Skype Releases Open SDK

An anonymous reader writes "SkypeKit gives Linux developers access to core functionality, allowing Linux developers to add video, calling, and instant messaging features to desktop applications. The SDK also comes with the freshly royalty-free SILK codec for high-end audio. Skype is hoping that the inclusion of SILK will popularize the codec, extending its reach. Currently, the SkypeKit beta is only available for Linux on an invite-only basis, with Windows and Mac versions planned in coming weeks. The SDK does not cover Android or Mac, an odd choice considering the announcement of SkypeKit championed itself for extending the functionality of Skype to multiple platforms and devices. Including smartphones in the SDK seems like an obvious move." Ars Technica has a rundown, too.

Comments

So how does this work?

[hkmwbz]

I'm assuming that Skype plans on making money off of this somehow, so how are they doing that? Are they hoping for people to use Skype technologies everywhere, so that more people will start paying Skype for the commercial/paid offerings they have?

Re:So how does this work?

[omnichad]

Using SkypeOut as a trunk in Asterisk would make them a little bit of cash. Otherwise, I can't really say I know what their "normal" business model ever was.

Re:So how does this work?

[jedidiah]

Skype has products that they charge by the minute for.

Every single thing they do doesn't have to be a profit center. Some of it can just help build the brand.

Re:So how does this work?

[Monkeedude1212]

Are they hoping for people to use Skype technologies everywhere, so that more people will start paying Skype for the commercial/paid offerings they have?

Short answer, yes.

Long answer, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS

Re:So how does this work?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Given that their definition of "open" seems to be "Why yes, you are welcome to make your application dependent on our proprietary binary and network through this set of defined interfaces, at least on such platforms as we have blessed for the purpose." I'm assuming that Skype is operating on the assumption that they will pick up some additional customers for their commercial offerings who might have been put off by having to use the Skype client itself.

It is also possible, given the omission of android, that they also hope to have their embedded version be something that companies have to pay for in order to integrate with their products(just as Flash was free on the desktop but licensed for inclusion in embedded devices, back before steve stole their lunch money)

Re:So how does this work?

[Jason Earl]

Skype's problem is that developing a version of Skype that works on the various popular (and not so popular) versions of Linux is difficult. The Linux market is small enough, and fractured enough, that Skype would just as soon not even try. Unfortunately, Skype is concerned that, if left to its own devices, the Free Software community is large enough to build and popularize a Skype alternative that could compete with Skype. It has certainly done that sort of thing before.

So Skype is providing a SDK that would allow Open Source hackers the ability to build there own GUI front ends for Skype's service. This neatly solves the problem of creating a Linux client that works everywhere, as the preferred method for integrating software into a distribution in the Free Software world is to simply provide source. The idea is to get the Open Source hackers to work out the tricky bits like figuring out which API allows access to the web cam, and which API should be used for audio input/output. The folks working on the various distributions know how this is done, and Skype (apparently) does not.

This is a win for Skype because they get some help in creating Linux clients, and it is theoretically a win for the Open Source community as they get a working Skype client. This still leaves the Free Software guys, the ones that won't use Skype no matter how slick it is, because it is proprietary, to build their own competing service. Their initial reaction would probably be to leverage the work done by the Open Source guys. My guess is that Skype will try and make it so that the license on their SDK will not allow that. However, this is likely to be easier said than done, and that probably explains why the SDK has not actually been released yet. Skype is probably working on the proper license that will allow them to use the Free Software libraries that they need to use, while making it impossible for the Free Software guys to use software created to work with their SDK.

Re:So how does this work?

[Bert64]

I don't see why, Skype are pretty expensive compared to the various SIP providers out there which Asterisk already supports natively... And with an open protocol like SIP you actually have a choice of providers.

Re:So how does this work?

[larry bagina]

Remember: Skype is owned by eBay. Once the WTF!?! wears off, you'll remember what they did with paypal and eBay itself: Attract users with price, convenience, and functionality, lock them in, and jack up the fees.

Re:So how does this work?

[StayFrosty]

This is a win for Skype because they get some help in creating Linux clients, and it is theoretically a win for the Open Source community as they get a working Skype client.

Skype already provides a working Linux client here. I have used it on both popular (Ubuntu) and not-as-popular (Gentoo and Arch) distributions and it works great.

The idea is to get the Open Source hackers to work out the tricky bits like figuring out which API allows access to the web cam, and which API should be used for audio input/output. The folks working on the various distributions know how this is done, and Skype (apparently) does not.

Skype's official client uses V4L2 for video (the only current video API) and ALSA for audio (the most popular audio API.) I'd say they have it figured out pretty well.

Re:So how does this work?

[DJRumpy]

I suspect this is related somehow to FaceTime, which Apple also open sourced. Skype could potentially face loosing the market, much like Adobe is with Flash vs. HTML5.

Re:So how does this work?

[king neckbeard]

In order to be ubiquitous, you have to not have any big holes in coverage. By most sources I can find, the iOS market is currently smaller than the desktop GNU/Linux market, but Adobe was making a huge deal about iOS not supporting Flash.

Re:So how does this work?

[jvillain]

Am I the only one having a little trouble making the word "Open" mesh with the phrase "by invite only"?

Re:So how does this work?

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

Skype is:

a) Much cheaper now, they have several A-Z ratecards, some of the reasonably cheap (I have good carriers to compare, their prices are somewhat similar to Verizon(SIP), Voipjet (IAX2) and Minutehub(SIP) on many routes, and cheaper on some, and they have a reasonable quality)
b) They do provide SIP access. I have them configured with sip.skype.com in several asterisk servers.

Re:So how does this work?

[vivian]

It should be making them a profit - I only use Linux and use Skype for nearly all my calls and have been doing so for several years now, since August 2006. I have a skype-Out account, and regularly make calls to mobile phones and land-lines, and occasionally overseas, and I have a skype-in number too. So far in 2010, I have spent $63 with them.

Surely I can't be the only one. I definitely feel like a second class citizen in the Skype world though, with a UI that has been in beta for a year, and is significantly lagging the windows versions.

From what I understand of the situation, Skype is restricted in what they can release as open source, due to licensing of certain technologies they have in their codecs - not much can be done about that I suppose, short of a complete rewrite or finding a suitable replacement that is not so encumbered.

If the released API makes it possible to create calls, send & receive video and fetch on-line info about your contacts, then great! At last it will be possible to write a decent front end!

I Really don't know why the front end wasn't written using QT, so that it wouldn't be such a big deal to keep all platforms on the same version of UI, , but I sure intend to have a stab at writing a front end in QT/C++ if I can get my grubby little hands on a copy of the API and libraries.

First thing I will be implementing in my front end for skype: Some kind of filter so I stop getting those damn penis enlargment ads / chat with Mis-sxyxxx chick etc. that keep popping up every few days.

Re:So how does this work?

[DJRumpy]

I realize you're probably trolling, but I'll answer anyway. FaceTime is a bit more than 'just SIP'. SIP just gets the session started. This will be an open sourcing of the core technology stack required to use FaceTime.

• H.264 and AAC, its ISO/MPEG video and audio codecs (just like iChat).
• SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), the open IETF signaling protocol for VoIP used by iChat AV.
• STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT), an IETF standard for dealing with lots of different kinds of NAT.
• TURN (Traversal Using Relay NAT), an IETF standard for allowing a client behind NAT to receive incoming requests like a server.
• ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) an IETF standard which helps set up connections through NAT firewalls.
• RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol), an iETF standard for delivering media streams in VoIP.
• SRTP (Secure RTP) an IETF standard designed to provide encryption, message authentication and integrity for the data streams.
• AAC Advanced audio coding standard. Widely used today in audio and video communications and has established interoperability.

All of the above are open standards (yes there is a difference between open standard and royalty free, but that's another discussion), but the framework that Apple created to bundle all of the above together (the pieces that makes it all work together), is what's being open sourced. I believe there is only one other phone on the market that even supports all of the necessary protocols (N900). It hasn't been 'done for years' in this way.

Skype in contrast, is proprietary, although they may have been spooked into releasing some API's into their framework as they see a posible threat here to their video chat throne. Apple has the muscle to get hardware vendor buy-in from folks like Cisco. Video chat could take off in a whole new way, and I'm not referring to business client. Sure folks have had the capability to use it on their phones for some years, but few do, and trends show the number is actually shrinking, probably due to poor interoperability. Hopefully Apple has the muscle to standardize all of these technologies into a functional (read: easy to use) bundle that all of the phone manufacturers will jump onto.

How is this open?

[jopsen]

From the faq:

Is SkypeKit ‘open’? What will you restrict?
The topic of openness is often debated and its definition can mean different things to different people. For starters, we believe in an open Internet and open standards. We are adopting an open approach meaning we are releasing APIs and enabling others to use SkypeKit and apply it in new ways. But, SkypeKit won’t be opened up to every single use case that developers dream up. For example, our license terms prohibit using SkypeKit for gambling or adult-themed applications.

Think of SkypeKit as a "headless" version of Skype – that is, a Skype client with no user interface that runs invisibly.

How is this even remotely close to open ? As far as I can see it's still just a binary blob!

Re:How is this open?

[Sir_Lewk]

Well you see, the definition of open can mean different things to different people. To you it means open, to skype it means avoiding the question.

Getting out in front of FaceTime?

[rsborg]

I see this as Skype acknowledging that FaceTime will change everything once it's opened up (as Apple claims they will do).

Skype can win if it's ubiquitous (ie, de-facto standard) even if FaceTime is really open where it appears not to be.

Re:Getting out in front of FaceTime?

[king neckbeard]

Supposedly, FaceTime is going to be an open standard, so it could become more widely implemented, and thus pose a threat to Skype.

Re:Screw Skype..

[Per Wigren]

Everybody use it because everybody else use it, because it's so incredibly easy to get started with and most of them don't even know what the word "proprietary" means.

Re:Screw Skype..

[jps25]

Because there's no alternative to videocalls between OS X / Linux / Windows.

Re:Screw Skype..

[TheRaven64]

As I said in another post, Skype is not cheaper than SIP providers. For any of the destinations that you might want to call, you'll be able to find a SIP provider that is cheaper. If you pick a SIP provider at random, it will be cheaper than Skype for some destinations, more expensive for others. If you shop around, you can find one that's cheaper for each of the destinations that you want. And, because SIP is an open protocol, you can usually configure a single client to interact with multiple providers, picking the cheapest one for each destination.

Re: Because Nobody cares about SIP

[xiando]

Why would you want to use a limited and broken protocol only implemented by one company, and which specifications aren't even published?

I use SIP and my mother uses SIP because I gave her a pre-configured hardware SIP phone and even plugged it in for her. Everyone else wants me to install Skype NOW. That's why you would want to implement the broken protocol.

Nobody but my mother calls me using SIP, even though SIP:*8967100@sip.kristinehamnk1.com is published numerous places on the Internets (don't need the after @ part if you abuse SipBroker), everyone wants me to start using Facebook & install Skype. That's what the world has come to. You don't need SIP to talk to yourself and that's about all you can do with it, if you have friends then you'll find they all use Facebook and Skype and other evil.

Its about handsets

[secondhand_Buddah]

Skype Open SDK for Linux = a free market for innovative Skype handsets.