GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that the developers of Kazaa have released Skype; a telephony chat service that is based on Peer-to-peer technology. Internet based telephony has been around for years now such as Dialpad and Net2Phone. Skype claim their network uses the maximum available resources to ensure the most efficient and more reliable communication path. Their audio codec is supposed to be superior to a fixed telephone line.
Like other chat problems such as MSN Messenger, Skype supports instant messaging, buddy lists and who is online. All calls are encrypted using 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) as used by the U.S. Government Organisations.
Skype's beta software and peer-to-peer telephony is free. They aim to implement a fee based peer-to-telephone service similar to that of Net2phone at a later stage. The software works over all firewall, NAT and router based connections with no configuration required, although some strict firewalls which only allow certain going TCP ports may not work well with Skype.
OK, so it's not a revolutionary idea. Most internet telephony products, like Net2Phone, are based on P2P or two-way communications; but Skype founders Niklas Zennstré¶m and Janus Friis claim their network uses every available resource to route communications in the most efficient way possible, so the connections should be more reliable. Skype also says it partnered with the best acoustic scientists in the business to deliver sound quality superior to even a fixed telephone line. As with most chat programs, buddy lists show you when your friends are online and ready to talk or chat. All calls are encrypted end-to-end. Skype uses the 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), which is also used by U.S. Government organizations. Since you ask Skype can also do simple Instant Messaging. The software works with all firewall, NAT and routers, with nothing to configure. This is why the Skype founders think their product is so much better than most voice-over-IP applications, which almost never work from behind firewalls and NAT. Only some very strict corporate firewalls which only authorize TCP connections on a restricted number of ports may not allow Skype to connect at the moment. The beta software (under 3 Megs) is free. You need a PC running Windows 2000 or XP, a 400 MHz processor, 128Mb of memory, a sound card, speakers and a microphone and a broadband Internet connection. Skype uses its own URL callto:// to connect directly to users, but the company also plans to hook up to plain old telephony networks. For a modest fee, obviously. ® |
I have used Dialpad about five years back to make free calls from Ireland to the US. Back then, the call quality was poor, broken up and had a 1-2 second delay between my end and the other. But still, it was a lot cheaper than calling the US directly. Since that time, the Internet and telephony software have improved a lot.
MSN messenger which is included with Windows XP and Outlook Express already supports free voice telephony and fee based voice-telephone communication: Just select "Start a voice conversation..." from its 'Actions' menu. With this, Skype's features such as encryption and call quality will need to impress its users to try and compete. It is not clear of the software has any ad-ware built into it.
It is interesting to see that telephone companies don't appear to be worried about broadband users having the ability to make free phone calls. Then again, there is nothing wrong with the technology unlike peer-to-peer music swapping. With encryption, it is even more secure than the telephone since the line cannot be easily 'tapped' into.
Source: The Register
