Developer Blog

As I was editing the last post concerning Skype participation to the eBay DevCon, I realised the long radio silence we had.

I understand your keen interest in Skype’s vision for partners and third parties in general. We have been a bit quiet on this front, but I’m happy to say that this is changing. I’ll make an extra effort to keep you in the loop to ensure we are going in the right direction WITH you.

To begin with, I’m happy to relay Josh’s quote in an interview on Skype’s main blog:

Philosophically speaking, I do think we need to continue building a robust ecosystem and supporting the developer community as best we can. I’m taking a little time to understand where we are and what the next steps should be. Soon, I’ll share more thoughts on this on the Skype Developer Zone blog.

Continue reading "Long time partners... SDP, what's going on?" »

It is our (and most particularly Antoine’s) pleasure to inform the publishers of commercial Extras that your invoices should no longer be sent to Antoine’s professional e-mail address.

As a side note, we have added a small section to the DevZone, to explain some of the aspects of receiving payments for Extras more clearly.

https://developer.skype.com/Docs/Extras/HowToGetPaid

Just before the end of business year a product called RingJam was certified. This is actually not a new product, first time it was certified just a year ago as RingJacker, now it was just re-certified under new name. RingJam provides a set of ringtones, some of them also with video, and enables user to record one’s own ringtone. Listening to all tones is free, however, some tones must be paid before using them for calling. User can select contact and a tone and start a call. If the other party has RingJam installed, she or he will hear the tone or see the video that callee has selected, instead of Skype ringtone; otherwise an invitation will be sent to callee to install RingJam.

To handle video tones, RingJam needs Adobe Flash Player 9 installed. It will be installed with RingJam itself if needed. For more information, see http://www.ringjam.com

How does your service work?
A lot of Christmas Spirit and dash of Skype.

How many clients do you have?
Well we are a new company but the bearded man helps out with the client base - His long annual holiday is a bit of a concern and customer loyalty is also a problem, we tend to loose clients as they get older - currently is around the age of 11 or 12.

How many calls do you have in one day?
Well we are limited as we can only call from the good list , so there goes a big chunk of our market!

Which country are living the most talkative children?
They seem to have a lot to talk about on Christmas island.

Is it true that you need Logitech webcam to get a High Quality Video of Santa and multicore processor?
Yes thats true, as it happens we’re using these from a box load that fell off the back of a sleigh we found parked out back.

Does the elf that coded the falling snow animation on your website that cause uncommonly high processor load get any presents this year?
Everyone gets presents around here we are all good!

Do you play an angry Santa as well?
Only when we get a bad Skype connection.

Does Santa have proper pilot training?
He attends top gun every summer, you cant miss him.

We know that fighter pilots, especially those that are expected to land on aircraft carriers which is comparable to difficult landing conditions around most homes, take years to train.
Santa has centuries of piloting experience, landing is not the issue its squeezing down chimneys that can get tricky after a large helping of mince pie.

Continue reading "Santa Sighted Via High Quality Video" »

I am a developer for Skype and one of my free Extras for Skype is called the “Speak and Translate Chats” which can be found in the Skype Extras of the Windows client by clicking on:

Tools -> Options -> Do More -> Get Extras

Then click on featured, which is located on the left, and click on the green arrow for “Speak and Translate Chats”, which is located on the right. This will install this Skype Extra which is free. Ah yes, I am sure you are saying, “Wait….first….what does it do?”

Well this Extra will speak your Skype chats, kind of like a chat answering machine, no need to be sitting right in front of your computer, maybe you are near your computer but watching TV or even if you are sitting right at your computer, maybe you are very busy, no need to read your Skype chat messages when they can be spoken. To you and in 10 different languages of your choice. Also, this Extra will translate your Skype chats using 38 different language pairs, from one language to another so that you can chat using Skype with others all around the world, and not even know the other Skype users language, neat huh?

Well, all during the design, as many people know (“This Extra was one of the very first Extras created for Skype”) my goal was to make the “Speak and Translate Chats” Extra Accessible, but I could not locate anyone to tell me if all my work was in vain. I published “Speak and Translate Chats” and crossed my fingers that I did a good Job.

Two weeks ago, I get a Skype chat message from someone, all I know about them is that their name is Justin and that he really really wants to try to install the “Speak and Translate Chats” Extra. My first thought is, wow, I thought my instructions for how to do this were clear. Little did I know after all this time, Justin is my first contact about Accessibility and this Extra, Justin is 16 and blind.

Justin, has family in Denmark, and he badly wanted to communicate with them, but he only knows English, and his family members there only know Dutch, so this is how this all started. This is where the interest of using some kind of language translator for Skype came in.

Well, much to my surprise, there is much more in general for a blind person to use any application. This includes Skype as well as my Extra..

It should be noted that there are many tools to make Skype more Accessible, but in this case I would like to focus on a some JAWS Scripts for Skype located here:

http://www.dlee.org/skype/

There are several tutorials on how to install these scripts as well located here:

http://marrie.org/SkypeTutorials/3/Skype3Tutorials.html

I would hope that even sighted people can click on some of the .mp3 tutorials above just to see what effort goes into making any application accessible. I can assure you, it is much more than I ever imagined.

If you know someone who has a need to make Skype accessible please pass this information as well, it might really help others gain access to Skype that might not know how to make Skype accessible.

Continue reading "The Blind Leading The Sighted" »

On October 19, I blogged about a change in the way Skype for Windows handles the attempts from new programs trying to access the public API. The change was implemented in Skype for Windows 3.6.0.159 (beta), released on October 24.

Since then, we’ve received a lot of developer feedback, and continued our internal discussions as well. Based on this additional input, we’ve reached a different solution which I’ll describe in detail below. Having a better solution at hand also means that this interim change will be rolled back and the upcoming gold release of Skype for Windows 3.6 will handle the API access requests exactly as the earlier versions did.

The new solution, for which we don’t have a fixed release date yet, is based on adding central blacklist and whitelist to the already-present local API access control list (ACL). What will happen when an application tries to connect to the Skype client API, depends on which list — if any — the application is on, and whether the user has already allowed or denied it to use the API.

Continue reading "API access authorization revisited" »

In October 2007, Skype announced the launch of the Skype Approved Integrator (SAI) service. Let me explain what a SAI does and is…

Skype is often contacted by partners via our partner enquiry form who need development assistance or technical consulting to help them rapidly create a Skype-centric solution. Sometimes Skype has the bandwidth to help with the basics, and sometimes more – but not necessarily the resource to help every partner build a solution.

This is where SAIs come in. They are existing Skype software partners/developers with proven (more than 12 months) experience of the Skype APIs and software integration. Some SAIs may have less if there a specific skill set we feel is important. Software development is global, but we will work to ensure regional and technology coverage (UI, middelware, core) of SAIs

SAI status is by invitation, not application and SAI status will maintain unless we see an exceptional need to revoke it

Here is the current list of Approved Integrators. Check it out…

Updated on 2007-10-31: This change will be rolled back from Skype for Windows 3.6 gold. A different solution involving centrally managed whitelist and blacklist will be implemented as soon as possible. Read more about this new solution.

Following the outbreak of a worm that affected some users of Skype for Windows, we have decided to change the way applications get access to the public API the Skype client provides.

Presently, when a new application attempts to gain access to the public client API, Skype client presents the user a dialog box, allowing the user to choose whether to deny access, allow this time only, or allow this application to use the API from now on. The worm used the APIs provided by the Windows operating environment to send mouse clicks into appropriate places on this dialog, choosing “allow from now on” and closing the dialog before most users would even notice.

In order to avoid this, we’ve decided to start handling code-signed applications differently from these that are not. For applications that come with a valid code signature (e.g. Authenticode), the handling logic remains unchanged. For non-signed applications, Skype will not pop up a dialog box, but will raise a “missed event” notification instead. The user can then click on the event notification, open the access dialog, and decide what to do next.

This new logic is already implemented in internal test builds and will become available to the larger developer and user community when we release the next public beta version of Skype for Windows 3.6.

Continue reading "Changes in the API access authorization logic" »

Half a year has passed and now it’s time to start updating certification test specifications again. Specs are updated twice a year, to make sure that all requirements are adequate to real life. Specifications evolve under the eyes of the entire Skype developer community and everyone is welcome to contribute their suggestions for improvement. To give your input, please log in to DevZone and add your suggestions and concerns to the Test Specs 8.01 discussion page. From now you have three weeks to do it.

The first round of input gathering ends on October 26, and the first draft of the next version of test specifications will be published on November 9. Then you’ll have another two weeks to discuss it, and if there are ideas that lead to significant changes in draft then on November 30 another discussion draft will be published. On December 7 we will publish the release candidate of the new specs which will take effect on January 2, 2008.

All software certification requests submitted after end of year 2007 will be tested against the new specs. Note that if you want to add or change something in the specs but do not express yourself now, the next opportunity will be in spring 2008.

Half a year has passed and now it’s time to start updating certification test specifications again. Specs are updated twice a year, to make sure that all requirements are adequate to real life. Specifications evolve under the eyes of the entire Skype developer community and everyone is welcome to contribute their suggestions for improvement. To give your input, please log in to DevZone and add your suggestions and concerns to the Test Specs 8.01 discussion page. From now you have three weeks to do it.

The first round of input gathering ends on October 26, and the first draft of the next version of test specifications will be published on November 9. Then you’ll have another two weeks to discuss it, and if there are ideas that lead to significant changes in draft then on November 30 another discussion draft will be published. On December 7 we will publish the release candidate of the new specs which will take effect on January 2, 2008.

All software certification requests submitted after end of year 2007 will be tested against the new specs. Note that if you want to add or change something in the specs but do not express yourself now, the next opportunity will be in spring 2008.

When we first announced the Skype public platform roadmap in Prague, I promised that the roadmap will be periodically updated. The month is over, and here’s a summary of what we’ve been doing.

Continue reading "Platform progress: september 2007" »

Once upon a time in Skypeland, Skype built all the main roads, enabling people in all bigger cities to meet each other. But a lot of people lived in smaller places, and some of the city-dwellers wanted to visit the countryside now and then.

Luckily enough, there were other developers who had built the side roads connecting the main highways with such smaller towns and villages, and offering the travellers some spectacular views down the road.

In order to decide where to focus their energy next, the developers needed to know Skype’s plans for improving the main highway network.

For the first time in history, these plans are now publicly available. And you are actually invited to contribute.

Welcome to https://developer.skype.com/RoadMap.

As a Skype Developer you’ll already be earning money or wider visibility via your Extra, but did you know you could earn more by also joining the Skype Affiliate Program?

Continue reading "Make money with the Skype Affiliate Program" »

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" »

As its holiday season we want to make sure that all developers get a chance to add their comments to the API requirements list so we are extending the deadline until the end of the month.

If you have any comments on the kind of APIs you would like to see us add to Skype then please add them here:

Last year the major focus of the Skype Developer Program was to bring you a route to market for your applications. We delivered this in the form of the Extras Manager which we launched in December with amazing success. (If you look at the latest stats, over 24 million extras have been downloaded by customers since the launch).

Recently we enabled the final piece of the route to market puzzle by turning on our payment collection capabilities which means users can purchase your application directly with Skype credits and the money you earn will be paid into your PayPal account.

It’s now time for us to look beyond Extras and collect requirements for the platform for 2008 and beyond, and we are looking for your input.

For some of you the requirements may simply be 1 or 2 new APIs that would either save you loads of code, or just enable you to build that killer feature. For others the requirements maybe an entirely new set of features.

Nether the less if you want to input in to the future of the Skype platform please give us your ideas/requirements by leaving your comments here https://developer.skype.com/wiki/2008ApiRequirements by the 13th July so requests can be collated.

Of course leaving a comment does not absolutely guarantee that your feature will be developed but if you are on the list then at least it gets considered.

That’s right. The official production version of Skype Software Certification Test Specifications is now 7.07.

With the exception stated in my previous post, all new software certification requests must be made according to version 7.07 of the specs. So be sure to download the latest specifications and self-test checklist now!

Continue reading "Certification specs are now v7.07" »

There are some very neat and new additions to services included with Skype Pro which include Skype To Go which allows you to for example call a local number using your cell phone and reach a international number using Skype, as well as “Call Transfer”. Call Transfer should not be confused with Call Forwarding.

Call Transfer allows your calls to be transferred to other phone number(s) or Skype name(s) on a Skype call by Skype call basis.

Skype Pro is available in the following countries Click Here.

Call Transfer with Skype Pro also supports using a Group of any combination of multiple Skype names and/or phone numbers so that a call can be transferred to many Skype names and/or phone numbers at once and the first one to answer gets the call.

Example 1:

Not sure where you will be?

Not a problem with Call Transfer, using Call Transfer, you can add multiple phone numbers and Skype names to be added to a group, Transfer all your calls to the Group, and you can answer those calls on your cell phone, on your land line, or at work, or even while using another Skype name. The first one to answer the call gets the call that was transferred.

Example 2::

Have multiple people in a small office and want a cost effective software only solution to receive and route calls in the office without any of those expensive hardware solutions? Make custom Skype contact groups like marketing, shipping, and others. Transfer calls to people in marketing, shipping, using their Skype names or phone numbers and let the first one in the group answer the call, or transfer to a unique Skype name or SkypeIn or PSTN phone number.

Skype Pro can offer you this:

Call Transfer from Skype names to phone numbers via SkypeOut as well as Call Transfer from inbound calls via SkypeIn to SkypeOut numbers requires Skype Pro.

This includes the United States as well as Canada, with or without the unlimited call plan. Call transfers in both these countries without the unlimited call plan will be billed at normal SkypeOut call rates.

Call Transfers from Skype name to Skype name are free and do not require Skype Pro or SkypeIn.

To learn more about how you or your company could use Call Transfer with and without Skype Pro or SkypeIn as well as with a free Call Transfer program and much more details on how Call Transfer works, please click on the continue reading link.

Continue reading "Skype Pro Does Call Transfer" »

The eBay DevCon is in full swing out in Boston this week. Today I delivered my session on publishing extras using the Publishing Studio to a eager crowed of eBay developers. It was pretty amazing to see how many people came along to the event just to see the presentation and to hear what Skype had to say.

I was lucky enough to have Lou Garcia from Webdialogs present on his experiences developing Skype extras during my presentation. Its always good to get a reality check from real developers.

The week so far has been very productive and I have managed to catch-up with a few old friends from the developer community, Jerry, High Speed Conferencing, Rebecca Cavagnari, Convenos, Jim Courtney from Skype Journal to name a few. I also meet some new friends including Jesse Ahrens from CenTaur (they do the Via motherboards and chips). Jesse showed me a cool device that has gone to the top of my Christmas and birthday wish list. Take a look at http://www.oqo.com/ and you’ll want one as well. It’s a fully functional PC that will probably fit in your pocket. It runs everything a PC runs and you can even get a docking station for it so you can plug-in a full sized keyboard and connect it to a monitor.

You have no idea how bad I want one, it makes my laptop seem like a surfboard.

Yesterday the PayPal folk sponsored a great party then took everyone off to see the Blueman group. Unfortunately I went back to my room to pick my wallet and woke up 7 hours later. The joy of jetlag.

Tonight we have been invited to see the Red Sox play so off to a ball game which I am really looking forward to.

I have uploaded my slides here. When I get back to London I will record my demo and make it available as well.

You can also see some pictures of the event here.

If you are out in Boston keep an eye out for me and say hi. I am normally around in the Skype sessions sitting at the back.

Hello.

I’d like to mention a great article that appears on O’Reilly Emerging Technology website and is referenced on Skype Journal today. I have three sons, and having favourites is one of those strict no-no’s you quickly learn (often the hard way) as a parent.

We feel all SDP partners are trying to add value, but I wanted to highlight our relationship with WebDialogs. Lou, Gershon and the team provide for me at least, a great model for all developers who:

• Innovate often and fast
• Stay solution focused, even in the choppy oceans on Early Adopter Platforms and Programs
• Keep communicating and pushing opportunities across Skype
• Start with the end in mind - how can we add the most value to end users?
• Bring opportunities for more revenue, more users or more usage to the table

There a lots of great examples of other ‘role models’ amongst SDP partners, WebDialogs is not alone. However, just wanted to say well done to the WebDialogs team. Keep that innovation coming. We want you to succeed with us.

Stay tuned - Paul & SDP

Last Friday I was invited to speak at the eBay developer conference in Germany and show developers how to build and deploy applications using the Extras Publishing Studio.

The event took place in Munich and had speakers various speakers attend from “The Power of 3” including Adam Trachtenberg from the eBay developer program in the US, and Damon Williams from PayPal also in the US.

Continue reading "eBay DevCon Munich" »

A thought has been bugging me for about a year now. The idea is that someone should create a Skype add-on that would allow tunneling any TCP traffic over secure ap2ap connections to other Skype users, much like plain old ssh can be used to tunnel TCP traffic to other internet hosts.

Continue reading "Idea: skypetunnel" »

Dear partners,

We’re sad to say it, but Mat Taylor will be leaving Skype today (April 13th 2007) to explore pastures new.

Mat has been a major advocate for the developer community, and perhaps most significantly has personally driven the Extras Manager launch for 3.0 within SDP.

We’ve now exceeded 10 million Extras downloads as a result.

Apparently Mat has given into the dark side that is BT, and will be driving their “21st century web” activities.

You could still get in touch with him here: Mat Taylor

Just for the fun, check his first post… so long Mat, things are evolved within SDP thanks to you!

Mat, we wish you the very best!

Continue reading "So long Mat Taylor" »

Many of you have contacted me to ask how you get your Skype Extra promoted to Featured or Premium level in Skype 3.0.

If you want us to promote your application you will need to complete the document at: https://developer.skype.com/Docs/Extras (look for Promotion.doc)

This document contains instructions on how you submit a completed request for consideration.

If you are successful in your application then we will contact you with additional information.

Successful applications will appear as Premium or Featured from April until the end of June. May we will send out the document again for partners to reapply/apply.

In the beginning, there were Skype forums, where developers could get support from each other, and occasionally, Skype staff. Then, Jira came and it became possible to track each individual issue separately. Free of charge, to the benefit of the entire developer community, “as is” and on basis of best effort.

But “best effort” and public communication wasn’t enough — for some developers, at least. You’ve asked for specific response (and resolution) time targets. You’ve wanted to keep your questions and our answers private — at least until you get your product onto the market.

Your wish is granted. For a small fee, we will now give your support requests privacy and priority. We call it professional support — because it sounds better than “support for professional developers”

Happy New Year everyone. Just wanted to start the new year right with an example to help others who are thinking of using C# to do development of an application to interface to the Skype client.

Many people in the API forum have been asking for more examples using C# using the Skype4COM interface. So here is one example done using the Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.

Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition is free and can be downloaded here in the event you don’t have it:

Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

The purpose of this example project/application is to show how to process Attachment, Call, Connect, Message and User status events using the Skype4COMLib as the interface from a C Sharp Application. it also includes a “Silent Mode” button that can be used many ways as well.

For more detail on what this example project can do please see this post in the API forum:

API Forum Post

The CS project includes all files as well as the compiled debug and release .exe’s and has been added as a .zip file on the Skype4COM example page under “CS Examples” listed here as well:

Skype4COM Examples

Happy new and creative year 2007 to all our software partners

Paul has asked me to drop you all a note (cf. december newsletter) – not just to wish you all “Merry Christmas” but also to tell you a bit more about what’s in store for Skype next year.

But before I do, I wanted to say that for so long, we’ve been really keen to bring our developer community closer to Skype. Why? Well, we see you as key partners for us to take Skype further on its journey of becoming the world’s greatest internet communications offering. And we mean it!

Continue reading "I wish you a happy new year 2007" »

So, you thought things would stay the same? This is Skype folks, always moving forward, providing new and interesting ways to spice up your Skype Applications. So here is the Link to the new docoumentation on Skype4COM version 1.0.26.0 which is fully documented https://developer.skype.com/Docs/Skype4COMLib

There are so many new features we could get into, but for now let’s try to focus on one of them, The “Silent Mode” feature.

Sounds Mysterious?

What exactly does Silent Mode mean?

What Silent Mode means is it allows you the application designer to put the Skype GUI in kind of a sleep mode. I like to call it “Naked Skype with Underwear”, because the user only needs to click on the Skype Icon in the System Tray (“That little one on the bottom right ”) to instantly regain the normal features the Skype client provides.

Ok, but why would I as a developer ever want to use something like this?

Here is one example.

Continue reading "Skype4COM Goes 1/2 Naked" »

If you have an application listed in our Extras Gallery then you probably had my emails recently telling you that we are moving to a new gallery next week and that your entry needs to be moved across to the new system.

If you haven’t, then next week we will be launching our new improved Extras Gallery and you will need to re-enter your application in to our new system ASAP if you want it to continue being available for download.

Continue reading "The new extras gallery" »

Of course it would be impossible for me to read your mind and know exactly what you are trying to develop and design.

I can however provide some helpful hints on ways to save you both time and effort to make your Skype application as quickly as possible and become a “Skype Application GURU” to a much larger audience than your friends and family.

Sorry Mom.

Soon, instead of saying “How come nobody has created..?..for Skype” people will be talking behind your back saying.. “Ah, that’s that Skype developer GURU”. So, grab some coffee and let’s get moving on making you the envy of those other “Cough” companies that wish their API interface could do what you can with Skype.

Continue reading "Where Do I Start To Develop My App for Skype?" »

As early as in May this year, some users had told us that they cannot login to DevZon