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Continue reading InFocus Mondopad is a 55-inch multitouch display with an identity crisis (video)

InFocus Mondopad is a 55-inch multitouch display with an identity crisis (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Skype forums are a hive of panic and abuzz with accusations that either the company is bundling crapware with its VoIP app or has a serious security problem. Users are reporting that a strange, new, and difficult to uninstall program is finding its way on to their PCs called EasyBits GO. EasyBits is the company that has powered Skype’s games channel since 2006, but at least until now its wares have not been standalone software. One moderator has declared EasyBits Go is not part of Skype and suggested customers immediately run a malware scan, but mods are volunteers and not official representatives of the company, so we’re taking it with a grain of salt. Another (later) post from a forum admin simply states that Skype is looking into the issue and will release an official statement, though we have no idea when that might actually happen and we’re awaiting reply to our own request for comment.

It appears that a rep from EasyBits Media has taken to the forums to quell some of the outrage, but to no avail. Posts from the team are painfully vague, saying that it was part of an update to the gaming platform and apologizing for the misunderstanding, before linking directly to an .exe that it claims will remove the offending software. To say that forum users are wary of the executable would be an understatement (most responses have involved torrents of profanity). Reports are that the suspicious app is installing itself without any approval from users, but we can’t confirm this since any attempts to install in our lab of doom resulted only in errors while downloading. For now, we’ll just have to wait for word from Skype, and the company better move quick — the pain of the recent outage is still fresh in many customers’ minds.

Update: Skype has officially confirmed that EasyBits GO was erroneously added to its installer, and says that the buggy update has been disabled for now. Strangely, the official blog suggests that disabling the software is a temporary measure, and that it might reappear soon, as Skype will “work with them to correct the problems and user experience” that led to user qualms.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Skype taken to task by angry users over claimed crapware payload (update: disabled for now) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The aftermath of Microsoft’s announcement that it’ll buy Skype for $8.5 billion was filled with speculation about why the price was so high, who Microsoft was bidding against, and who inside Redmond was the driving force behind such a large expenditure. At least one of those queries has been demystified today, thanks to Bill Gates asserting himself as “a strong proponent at the board level for the deal being done.” Microsoft’s Chairman of the Board expressed his enthusiasm for gobbling up Skype in an interview with the BBC — one which UK residents may see in full at the iPlayer link below — and concluded that “it’s a great purchase that a lot of innovation will come out of.” Adding his support to Steve Ballmer’s already public excitement about the Skype takeover, Bill stresses that “the importance of software is higher today than ever,” while also predicting that video conferencing is set to become much better and bigger than we’ve yet seen. We’ve got our webcams at the ready, Bill!

Bill Gates considers Skype ‘a great purchase’ for Microsoft, helped make it happen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like two knights jostling for the hand of a fair maiden, both Facebook and Google appear to be courting the graces of Skype. A source close to Facebook recently told Reuters that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is thinking about buying Skype outright, as part of a deal that could be worth $3 to $4 billion. A second source, meanwhile, claimed that both Facebook and Google are more interested in forming a joint venture with the teleconferencing company, which has yet to issue an IPO. With discussions still in a nascent stage, both suitors are playing their cards close to their chests, while Skype, rather coyly, has declined to comment on the speculation. At this point, details are still hazy and rumor-infused, though it’s certainly not shocking to hear these kinds of murmurs buzzing around. Skype’s been integrating Facebook more deeply into its software for a while now and has gradually branched out to Android, as well (albeit with mixed results). Both Facebook and Google would also stand to benefit from Skype’s millions of users and all the targeted advertising potential they’d offer. Until we receive more substantiated reports, however, all discussions of possible unions remain restricted to the realm of conjecture.

Facebook, Google rumored to be vying for Skype deal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, the all too familiar WiFi troubleshooting dance: the network goes down, you dig through the closet for an Ethernet cable, saunter over to the router, jack yourself in, type in the IP address, and start poking around at your settings. Cisco’s REN301 Residential Gateway (a fancy way of saying “router”), which just passed through the FCC, could make things at least a little bit easier thanks to its built-in LCD screen and capacitive touch controls. Wave your hand over the display to bring it to life and you can check the status of your connections, modify some basic settings, and peruse a log of calls that have come in over the SIP VoIP phone jacks. The REN301, which has a single band 802.11b/g/n radio, can also turn USB drives and SD cards into NAS storage — the company even throws in a 32GB card to get you started. We don’t have a price or release date, but since it’s been splayed open for federal regulators we probably won’t have to wait long. There’s a couple of pics of the router’s UI after the break.

Continue reading LCD-equipped Cisco REN301 Residential Gateway stops by FCC, reveals all its dirty secrets

LCD-equipped Cisco REN301 Residential Gateway stops by FCC, reveals all its dirty secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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