A new Skype BETA was released today and boy does it pack a punch. It's hard to imagine but, Sype is now better than ever. Skype 3.0 BETA has so many new features that you can tell somebody's been burning the midnight oil to bring Skype squarely into the world of Web 2.0. Believe it or not it now has everything from "skypecasts" to chinese checkers to a shared "whiteboard." It truly has progressed by leaps and bounds. The first new feature I took a look is Skypecast. It's basically a public chat session that users can either set up on their own or simply jump into others that are already created. With a few simple steps users can easily set up new chat sessions which others can then select and join. You can also scroll through the list of preexisting sessions and enter the one of your choice. In the pictures below you can see the Skypecast, "ZeroPaid in the Morning," that I created. You first have to log in with your Skype username and password, then simply select the "Create Skypecast" link on the top right-hand part of the page. From there just choose a name for your Skypecast, write a brief description,and then choose when you want the Skypecast to begin.
You'll then see the Skypecast you created, which will include a link to join in.
Here is what the Skypecast session looks like. Users are separated into 3 sections: talking, waiting, and listening.When you first join a chat you have the option of being a voyeur and merely listening to the discussion. When the Skypecast fills up with users they are pushed to the waiting section until space is available. In the meantime, the "host," or MOD, can bump people from "listening" to "talking" or vice versa. This was crucial when I had people with poor microphones or feedback chime in and interfere with a coherent discussion, and to bump down the occasional flamers and fanboys who were getting out of hand.
Skypecast is a pretty cool concept, as it allows people a quick way to set up chat rooms and then use its link as an easy to click method for others to join in. You can put the link in your MySpace page, blog, etc. with which others can then easily click and begin talking with with one another, be it friends, family, or strangers. The only drawback is that you can't make the Skypecast user specific or private. Any and everybody can join in and potentially muck up a honest or civilized conversation. The "host" has to stay on top of things. But, I do think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Another cool feature is the whiteboard. You select with whom you wish to "draw with" and then you can see and share notes or diagrams in real time. To get started "right-click" one of your contacts, scroll down to "Do More," and then select "whiteboard." Below you can see the real piece of art that "evilmegaman" and I created. Watch out da Vinci!
Checkers, backgammon and all the other games are just as easy and fun to play. Again, simply "right-click" the desired contact, and choose the game of your choice.
There's so many other new features that it's almost impossible to list them all but, there's one more that's worth mentioning. The Universal Chat add-on is an upgrade definitely worth having. It's a universal speech and translation tool that makes communicating with the rest of the world easier (especially we Americans:P). The first part of it allows you to have all the text chats verbalized and also even translated to other languages. All you have to do is install a language plugin per the language of your choice and presto chango the words will be spoken in your native tongue.
The other part of the translator allows you to translate text into again the language of your choice. Here in the picture below I translated some text chat into arabic. Now I can practice my arabic.
Moreover, Skype's BETA 3.0 is head and shoulders above all the other IM programs out there. With all the new expanded features and functions the world just got a whole lot smaller. Now I can practice my Chinese Checkers game with people in Bulgaria. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SKYPE 3.0 BETA (WINDOWS ONLY)
SOULXTC: "walkin' the streets of P2P" |
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I wish everyone only used skyep. All they need is a plugin that shows aol/msn/icq/ym contacts and allows you to only send IMS/filetransfer.