Hasta La Gadget!

For those who relish high fidelity but not high data consumption (and bills), Fraunhofer introduced its IIs Full-HD codec for Android and iOS earlier in the year, which is currently being used in apps like Facetime. Now you can bring some of that “CD-like” audio quality to your own VoIP app development with the release of the Fraunhofer FDK Codec Library for Android 4.1 and up, iOS 4.0 or higher and OSX. That’ll let you build less tinny VoIP apps across platforms with “direct, native access” to all the IIs codecs, according to Fraunhofer. Grab it from the coverage below, or check the PR after the break.

Continue reading Fraunhofer releases its ‘CD-like’ audio codecs to developers, lends a little HiFi to VoIP apps

Filed under: Internet, Software

Fraunhofer releases its ‘CD-like’ audio codecs to developers, lends a little HiFi to VoIP apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype has rolled out prepaid cards for the UK market, making cellphone calls, text messaging, video calls, or WiFi hotspot access straightforward without a credit card. The new cards, which will be available in £10 and £20 values, will be offered at Asda, Currys, PC World, Sainsburys’, and WHSmith across the UK, and can be used to pay for any of the VoIP client’s premium services.

As with other types of prepaid card, the Skype vouchers will have a simple scratch-off panel on the rear. That will reveal a PIN code which, when entered at Skype’s site, adds credit to a new or existing account.

Microsoft-owned Skype hopes that the cards will encourage premium service adoption among a new audience of users, who might be unwilling or unable to register credit card details with the service. That will become all the more important as Skype on Windows Phone 8 gains traction – or attempts to – with Microsoft counting on VoIP over data connections taking market share from traditional mobile voice calls.

Skype cards will be offered in over 1,400 locations in the UK, “with more to follow” according to the company. They can also be used to pay toward international calls for those planning to use Skype while abroad, such as to avoid hotel phone charges.

Skype prepaid cards hit UK is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Ooma’s Telo telephony device is pretty wonderful all by itself, but pairing it with the company’s soon-to-be-released HD2 handset and Linx peripheral presents a whole new opportunity to the VoIP crowd. The HD2 — the second generation Telo handset first introduced at CES 2012 — offers some smartphone-esque functionality to your home phone: syncing with contacts across various social media services, for one, and profile photos popping up in the 2-inch color screen as identification on incoming calls. It launches very soon — October 17 — at US and Canadian retailers with an asking price of $60, despite previously being given a March 2012 launch window.

The Linx — which was outed in an FCC filing earlier this year — adds a much more quaint ability to the Telo: the ability to plug in any normal landline phone (yes, even that free football phone you got with your Sports Illustrated subscription in the mid-’90s). The Telo can handle up to four connected phones, in the HD2 handset or Linx-connected devices (including fax machines, also from the mid-’90s). Linx connectors are also available as of October 17 at US and Canadian retailers with an asking price of $50.

Filed under: Misc, Handhelds, Household, Peripherals, Wireless

Ooma HD2 handset and Linx adapter available on Oct.17 for $60 and $50, respectively originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Telia raised hackles in March when it proposed charging Swedish subscribers extra if they wanted to use voice over IP. On top of the net neutrality issues, the proposed price premium would have been a slap in the face to Skype, the country’s homegrown VoIP pioneer. While Telia’s Spanish subsidiary Yoigo has no problems with such a split, Telia itself must have had a change of heart: as of now, all regular plans will continue to treat internet telephony as just another set of data packets. Only a new, ultra-basic Telia Flex Bas plan excises the option. Unfortunately, most everyone will have to pay the price for equality — new subscriptions will have their data plans “adjusted” to compensate for increasing data use, and those paying daily will see their maximum rates jump from 9 SEK ($1.40) to 19 SEK ($2.90). As painful as the price hike might sound, however, we’d still endure it to avoid carving the mobile internet into pieces.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile

Telia scraps plans to charge extra for mobile VoIP in Sweden, hikes overall rates in compensation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 02:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VoIP-over-3G app Viber broke down in tears when it learned that, after Android, iOS and Windows Phone, there were no new worlds to conquer. Then a helpful soul pointed out that there were more than 1.5 Billion S40 devices in the world, and it set about adding that to the existing 100 million users of its service. In addition, it’s bringing its free-calls platform to Symbian and Bada handsets while current Nokia Lumia owners running Windows Phone 7 will find they can now access HD voice calls and group calls. iOS users shouldn’t feel left out, however, since an update to their app will add support for a variety of languages including Simplified Chinese, Hebrew and Portuguese.

Continue reading Viber comes to Symbian, S40 and Bada, adds HD voice calling and group messaging to Nokia Lumia handsets

Filed under: Software

Viber comes to Symbian, S40 and Bada, adds HD voice calling and group messaging to Nokia Lumia handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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