[SnowLprd]

Ooh! Ooh! Does it have the new Conversation Ads feature?

http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/06/skype_advertising_update.h...

I, for one, cannot WAIT to see these new ads, which Microsoft describes as "content that could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users."

Isn't that great? Ads are now "content." And the motivation isn't to make a bundle of money on ads, it's to "spark conversations."

Add this to the craptastical user interface and built-in backdoor eavesdropping, and it's plain to see that Skype has a bright future ahead!

http://memeburn.com/2011/07/microsoft-and-skype-set-to-allow...

[itsboring]

I'm inclined to agree with your points, I always preferred the linux client over the windows one, but skype just gets on my nerves recently. My team has switched to mumble for meetings and stuff and we find it immeasurably better. Plus, channels are a much better method for general collaboration than the outdated concept of conference calls.

[etherealG]

what do you use for a mumble server? I would happily choose this if there were an easy to use free version like skype.

[itsboring]

We use the murmur server on a linode, so it's totally free (if you have a linux server already). Just "apt-get install mumble-server" on ubuntu server.

Still have to use skype for external calls and stuff, but for internal comms we love it so far.

[nuclear_eclipse]

Isn't the "murmur" server that comes from Mumble free to use?

[devicenull]

I know it's not free, but you can easily find fully managed mumble hosting for $4 month (for up to 10 people connected at a time). It may not be completely free, but it's pretty damn close.

[Lammy]

I use µMurmur from the OpenWRT project.

[ZeroGravitas]

And mumble should get even better in a future update when it switches to Opus which combines their current CELT codec with, relevantly, Skype's SILK for better low-bitrate speech encoding.

[lwhi]

Just tried it .. works pretty flawlessly for me, very impressed.

There aren't any adverts so far ..

[Jabbles]

How else could they possibly justify spending $8billion on it?

[brudgers]

Skype has been a disruptive technology within the phone industry. Combined with Microsoft's mobile operating system and perhaps a hardware partner such as Nokia, it is quite possible that we may say mobile "phones" that completely bypass the current established carriers.

To put it another way, how often are most people away from a WiFi network when they make a call? Or more importantly, when they access a data stream with their device? $8 billion for Microsoft is not a significant amount when it comes to purchasing growth, and the article isn't about Facetime for Linux.

[jsnell]

At least I will much more often be with a phone with no WiFi access than within WiFi access with no computing device except a phone. And if I have something other than a phone available, I'm really not going to use Skype on the phone. The old Linux version of Skype wasn't the most brilliant piece of software ever, but even it is so far ahead of the phone versions of Skype that it's not even funny.

Does Skype run decently on any phone platform? I know the Android version will drain the battery dry faster than playing a 3D game and will not reliably receive calls even when running in the foreground. And it's my understanding that the WP7 version requires so much memory it doesn't even run on all WP7 phones, and will not run at all in the background making it totally useless.

At this point the idea that Skype + mobile would be some kind of a killer combination worth billions seems like a total pipe-dream. The only real-world effect it has is to kill Nokia faster due to mobile operators hating Skype, and not wanting to be aligned with MS.

[brudgers]

Having at one time worked in a Fortune 100 company, people take a lot of calls on their mobile phone while sitting at their desk. Those plan minutes add up.

Like most Microsoft products, the big fish is enterprise, not consumers. The 3D game comparison is somewhat misleading.

As an aside, the current version of Windows Phone was developed prior to the acquisition of Skype. Closer integration in future versions would not be unexpected.

[jsnell]

Ah, right. I forgot about the silly American idea of the receiver paying for a call instead of the caller. My experience with Skype is that it's very rarely used for making phone calls to normal numbers, but used all the time for long-distance / international calls with somebody expecting that call. There's very little benefit to using a mobile terminal in a case like that.

My point about battery life might not have been well made. It's not that games are an alternative to Skype, but that it's just absurdly power-hungry. Even more so than the apps that you'd expect to be the real hogs. My Nexus S usually goes 2-3 days between charges. If I leave Skype running in the background, it's drained in less than 8 hours.

Controlling that largest VoIP network in the world might well be valuable to MS. But to date I just haven't seen any evidence of it mixing well with mobile phones.

[bernalkc]

no ads in this client, on any screen, presumptuous one. next time look before you embarrass yourself.

[SnowLprd]

To be fair, I wasn't presuming anything. While I applaud the release of the Linux version, I was merely trying to show that Microsoft's stewardship of Skype seems to be headed in a rather unsavory direction.

[davidandgoliath]

How are advertisements unsavory? Is this same opinion of yours applicable against google, for the ads on it's search engine?

Just curious. I've never had anything against ads personally unless they're intrusive -- or that my data is being bought & sold to show them. Not that I trust $vendor to keep that data private, but showing me the latest advertisement for some movie coming out next week isn't going to ruin my experience. Youtube's advertisement implementation for example, I find intrusive & frustrating as it literally displays over top of the content and returns on every video you watch.

Until skype starts strapping a pepsi logo to my partner-in-chat's face, I'm content.

If it helps keep skype around longer, kudos. I enjoy using the app.

[SnowLprd]

It's not the advertisements I find unsavory — it's the spin. Rather than just say, "We will be introducing a new type of ad that we hope users won't find too intrusive," they instead refer to the ads as "content" and spin them as conversation starters.

I agree that ads have their place, particularly in a free product or service. But since you brought up Google, I'm not sure we should be holding them up as an example of how to do un-intrusive advertising:

http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/world/

[rhizome]

Google doesn't portray its ads as content.

[barista]

right that's why they don't show right above where the actual content of search results is displayed....oh wait...

[rhizome]

I think your definition of "content" is too expansive in this context. Just because it's on the page doesn't mean it's content. Skype/MS saying that the presence of in-line ads will foster conversation is much different than sponsored or side results in Google SERPs.

[jodrellblank]

How are advertisements unsavory? Is this same opinion of yours applicable against google, for the ads on it's search engine?

When you search Google, it uses Google's servers and web index.

Skype uses other user's bandwidth to route calls.

Leeching other people's bandwidth and also advertising to you while doing so, stings.

(Yes they have directory services and development to pay for, and yes they have infrastructure, for POTS-integration, but on the other hand, POTS-integration isn't free, it's already charged for separately on a service-use basis).

[FreeFull]

Microsoft has been working to make Skype only use Microsoft's servers for a while now. I believe a lot of Skype data is going through these servers already, and since no users can become new supernodes any more, some time in the future all the data will go through Microsoft's servers.

[jmsduran]

I too find advertisements in general unsavory.

[throwaway64]

to be additionally fair, the Skype interface was heading in a downhill direction well before the Microsoft acquisition.

[beedogs]

Wow. Do you post dickish replies much? You seem good at it.