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Video Makes Skype 4.0 Grow Bigger, Wider
Updated: Skype, the peer-to-peer VoIP provider and a division of eBay, wants to grow up – both as a company and as a communications utility. To that end, it is launching the beta version of its latest Skype client software.
Josh Silverman, the company’s new CEO, acknowledged that from a usability standpoint, things hadn’t changed much, even as Skype kept adding more features such as embedding third-party plug-ins. Skype needed a better, easier and cleaner client — and Skype 4.0 beta, likely to be available for download tomorrow, is a start.
The new client is going to cause an uproar amongst many Skype loyalists used to the IM-like nature of the current software. With this version, the software takes up the entire PC desktop screen, mostly to accommodate a growing number of features. (Skype Journal’s Jim Courtney & JKontherun tell me that you can change the screen size, though it isn’t that obvious or easy.) I found it hugely annoying as it forced me to constantly toggle between the client and the desktop; merely doubling or tripling the size of the client seems like it would have sufficed.
The real reason for the redesign, however, is Skype Video, which desperately needed a new layout because it requires an ease-of-use that eludes the current client. As I pointed out a few weeks ago, video communication (which accounts for about 28 percent of total Skype calls) has been one of the fastest-growing features on Skype, thanks to the easy availability of built-in cameras, especially in devices used by mobile workers.
I often use Skype to conduct calls with my friends around the planet, and occasionally for work as well. As the bandwidth on our broadband connections grows, I think the idea of quick video conversations with friends, family and co-workers will catch on. In this era of rising oil prices and unfriendly skies, it makes sense to simply call someone and see them on computer screen.
But back to the software and my initial impressions (their PR team only sent me the beta download link this morning.) I think after people get over the initial shock related to the bigger size, they will quickly learn to love version 4.0.
I found the improved ability to conduct conversations by consolidating the tabs, which allows you to easily switch between various conversations, especially useful. And initiating a video call is dead simple, almost as simple as Apple’s iChat client.
Skype 4.0 is a much more complete communicator, even despite its beta status. With it, using Skype for instant messaging, making video and voice calls, sending files and sending SMS messages are all easier. I think it’s well worth the download (Available for download tomorrow.) But it’s a shame they don’t have a Mac client — the 4.0 version will initially only be available for Windows-based computers — since Mac is my everyday machine.
The company is also working on introducing features such as auto-redial, call transfer, and most importantly, the ability to send money. I guess they figured out how to integrate eBay’s PayPal with Skype. Now wasn’t that worth spending billions of dollars on?
Getting Started with JBoss 4.0
KDE 4.0 Release Event wrap-up
I had the pleasure of helping out with the KDE 4.0 Release Event this past weekend. With attendees of all ages and backgrounds from around the world, the event was a huge success. In addition to a great coming out party for KDE 4.0, it was also the venue in which Trolltech announced it would adopt GPL 3 for Qt.
Thursday was 'un-conference' style with attendees organizing impromptu BOFs and breakout sessions. However, a lot of people spent a good portion of the day discovering who else was there, as many of the KDE developers and community members were meeting each other for the first time.
Friday was the big day with around 150 people and 2 dragons in attendance. Aaron Seigo's keynote was well received by KDE release parties going on simultaneously around the world, thanks to the video streaming magic of Franz Keferböck. Many other speakers graced the podium after Aaron, including the two Release Event Contest winners, Kyle Cunningham and Aron Stansvik. The day finished with cocktails and a special vintage provided by Celeste.
Things wrapped up on Saturday with a few more BOFs. Since we had all that A/V goodness going unused, many attendees took it upon themselves to give a presentation or two. The most popular one was the Amarok 2 talk given by Jeff Mitchell and Leo Franchi (both worked on Amarok as Google Summer of Code students).
All in all, everyone seemed to have a great time. Many thanks go to my co-conspirators Tiffany and Cat from the Open Source Team, and to Wade, Franz, Sebas, Troy and Jeff of KDE for their efforts in putting the event together. I hear that a similar event is in the works for next year. Here's hoping Aaron Seigo does karaoke at that one too.
Editorial:KDE 4.0, A Call for Perspective | Linux Tech Daily
KDE 4.0 (Today Released) Screenshots Tour
KDE 4.0 is the innovative Free Software desktop containing lots of applications for every day use as well as for specific purposes. Plasma is a new desktop shell developed for KDE 4, providing an intuitive interface to interact with the desktop and applications. The Konqueror web browser integrates the web with the desktop. The Dolphin file manager, the Okular document reader and the System Settings control center complete the basic desktop set.
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Read the rest of KDE 4.0 (Today Released) Screenshots Tour (45 words)
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FreeNX Server and Client Installation in Debian Etch
FreeNX is a system that allows you to access your desktop from another machine over the internet. You can use this to login graphically to your desktop from a remote location. One example of its use would be to have a FreeNX server set up on your home computer, and graphically logging in to the home computer from your work computer, using a FreeNX client.
The Server is the computer you want to connect to. This is the computer where the FreeNX server will need to be installed. The name of the Ubuntu package providing the server is “freenx”. For the example used here, the home computer is the server.
The Client is the computer from which you want to be able to access the Server. The name of the Ubuntu package providing the client is “nxclient”. For the example used here, the work computer is the client.
Install Required software
NX server needs ssh and some libraries to run. These packages are normally not installed during the basic installation process.Use the following comamnd to install
#aptitude libstdc++2.10-glibc2.2 ssh
Install Free NX Server in Debian Etch
First you need to download the .deb packages using the follwoing commands
#wget http://64.34.161.181/download/2.1.0/Linux-NoXft/nxclient_2.1.0-17_i386.deb
#wget http://64.34.161.181/download/2.1.0/Linux/nxnode_2.1.0-22_i386.deb
#wget http://64.34.161.181/download/2.1.0/Linux/FE/nxserver_2.1.0-22_i386.deb
Now you need to install .deb packages in the following order this is very important
#dpkg -i nxclient_2.1.0-17_i386.deb
#dpkg -i nxnode_2.1.0-22_i386.deb
#dpkg -i nxserver_2.1.0-22_i386.deb
If you get any errors use the following comamnd to fix
#apt-get -f install
Now you need to make sure ssh and nx servers are running if not start with the following commands
#/etc/init.d/ssh start
#/etc/init.d/nxserver start
Freenx client installation in Windows
First you need to download freenx client from here
In this example i am using freenx client for windows and i have installed in my windows xp machine
Once you finish the installation you should be having freenx shortcut in your desktop now you need to double click on that and you should see the following screen and click next here
Here you need to enter the session name,server name or ipaddress and port number and click next
Now you need to choose your session and screen resolution and click next
Configuration completed screen and click finish
Now you need to enter the username and password you want to connect as and click login
Connection established screen
This will complete the connection to your server
Freenx client installation in Debian
First you need to download the client .deb package using the following command
#wget http://64.34.161.181/download/2.1.0/Linux-NoXft/nxclient_2.1.0-17_i386.deb
Install .deb package using the following comamnd
#dpkg -i nxclient_2.1.0-17_i386.deb
If you get any errors use the following comamnd to fix
#apt-get -f install
Now you need to go to Applications–>Internet–>NX Client for Linux –> NX Client for Linux once it opens you can follow the above procedure to connect
Optional Configuration
Changing SSH port Number
By default, nxserver uses port 22 for communicating over SSH. On some machines or networks, port 22 may be blocked. For example, some providers block port 22. To make the SSH server listen on port 8888, you can do the following:
Edit the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config
#vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Find
Port 22
and change it to
Port 8888
You then need to restart SSHD. Try
#/etc/init.d/ssh restart
Edit the file /etc/nxserver/node.conf
#vi /etc/nxserver/node.conf
Find
# The port number where local ’sshd’ is listening.
#SSHD_PORT=22
and change it to:
# The port number where local ’sshd’ is listening.
SSHD_PORT=8888
That is, change the port number to the one that sshd is listening to, and uncomment the line.
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