Skype hardware tips

I'm a huge fan of repurposing old gear you have into something that serves a useful new function, especially when you don't need to spend any more money in the process. So just in time for the credit crunch, JFDuval on Instructables has posted a neat set of instructions for how to combine a cell phone with a broken screen and a malfunctioning headset into a nice little "SkypeCell."

You need to have a phone and headset to use, and be willing to take both apart and do a little soldering, so this might not be for beginner DIYers out there. Still, this is a very cool way to get some extra life out of hardware that otherwise might have been destined for the rubbish bin.

Now, I love Skype gear as much as (well, let's be honest, probably more) than the next guy, but I do have a pet peeve: on most Skype hardware you can't actually purchase SkypeOut credit within the device. The screen will tell you how much credit you have left, but when it comes to purchasing credit you have to go to the Skype website. This is not a problem when you're near a computer, but when you're using a Skype device that doesn't need a computer (such as a desktop or cordless phone that plugs into your router, a WiFi phone, or your mobile calling your Skype to Go number on Skype Pro), this can be an issue. Fortunately, there is a way around it.

Continue reading "Tip: Auto-Recharge SkypeOut credit for your devices" »

OK so we ran a kind of funny story about two guys (Cindy and Jason) who had Skyped up their car a week or so ago, and made some calls whilst on the move using Skype on a laptop with a webcam back to their mate Jeremy. Pretty cool, I thought, those guys have gone the extra Skype mile.

Step in Bristol-based In-Car PC Ltd., whose website I stumbled upon today, who will, for a fee, completely Skype up your car from top to bottom. As you can see from the shot above, there's no mucking about here: once these boys get to work, your motor will have more TFTs in it than a fully stocked branch of Circuit City.

Continue reading "Skype in your car: part 2 - the fully internet-enabled car!" »

You gotta love Strobist. I stumbled upon this website, and it's the perfect example of what the blogging is all about: taking a very small aspect of the human experience, and refining it through sustained and intelligent commentary.

In this case, the corner of human experience Strobist has taken is camera lighting. Or, more specifically:

At Strobist, our goal is to promote more effective use of small, shoe-mount flashes.

Whilst the connection with Skype is not obvious, as anyone who consistently makes Skype cam to cam calls will testify decent lighting is absolutely key to making this a useful method of communication. So today David at Strobist focused his laser-like attention on how to light a decent camera call properly.

As you can see from the comparison above, with a couple of simple tweaks you can turn yourself from looking like some kind of scary cyber pest into the model of dashing web loveliness simply by ensuring an adequate light supply and making sure you appropriately set the lighting controls on your camera.

I really encourage you yo read the entire post, which is essential reading not only for the perenially vain but for anyone who wants to have a half-decent conversation over their cam with friends or family.

Continue reading "A beginner's guide to improving cam to cam calls on Skype..." »

So I use the DUALPhone 3088 as my regular home phone, and I picked up the handset today and there was a screen telling me new software was available. We've already had a couple of updates from RTX, the Danish makers of the DUALPhone 3088, so I was happy to see that they keep on working to improve their product.

According to this release note, the main improvements in v115 are:

• Some fixes to the phone's ability to reconnect when the signal from the router or basestation is lost
• Improved caller ID performance and phonebook lookup
• Improved audio performance

Continue reading "Another DUALPhone 3088 Firmware update now available: v115" »

I recently wrote up a review of the Plantronics .audio 910 Bluetooth Headset, a great way to chat on Skype and on your mobile phone wirelessly. But what if you already have a bluetooth headset? You can probably still use it with Skype. Read on.

Continue reading "How to use your bluetooth headset with Skype" »

 

Have you seen how many different phones there are to make Skype calls now?! This year has seen an explosion in different new models, so I thought it was time for a quick Skypegear overview on the different phones you can use to make calls via Skype.

Cost-wise Skype phones run from around £10 right up to hundreds of pounds, so it's important when you're choosing a phone that you pick one based not just on your budget, but more importantly on your needs. I've divided them up into four categories:

• Phones that you need to have your PC on to use
• Phones that can be used without a PC
• Speakerphones
• Headsets.

Of course there are other ways to make calls such as by plugging in a phone adaptor to your regular phone, or by using the in-built mic in your webcam, but these really are 4 main ways of improving your Skype audio calls with hardware.

There's also a great interactive guide to choosing a phone in the Skype store, but read on for more info...

Continue reading "The 4 main types of Skype phone...or, a beginner's guide to buying a Skype phone" »

If the smooth lines of the slinky Futiro Skype phones Skypegear reviewed last week don't fit in to your beautiful 19th century manor house's decor, what should you do? Well, of course there are already a few retro Skype phones and handsets available such as the Hulger P*Phone, but if you really want to go the whole hog, then the fantastic Instructables blog may have just the thing - a DIY Old Timey Skype Phone.

Continue reading "How to make your own old-time Skype phone..." »

This is pretty obvious, but if I'm brutally honest, the penny only really dropped for me in the pub talking with a few Skype employees the other day.

In a nutshell: If you have a Skype phone, why not have a separate Skype account for the phone, and one for your PC-based Skyping? A quick straw poll around the Skype offices showed that the Skype staff are a load of clandestine Scarlet Pimpernels, all of them having multiple IDs for different purposes. One of the Product Managers confessed to having a separate ID for his "music business", and others agreed they kept a separate account for home and for work.

This has solved a real problem for me: as an avid Skype user at work, I did need some separation with the account I share at home with my girlfriend, as when she works at home, she often sees first-hand all of those "essential" Skype messages which fly around from work. When you have a Skype phone, it can be even more useful to have a separate account for the phone to the one you use for regular Skyping.

Just a thought - if you have a Skype phone, do you find it easier to operate just the one account, or to keep a separate one for the phone and for your PC-based Skyping?

Only yesterday Skypegear mentioned the new package Skype have put together featuring the DUALPhone 3088 plus up to 300 minutes of call credit for a grand total of £99/E139. And now news comes from Joerg Droege from the Nafcom blog of not one but two firmware updates available for the DUALPhone 3088 phone.

Whilst the upgrades mostly just fix a few minor issues, there are a few more noteable additions. For a start, you can now accept and decline new contacts from the handset, which was previously unavailable. There are also improvements to the call quality and the volume of the ringtones.

For details of the release notes, check here, and for troubleshooting, try here.

   

Estimates suggest that in the UK alone there are around 9 million people with some kind of hearing impairment, and that up to 4 million of those people use hearing aids or have cochlear implants.

For these people, Skype can offer a really useful way of being able to communicate cheaply and easily through multiple channels, be it voice, text, video or some of the extra ways of communicating in Skype 3.

Continue reading "Which Skype phones are Hearing Aid Compatible?" »

I've been playing around with the SMC wifi phone for a couple of days (more to follow on that one...), and a couple of people told me they received a message from Skype when they sent me messages in chat, telling them in no uncertain terms that I didn't want to talk to them.

Continue reading "Skype PC-free phones and chat - a mystery solved!" »