This week’s WSJ.com Loose Wire column (subscription only, I’m afraid) is on getting more screen for nothing: People of the future will laugh at us for many reasons, no doubt, but one of the most likely sources of their mirth will be the miserly size of our computer screens. It isn’t that our screens haven’t … Read more
The new Skype is out today. I’ve not played with the video — the main selling bit for most folks — but for me the best bit is the ‘status’ bubble. They’ve stolen a trick out GoogleTalk’s book, which has these easy-to-change status bits: and are now in Skype: It may seem merely cute, but … Read more
Some people, we know, really don’t like Skype. A few people are now building a business on it. Now there’s SkypeKiller (“Your whole network Skype ridden for free”), a French program which will remove all traces of Skype from your network. As its homepage states: With nearly 200 million downloads and 62 million regular users worldwide, … Read more
Verso Technologies has announced its first major deal for its Internet filtering technology — in China. Verso is best known for its high-profile promises to block Skype VoIP traffic, which have raised a few eyebrows, and very little take-up, in the U.S. and Europe. However, clearly this is exactly what the unidentified Chinese mobile carrier wants … Read more
How well does Voice over Internet work for folks who rely on dial-up? I’ve not had much luck with Skype — it comes across as crackly, jerky and fenerky (I made up the last word.) A company called NetZero is now offering a VoIP service it says works well for dial-up users: “We believe consumers should … Read more