Skype Releases PocketPC Version Of VoIP Software

An anonymous reader writes "According to WindowsForDevices.com, Skype Technologies has launched a free beta release of peer-to-peer voice calling software for WiFi-enabled handheld devices running Microsoft's Pocket PC software platform. PocketSkype is a 'thin' version of Skype, the company's original peer-to-peer voice-calling for Windows PCs which was released in August 2003. Like Skype, PocketSkype can be used to make free, unlimited, and unmetered calls anywhere in the world."

Comments

wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[way2trivial]

brought to you by the malkers of kazaa

is there any spyware for the pocketpc that predates? I hope they got a patent on it..

Re:wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[gl4ss]

not a troll at all.

skype's eula grants them permission to install 3rd party useless shit, and them being who they are you really think they wouldn't do it?

Re:wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[System.out.println()]

I'm waiting for Skype Lite from some anonymous hacker/developer, followed of course by Skype++.

Re:wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[tcdk]

Skype make quite a deal of the fact that it's doesn't contain spy or ad ware.

I've used it quite a bit to communicate from Denmark to Greenland and I'm very impressed by the quality. I get a 4-500ms ping to my brother who's only on a dial-up, yet the quality is flawless and the lag isn't to bad.

Now if only they would make a PalmOne version. I'm going buy a new PDA real-soon-now, but it's not going to be a MS based one. No way.

Re:wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[subzerorz]

The same goes for the desktop version which is awesome. Can't wait to use to call on land lines.

Re:wow-- the first piece of pocket pc spyware?

[tcdk]

[Googling..]...A quick search tells me that kazaa was sold til Sharman Networks in january 2002 and if I search google groups for the words "kazaa spyware" and limit the search for january 2002, I find lots of posts saying that Kazaa contains spyware... so I guess you are right and that they are Scum(tm).

(it's been a long time since I installede Kazaa, but as I remember it, it actually contained options in the install program to not install all the extra crap)

I think that there may be a problem here. I can't see how a VoIP system can get the market penetration for it to work, without huge money behind it (esp if it has to have POTS gateways) and I can't see how that can be done with Free/OSS. There may be a business model behind doing a POTS/VoIP gateway, but that's investing in the past and not something you'll find investors interested in.

If Skype would open their source code and protocol [*] we could have a winner on our hands - if we could find some way to make it as profitable business to make gateways. But the thing is, it need a fairly big investment that will be less and less the more successful your system is, but is never the less needed to start the ball rolling.

[*] Never going to happen - they got somebody to invest millions in them on the business model described on their homepage. They can't go back on that and that means no OSS or protocol.

How is this new?

[Kenja]

How is this diferent then the VOIP software that came with my PocketPC?

Re:How is this new?

[EulerX07]

Can someone behind a firewall/router call you using that VOIP software? The one reason I started using skype is that my other software didn't work from behind my d-ling router.

Re:How is this new?

[sh0rtie]

how about its not free? , check out the EULA

You acknowledge that certain functions in the Skype Software are only available to paid subscribers after a free trial period of the Skype Software and Services (the "Free Trial Period") ends. After the Free Trial Period ends, you will be presented with the option to subscribe to the Subscription Services. If you do not wish to subscribe, you acknowledge that you can not access functions and services only available to paid subscribers. To subscribe to the Subscription Services you must agree to the terms and conditions of the Subscription Services.

then they effectivly go on to say you ok them from any spyware concerns but unknown 3rd parties will have access to your machine

(c) THE SKYPE SOFTWARE IS UTILIZED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THIRD PARTIES WHICH ARE UNRELATED TO SKYPER. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT INSTALLATION OF THE SKYPE SOFTWARE WILL ALLOW THIRD PARTIES WHO ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH SKYPER THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR COMPUTER ("OUTSIDE PARTIES"). YOU AGREE THAT SKYPER WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, CLAIM OR LOSS OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER

why are we giving this time again ? next up on slashdot Gator/Claria bring you free VOIP ?

Suddenly...

[Knight Thrasher]

Suddenly, WiFi monitoring becomes incredibly worthwhile.

Re:Suddenly...

[mr100percent]

Skype's FAQ states that the software uses end-to-end encryption for the phone call.

Re:Suddenly...

[homer_ca]

Suddenly, WiFi monitoring becomes incredibly worthwhile

Well considering the pitiful range of most handheld Wifi cards, you'd do better to just walk up to the guy and eavesdrop on his conversation. It's not like people talking on cellphones in public are trying very hard to speak softly. More often they're obnoxiously loud like "look at me. I'm important because I'm discussing important business on my cellphone"

Not too shabby!

[JLavezzo]

Hey don't rag on them too badly! They are Hiring Linux Developers.
KDEphone here we come!

TROLL MY ASS

[way2trivial]

read this link please . and then decide

Re:TROLL MY ASS

[Feztaa]

You want me to troll your ass? That could be painful.

free phone calls ?

[Anonymous Coward]

sounds like they need to watch their advertising standards, unless i can phone any telephone number in the world - for free , anytime
otherwise its just a long range walkie talkie

Re:free phone calls ?

[Brandybuck]

Ditto! Without a free-beer bridge to other "phone" systems, this isn't practical for anything but walkie-talkie like service. It's like my friend who brags that he saves so much money with his internet phone, yet he still has to run to the corner pay phone to call us to brag.

Xpro + Asterisk

[calle69]

Why not use xten software? xpro for pocket pc connected directly to your asterisk server.

Hopefully the FCC will stay away

[Anonymous Coward]

The FCC has been muttering about/threatening to regulate VoIP as telephony. This would allegedly have some "benefits" like 911 service working from VoIP and "reliability" but it seems like it is impossible to offer free calling service under FCC regulation, much like it is impossible to have a new drug approved by the FDA without tons of money behind it, even if the drug itself is non-commercial. Hopefully the regulators at the FCC will stay away from VoIP until it is so entrenched that it will be tough to stop, like P2P services.

-------
Free mobile porn

Systems clashing?

[Viceice]

The way this is going, it feels more and more that mobile data and communications is going to a very critical place.

On one end we have giant phone companies with large infrastructure assets trying to push tech like G3 and GPRS with a very high per minute/packet charge over cellular networks.

On the other hand, we have hotspots sprouting up all over the place with subscriptions going from nothing to a cup of coffee. While coverage is still spotty, its capabilities are blurring, with everything from voice to data being possible over IP.

Developments would be interesting to watch.

what fuss?

[maxbang]

I don't understand the fuss about all of this VOIP stuff. I still can call only another VOIP user at this point, right? If that's the case, there are plenty of tools out there already that enable this, even on PocketPC, which an earlier post pointed out. I'd rather pay my $50 a month for my cell and call anyone I want from wherever I want. I do value the aspect of getting everyone to switch to VOIP, which is what I think skype (among others) are trying to do. Once that happens and that wimax stuff takes off, then we'll be much better off, methinks.

Re:what fuss?

[xpl_the_myst]

there are plenty of tools out there already that enable this

Yeah, but these guys claim better voice quality. IP does not offer real-time guarantees theoretically, so it means that there is a lot of flexibility in trying to get the best implementation of Voice-over-IP. And from personal experience, Skype calls sound much better than say, Yahoo! Voice chat.

What beats me is their claim about being peer-to-peer? What's peer to peer in voice chat? Unless they find the best route using all these peers, which doesnt look that possible.

Re:what fuss?

[maxbang]

Sadly, for me most of the world does indeed end at the US borders. I was born here, but most of my family's back in India. For me to use this product to contact them, they would have to purchase a computer and get online in a place where electricity is spotty at best. They can, however, get a relatively cheap cell phone and I can call them for about five bucks (sixty a year). I understand your point and see how this can be useful for wired countries, but for most of the rest of the world skype is moot.

but

[stratjakt]

Like Skype, PocketSkype can be used to make free, unlimited, and unmetered calls anywhere in the world.

Only to other running instances of skype though, or does it interface with POTS for free (doubt it)?

I mean, cool and all, but what's skype got that netmeeting/cucme/et al haven't had forever?

Re:but

[pestie]

Encryption.

skype

[greysky]

The company I work for uses skype for phonecalls (we all work from home). It's really handly, esp since we outsource some of the development work to India and Vietnam, and we can call the team leads over there at no cost.

Pocket GPhone

[mknewman]

I've been using Pocket GPhone which comes on my Toshiba E805 for a few months now. You can check it out at http://www.vliusa.com/prof_personal/index.php The version I am using is 3.0 which is much, much better than the 1.0 version that comes on the E805. Works pretty well, with the typical pauses due to the network, and you do want to use it with a headset to prevent echoing, but the cool thing is they are hooked up to some sort of VoIP network and for $20 for 600 minutes you can make calls to virtually any phone. The rates for International calls are the best I have seen, anywhere. $0.05/min for most countries. You can use it for free for PDA-PDA (or even PC) calls for 60 days but then you have to pay them something to use their 'Buddy' service, but even then you can still make direct IP address based phone calls. No affiliation, just a relatively satisfied user. Marc

Do it yourself

[homer_ca]

Might be more complex, but you can set up your own VoIP PBX with Asterisk. It's free software that runs on Linux and supports industry standard SIP protocol so you can connect all kinds of devices like hardware IP phones, analog telephone adapters, and IP softphones on PCs and PDAs.

Re:No local telephone interface?

[drewzhrodague]

Perhaps some of us with unlimited local calling, might allow VOIP users to call locally using their lines -- within specified limits, I would assume. This makes sense, but I can't imagine the telcos, or internet-providers would allow it. Certainly turns telecom on it's ear, so to speak.

Re:Skype vs. I.M. with voice?

[subzerorz]

Skype is suppose to work with firewalls and proxy's. There is no need to reconfigure firewalls.

Read it here on Techtree.com!

[PhrozenF]

Read the entire story here on Techtree.com. They have some interesting observation and comments too.

"However, there are various issues raised over "voice-over Wi-Fi." Firstly, there isn't enough Wi-Fi coverage yet to make it feasible for the executives who are the primary users of pocket PCs to own only that device. Most people who would want to use that service need a reliable network. Also, the sound quality offered is poor."

Another VOIP app - WiFive

[zapp]

WiFive is another free VOIP app for PocketPC. With WiFive you can connect to other WiFive users, Netmeeting, or if you have your own Gatekeeper (call server), you can make calls through the PSTN as well.

Re:Read the EULA

[IamTheRealMike]

I read that paragraph to say "other peoples computers will communicate with yours", which is, uh, kind of the point of a VoIP program. I think they are just being overly-paranoid with the legal stuff.

Bah, WM2003 only

[cyberchondriac]

I'm "stuck" with my Toshiba e550g genio - I love the screen, and it's got a 400MHz XScale CPU, but there is no 2003 upgrade for it. PPC2002 is as far as it goes. I don't understand why, or what the difference there between it and a PocketPC that is upgradable to WM2003.
How hard would it be to put linux on this thing ?

Skype seems fine to me.

[Futurepower(R)]

Skype seems fine to me. It has much better sound quality than regular telephones. I use it to talk to a friend in France. Neither of us have ever seen any bad behavior in Skype, in several months of use.

For those who want to use the traditional communication device, BigZoo and OneSuite are excellent. OneSuite is 2.9 cents per minute from the U.S. to France. BigZoo is 2.8 cents per minute.

I'd like to have a USB sound card so that I could isolate the audio from the electromagnetically noisy computer, however. Any ideas?

When Free doesn't mean Free

[bogie]

Sorry but your page of "Free" providers is nothing more than a link to a bunch of commercial services which cost money. How can companies that charge $24 a month or charge by the minute be considered "Free service Providers"? If they were really Free than there would be no fees for the service.

You might as well have linked to a bunch of Cell phone plans and said "Free Long Distance Providers"....when you sign up for their $50 a month plan.

Open source version of Skype?

[Futurepower(R)]

Another thought: What we really need is an open source version of Skype.

Also, note that Skype works over heavily firewalled systems. It communicates over the browser port 80, if necessary. Skype is an excellent demonstration that firewalling does not necessarily create real security. ZoneAlarm's outgoing firewalling is good in this case, however.

Gimmie an F! Gimmie a U! Gimmie a D!

[adolf]

Um.

"Communicate with [...] outside parties" == talk to the people who call you on your lovely new Skype kit, perchance? (after all, the whole point is to communicate with third parties, isn't it? or did you just want to talk to the folks at Skyper all day?)

"Distributed by third parties". Third parties, eh? Like tucows and c|net? Those third parties? Or maybe they mean "third parties" like those promiscuous P2P folks that allow the system to work in the first place. This sounds Really Dangerous. Really.

"Skyper will not be liable for damage". I mean. No shit. The GPL has similar verbiage, and so does every other bit of boilerplate in the world.

How you manage to read promises of spyware into those paragraphs, I'll never know.

Nice program

[t_allardyce]

Great, but now can we _please_ have a unix port!?

Free? Skype? PSTN?

[muonzoo]

Like Skype, PocketSkype can be used to make free, unlimited, and unmetered calls anywhere in the world.

For some values of anywhere. As long as anywhere means "another Skype client" or "paying for a PSTN termination".
Skype rhymes with Hype for a good reason.