft has already been taking advantage of their buyout with Skype, merging Microsoft accounts to the newly-acquired software, as well as pushing out an all-new design today for Android devices. The redesign takes pages from Windows Phone 8 and gives the Skype for Android app a metro look that compliments the Windows variant. Microsoft says
AT&T has faced a lot of criticism over its restriction for using Apple’s FaceTime over cellular, and after months of the carrier saying that it would finally allow FaceTime over a data connection, users are now being able to video chat with friends and family over cellular using FaceTime. According to AppleInsider, several users in
Rounds is doing the rounds (natch!) this morning with a significant update to its video calling and instant messaging app. The company teamed up with Channel.me to add co-browsing to an already broad list of features. Users can now browse the web together during a video chat and see / control the same page at the same time. In terms of security, the experience mimics two people surfing the web in the same location (usernames are visible but passwords are hidden. for example). While users can enter any URL, the app also includes an icon grid of compatible sites, such as Google (for search), Wikipedia, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Amazon and eBay — to name a few. As a refresher, Rounds lets friends watch YouTube videos and play games together during a video chat and even apply filters and scribble over each-others live video streams. It also supports instant messaging and photo sharing and ties it all together with Facebook Login. The app is available for most Android and iOS devices but is optimized to run on phones. Hit the break for the promo video and obligatory PR.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Microsoft announced today that they have completed the integration of Skype and their business-centric Lync communication platform. This means that Skype users and Lync users can seamlessly chat with one another, officially merging together consumers and businesses. Lync is Microsoft’s enterprise-level IM client that comes with the company’s new Office 365 software.
Micrososft says that Lync is used by “over 90 of the Fortune Global 100 companies,” so if you’re looking to connect with any colleagues, your Skype account can now support the addition of such contacts. Microsoft also says that this kind of integration makes it easy to reach out to professional contacts for a number of reasons, such as networking for a potential job.
So far, the integration supports instant messaging and audio calling, but Microsoft says that more options will be “coming soon” in future updates. All you have to do in order to add Lync contacts is to search for the contact’s email in the Skype app, and once you find them, you simply add them to your contact list.
Microsoft first announced its plans to integrate Skype and Lync together back in February during the company’s first Lync conference, with the goal of completing the integration by June. Indeed, after beginning the the process last month, the company barely made that goal with just a couple days left in May.
Microsoft bought Skype back in 2011, and has since made a few changes to its instant messaging and communication offerings, killing of Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype. Just recently, Microsoft focused a lot on Skype integration in the new Xbox One, which is the company’s newest gaming console that’s set to release later this year.
SOURCE: Skype Big Blog
Microsoft finally sews up Skype and Lync for chat everywhere is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This past week we noticed a bit of an oddity in how AT&T handled the video chat element in Google’s new “Google+ Hangouts” app on cellular data: in effect, it didn’t work. Asking AT&T about the situation, it was discovered that they had a policy in place for pre-loaded apps working with video chat, making it clear that it’s the OS makers (Google and Apple) and the device makers (Samsung, BlackBerry, LG, HTC, Apple), that were responsible for enabling pre-loaded apps to be able to work with cellular data for video chat. Today, AT&T makes it clear that Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry will be making a big change by June for all their pre-loaded apps.
Though there’s still no word on how any of this affects Google+ Hangouts at all – since it doesn’t come pre-loaded with devices at this very moment – AT&T is making it clear that changes are in the works. Changes for pre-loaded apps only. Specific to three manufacturers: Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry, pre-loaded apps working with Mobile Share or Tiered data plans will have instant access to video chat with mobile data.
“For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers.” – AT&T Representative
So if you’ve got an Apple, Samsung, or BlackBerry device – and one of those data plans – you’ll be able to video chat with pre-loaded apps no matter your connection.
AT&T goes on to say that they’re opening their doors wider later this year, allowing pre-loaded apps to use video chat on any phone no matter the customer’s data plan. You’ll still have to pay for the data you use while chatting, but you’ll be able to do so without a hassle.
“Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by year end.” – AT&T Representative
Strangely enough, AT&T insists that “any mobile video chat app” that’s not pre-loaded with a device they purchase should be able to be “used” without trouble. It would seem that Google+ Hangouts is considered a native app by AT&T due to its replacing of Google Talk, therefor rendering Video chat limited to wifi until each of these announcements take hold.
“Today, all of our customers can use any mobile video chat app that they download from the Internet, such as Skype.” – AT&T Representative
Let us know if you’re able to use Google+ Hangouts with mobile data on your AT&T device later this June. At the moment we’re still seeing the error that brought us to this point last week. Video chat freedom, on the way!
AT&T video chat goes unlimited for all by 2014 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Just minutes after Google+ Hangouts cross-platform and cross-device chat system was revealed as completely without extra charge for video chat, AT&T’s limits have appeared. Though the announcement during the one Google I/O 2013 keynote, this chat system was shown as Google’s one single chat system – and a replacement for Google Talk. In a situation that’s strikingly similar to what Apple’s FaceTime system faced back when it was first introduced for video chat on the iPhone, so too does AT&T keep the reigns tied tight.
The Google+ Hangouts app is available for Android right this minute, but should you bring the app to your brand new Samsung GALAXY S 4, you’ll find a notification appearing if a video chat is attempted. The lock in this case is over video chat on mobile data – AT&T relegates the ability to Wi-fi.
UPDATE: AT&T has responded with a statement.
“All AT&T Mobility customers can use any video chat app over cellular that is not pre-loaded on their device, but which they download from the Internet. For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we offer all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share, Tiered and soon Unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices. It’s up to each OS and device makers to enable their systems to allow pre-loaded video chat apps to work over cellular for our customers on those plans.” – AT&T Representative
SlashGear has tested both an HTC One with AT&T data and the AT&T version of the Samsung GALAXY S 4, both with the same result.
What we’re expecting the situation to be is one of three things. First, it could be that this is a bit of a mistake – the assurance by Google that video chat would be free seemed to be a direct reference to FaceTime’s charges on certain carriers – this might all simply need a software update to fix.
Another possibility is that Google didn’t mean that user would be able to use the video chat feature for free with mobile data – only with wi-fi. A third possibility is that AT&T got in on the deal early, not letting Google know that they’d be blocking any and all voice chat attempts on anything but wi-fi. We shall see!
We’ve reached out to both Google and AT&T for comment and will update this article with their response.
Google+ Hangouts video chat faces FaceTime-like AT&T block [UPDATE] is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Google I/O just wrapped up, so now we’re inevitably waiting for all the new features to start rolling out. The first out of the gate is the new Google+ Hangouts app, which is now available for Android. The app replaces Google Talk on Android, and will also eventually make its way to iOS, making it the first time that a Google chat app will be released on iOS.
Google talked a lot about Google+ Hangouts during the keynote, and they essentially took all of their different chat clients and combined them into one. The app will let you message other Google users, as well as video chat with them using Google’s Hangouts feature that we’ve all seen before in Google+.
The cool thing with this new app is that you can message a friend and have it delivered to them without them actually being signed in, making it a viable option for a text messaging replacement, rather than just another IM client of sorts. The app includes the ability to insert photos and videos, and there’s even cross-platform support with a web version as well.
Of course, before you get to chatting using the new app, you’ll need to sign up for Google+. This isn’t time-consuming, as Google+ uses your Google account anyway, but you’ll simply need to confirm a few things and get your profile initially set up. Once that’s done, you’ll be all set and ready to chat away with friends and family.
However, Hangouts doesn’t have an “Invisible” status available, which could be a turn-off for some users, but we can’t say that many users will miss that feature. Other than that, the app is ready to go. We’re not sure when the iOS version will be releasing, but we’re guessing it’s currently in the hands of Apple as they take it through their submission process.
UPDATE: Google+ Hangouts is now available on iOS.
Google+ Hangouts for Android now live, replaces Google Talk [UPDATE] is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This week at Google I/O 2013, a new application has been introduced to take on cross-device and cross-platform communication: Hangouts. This system expands on what’s existed inside Google+ with a Hangout, turning chat both text and video to come with a user wherever they go. This system allows for saving of conversations, photos, video, and media of all types, sharing made as smooth as it has been inside Google+, now here on the web, in Android, and in iOS all at once.
This chat system will be available for Android and iOS as well as on the web starting today. This cross-platform initiative works with group video as well as video chat, and all of it without charge. Though this may seem obvious for some, there have been systems similar to this in the past where chatting with your camera cost extra cash – can you name that system?
With Google+ Hangouts, a Google+ account will be needed to chat. This account is the same as a user’s Google account for Gmail and the like, but the social networking sign-up will need to be done.
This system will also be launching with photo storage with Google+ at 15GB at full size. This means that if you want to automatically upload photos to Google+ with your Android or iOS device, you can upload 15GB worth of full-sized photos. If you want to upload limited-size photos, you can upload as many as you like.
Google+ has also been updated with a system that can break down your collection of photos to find what’s best based on a variety of pre-selected criteria. This system as well as Google+ Hangouts will be launching today with Google+ photo enhancement abilities far beyond those available in the past. Stay tuned to SlashGear’s Google I/O tag portal all week long for more developer action as it occurs, piece by piece!
Google+ Hangouts take chat cross-platform: Web, Android, and iOS is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Today, Skype has announced that its popular video calling service is available as a preview for BlackBerry Z10 users. The app first rolled out onto BlackBerry Q10 devices last month as a preview, and now the Z10 is getting it’s moment of video-chat glory. However, it seems a lot of the features in the app requires the BlackBerry 10.1 update, which will begin rolling out later this month.
The app includes all of the same features that you’ll find on other platforms with Skype running on them, but on the BlackBerry Z10, the Skype app seamlessly integrates with the phone book and BlackBerry Hub, making it the process a bit easier to make a video call to a friend or family member.
The app is available now to download from BlackBerry World, but unless you have the new BlackBerry 10.1 update, you won’t be able to download the free app, which is a little puzzling at this point, but it seems Skype simply wants to get the app out there beforehand, so that it’s ready once the first batch of 10.1 updates starts rolling out to users. The 10.1 update will mostly come with tweaks and performance enhancements to the OS, but there will also be a few new features, such as an HDR mode for the camera, PIN-to-PIN messaging and email, as well as improvements to notifications.
Skype reiterates that this is simply a preview version of the app, so there may be bugs and there may be some features that will be taken away or added by the time the final version releases. The company said that they’ll be working closely with BlackBerry over the next few months on the app, to make sure it’s up to standards.
Along with the release of Skype for the BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry also announced this morning that there now 120,000 apps in BlackBerry World. The company also announced the new BlackBerry Q5 QWERTY smartphone that will release later this year in emerging markets across the world. It’s essentially the cheaper brother of the Q10, but still comes with the 3.1-inch touchscreen and the full physical keyboard, along with BlackBerry 10 running the software show.
Skype arrives on BlackBerry Z10 as 10.1 update is on the way is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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