voip

TeamSpeak today unveiled an official app for iOS devices ($4.99) that delivers nearly the same functionality as the popular desktop client.

Utilized by millions of gamers around the world, TeamSpeak is a way for small or large groups of people to communicate without interruption. Long ago, when I played World of Warcraft, our guild's TS3 server would have 25 people on it as we worked together in a raid to defeat Illidan Stormrage. It was the perfect way for our guild to communicate during the complicated confrontation and it wouldn't be uncommon for all us to be on the server for hours as we trekked our way through the Black Temple.

While my MMORPG days are long gone, I still hop on TeamSpeak from time to time to catch up with my gaming buddies. After downloading TeamSpeak for iPhone, I logged in to my usual server and tested out the app, which supports multi-server connectivity. Incoming sound quality is comparable to the desktop experience, while my voice sounded crisp and clear to my friends. So far, so good.… Read more

The official Skype app for Android lets you place voice calls to landlines, mobile numbers, or other Skype users. It also offers built-in SMS capabilities, instant messaging for chatting with your Skype connections, and for a select few supported devices, video calls.

Skype's user interface is incredibly clean and simple to use. The Home screen displays four icons to cover all your basic needs: Contacts, Recent, Call phones, Profile. Above the icons, there's a small bar where you can change your mood message (Skype's version of a status update). And at the very top, there's a … Read more

Hot off the heels of its iPad-optimized app release, Skype, the popular VoIP service, makes another splash with an update for its Android-toting user base. Skype for Android has jumped to version 2.0, and at long last, it lets Android users make and receive video calls--well, it lets a few of them anyway. See, the new video-calling capability is, at the moment, only available to users running Android version 2.3 on the following devices: HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo and pro, and the Google Nexus S. If you're counting, that's only four devices. While … Read more

Phone Amego is a clever little menu-bar app that integrates your iPhone--or other Bluetooth phone--with your Mac and with the Google Voice service. At its most basic, Phone Amego provides onscreen caller ID (a small window on your Mac displays incoming callers, and you close the window to send the call to voice mail, or you can program it with AppleScript to respond when you speak the name) and enables you to call contacts from your Address Book with just a couple of clicks. There are also basics like a call log, timer, and a hot key for answering calls. … Read more

Skype in the Classroom, a video networking service for educators worldwide, is officially out of beta, the company said today.

The service, which has been in beta since December, allows educators to collaborate with others around the world over video. The VoIP provider said it developed the service "in response to, and in consultation with, the growing number of teachers using Skype to help their students learn."

To set Skype In the Classroom apart from the company's basic service, teachers can use the tool to find fellow educators who may be teaching on the same topic. It … Read more

A new portable device will soon be able to help people make cell phone calls in other countries without relying on local 3G networks.

That bit of technical magic comes courtesy of a new device called an attocell, or a personal femotcell. Created by U.K.-based femtocell company Ubiquisys, the device is a small base station that can provide broadband Internet access to an iPhone, BlackBerry, Android phone, and virtually any other 3G mobile phone. But since it's smaller than a traditional femtocell, the attocell is designed to be portable.

The attocell from Ubiquisys connects to a laptop through a USB port, providing both the juice and the Internet access, according to Ubiquisys. From there, the device figures out which country it's in so it can determine the allowable 3G power consumption, which then dictates the range of the attocell to the phone. Depending on the country, the 3G range of the device could be as small as a fraction of an inch or as large as an entire room.

If the range is small, the user can place the phone on top of the device and make calls via a headset or speaker. Otherwise, the caller is free to roam around the room.… Read more

Mozilla has barred a Skype extension for Firefox, accusing it of causing 40,000 browser crashes a week and of dramatically slowing page-load times.

"We believe that both of these items constitute a major, user-facing issue, and meet our established criteria for blocklisting an add-on," Mozilla said in a blog post yesterday. Because the extension is installed by default when Skype's main software is installed, a "large number of Firefox users who have installed Skype have also installed the Skype Toolbar, knowingly or unknowingly," Mozilla said.

Mozilla is in contact with Skype programmers and will … Read more

Skype, a powerhouse in the area of voice and video chat over the Net, said today it's acquiring Qik, a mobile video specialist.

The move stands to expand what Skype can mobile phones. Today it's got apps for voice chat, but Qik brings video to the party with applications that run today on Android, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

"Together, Skype and Qik will focus on providing a richer, more integrated experience that will allow people globally to share experiences in real-time video across different platforms, as well as store those moments so they can be … Read more

Happy Black Friday! Hit the comments and share the great deals you scored today--and how long you had to stand in line for them.

Tired of paying a monthly bill for home phone service? Of course you are! So ditch it. If you have broadband Internet, you can switch to a voice-over-IP service and save a small fortune.

The NetTalk Duo is one such option. You buy the little gizmo for $69.95, connect it to your router, plug in any corded or cordless phone, and presto: you've got unlimited local and long-distance calling for one year. Each additional … Read more