Hasta La Gadget!

Skype’s PR folks have been unusually loquacious today, as they’ve responded to a query about whether HTC’s EVO 4G would get a Skype client with a deep and meaningful forward-looking statement, underpinned by a promise of an Android app “for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers.” This universally available addition to the Market should arrive “later this year,” but what’s important about it is that it’s preceded by a lengthy spiel about Skype’s ambition to “set the bar on mobile video calling,” which it also intends to do this year. Does this necessarily mean that Skype video calling is coming to Android in time for us to wish granny happy Hanukkah over video chat? No. Is it a well constructed insinuation to that effect? Hell yes. Read the full statement at the source, or find the juiciest excerpt after the break.

[Thanks, Jeremy]

Continue reading Skype Mobile with video support coming to Android Market later this year?

Skype Mobile with video support coming to Android Market later this year? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 06:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The home VoIP gurus over at Ooma have started shipping their Bluetooth Adapter, a $29.95 dongle that you plug into your Telo to make awesome things happen. The accessory actually works two totally different ways: it makes it so that you can answer Ooma calls on your Bluetooth headset, and it also acts as a handsfree for your cellphone, letting you answer mobile calls on any landline receiver in your house — a pretty neat trick, if you ask us. The adapter’s only available online through Ooma’s site for the moment; follow the break for the company’s full press release.

Continue reading Ooma Bluetooth Adapter ships, unites cellphone and VoIP in holy matrimony

Ooma Bluetooth Adapter ships, unites cellphone and VoIP in holy matrimony originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 19:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consider the bombshell dropped. Skype, the godfather of VoIP apps and an increasingly ubiquitous piece of mobile as well as desktop software, has just let it be known that it’s not planning on bringing its goodies to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS. Dan Neary, the company’s Vice President for the Asia Pacific region, said that it’s “not developing software for the new Windows Mobile software due later this year,” but seemed reluctant to expand on the reasons why. Perhaps, like Mozilla, the Skype devs felt they weren’t getting access to the right tools. Whatever the reason, this would be a major competitive disadvantage for Microsoft’s great new hope on the mobile front, which is already expected to launch with a few things missing. Then again, we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves as this isn’t an official renouncement from Skype, merely a statement of the status quo — and from a regional exec at that. All we can take away from it for now is that the road ahead looks a bit bumpier than before for WP7.

Update: Looks like this quote might’ve been taken out of context. MobileTechWorld followed up and learned that while Dan Neary left out Windows Mobile and Windows Phone from a list of currently supported platforms (which makes sense, since one is dying and the other isn’t out yet), he said Windows Phone 7 “is on the roadmap.” The question seems to be more of a “when” than an “if” they’ll start building it.

Skype VP says company isn’t developing software for Windows Phone 7 (Update: it’s ‘on the roadmap’) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 03:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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 been a little over a month since Verizon announced it would unleash the VoIP hounds on select smartphones, an interesting move given AT&T’s wrangling with the FCC over Google Voice and begrudging approval of Skype over 3G. Early this morning the Skype Mobile app hit the Android Marketplace for Verizon devices (and only Verizon devices), and while it does work on 3G, it curiously doesn’t work on WiFi — at all. Click on through for some screenshots and our impressions.

Continue reading Skype Mobile for Verizon on Android hands-on (with WiFi off)

Skype Mobile for Verizon on Android hands-on (with WiFi off) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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