Skype 2.6 for Android lets you send photos, videos

Skype for Android lets you make voice or video calls or send instant messages. Now you can also use it to send files including photos or pre-recorded videos over the internet.
To get the new file-sending feature, you just need to grab the free Skype 2.6 app from the Android Market.
File-sending is available over WiFi or 3G connections and the service is free — but you’ll have to pay for any used data minutes on your own.
Skype 2.6 also offers better battery life and video quality improvements on phones and tablets with NVIDIA Tegra 2 processors. The company has also added new graphics and improved the voicemail and sign-in functions.
Nimbuzz launches PC app — lets you make free voice, video calls to phones

Nimbuzz offers mobile apps that let you chat with or make free calls to other Nimbuzz users, or cheap calls to phone numbers. The iPhone app supports video calls, while you can also make voice-only calls from the Nimbuzz Android and Symbian apps.
Now the company has also launched a PC app for Mac or Windows which means you can place a call from a desktop or laptop computer to your Nimbuzz contacts.
Sure, Nimbuzz is hardly the first company to offer this feature. Skype has had a cross-platform video app for ages — and Skype Linux as well as Windows and OS X.
But if your contacts are using Nimbuzz rather than Skype for one reason or another, it’s nice to know you can now call them from your desk without pulling out a phone first.
The new Nimbuzz PC app is available as a free download. You can also use it as a cross-platform instant messenger app. It supports Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Windows Live, Yahoo, and AOL messenger services, among others.
Nimbuzz will be rolling out video calling support for Android and Symbian soon as well.
via IntoMobile
Nimbuzz adds push notifications to its Android chat app

Communications app Nimbuzz has pushed out an update to its Android app which offers Push notifications and message delivery notifications. You’ll need Android 2.2 Froyo or higher in order to receive push notifications.
Nimbuzz is a cross-platform chat app that lets you send messages to your AIM, Windows Live, Google Talk, Facebook, or other instant messenger contacts. The app also lets you make free voice calls to other Nimbuzz users over WiFi or 3G without using your phone plan’s voice minutes. You can also make inexpensive calls to telephone lines.
The new push notifications feature means that your contacts will see you as online even if the app is closed — and you’ll receive a notification when they send a message. This saves your battery life and data minutes while making sure you don’t miss important messages.
The latest version of Nimbuzz also allows you to synchronize your Nimbuzz and phone contact lists so that your Nimbuzz contacts will show up in your phone’s contact list, allowing you to initiate a chat or voice call from your primary contact list without firing up the Nimbuzz app first.
Vonage delivers new Time to Call app for iOS, special deals available for early adopters
Internet telephone company Vonage has released a new iOS app called Time to Call which lets you make phone calls over the internet from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It works over both WiFi and 3G, but the 3G feature is currently exclusive to the US and Canada.
Time to Call is offering your first 15 minutes of call time to 190 different countries free of charge, but that promotion is a limited time offer. After the free trial, the price for a 15 minute international call goes up to a flat rate of 1.99 or less to 100 countries.
Prices are higher for the 90 other countries Time To Call can reach, with prices ranging from $2.99 to $9.99. You can discover more country-specific pricing through Vonage’s new web tool.
Overall the prices seem a bit higher than Skype’s rates, which start at $0.02 per minute for domestic and international calls.
But one particularly convenient aspect of Time to Call is that it bills you directly via iTunes, rather than its own client or a third party site like PayPal. Also, for a limited time, unused minutes can be used for additional calls (also known as rollover. )
Skype adds video support for most Android phones

Skype has rolled out a new version of its Android app with support for video calling on 17 more Android devices. The company says you can now make video calls on the “majority” of Android devices. Skype users can place free voice or video calls to other Skype users for free. You can also make relatively chap calls to domestic or international telephone numbers from Skype.
Odds are if you have a recent phone from HTC, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson, you should be good to go. A few phones from LG and Acer also made the list.
Unfortunately Motorola Droid phones, and my Google Nexus One aren’t officially supported. But there’s an option to enable or disable video calling on any device. If you’re using a phone that hasn’t been certified, you get a warning message letting you now that performance might not be all that good though.
Viber for Android exits beta, offers free phone calls, text messages

Viber is a mobile app that lets users make free phone calls or send free text messages to other Viber users over 3G or WiFi connections. The company offers an iPhone app, and for the past few months a beta version of an Android app has been available. Now Viber is removing the beta label and announcing the launch of Viber 2.0. It’s available as a free download from the Android Market.
The company says it has more than 20 million registered users — but the more interesting number is 12 million. That’s how many people have actively used the service in the last 30 days, with users talking for an average of 11 minutes per day.
Viber’s Android app has a few features you won’t find in the iPhone app, including tight integration with your phone so that you can see your normal phone call logs and messages from within the Viber app. You can also configure your phone to use the Viber dialer to make normal calls over your cellular network. There’s also a pop-up text notification window that allows you to respond to messages without opening the full app.
Skype for the iPad coming Tuesday June 28th

Image Credit: CNET
Skype offers apps for voice, video, and text communication for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. But so far there’s one platform Skype doesn’t support: the Apple iPad. That changes on Tuesday when Skype is expected to launch its first iPad app.
The folks at CNET got a sneak peek at Skype for the iPad. They say video calls look great over a WiFi connection, but less-than-stellar when you’re using 3G.
The overall layout looks like a simplified version of Skype’s desktop applications, with a contact list on the left and big video windows on the right. The dialer, contact list, detailed contact info and other features also hang out on the right.
As with Skype’s iPhone app, you can use the iPad app to switch between the front and rear cameras or even make voice-only calls by keeping the camera turned off.
It’s probably a matter of opinion whether Skype’s iPad app is better than Apple’s Facetime video chat service. But there’s one key difference: Skype already supports a number of different protocols, so the person you’re calling doesn’t have to be using a Mac or iOS device.
Skype also briefly posted a demo video demo on YouTube today before removing it. You can check out a soundless copy someone saved after the break.
Read the rest of this entry »
Fring brings group video calls to HTC Flyer, Google Nexus S, more Android phones
The folks behind the mobile communications app Fring have launched a new version which improves voice quality and adds support for additional devices including:
- HTC Flyer 7 inch Android tablet
- Samsung Droid Charge
- Google Nexus S with Android 2.3.4
- Samsung Galaxy S2
- LG G2X
Fring lets you make free voice or video calls over the internet. Like Skype, you can also use Fring to make cheap calls to regular telephone lines. The company rolled out support for group video calls recently. It allows up to four people to participate in a video chat simultaneously.
Fring is available as a free download from the Android Market.



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