The Skype Mouse Phone is, according to its makers, the first sliding cover mouse mouse in the world.

The handy device sports the following features:

• Supports multiple VOIP platforms
• Built-in mic. and speaker
• Handsfree function
• Independent sound chip to handle softphone VOIP voice quailty
• Only one USB cable to handle both Mouse and Phone
• LCD display with keypad
• Dot matrix caller-ID
• Volume control
• 800 DPI Optical sensor
• Auto detection(or manual switch) between Mouse and phone
• USB 1.1 Interface — No external power/sound card required

The Doyuan web site is promoting the Skype Mouse but gives no explanation as to why they think phone and mouse is arational combination. We see phone/mp3 player combos every day because combining these two mobile devices was logical but most mice stay on a desk! and the wired ones need unplugging!!

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Skype is very slowly taking over the world! Since the purchase by Ebay there seemed to be very little advance in the VOIP platform from its new owner until very recently when it seemed that the original VOIP system was at last stretching its legs and spreading onto as many platforms as it can get its hands on including your cell phone and now Intel’s Mobile Internet Device (MID).

Skype can now be used on the following platforms:

• Most smartphones
• Nokia Internet Tablet devices (N800/N810)
• Sony Mylo 2
• PlayStation Portable (PSP)
• A number of in-house phones
• 3 Skypephone
• Intel’s MID platform.

The MID gadgets are currently only conceptual built as an example of what the Intel chips are capable of. The devices run MILP OS (Mobile Internet Linux Platform) as do many mobile phones now which allows for easy development and integration for phone’s software developers and for third-party software writers.

The software is said to be scheduled for release in the first half of 2008 which just happens to coincide with the release of Intel’s Ultra Mobile Platform based on the low consumption Silverthorne processor. The ‘Menlow’ update to this software is due to reduce power usage by 75% over the previous incarnation running on a Celeron M chip.

In preparation for this release Intel has signed up the following manufacturers to make MIDs:

• Asus
• Compal
• HTC
• Inventec
• Quanta

And you could be seeing the platform on mobile devices soon from the following phone companies:

• BenQ
• Fujitsu
• Hitachi
• Lenovo
• LG
• Panasonic
• Samsung
• Toshiba

It seems that the days of paying hundreds of dollars for a contract with a mobile network provider may be numbered as city-wide WiFi eventually becomes a reality and Skype becomes usable on every phone produced by a major manufacturer. But then that would give the big network companies a considerable incentive to lobby cities to slow down the implementation of long-range WiFi or to not adopt it at all.

It’ll be interesting to see who wins and whose political career is enhanced/diminished by the conflict.

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This phone is different from the hundreds of other ‘skype phones’ available today. As far as I am aware this is the only Skype cell phone, allowing you to make truly mobile phone calls at Skype’e low rates to other phones and free calls to other Skype users.

The phone itself is only £50 ($99, €68) on 3′s pay-as-you-go plan and includes web browsing and other standard features. The Skype web site describes the phone thus:

“Only the 3 Skypephone lets you make free unlimited calls to any of Skype’s 246 million users*. So the more people you know with a 3 Skypephone the more you can cut your mobile bill.”

• Using Skype is as simple as making a normal voice call and can be used straight out of the box.
• All 3 Skypephone users receive free Skype calls and Skype Chat to anywhere in the world, making mobile communication much more affordable.
• The 3 Skypephone can be used to communicate with all Skype users, whether they are using their PC or their mobile phone.
• The phone integrates your Skype contacts into the phone address book so that they are easily manageable, regardless of how you choose to communicate with them.
• Skype users have access to all of Skype’s core functions including presence information, call logs and Skype Chat.
• The 3 Skypephone supports a whole range of 3G products and services which have been squeezed into this compact and stylish handset. It is available in white with blue trim, white with pink trim, or black with gloss black trim.
• This device is based on Qualcomm’s BREW technology.

The Skypephone is currently available in the following countries:

• Australia
• Austria
• Denmark
• Hong Kong (Coming soon)
• Ireland
• Italy
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

3 Mobile has released the following specifications:

• Weight 86g
• Size 100 x 44 x 13.6mm
• Standby 320 hours
• Talk Time 270 minutes
• Video Talk Time 170 minutes
• Connectivity: Bluetooth A2DP, USB 2.0
• Camera: 2.0 Megapixel
• Network: WCDMA (2100MHz ) GSM / GPRS (900/1800 MHz)
• Bundled with 2 great games (Java compatible)
• Screen Size 2.0” (176 x 220) QCIF, 262K Colour TFT
• Internal memory: 16MB
• External expandable to 1GB
• 256MB micro SD card in box
• Music Player: MP3 Player

Related Posts:

• Skype moves onto Intel MID
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• Toshiba’s new T-911 G3 slider phone specs

Zaphod8 on Skype’s forum reports the following:

I’m using Skype 1.4.0.99 in my Ubuntu Gutsy Tribe-4, and I decided to setup an AppArmor profile to isolate skype from the rest of my system (since Skype access the network, I would like to protect my system against a potential 0-day remote flaw in Skype, by restricing Skype to access only those files strictly required, like those in the folder ~/.Skype — so that, in case skype is compromised, only skype files would suffer).

AppArmor allows users to fence off areas of the hard drive and system to applications and reports attempted infractions. Zaphod8 received the following log entry when getting Skype 1.4.0.99 to make a test call:

Aug 25 01:34:02 desknote kernel: [ 9116.625673] audit(1188002042.632:13467): REJECTING r access to /etc/ passwd (skype(8470) profile /usr/bin/skype active /usr/bin/skype)

In fact it can be seen from the AppArmor logs that the following files are being accessed by Skype for Linux:


/etc/passwd
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/searchplugins
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/bookmarkbackups
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/chrome
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/gm_scripts
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/chatzilla
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/extensions
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/ScrapBook
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/adblockplus
/home/zaphodb/.mozilla/firefox/4h99k4vs.default/prefs.js


(…this list is a summary)

So it looks as if Skype is very interested in the Firefox pugins information.

Responses to this forum posting include the following:

• it is installed on a majority of systems
• it is protected against decompilation / debuggers
• it bypasses almost any firewall
• it uses encryption for network traffic
• it may send lots of data even when not making a call
• it might have already been deployed by the NSA
• eBay has a history of cooperating with federal agencies

The federal agency angle seems a bit far-fetched to me and until it is proved otherwise Skype needs to explain why it is mining users machines for usernames by unconventional means and why is it so interested in the users Firefox plugins, all apparently for commercial use. If Skype can’t come up with a very convincing answer its a lot of users are going to abandon the VOIP system having already suffered a two-day outage a week ago.

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• Skype 2.7 Beta for Mac OS X released

Skype has now released Skype 2.7 beta for Mac OS X.

Here’s what Skype says is new:

• Group contacts – organize your contacts into as many groups as you need. While there are some pre-defined groups (like Online, Waiting Authorization, Recently Contacted), you’re free to add new ones that suit your life. This should be a godsend to those whose contact list has ballooned to hundreds of Skype users. Explore this nifty feature under the cogwheel icon on the main screen.
• See your Apple Address Book contacts in Skype – easily call or SMS anyone who has a phone number in their address-book profile. When texting, just make sure the number is one that belongs to a mobile phone.
• Create and manage public chats by clicking on Chats in the menu bar and choosing Start Public Chat. A public-chat assistant will walk you through the necessary steps.
• Auto Redial for busy or unconnected calls. When your call hits the busy signal, Skype will give you the option of automatic redial every two minutes until the call goes through. This setting can also be adjusted in Skype > Preferences > Calls.
• Easy sound-level controls – when you need to tweak the sound level during a call, use a simple slider in the call window
• Overhauled file transfer – wearing a more fashionable jacket, file-transfer now looks elegant and acts even nicer, especially when receiving many files at once

There has been some hostility alerady to this version’s mass import of address book contacts particularly where people are storing hundreds of contacts in their address book application. Apparently Skype does not offer an opt-out of this import. It is also not yet clear whether these contacts are shared accross Skype logins on the same OS X account.

Thankfully it has been confirmed that the contacts are only stored locally and not on Skype’s servers.

This beta upgrade has taken a lot of flak from posters for connection losses and log-in problems but these are far more likely due to a recent service outage accross the all Skype platforms over the past 24 hours.
Download Skype 2.7 for Mac beta at skype.com/go/getskype-macosx-beta

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