Pinboard (guardiantech)

Skype 4.7 for Android: your battery is breathing a sigh of relief >> Skype Blogs

guardiantech — 2014-03-18T21:34:45+00:00

With Skype 4.7 for Android, we are introducing aggressive battery savings that will allow most of our users to leave Skype running without noticeably affecting battery life. It has been a challenging process, because to do this we’ve had to transform to the way Skype technology works. Actually we’re still undergoing that transformation – the process is not yet complete. But we are now at a stage where you can enjoy the fruits of our labour.

Battery demand cut by 75%, apparently.

Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again >> Ars Technica

guardiantech — 2013-06-21T21:48:22+00:00

From May 2013:

If you think the private messages you send over Skype are protected by end-to-end encryption, think again. The Microsoft-owned service regularly scans message contents for signs of fraud, and company managers may log the results indefinitely, Ars has confirmed. And this can only happen if Microsoft can convert the messages into human-readable form at will.

We've since heard that it's much worse, of course.

How well do Microsoft's Xbox, Skype, Office, and SkyDrive work together? >> Businessweek

guardiantech — 2013-03-18T16:32:12+00:00

Ashlee Vance:

It took three Skype customer support people to conclude that what I wanted to do — use my Microsoft phone to access a Microsoft account to use a Microsoft service — was impossible.
Similarly, only some of the movies I have purchased on my Xbox show up, as promised, on my other Microsoft devices like Microsoft’s own Surface tablet. I’m not sure how Microsoft’s services pick and choose what I get to watch, but they seem to have a real thing against cartoons.
At the same time, life in Microsoft Land can also be quite wonderful. My young son is enthralled when he watches the interactive version of Sesame Street on the Xbox. Via the Kinect sensor, my son appears in the show and can jump around with Big Bird and punch letters and numbers. This is streaming, immersive television, and it really does feel as if it’s from the future.

Wicoms and Skype launch free Skype Wi-Fi across UK and Ireland >> Wicoms Wireless

guardiantech — 2012-10-03T20:54:24+00:00

From Tuesday:

Wicoms and Skype today announced the launch of a new WiFi network initiative called Free Skype WiFi. The new service is rolling out in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in participating high street venues and businesses to deliver simple, trustworthy and free public internet access. The Free Skype WiFi service is available for businesses to purchase at skypewifi.wicoms.com.

Skype users can log in with their Skype ID using the Skype Wi-Fi app. Or enter an email for access.

Skype for Android has been downloaded over 70 million times >> The Next Web

guardiantech — 2012-06-25T16:03:24+00:00

Introduced back in October 2010, Skype says its Android application, which received video calling support about a year ago, has been downloaded over 70m times from the Google Play store to date.
The Microsoft-owned company says the video calling app now runs on close to 1,400 Android devices, including handsets from HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG and others.

1,394 unique devices, to be precise. (Though nine devies - six from Samsung and three from HTC - make up 25% of the most-downloaded-to devices.) Who even knew there were that many unique Android devices? It's not clear whether those download figures include updates and upgraded phones; a more useful figure would be the number of active Skype accounts in the past month. That's not forthcoming.

Skype for Windows Phone working on Nokia Lumia 610, scoffs at memory restrictions >> Engadget

guardiantech — 2012-04-24T14:01:11+00:00

Actually, the headline is wrong. It should read "will work":

After "some challenges early on", Nokia tells us that the app is primed for use when the entry-level Windows Phone eventually hits Asian store at the end of April.

(Thanks @FossilFuel for the link.)

Skype app won’t support low-end Windows Phone devices >> WMPoweruser

guardiantech — 2012-04-23T21:51:03+00:00

Microsoft just released the first version of Skype app in Windows Phone Marketplace last night. While most of us will be enjoying the app, the upcoming Windows Phone Tango devices with 256MB RAM such as Nokia Lumia 610 won’t have access to this most wanted app. In the release notes by Skype team posted yesterday, they have mentioned that your Windows Phone requires a minimum of 512MB of memory to install and use Skype which basically tells us that Windows Phone Tango devices are not supported.

Bummer.

Samsung inTouch TV Hands-on - SlashGear

guardiantech — 2012-01-09T21:55:26+00:00

This camera is a Wi-fi enabled webcam-like device that allows you to turn your gigantic home television into a 720p conferencing station, fully integrated with Skype. This little device also allows you to browse the web and use YouTube on your television with ease. And what’s best? It’s doing so with Android!

Skype To Acquire Year-old Group Messaging Service GroupMe >> TechCrunch

guardiantech — 2011-08-22T08:02:51+00:00

"Skype will acquire group messaging service GroupMe, a service that was born at a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York in 2010. GroupMe was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci."

Facebook’s Messenger app hides a dirty little secret: Video conferencing >> Apple Intelligence

guardiantech — 2011-08-10T06:30:32+00:00

"Today, Facebook released their Messenger app and seconds later, we see that there is a video component to the application"

Why Google+ won’t hurt Facebook, but Skype will hate it >> Gigaom

guardiantech — 2011-06-28T22:03:49+00:00

Interesting analysis. Google hasn't got a hope of catching up with Facebook, of course.

Why did Skype fire 8 execs? Why them? Why now? >> Skype Journal

guardiantech — 2011-06-21T21:09:27+00:00

"Would Skype’s investors really try to screw hardworking Skype employees?
"In a heartbeat.
"Why now?
"The no-engineers-fired mix suggests pre-alignment. Timing favors the “Investors want their stock back” theory."

In other words, it leaves more of the stock with the investors, who then get to sell it to Microsoft when the deal closes.

Microsoft's Bill Gates says he advocated Skype takeover >> BBC News

guardiantech — 2011-05-18T08:29:40+00:00

"Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, has said he advocated the company's takeover of Skype, and urged other board members to support the move.
"Last week Microsoft agreed to pay $8.5bn (£5.2bn) for the loss-making internet phone service.
"'I was a strong proponent at the board level for the deal being done,' Mr Gates, Microsoft's chairman told the BBC's Hardtalk programme."

This slightly changes the complexion of the takeover. Gates has the vision to know how technology is going to change things. Now it's up to Ballmer, as chief executive, to make the integration happen.

Note: "You can see the full interview in the UK on BBC News Channel on Wednesday 18 May at 0430 BST. Outside the UK it will be broadcast on BBC World News on Wednesday at 0330, 0830, 1530, and 2030 GMT."

And presumably on iPlayer.

Did Microsoft pay for the wrong Skype? >> Asymco

guardiantech — 2011-05-18T08:17:12+00:00

"Clayton Christensen succinctly defined the value in any company as the sum of three constituent parts: resources, processes or and business models. Market value can be nothing more and nothing less than these three things.
"An acquisition has to be positioned on one of these targets just like a product is positioned on a specific market. The problem with being deliberate about where the value lies is that once positioned a certain way, the integration team will begin to execute on that plan. This means that the thing you decided was worth most (e.g. resources) gets all the attention and the other potential sources of value (processes or profit models) are discarded."

Subtle point.

Why Microsoft bought Skype >> I, Cringely

guardiantech — 2011-05-15T20:30:49+00:00

"Microsoft bought Skype to keep Google from buying Skype.
"Notice I didn’t mention Apple.... Apple is not the next anything because the role it aspires to transcends anything imaginable by Microsoft, ever. Google is the next Microsoft, so Google is seen by Ballmer as the immediate threat — the one he has a hope in hell of actually doing something about...
"Were Google to buy Skype they’d convert those 663m Skype subscriptions to Google Voice and Gmail and in a swoop make parts of Yahoo and MSN irrelevant. They’d build a brilliant Skype client right into the DNA of Android, draining telco revenue and maybe killing smaller players like Windows Phone. They’d cut deals with equipment makers like Cisco (Linksys) and NetGear and steal voice revenue from telcos and cable companies alike. That’s all Redmondesque behavior and if anyone is going to be behaving that way, Ballmer feels, it had darned well better be Redmond."

The Future of Skype >> NYTimes.com

guardiantech — 2011-05-15T20:19:50+00:00

David Pogue: "Every time some big clumsy corporate behemoth buys a popular consumer-tech product, I cringe. It almost never works out. The purchased company’s executives take a huge payday; promises are made all around that they’ll be allowed to continue operating independently; and then, within a couple of years, the product disappears altogether. A little star of the tech sky is snuffed out, for absolutely no good reason.
"Yahoo bought GeoCities, Broadcast.com, HotJobs.com, MusicMatch, Konfabulator and Upcoming. AOL bought CompuServe, Netscape and Xdrive—all gone or irrelevant now. Cisco bought the Flip camcorder, and then killed it last month."

He's not hopeful for Skype.

Why Google Does Not Own Skype >> StevenLevy.com

guardiantech — 2011-05-11T05:49:03+00:00

"As Chan helped with due diligence, even going to Europe to see Skype firsthand, he became convinced that the purchase was a bad idea for Google. He concluded that one of Skype’s key assets – its peer-to-peer technology — was a mismatch for Google, which worked on the newer paradigm of cloud computing. 'The worst thing about peer-to-peer is that it doesn’t work well with Google,' Chan told me during an amazing interview for IN THE PLEX in February 2010. 'Peer-to-peer just eats up your bandwidth, right, it’s like the old technology.' So if Google bought Skype, Chan concluded, it would have to rewrite the entire Skype platform."

Mull on that for a bit.

Microsoft Buys Skype >> ben horowitz's blog

guardiantech — 2011-05-11T05:34:46+00:00

From Skype's private equity owners: "In a direct attack, Google offered a free competitor to Skype’s US paid product and a heavily discounted competitor to Skype’s international product. Google then aggressively promoted these cheap products to their enormous Gmail user base by forcing every Gmail user to view Google’s Internet telephony advertisement before allowing them to access their email. What was the result of this effort? Skype new users and usage growth has accelerated since Google’s launch, culminating in:
"-500,000 new registered users per day"-170m connected users"30m users communicating on the Skype platform concurrently"209bn voice and video minutes in 2010
"On the mobile front, Apple built video calling right into the iPhone, making their Facetime product the default offering for iPhone users. How did that impact Skype’s usage on the iPhone? 50m users have downloaded Skype’s iPhone product since the release of Apple’s Facetime."

How Microsoft Will Change Skype >> Mashable

guardiantech — 2011-05-11T05:13:35+00:00

"A very small percentage of Skype’s 170 million users actually pay to use the service. Skype’s IPO plans indicate that this was not a pressing concern.
"But the company was looking to expand video advertising within Skype itself — and CEO Tony Bates mentioned video ads numerous times during the press conference.
"Under Microsoft, Skype’s advertising muscle is far stronger. Microsoft has spent lots of time investing into ad platforms with Bing and the Windows brands, and that is sure to extend to Skype.
"Skype users — especially those who use Windows — should expect to see video ads and portal homepage information coming to the app in the future. This makes sense. If Google or Facebook had purchased Skype, chances are they would take a similar approach."

Interesting that Ballmer 'skirted' the question of corporate integration. Office division won't like Skype for a while.

Why Microsoft is Buying Skype for $8 Billion >> Giga Om

guardiantech — 2011-05-10T06:28:28+00:00

Om Malik on why Microsoft would buy Skype: "Skype gives Microsoft a boost in the enterprise collaboration market, thanks to Skype’s voice, video and sharing capabilities, especially when competing with Cisco and Google. It gives Microsoft a working relationship with carriers, many of them looking to partner with Skype as they start to transition to LTE-based networks. It would give them a must-have application/service that can help with the adoption of the future versions of Windows Mobile operating system. However, the biggest reason for Microsoft to buy Skype is Windows Phone 7 (Mobile OS) and Nokia. The software giant needs a competitive offering to Google Voice and Apple’s emerging communication platform, Facetime."