Hasta La Gadget!

A front-facing iPhone camera means video calling, but it’s also a sign of something bigger. Combined with other recent leaks, it means that Apple is bringing iChat to the iPhone. Everything about voice calling may be about to change. More »

The Qool SkyQube² was apparently an idea ahead of its time. Four years ago, the small, rounded box promised to bridge the worlds of cheap VoIP telephony and pricy GSM roaming by automatically routing international calls through Skype, but after CES 2007, we never saw the device again. Until now, of course. Skype Journal reports that SkyQube has become the Navoto, and its original creator has built a firm called UGI Telecom to introduce it to market quite soon at an undisclosed price. Near as we can tell, the basic functionality is as complex as ever, requiring a SIM card swap and an always-on PC to do the heavy lifting, while the Navoto itself simply directs landline and 3G calls to SkypeOut. When that glorious day comes that all carriers let you do this on a smartphone, this device will quickly become obsolete, but for now we could see some falling for UGI’s ludicrous infomercials (videos after the break) to avoid receiving a gigantic roaming bill. Hit our more coverage links for the photos and diagrams required to understand how it all works.

Continue reading Navoto urges you to wait, buy a Skype GSM adapter instead of paying roaming fees

Navoto urges you to wait, buy a Skype GSM adapter instead of paying roaming fees originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a great day when something digital meets something purely mechanical, and that looks to be what we have here, a project from Daniel Huhndt. It’s a vintage typewriter that, through what appears to be a complex set of belts and pulleys, enables two-way text chats on Skype. The user types their message onto paper and then waits while the response from someone else is magically typed back onto the paper — complete with that delicious manual sound. It is, or at least was, on display at Bauhaus University (which also introduced the world to WiiSpray), and if we were just a little bit closer we’d be down there clunking away right now.

[Thanks, Max]

Continue reading Stype, the Skyping typewriter, lets you chat about the passion (video)

Stype, the Skyping typewriter, lets you chat about the passion (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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State-owned Telecom Egypt hasn’t been doing well lately, last week announcing 2009 voice call revenues dropped 13 percent from the year prior. It’s not hard to see cheap/free VoIP calling as a primary reason, and so what do you do if you’re a state-run commercial enterprise trying to make a profit? Why, you make the competition illegal of course. Egypt has specifically banned mobile international calls made through VoIP, immediately affecting the country’s three mobile carriers (Vodafone, Mobinil, and Etisalat). However, according to the AFP the law states that “all international calls must pass through state-owned Egypt Telecom,” meaning at-home Skypers would also be out of luck. For its part Skype believes that ” it should be up to consumers, not regulatory authorities, to choose the winners and losers in the communications space.” We’re guessing its customers would agree, but we’re still waiting for their response — damn lag.

Telecom Egypt loses revenue, government helps by banning international VoIP originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype for Symbian. A freely downloadable application that allows you to converse with your Skype-equipped friends over a WiFi or 3G connection. Seriously, why would you ever make another cellular call again? Nokia’s just announced the addition of the online communications client to its Ovi Store, meaning that now more than 200 million users worldwide have access to essentially free calls over their beloved Symbian S60 5th handsets. You knew there was a reason to stay loyal to that stale user experience and here it is. There’s not much else to say here, we’re off to sell whatever stock we have in mobile network operators while you should click the source links for the full list of compatible handsets. High fives all around.

Nokia adds Skype to Ovi Store, foreshadows death of regular phone calls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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