August 2007

We have recently found a bug in Publishing Studio version 2.0.0.396 which caused Synchronizing with server not to work properly. It means that Extras which have been created or updated with this version of Publishing Studio are having problems as there’s no licensing information saved on the DRM server.

We strongly recommend for every developer to upgrade to Publishing Studio version 2.0.0.400 where this bug has been fixed.

• If you have been working on something with Publishing Studio version 2.0.0.396, then after upgrading just push the synchronize with server link on the left and it will update all the info in the DRM server.

• If you have published something with the old version, you should republish as these extras won’t work properly!

Known issues:

• In some cases there have been reports of „Error 3“ during the first synchronization with the new PS. In this case try to sync again, the error should not repeat and synchronization should be finished correctly. If you see a different behavior, please report it in Jira.
• In some cases you might start seeing a Buy Now message, although you have a Free or Free Trial Extra. This problem has been reported here

If you experience any other errors or problems with this new Publishing Studio - we want to know! Please file a new Jira case here.

As “summer” is ending in North Earth it has been already two months since we launched the Mashup competition.

I want here to revive those who are still developing to submit their application before the 31st of August (please visit the Mashup wiki page) and even more to thank all those who have submitted so far and are already under testing by our jury.

For those who would like to test also those mashup please read the entire post!

Continue reading "D-1 Mashup competition is ending!" »

In August there have been certified the following new software products:

IM+ for Skype

This is the first product certified in Remote Access category which means that people can use it to access their Skype account without being at computer. IM+ for Skype works on BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Palm devices and Java powered phones. On IM+ for Skype user can send and receive chatmessages, initiate and answer calls and see one’s contact list and SkypeOut credit level. Technically there is no Skype on the device, Skype runs on IM+ server instead which device connects to. To be able to make and receive Skype calls, user must enter one’s phone number because IM+ for Skype doesn’t call the other party directly but redirects call to the number, so the call is actually a conference between remote device, telephone and target(s). Therefore user needs SkypeOut credit for calls. Chatmessages go directly and they are free, as always.

For more information, please visit their website.

LeadOrb Chat Translator for Skype

LeadOrb Chat Translator was actually certified in June already but that time it was not published yet. This is an automatic chat translator that knows Japanese, English, Korean, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese and can translate between any two of them. It’s interface is similar to Skype chat window — text area and input area. Before chatting with somebody, user must choose one’s own language and chat’s language, for example, English and German accordingly. Now, when user types something in LeadOrb input area in English and sends it, it appears on text area and after some moments the same text in German will be added there. German text will appear in chat, instead of English. When the other party answers in German, it will appear also on LeadOrb text area and after some moments it will get translated to English. So it is a good tool for chatting with foreigners, and also for multichats where not everybody understands the language. However, in case of more complex sentences it can produce weird results but at least the idea of sentences remains understandable.

To use it, user must first register one’s e-mail address, also it needs Microsoft .NET installed. For more information, please visit their website.

As August is ending, we have few announcement for you! On the 16th of August, Skype was delighted to host the 2nd Anniversary of the London Geek girls association (150 attendees and a lot of passionate debates and fun).

I wanted also as I said in the video, to remind you that the Mashup competition is ending soon (31st of August) and you better make sure you will submit your application on time to the jury!

We have three main events coming, so please stay tuned!

I will explain, in general terms, how it can be done, what to be careful about, and also show you this working example done with MyToGo For Skype which is free, so that you can see that this can in fact be done.

MyToGo For Skype was created using the Skype4COM library interface, however the same programming logic could have been used by using the Raw Skype API interface as well. MyToGo for Skype can be run as a stand alone program or as an Extra for Skype.

The Audio API for Skype has been present since release 2.6 of the Skype client for Windows release. There are 2 methods to gain access to Skype Audio via the API, you can use the .wav file or port access methods. In our case we need to use the audio being fed by the Skype API to a port not a file. Here is why……

Continue reading "Using In Band DTMF Processing with the Skype API and PSTN Calls" »

If you have used Jira during the past year or so to get help from us, then you know that I’m the person who is mostly taking care of these requests. My name is Mirje and I’m the Skype Developer Support Technician. All bugs and feature requests related to Public API and Extras are going through me.

I have decided to start giving updates regarding recent or most urgent problems found in these areas. Also recently solved cases might be interesting and useful to know, so please keep on reading if you’re interested.

Continue reading "News from the Jira front" »

Have you ever noticed the placement of the Do More menu in Skype? The user simply opens ‘Tools’ in the Skype client then click on ‘Do More’ and is presented with a shiny list of appealing graphics and exciting titles such as ‘Skypify your Outlook with Skylook’ and ‘Crazytalk Video Avatar’. This list is actually called the ‘Extras Premium List’ and we take applications to appear in this place every quarter.

Continue reading "Apply now for Premium and Featured placement in Skype Extras" »

There is a new and improved Skype4Com library beta up and available on DevZone. Most notable additions are support for public chats and improved event system.

Continue reading "Skype4Com Library v. 1.0.28 beta" »

Skype Public API has two built-in methods for 3rd party applications to communicate with each-other: streams and datagrams. As The API reference states, datagrams are a non-guaranteed packet delivery method, vaguely similar to UDP while streams are a continuous, guaranteed delivery and packet order method, similar to TCP/IP connections. Except that there has been a long-standing problem with API streams apparently not really delivering the packets in the same order.

This phenomenon was particularly easy to reproduce with short streams of small packets. Pumping a string of 10 packets of 100 bytes each, pretty much always resulted in packets coming out from the stream in reverse order.

After long search, we finally found the root cause of this problem and while it appears to be too difficult to fix it in a hurry, we can at least offer firstly an explanation of what is going on and secondly a (hopefully temporary) workaround.

Continue reading "App2App Streams, The Mystery and The Workaround" »

Skype has announced that for the remainder of 2007, it would cut the cost of standard extra developer fees by 50% when using the new Skype Credit Payments DRM system.

In addition to this, premium extras will now provide users with more information on additional functionality premium extra’s offer. This will be done by taking users to the extras manager instead of the application automatically downloading from the premium menu.

Developers can find out more information on how to develop a Skype Extra at https://developer.skype.com/