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Skype's new Android app update fixes a recently discovered security flaw in the software. Image courtesy Skype

Skype released a new version of its Android app Wednesday morning, fixing the app’s recently discovered security vulnerabilities.

The new version secures a loophole in which third-party software was able to gain access to data stored on the user’s phone.

“We have had no reported examples of any third-party malicious application misusing information from the Skype directory on Android devices,” Skype’s chief information-security officer Adrian Asher said in a blog post. The company encouraged users to download its software from the official Android Market or the Skype web site, rather than an unofficial outside venue.

Skype’s popular voice-over-internet service took heat last week after a blogger discovered the security flaw in the Android version of the app, which allowed access to sensitive user details including your full name, address and date of birth. The security exploit has existed on Skype’s Android app since its wide release in October.

Skype also included a new feature for Android users in the update: Calls can now be made using 3G networks.

U.S. Skype users could previously use only Wi-Fi connections to make VOIP calls over Skype’s servers, except for those who had certain Verizon-carried phones. Outside the United States, however, Skype users could make calls on both Wi-Fi and 3G.

While this wide availability of 3G calls using Skype is new to Android users, Skype released its 3G calling feature for iOS devices almost a full year ago.

Calls (both voice-only and video chat) as well as IMs between Skype users remain free, while calls made from Skype to non-Skype cell numbers or land lines can be paid by a subscription plan or purchasing Skype credits.

See Also:

• Skype’s Android App Could Expose Your Personal Details
• Skype IPO ‘Delayed’: Wall Street Journal
• Skype Creates Exchange Platform for Teachers
• Skype Delivers Major Mac Desktop Upgrade
• Skype on Fring Is Dead, But Who Killed It?

It’s been a while since we’ve heard much from the ever-embattled VoIP provider, but it looks like Vonage might still have a couple tricks up its sleeve. The company’s latest service plan, known as World Premium Unlimited, offers unlimited calling to mobile phones in 42 countries — and landlines in 80 — for $55 a month. This plan also provides for unlimited local and long distance service in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and requires callers to use a touch tone phone, hooked up to the internet by way of a Vonage adapter, to make calls to places like the UK, Mexico, and Brazil. It may not be an ideal primary calling solution for most, but it could be enough to put Vonage back in our sights. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Vonage offers unlimited VoIP calling to mobile phones in 42 countries

Vonage offers unlimited VoIP calling to mobile phones in 42 countries originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you didn’t already have enough potential app privacy leaks to worry about, here’s one more — Android Police discovered that Skype’s Android client leaves your personal data wide open to assault. The publication reports that the app has SQLite3 databases where all your info and chat logs are stored, and that Skype forgot to encrypt the files or enforce permissions, which seems to be a decision akin to leaving keys hanging out of the door.

Basically, that means a rogue app could grab all your data and phone home — an app much like Skypwned. That’s a test program Android Police built to prove the vulnerability exists, and boy, oh boy does it work — despite only asking for basic Android storage and phone permissions, it instantly displayed our full name, phone number, email addresses and a list of all our contacts without requiring so much as a username to figure it out. Android Police says Skype is investigating the issue now, but if you want to give the VoIP company an extra little push we’re sure it couldn’t hurt.

Skype for Android vulnerable to hack that compromises personal info originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon may have left it out from the get-go, but it looks as if eager HTC Thunderbolt owners needn’t wait another day to test out a video-enabled version of Skype. For those outside of The Loop, there was quite the back-and-forth going during the early days, with Verizon announcing at the 11th hour that its flagship LTE phone would be shipped sans Skype. It’s still unavailable in the bona firde Android Market, but a build has appeared from the ether and seems to be humming along just fine here at Engadget HQ. Hit the source link if you’re feeling froggy, and let us know in comments how things work out.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: So we just happened to have a Thunderbolt on hand, and gave Skype’s mobile video chat a try. We came away quite impressed — video is as good as can be expected from the handset’s 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and the experience on WiFi and LTE is virtually indistinguishable. The app even worked on 3G, though that reduced the picture quality to the point of being almost unusable.

Michael Gorman contributed to this report.

Skype with video calling leaks for HTC Thunderbolt, celebrations unsurprisingly erupt (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s rare that a new piece of software generates only positive feedback, but the world’s most popular VoIP app has seemingly frustrated throngs of loyal Mac users, including a number of technologically savvy individuals within these very walls. A brilliant comparison of the old vs. new has emerged over at Ignore The Code (linked down below for your perusal), and it got us wondering — are average consumers seeing this any differently? There’s no question that Skype 5 for Mac looks a heck of a lot like the Windows build, but as the aforesaid article points out, it seems that the UI engineers lowered the standard of the OS X version rather than dragging the Windows variant up. What makes the new edition so difficult to swallow is just how ideal the prior model was — now, it’s a chore to spot contacts, initiate chats and handle the most basic of tasks that Skype should handle. So, we’ll leave it to you: is Skype heading in the wrong direction in terms of usability and functionality, or should the collective world just get a grip?

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Skype 5 for Mac continues to frustrate — how’s it treating you? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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