Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

In the hostile world of today it is good to know that anything you say, or type, is safe from the prying eyes of family member’s, government organizations or even just a nosy person of the street. However, unfortunately, that is not always the case. A recent News.com survey into privacy revealed some pretty interesting results, the most notable of which is that AOL AIM is the most secure with no logs and secure logging-in and secure conversations, and Facebook Chat is the worst as they refused to answer lots of questions and also have an insecure log-in and insecure conversations.

One of the questions asked was “Have you ever received a subpoena, court order or other law enforcement request asking you to perform a live interception or wiretap, meaning the contents of your users’ communications would be instantly forwarded to law enforcement?”

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CallerID has become something that, while not always accurate we have come to take for granted. As nice as a service that Skype has been, it has been more than a little annoying to send or receive a SkypeOut call and see “+0000123456” on the CallerID display.

Now US based SkypeOut users will be able to configure their own number to display. Simply login to your Skype account and set the number by selecting Caller ID from the Account menu. You can set the number to reflect your personal cell number, which will send you an SMS message to confirm that you are not spoofing the ID display or if you already have a SkypeIn number that will be reflected by default.

Its nice that we here in the US will finally have an accurate CallerID display, something that European customers have apparently had for a while now. Its also a nice option to be able to have it reflect your cell phone, as my Skype account is already set to forward to my cell when I am not logged in.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

Getting pressured by eBay into proving its worth seems to be working well with Skype. After recently offering unlimited calls to their users at an affordable rate, Skype is making headway yet again with the beta release of their mobile client. The Skype for Mobile now works with around fifty Java-enabled phones worldwide. Yes, this new service works with incoming calls from Skype and SkypeIn features. It also features chat, chat group and Skype presence.

In addition, Skype for Mobile features Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls for mobile handsets, but only for Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden and the UK.

If you want to give Skype for Mobile a spin, as I know you really want to just like me, you can either download the application directly into your mobile phone or download it into your computer before transferring it into your mobile phone. And if you are not sure whether your mobile phone supports Skype-for-Mobile, you may check out the Skype-for-Mobile site and look into the directory of mobile phones supporting this Skype mobile client.

Read [Skype]

Didn’t we just reported that eBay has given Skype until the end of this year to prove its worth and viability before they decide to sell it off or keep it? Looks like Skype is starting to shape up as it just announced that it will begin offering an unlimited international calling for $9.95 a month.

The new Skype plan will give users unlimited calling features to 34 countries worldwide including most European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. The new plan also includes Skype to landline and cell phone calls in Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

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eBay has given Skype one more year to prove its viability and relevance to eBay’s online auction service. Skype was acquired by eBay with the hopes of the VoIP company helping boosts its online commerce business. However, since its acquisition, Skype failed to live up to eBay’s expectation of bringing more tie-ins between Skype and eBay’s online payment system through call-billing arrangement.

Citing an interview with the Financial Times, News.com reports that eBay CEO John Donahue said that eBay is giving Skype until the end of this year to test its synergies and if the synergies are strong, eBay will keep Skype in its portfolio. For eBay, its not a question of whether Skype is generating revenue for the company but more on the question of whether Skype blends well with eBay and its other web products and services.

In fact, Skype has managed to generate around $126 million in revenues during the first quarter of this year, which is a 61-percent increase from previous year’s first quarter revenue. Profit wise, it is expected to generate $500 million and still manage to post a profit. But this seems to be not enough for eBay to keep Skype. It wants something more from the PC-to-PC calling service. And whether Skype can give what eBay wants remains to be seen. Skype has a few more months to shape up, before it finds itself lost in limbo or still with eBay’s care and comfort.

Read [CNET]

It was back in November when Skype first announced the beta release that added video chat support for Linux users, and now they have announced the official Skype 2.0 with video for Linux. Now Linux users will be able to freely and without having to worry about running beta software, be able to have video chats with Windows and Mac users alike. Similar to other Skype offerings, version 2.0 for Linux is of course a free download.

Read [Skype] Via [Gizmodo]

Panasonic has recently launched its first ever phone to work with Skype, officially called the Panasonic KX-WP800, this Skype phone features it own access point so even if the PC is turned off you can still make and receive voice calls. The KX-WP800 Skype phone offers 4.5 hours of talk time and 55 hours of standby time, and since Panasonic has worked with FON, you can make calls using a FON hotspot wherever you may find one available.

While Skype fanatics in Japan are rejoicing with the release, there is no word yet on when or if the Skype phone will be available in the US or Europe. Panasonic’s Skype phone will retail for ¥29,800 (around $293 US).

Read [akihabara news]

Logitech has shown-off a new headset at CeBIT, the ClearChat PC Wireless headset. It combines a comfortable looking stereo headset with 2.4GHz technology which will let you stray up to 30-feet away from your computer. It also looks to provide an audio rich experience that keeps interference at a minimum.

The headset works with both PC’s and Mac’s, and is compatible with Skype, Windows Live, Yahoo, Google Talk and AIM. It is expected to have a May release in the U.S. and Europe and should retail for $99.99.

Via [Business Wire]

eBay continues their upper management shake-up that began in January with the exit of longtime CEO Meg Whitman by hiring new CEOs for both internet telephony service Skype and Shopping.com. Current Shopping.com president and Evite co-founder Josh Silverman will take the reigns at Skype. Andre Haddad is replacing Silverman at Shopping.com. Haddad has been with eBay since his startup iBazar was purchased in 2001.

Silverman is replacing the temporary Skype CEO Michale van Swaaij who has presided over Skype since co-founder Niklas Zennstrom left amid eBay’s unfortunate 1.4 billion write down of Skype.

The online auction giant has been suffering some ugly moments recently with sellers organizing a boycott over new rate structures. It remains to be seen if Silverman has any new ideas that will help eBay find a way to make Skype a more coherent part of eBay’s business structure.

Read [CNET]

Buffalo has just added the BKBU-SKJ109/SV, a new keyboard with an attached Skype handset. The USB keyboard is a full 109 key model and includes a Skype certified handset to the right of the numeric keypad. Strangely it seems that this keyboard was either photographed with that wonderful iPhone hand-model or possibly the handset is just very small.

The Buffalo BKBU-SKJ109/SV is going to be available beginning in early October and is expected to retail for $65.

Via [DVICE]