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Yak Launches Free Video and Voice Service 114

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the can-you-see-me-now dept.
Jamie Garson writes to tell us Yahoo is reporting that Yak Communications has launched their new voice and video calling service, yakForFree. From the article: "In a crowded and competitive VoIP marketplace, yakForFree is distinguished by its free video capabilities and ease-of-use. By downloading the free Virtual VideoPhone, which takes less than a minute, users can make free calls over the Internet using a high-speed connection."
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Yak Launches Free Video and Voice Service More

Yak Launches Free Video and Voice Service

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  • Basically Teamspeak w/video (for me at least) (Score:3, Insightful)

    by geomon ( 78680 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:25PM (#14047331) Homepage Journal
    I remember getting Teamspeak to contact my family and friends. We would set up a server and contact each other via IM to set up a session. Now Teamspeak charges for their service. I'm sure that was their intention all along, but it was sad to see it go subscription only.

    I wonder how long yakForFree will remain *free*? I suppose their free plan is a give away for getting people to sign up for the enhanced services. But I can envision a time in the near future when the free will giveway to *cheap*. I guess that if the price is right, that isn't a bad prospect either.

    I guess I'd better use it while the free offer is still good!

  • Er... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mwongozi ( 176765 ) <slashthree AT davidglover DOT org> on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:30PM (#14047368) Homepage

    So, this is a poorly disguised advert, right? Because neither "free video capabilities" nor "ease-of-use" are at all distinguishing features these days. iChat AV probably does both of these things better, actually, and there's a ton of similar apps available. Even for Windows. ;)

    Linking to the Yahoo news story is a bit odd, too. Here's "Yak's" actual site [yak.com].

    • Re:Er... (Score:5, Informative)

      by DeepRedux ( 601768 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:43PM (#14047463)
      Notice that the story is sent in by Jamie Garson, who has a yak.ca email address. The Yahoo story is a Business Wire press release. For a fee, Business Wire will distribute any press release and Yahoo will reprint it. There is no independent reporter involved here.
      • I have an idea: let the readers meta-moderate people with the ability to post new stories. As the months pass, why do I feel that I'm being had when I see an exhortation to "Meta-Moderate for Slashdot"? I just feel like I'm contributing free labor to a downward-trending initiative.

    • Re:Er... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by tpgp ( 48001 )
      So, this is a poorly disguised advert, right?

      Yes. It is.

      Because neither "free video capabilities" nor "ease-of-use" are at all distinguishing features these days.

      True they're not - however if you'd bothered to read the link you posted, you'd notice that in the FAQ:

      Q.) What are Open Standards and why does it matter?
      A.) An Open Standard is more than just a specification. The principles behind the standard, and the practice of offering and operating the standard, are what make the standard Open. yakForFree f

    • Apparently this is a re-branded SIP client from CounterPath [xten.net]. I've used their voice-only free client, X-Lite, on my Mac.

      I find the interface ominous, and the audio quality pathetic (but it might be the VoIP service provider's fault.) However, it has one good quality: it works seamlessly in a NAT, even if you have several clients in your network.

      I must confess I didn't take the time to find out how it does this (server-based communications? UPnP binding random ports? or switching to different ones if the de

      • Do you really mean "ominous"? "Onerous" I would understand, but maybe there are forebodings of imminent doom in the GUI...

        • I don't really know how that word ended up there... But looking at X-Lite's GUI [fdu.edu], with those black & greenish colors and rounded shapes, it kinda makes me think of a lair from "Aliens." Eerie.

          BTW, if a "phone simulator" won't even let you paste in phone numbers copied from your Address Book, you can pretty much tell our world is doomed!

    • It sounds like a copy of Skype.

      Funny but I associate VOIP to be able to make calls over POTS (land line service). To do that you will have to pay, that interconnection is not going to be free anytime soon.

      I have switched and so far no problems (don't forget to register for 911, etc.). I got a local VOIP service (Digital Voice [digitalvoice.ca]) and I think that helps in getting a better customer service (vs. Vonage for example).

      Check around your city, there might be a new VOIP company and they might have some amazing deals.
      • Yak is a SIP client, which is the main newer VOIP standard, an Internet-style followon to the telco-protocol-style H.323 which is the previous main open VOIP standard, and they've included video with it, which the standards support but most clients don't implement. Skype uses a bunch of proprietary stuff, implemented fairly well. The Yak website doesn't appear to tell you how to rip the client apart, reverse engineer it, use it with other service providers, etc., but you should be able to. (Doesn't mean

  • I for one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by fishybell ( 516991 ) <fishybell@hCOMMAotmail.com minus punct> on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:30PM (#14047374) Homepage Journal
    I, for one, welcome our new slashvertisement overlords.
    • Can I have some of the money? Please?

      Seriously, the more you sell your reader's eyeballs, the more those eyeballs will go someplace else [wikipedia.org].

    • ``I, for one, welcome our new slashvertisement overlords.''

      Well, and I DON'T!

      This is supposed to be _news_ for nerds, not advertisements for nerds. It's one thing that people try and submit advertisements as Slashdot stories, it's quite another that these advertisements actually get posted on the homepage (in favor of some real news stories, I might add).

      Seriously. Where's the news value in this? Here's yet another free-as-in-beer-but-not-freedom voice and video chat application, as if there aren't a dozen

  • It's run by idiots (Score:5, Informative)

    by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) * <jhummel&johnhummel,net> on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:31PM (#14047377) Homepage
    Or, maybe I am. I decided "Hm - let's check it out."

    Fill out the form - done.

    Click the link to download - OK.

    They state "Mac/PC compatible"! That's good - I can do this on my Powerbook while I'm working on this code.

    Except - the only link takes you to a Windows executable. Um - I think they're missing something.

    That, and the site looks like it was designed by people who are REALLY HAPPY! WE'RE AWAKE, AND DAMN IT, WE'RE HAPPY TO SEE YOU. Wagh.

    Calm down. Take the lesson from Google: Simple. Easy. Not 20 different links and no clue which one to look for. So, too weird - forget it.

  • I always wanted this ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by external400kdiskette ( 930221 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:31PM (#14047383)
    I had a discussion about this a while ago:

    Me: I want 10 year old netmeeting technology to go with my VOIP.
    My friend Masood [theregister.co.uk] Khan [khaaan.com]: Just Wait!
    Me: Wow that worked.
    Khan: It's an age-old diplomatic trick.
  • Does anybody know of a good app that does voip, video, and whiteboard that runs on all 3 platforms?

  • download? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Janek Kozicki ( 722688 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:37PM (#14047423) Journal
    so I clicked download [yak.com], to see if there is a linux version. But I'm not giving them my email address even before I know if there is a linux version. What the hell they think?

    it's not free, the price is your privacy.

    PS: if anyone ,,sacrificed his privacy [mailinator.net]'' to check, please tell if there is a linux version.
    • giving someone an email address in no way sacrifices yoyur privacy.

      Can the lok into your house? snoop through your wallet? read your mind? no. All they can do is send you an email, which you are free to delete.

      I don't like SPAM either, but SPAM in no way invades your privacy.

      Personally, I have an email just for this type of thing. If the service turnsout to not be spamming me, and I like the product, I will change my preferences to me second tier email address. My second tier email address has gotten exact
    • I gave them my info as they're already my long distance carrier; all they had was a Windows .exe file, even though they claim to be Mac/Windows compatible. At least if they had an OS X .app file, it might be runnable under GnuStep PPC.
      • ``At least if they had an OS X .app file, it might be runnable under GnuStep PPC.''

        Not unless you also write a binary translator, I'm afraid.
    • I downloaded the exe and the install went perfectly using wine. The program has launched and I am about to go find a microphone so that I can test it out tonight.

    • But I'm not giving them my email address even before I know if there is a linux version.

      Then don't give them your e-mail address. You aren't under oath to give them a valid address.

      Have you been on the internet for more than a week? Arbitrary word@word.com e-mail addresses work find for 99.99% of web forms.

      It's completely idiotic that sites insist on having something in the e-mail field, but it's only invading your privacy if you willingly offer up your private info to them.

    • The Email address field seems to be non-mandatory ... at least it let me through with out anything in it ....

      t

    • Try mailinator.com if you're concerned about giving away your e-mail address.
    • The email address field is not required. Only the fields marked w an asterisk are required. I checked the site, and only a windows client was available to me, but I'm not sure if that's just because it autodetected the operating system.

      You linked to mailinator. You can use http://www.mailinator.net/ [mailinator.net] to receive mail without "sacrificing your privacy". Seems like you didn't realize that though.

  • Until (Score:3, Insightful)

    by varmittang ( 849469 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:40PM (#14047443)
    They are blocked by router filters that kill the connections.

  • Free software VoIP (Score:2, Informative)

    by MrvFD ( 711808 )
    Luckily there's also one free software "skype-like" VoIP in development - http://www.openwengo.com/ [openwengo.com] (GPL). For video features, there's always GnomeMeeting, though it's more for businesses than for the average Joe because there's no centralized "address book" except for Seconix. And Gaim 2.0 should support Google Talk protocol, together with some webcam support for various protocols.
    • Gaim 2.0 should support Google Talk protocol Gaim already does support Google Talk. It's called Jabber if you aren't a buzzword-integrated Google shareholder. Coming soon: support in Linux for the Apple Bonjour, Microsoft Remote Assistance and IIS 6.0 protocols.
      • ``Gaim already does support Google Talk. It's called Jabber if you aren't a buzzword-integrated Google shareholder.''

        Yes, just like it supports MSN and AIM and all the others: you can send text, but no voice or video. Remember? That's what we're talking about in this thread.
  • I mean, you can do both video and audio calls via MSN Messenger, and it's free... so how is this different?
  • If you want a free video phone that works great try SightSpeed [sightspeed.com]. They have been consitantly ranked the best by PC Magazine and PC World.

  • Slightly reworded (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:46PM (#14047483)
    An employee of a company called Yak (jgarson@yak.ca) writes to tell us Yahoo is kindly storing a press release from same company. The press release has the usual glowing praise that offers no objectivity due to the obvious financial interests of the writer. The company has launched their new voice and video calling service, yakForFree, but has no marketing team, nor money, to promote it, and has decided to try to get it in front of people through fooling slashdot editors into believing the press release is a news report. From the press release: "In a crowded and competitive VoIP marketplace, yakForFree is just another soon-to-be burned-out shell of a car along the side of the dot com highway. What truly distinguishes it from other offerings is that it offers both video and voice services, which have only been available in most free chat clients for half a decade now. By downloading the free Virtual VideoPhone, which takes less than a minute, users are locked into a proprietary system which is likely to riddle their machine with spyware."
    • Thank you for summarizing it. I was wondering if this was really free-as-in-freedom video chat come to earth. I guess it was too much to hope for. Oh well, back to dreaming.

      By the way, can anyone recommend some good apps to do voice and or video chat that _are_ free-as-in-freedom and work on *nix and can communicate without too much hassle with some app on doze? I know of GnomeMeeting. Are there any others? How far along is gaim-vv these days?
    • I can tell you from the screenshot of the program, that it is a SIP-only program. I don't recall the name of it, but I've worked with it and my companies SIP server.

      So, you see, yakForFree is really a SIP proxying service. You can register and make calls to any SIP-activated phone across the world. It uses an open standard. They targeted the geeks (a wise move). Geeks will start using it, and then so will their friends.

      Oh, and that "proprietary system" you talk wrongly about does not have spyware with it!

      Di

  • This is a mere press release! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by lancejjj ( 924211 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:53PM (#14047542) Homepage
    Yahoo is reporting that Yak Communications has launched their new voice and video calling service, yakForFree. From the article: [...]

    This isn't an article written by a reporter. This is a corporate press release, evidently written by the owners of the product.

    Advertising? Yep. News? No.

  • I've tested this program, Camfrog is far better (Score:4, Informative)

    by Khyber ( 864651 ) <techkitsune@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @04:55PM (#14047558) Homepage Journal
    Seriously, This requires a high-speed conection for one-on-one? Camfrog only requires a 56 k modem and is so good that deaf people can "speak" over video near-flawlessly over 56k. Plus it's loaded with more features, offers actual chat rooms you can go to and see loads of other people (up to 100 cams if you pay a one-time $50 for the pro version of Camfrog Client) in the room, PLUS stream music, PLUS type. Oh, not to mention IRC-style options like giving others ops, half-ops, make users have voice (friend of the room,) and on top of that all it comes with IM built-in. Yak doesn't compare, YET.

  • Rebundeled Technologie (Score:2, Informative)

    by CyMunz ( 46436 )
    This is clearly a free (and branded) version of eyeBeam from Xten (link [xten.com]) now known as CounterPath. Therefore my guess is that it's a service pretty similar to Free World Dialup (link [freeworlddialup.com]) but with video (not sure if FWD support video).

  • Yak have been email pump-n-dump spamming for quite a while now.

    Remember, boys and girls! If it's slashverted, sell short!

  • And not something crappy like what AIM calls "voice chat." I'm talking something along the lines of TeamSpeak that uses low bandwidth, won't have issues with rather draconian firewalls, is free, and won't sound absolutely horrible in quality.

  • This is NOT yak's VOIP (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Valiss ( 463641 ) on Wednesday November 16, 2005 @05:23PM (#14047813) Homepage
    In the way you are thinking. If you are thinking that you can download this and call your buddy on his cell, you would be incorrect. You want that service, you gatta pay to use their yakToAnyone [yak.com] service.

    This is an instant messenger-like application that does voice and video, a la [every other IM service here].
  • I don't see yet the use for this kind of software. You can call only people who have a computer and are sitting in front of it... Hmm. Personaly, I'm using voipbuster [voipbuster.com] right now, this is free (or cheap, depends on the country 0.01/min), very good quality and you can reach any land phone (cell phone too but it is more expensive).
    • Land phone to land phone...look at prepaid calling cards, dirt cheap when compared to regular phone rates, no monthly service fees...besides who really calls their mom on a video phone
  • As everybody above my comment has already stated.. this is just another Video/Audio chat client that joins the ranks of Yahoo, MSN, iChatAV, etc etc. They claim to be "free" VoIP but its not "real" VoIP. Its only connecting computer to computer for others who use the same damn service.

    • but its not "real" VoIP

      Then what IS real VoIP? Voice Over Internet Protocol seems to mean to me that any "real" program that allows a two-way voice conversation would qualify as real VoIP, while everything else I'd consider Internet Telephony.
      • I consider POTS or PBX based phone service that runs over IP versus standard copper to your local Bell as "real" VoIP. Like Vonage, etc. Internet "phone calls" from computer to computer have been implemented by at least a dozen companies already. But they aren't integrated into the Bell system to call non-VoIP users.

  • Gimme just one line. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by lukOh ( 930297 )
    Hallo?

    All I just need is one any-interface, GPL, multiplatform piece of software that roughly:
    -supports RSA asymmetric encryption with gpg keys to avoid being listened by the kid next door
    -uses any decent combination of patent-free protocols to get just acceptable voice over broadband
    -I give it a kindly f'g IP ADDRESS and PORT , I AUTHENTICATE then TALK to whoever is at the other side.

    say: a multiplatform slightly improved netmeeting with single-port support to jump through isp portfilters/ proxies/ automat
  • From CounterPath (formerly known as Xten).
    http://www.xten.com/index.php?menu=eyeBeam [xten.com]

    I suppose it's SIP based.
  • While we are discussing this, I thought I would throw in a partially off-topic request. Anyone have any idea about a good service that offers free VOIP to POTS transmission? I used to use a Korean one that was completely free, but it disappeared. Have never found another one that could match it. Any ideas.
  • Jeez, so much negativity around these parts. The truth of the matter, is that this is a SIP (read "non-proprietary") format service that just licenses that the rather well working eyeBeam product that is indeed cross platform. Normally you'd have to pay for the client, but this way you're getting it for free if you're doing PC to PC calls.
  • I'm sick and tired of the same old same old : the people I want to talk/video with are not computer saavy in the least, so any time something is even slightly wrong with either PC, like an audio driver gets out of whack or someone clicks "mute" on the mic input, or replugs the mic into the headphone jack, I have to spend 20 minutes listening to my wife saying "can you hear me now?" What I want is a VTC appliance that connects to either the PC monitor or the TV set, and directly to my broadband, not my PC.

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