Skype in the US

Skype’s Hollywood profile is on the rise again.

Here’s the latest from Tinseltown: Skype is on the A-list at the Cannes Film Festival, no less.

Not bad. Only last month, Skype had a supporting role in Nim’s Island, a Robinson Crusoe-style adventure on a remote South Pacific island.

Movie stars, directors and other Hollywood royalty that don’t make it to Cannes can make their video calling connection via Skype to the American Pavilion, the business and hospitality center for the press, filmmakers, stars and others attending the famed festival running from May 14 to May 25.

Titanic director James Cameron and cinematographer Vincent Pace, executive producer of this year’s Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour and other luminaries will be linked via Skype video calls into discussions hosted by the American Pavilion.

The American Pavilion will use Skype video calling in its “In Conversation” and “Industry In Focus” series, in which respected filmmakers and industry insiders offer audiences opinions and insights, in moderated panel discussions. The discussions happen nearly daily during the festival.

Continue reading "Skype to provide video calling link between Hollywood and Cannes Film Festival" »

My old friend and colleague Eric Benderoff described is his May 8 Chicago Tribune Tech Buzz column the way things should be for mobile device users.

He told of being at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January and testing out gear from Intel and Motorola that transformed his car into a mobile hot spot using WiMax, an emerging technology that is sort of like WiFi on vitamins, if not steroids.

Among other things, Eric said he called back to the Chicago office on Skype via the car’s navigation system.
I saw a demo of the same WiMax technology aboard the good ship “Summer of George” on a Motorola-sponsored cruise on the Chicago River last summer. It’s amazing stuff and should be available soon.

If WiMax catches on, it would be great if the Federal Communications Commission would encourage phone and cable companies offering phone services open up their networks so everyday Americans, not just tech reporters, can use Skype while cruising like the Skype Nomad in their planes, trains and automobiles.

In the tradition of Phileas Fogg, hero of Jules Verne’s 1872 novel, “Around the World in Eighty Days,” Rebecca Campbell is setting out from London today to go around the world in 33 days.

This isn't a race with Fogg. The 26-year-old London resident, a native of Sydney, Australia, dubbed the "Skype Nomad," isn’t going for a time record.

Rather, Campbell is showing just how mobile Skype is as she covers ground in 15 countries. “It’s all about perpetual motion to show how truly mobile I can be," she said.

She'll be hopping from jet to rickshaw and bumboat in Singapore to a Fogg-esque hot-air balloon over the Alps in Austria, to gondola in Venice, a boat cruising the Yangtze River in China, cable car in San Francisco, dog sled in Alaska, the famed cross-continental Indian Pacific train between Sydney and Perth in her native Australia, and a boat ride across the Baltic from Sweden to Skype’s supreme HQ in Tallinn, Estonia to finish up June 6, “D-Day.”

Continue reading ""Skype Nomad's" excellent adventure in mobility" »

The beta version of audio-enhanced Skype 3.8 for Windows has been available since April 2.

Now, 3.8 is rolling out in a public release. Go to the download page to get your copy.

3.8 offers reduced background noise, less delay, fewer call drops, and fewer cut-outs. And if you change your headset, headphones or microphone, you won't need to deal with reconfiguring sound settings. 3.8 does the work for you.

Th new version has a technologically minor but user-friendly change: By default, the user’s profile image is hidden in incoming authorization requests. Some people have offensive images, so Skype decided to conceal them behind a veil. You can still see the hidden avatar if you click on it.

The release also includes a number of video-related bug fixes, Skype’s own UPnP implementation and other tweaks.

Even if you’re happy with an older version of Skype, why not do some spring cleaning and upgrade to the latest.

They may still be voting in Pennsylvania.

But that's only for Obama and Clinton.

The results are in at Webware 100, honoring the best web 2.0 sites, services and products. Nearly 2 million people voted.

And Skype won in the communications category for the second year in a row.

Skype has announced a new flat rate calling plan to 34 countries.

Here's where you can call for $9.95 a month:

Continue reading "Skype's unlimited calling to 34 countries" »

Maybe you, like me, have feasted on the unlimited calling via Skype to non-Skype landlines and cell phones of your friends and family.

My landline bill shrunk when I used Skype Pro for unlimited calling.

Now for the first time this smorgasbord of calling is going international: Skype is introducing a new flat rate for unlimited calling to 34 countries.

Continue reading "Skype takes flat rate calling international" »

A Federal Communications Commission hearing Thursday in Silicon Valley focused on these questions: Should the Internet be a closed entity controlled by the likes of the cables companies and phone companies? Or should it be controlled by the people who use it?

Skype has voted for the latter.

And Christopher Libertelli, senior director of government and regulatory affairs Skype, made the case in an op-ed appearing today in the San Jose Mercury News.

Continue reading "Skype speaks out on FCC hearing on 'net neutrality'" »

Music lessons generally are a local business.

But John Tuggle, a guitarist in Athens, Ga., has found a way take his classes to a national and international audience online. Skype has been a major player in Tuggle's business.

Search Engine Land tells Tuggle’s tale of building his business online.

Tuggle launched a blog, podcast,YouTube videos, digital downloads and live Skype lessons.

Gibson Guitars found Tuggle on YouTube and added him as a recommended instructor on their web site. He teaches more than 40 students.

Tuggle told Search Engine Land: “After I put up my first few YouTube videos, I immediately got e-mails for more lessons and Internet lessons. I never planned on doing Skype guitar lessons, but someone e-mailed me and wanted some as soon as possible, and I decided to create a service based around it. I'll be teaching the captain of a US Navy ship here shortly, and I've already taught to Portugal last week!"

Back in March 1958, pioneer rockers Bill Haley and his Comets released their album: Rockin' Around the World. WIth Skype as his roadie, Tuggle has taken his music and lessons 'round the world.

Retinal disease blinded Ed Gallagher, 57, of San Francisco, eight years ago.

But now, with a boost from Skype, Gallagher is “seeing” again—and a lot more than that.

With the help of a laptop equipped with a Wi-Fi card, a link to Skype, a webcam mounted on a helmet, and guidance on his headset from a visually able assistant, he is performing amazing feats:

—Sailing on San Francisco Bay, where he is commodore of BAADS, Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors.

—Walking without a cane or his guide dog Genoa for a first time since he went blind.

—Riding a bike.

—Shooting at a firing range and hitting the target.

Gallagher is the subject of a new documentary, Inner Space, featuring Skype. The movie debuts April 12 at Yuri's Night: The World Space Party, a celebration of art and space.

Continue reading "Blind adventurer uses Skype as his "eyes" in new documentary" »