Microsoft To Can Skype API; Third-Party Products Will Not Work 330
Mark Gibbs writes "If you've recently fired up Skype you may have noticed a dialog box with a warning appear briefly (at least on OS X) then vanish. If you're fast enough to catch it you'll find that it's warning you that some application you're using that works with Skype will stop working in December, 2013. This applies to all sorts of software supporting headsets, cameras, ... you name it."
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:5, Informative)
It's also thoroughly backdoor'd, feature paywalled, and has shitty audio, even in 'hd' mode... It's also got a shitty GUI and ads.
Jitsi, despite its being written written in java, is a better deal. It's crypted, supports virtually every useful codec and does not require third party servers. Of course, you can use it with third parties if desired. Because of this, it can be configured to offer much better audio quality, which is a major issue with these things it seems. All people care about is the video I guess.
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:3, Informative)
I pay like $36 a year for unlimited calls in the US. I have my own incoming number and I can call any phone in the US. That is not a bad deal at all!
I use it both in my home and my business. My telco demands $18/mo long distance to call my clients right across the state line which is like 5 miles from my home Skype is a great tool! Nobody even knows we are on skype.
My concern is I have a skype to phone adapter. I would eagerly embrace a change in the API if stand alone devices like some of the other VoIP providers have were available. I have seen little new skype hardware for use as a regular phone. I guess I need a new solution.
Microsoft can turn gold into sh-- better than any company I know!
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:5, Informative)
Well jitsi does voice in a variety of protocols, video (up to 720p) via h263 or h264, conference audio/video/im, and can work p2p/SIP, infrastructure SIP, or piggyback onto a variety of IM services. I don't know about android et al, but I imagine SIP clients for those platforms would work. It has no artificial limits on numbers of participants in conference calls.. It also crypts all communications with ZRTP. My only gripe with it is that the client GUI is written in java.
Honestly, audio quality is my primary pet peeve of skype. Whatever codec they use clobbers consonant sounds, even in 'hd' calls.. In contrast, I've gotten some nice high quality voice calls with jitsi.
Re:What will we do ? (Score:4, Informative)
Since when did the law (and especially patent law) have any connection to "sense"?
Re:And nothing of value was lost... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What will we do ? (Score:4, Informative)
They would need to know exactly who those people are... if they are doing so only privately, they would have no way to know who to sue.
Patent infringement for entirely noncommercial purposes is not criminal, after all... civilly actionable, yes, but they still have to know who to actually sue. It differs significantly from copyright infringement in this matter, which is illegal even in noncommercial matters unless the allowances for fair use can be shown to apply (in which case it's not copyright infringement in the first place).
SIP - Blink and Jitsi (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Embrace, Extend, Extinguish (Score:2, Informative)
i don't trust "news" from osnews
How about the the source osnews used for this, the Guardian? http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/24/google-breaks-promise-banner-ads-search-results [theguardian.com]
WebRTC (Score:3, Informative)
I can't believe that most browsers now support it in all major OSs and mobile devices, but nobody is using it.
WTF?