Skype for the iPad released..did u get it before it was pulled ?
Posted Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 6:05 pm by Jason Cartwright
Update: 11:18PM - Skype is now back in the App Store, not sure what they could have fixed in that short window. Most likely a show stopper bug they had to fix before it was released to the masses.
Apparently someone over Skype hit the go button before it was ready, but this afternoon some quick fingered Skypers were able to download the Skype iPad app. Skype even went as far as publishing a YouTube video promoting the app, before pulling it a hour or so later.
News of Skype for iPad’s availability spread quickly online, which resulted in some confused users who went searching unsuccessfully in the app store. Skype confirmed the app had been pulled via their official twitter account.
Those of us lucky enough to grab the app before it was pulled can still use it. The app generally works as expected (big iPhone version). Users can be logged into the iPad version and desktop versions at the same time, this means you can leave one and pickup on the other, right from where you left.
Maybe Skype was right to pull the app.. I did find myself in a scenario where the only way out of a full-screen chat window was to force quit the app. Was your trigger finger fast enough ? If so, what do you think ?
If not, check out this gallery.
View Skype for iPad on Flickr.
Skype your Face off, Facebook add Skype video calling
Posted Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 6:50 am by Jason Cartwright
Overnight Facebook had their ‘something awesome’ announcement, which turned out to be the integration of Skype video calling into Facebook. For years, our Skype and Facebook contact lists have been separate, those two will effectively merge. Given Windows Live Messenger supports Facebook chat, expect those lists to merge as well.
To access Facebook video calling, just use the Facebook chat as you normally would to IM, but you will now see a Call button. After a one time plugin install, you can video call using the Skype back-end. One big advantage of using Facebook is that finding a contact to call is a pretty simple process, something that can’t be said about Skype.
Using Facebook video calling versus installing the Skype desktop client, lowers the barrier to entry, so will you be using it ? No word on whether this will come to Facebook mobile clients, but it would need to, to completely replace the need for Skype apps.
Included in the announcement, was the revelation that Facebook has now reached 750,000,000 users. Three quarters of a billion users.. a pretty amazing number. This is the exciting part for Skype, who will dramatically increasing their user-base. That said there’s no Skype branding, so while the Facebook video calling uses Skype on the back-end, most users won’t know it.
More @ Facebook blog
Start using video calling @ https://www.facebook.com/videocalling
iPhone 4’s front facing camera, now used by Skype
Posted Thursday, December 30, 2010 at 5:06 pm by Jason Cartwright
That’s right people, you can finally use front facing camera on your iPhone 4. Sure there’s FaceTime, but lets face it, nobody’s using it. Skype’s iPhone app has just been updated to version 3.0 allowing millions of users to video call on the go. Video calls can be made to Skype users on the desktop (either Mac OSX or Windows).
Both Portrait and Landscape orientations are supported, as is calls over both WiFi and 3G. Just make sure your data cap has plenty of breathing room as Skype video calls on 3G will count.
The way it works is you launch the app, sign in, then when exiting Skype continues to run in the background and will notify you via push notifications when someone calls you via Skype. Simply hit the Answer button and your call begins. Its all pretty simple, something I’m sure carriers aren’t that happy about. Assuming you have decent data included in your plan and most of your contacts on Skype, then your need to use the traditional phone calling will significantly decrease.
Skype have created a fairly comical video to showcase the Skype video calling experience on iOS.
Download the app now [itunes]
More @ Skype via TechCrunch
Multi-video Skype 5.0 beta now available
Posted Friday, May 14, 2010 at 12:39 pm by Jason CartwrightGood news Skype fans, the brand new beta version of Skype is now available. The biggest feature in the new version is the ability to chat with multiple people on video.
Download it now (Windows only)
For all the details about the release head over the the Skype blog.
Panasonic Skype TV demo’d on video
Posted Friday, January 8, 2010 at 11:33 am by Jason CartwrightOne of the more interesting TV developments coming out of CES is 720p Skype video calls. The video below shows it working on upcoming Panasonic TV’s, what’d be really nice is a solution for those of us who already have HDTVs.
More @ Engadget
