VoIP Archives - Page 6 of 7

The Pudding Experience

The press has had a field day with Pudding Media’s new VoIP offering. In a nutshell, the company lets you make VoIP calls for free if you let them listen in and provide targeted ads. Since many folks have already written about the horrific Big Brother implications, I thought I’d take a different approach to the news. Here are the “contextual” ads I imagine when I think of the Pudding experience…

Mari on the phone: “My daughter was really cranky yesterday afternoon. She had a massive temper tantrum and threw herself down on the hard floor…” Note: my daughter is a perfect angel and would never actually do this. ;)

Imagined Pudding ads:

Child harness! Easy. Safe. Keeps you in control.

Softest rugs you’ll ever find! 3% off now through Sunday.

Are you having trouble coping? Ask your doctor if Prozac is right for you.

Vonage Not Dead Yet, Invades The Mall

I made a brief mall detour this AM to spend a few minutes with Bose QuietComfort headsets and see if Apple has those new iPod on display (nope). While there I noticed a Vonage booth going in. The cabinets are bare and the store rep is still waiting for his broadband connection, but it was pretty interesting (and surprising) to see them making this retail push. If you’re familiar with the DC area, Vonage plans to have a presence in Montgomery Mall (above), Tysons Corner, Potomac Mills, and White Marsh.

Netgear WiFi Skype Phone Giveaway

One of my parting gifts as Netgear’s CES Blogger In Residence was a WiFi Skype phone. But wait. There’s more! They also provided me with their new dual-mode Skype phone. Believe it or not, there’s only so many Skype phones I can use. So one lucky reader is taking the WiFi model home. Quick summary… … Read more

Skype 2.6 for Mac Released

After a month in beta, Skype 2.6 for Mac has been released. In addition to improvements and features, such as Call Transfer, introduced in the beta about two dozen bug fixes have been implemented. My beta version (.72) didn’t recognize an upgrade was available, but I manually downloaded and installed the updated client (.137).

Digital Media Bytes: VoIP Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… Get Your Skype at WalMart: Dvorak Vonage May Have Solved Patent Dispute With A Workaround: UNEASYsilence Microsoft’s (Beta!) VoIP Device Blitz: GigaOM Skype 3.2 PC Goes Gold: SkypeJournal

Skype 2.6 Mac Beta

Skype is out with a beta (“experienced users only”) client for Mac OS X. While several of the new features play catch-up to the Windows app, Mac users do get one exclusive… Call Transfer. TechCrunch tried it out and had this to say: When you are on a Skype call, you can transfer it to … Read more

My Vonage Line Is Safe For Now (Bummer)

To recap… Verizon went after Vonage, claiming patent infringement. The jury agreed that Vonage infringed on three of Verizon’s patents, ordering $56 million in repayment plus future royalties. The court seemed to move towards a total injunction, but yesterday GigaOm reported on Verizon’s propsal: Judge Claude Hilton has issued an injunction that bars Vonage from … Read more

January Skype Updates

I’ve got two Skype items for you this month…

Skype 3.0 was released out of beta mid-December and while it’s generally been a smooth upgrade, I noticed a few quirks. One was the alignment/layout of certain elements seemed slightly out of whack, another was duplicate time-delayed text messages, and finally this week I experienced a spectacular implosion of hundreds of rapid fire Windows access errors before Skype committed hara-kiri. Honestly, I can’t say I’ve seen a crash like that in Windows production (as in non-beta) software in years — Fortunately, Skype didn’t take down my OS with it. Hopefully I have some good news: Version 3.0.0.205 is out (replacing 3.0.0.190). Skype Journal has itemized the bug fixes and linked to the download. FYI A current 3.0.0.xxx client will not recognize this incremental upgrade and the Check for Update option will indicate your are current. So, you’ll need to download the complete package and overwrite your existing install.