The developers at Skype must be working overtime this week. Yesterday saw the launch of Skype 3.0 for Windows Phones. Today Skype pushed out version 4.1 for Windows and Skype 1.1 for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Skype 4.1 for Windows includes support for screen sharing, birthday reminders, and improved audio and video quality. The latest version also fixes a few bugs found in Skype 4.1 beta, so if you're running the beta you'll probably want to update.

Skype 1.1 for the iPhone and iPod Touch now lets you listen to your voicemail on your mobile phone and send SMS. The update also adds support for additional languages.

After months of beta testing, Skype has released an updated VoIP and chat client for Windows Mobile. Skype 3.0 for Windows phones should work with most phones running Windows Mobile 5.0 or newer. It's designed to support WiFi, 2G, or 3G internet connections, although you'll get the best voice quality when using WiFi.

The new features in Skype 3.0 for Windows Phones include the ability to send files to other Skype users and the ability to send text messages at Skype rates. If you don't have an unlimited data plan on your phone, Skype 3.0 isn't going to save you any money. But if your plan offers unlimited data without unlimited texting, the ability to send SMS via Skype could certainly come in handy.

You can also make free Skype to Skype calls using the client, or make long distance calls at SkypeOut Rates.

Skype 4.1 beta for Windows is out today, and it adds a few new features. Probably the biggest change is the addition of screen sharing technology. While Skype typically rolls out new features for its Windows client before adding them to Skype's other platforms, this feature has been available in Skype 2.8 beta for Mac for a while now.

When you're chatting with a Skype contact, you can now click a Share button in order stream your entire desktop or just a portion of your screen with your contact.

Skype 4.1 beta for Windows also allows you to import contacts from other services including Gmail, Windows Live, Yahoo!, AOL, and LinkedIn. You can also send contacts to other Skype users and there's a birthday reminder feature.

The update also brings some bug fixes and audio and video improvements.

PamFax is a plugin for Skype from the same people who make Pamela, an application that lets you record Skype conversations. As you may have guessed from the name, PamFax lets you send documents to fax machines using Skype.

The company recently released PamFax 2.0, which adds a ton of exciting new features including support for Macs, the ability to receive faxes from 27 countries in addition to sending outgoing faxes, and lower prices. PamFax 2.0 can also be run independently of Skype.

The first fax is free, but you'll need to purchase credit in order to send and receive fax messages after that.

[via SkypeJournal]

If you make a lot of PC to phone calls using Skype but haven't already signed up for a 12 month unlimited plan, you might want to think about placing an order before May 6th. Because Skype is offering a 25% discount for customers who sign up for unlimited SkypeOut plan between now and then.

The cheapest plan starts at $2.95/month before the discount is applied for calls to landlines and celllphones in the US and Canada. You can also subscribe to a plan that lets you make unlimited calls to landlines in a single country, or an "Unlimited World" plan that lets you make calls to landlines in more than 40 countries for $12.95/month before the discount is applied.

[via GigaOm]

At work, I usually either use a drive imaging program to load the operating system and applications onto a machine. If I'm reformatting a customer's machine, I use WPI (Windows Post Installer) to silently install programs. At home, however, I'm a little less cautious when I reformat and often forget to back up my program installers.

That's when something like the Smart Installer Pack might come in handy. It's a pre-packed set of popular applications that you'd likely want to install on your own system (or a friend's) after a fresh format.

It includes a host of apps like Firefox, Chrome, OpenOffice, Winamp, Skype, Daemon Tools, Picasa, Winamp, Thunderbird, Adobe Reader and Flash, WinRar, Rocket Dock, CCleaner, and more. Everything downloads in a single file, so you won't be cluttering up your drive with a bunch of separate installers.

SIP has two drawbacks. First, the installers are interactive, not silent, so you'll have to click through manually. Second, there are a few apps I'd normally install instead - like 7zip and Sumatra PDF. Shortcomings aside, this is still a handy way to get a system up and running quickly with a solid group of commonly-used programs.

It looks like Skype will become its own company again next year. But eBay isn't looking to sell Skype back to founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, despite recent reports that they were hoping to buy the company again. Instead, eBay put out a press release today announcing that it would separate Skype from eBay and sell it through an IPO (initial public offering) in the first half of 2010.

In the release, eBay CEO John Donahoe admits something that most of us have known since eBay first purchsed Skype for around $3 billion: "Skyper has limited synergies with eBay and PayPal." By separating Skype from eBay and running it as its own publicly traded company, Skype can do what's best for a VoIP company and not have to worry about being attached to an online auction house.

Skype generated $551 million in revenue in 2008, and had 405 million registered users.

[via Techmeme]

A few years back online auction site eBay purchased Skype for about $3 billion. But the two companies have always seemed like an awkward fit. After all, while in theory it might make sense to integrate Skype's VoIP and chat technology into eBay's site to help facilitate auctions, the truth is that email works just fine for working out the kinks in most transactions. And eBay has never really done very much to integrate Skype with its other services.

Now the New York Times is reporting that Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are exploring the possibility of buying Skype back from eBay. It's not clear how much money they'll need to buy the company back, but it seems likely that eBay could let it go for significantly less than it paid for the service.

Call Graph is a Windows utility that lets you record Skype conversations in MP3 format. We first looked at Call Graph last year when there were no restrictions on the service, and it wasn't entirely clear what the company's business plan was.

Now there are two versions, Call Graph Standard and Premium editions. The Standard edition doesn't have any recording time limits like some other Skype audio recorders. But it is advertising supported. It will display ads when playing back your audio and on the screen that lists your recordings. For $15/year or a one-time $25 fee you can get an ad-free version.

Calls are recorded as stereo, variable bitrate MP3 files. Your end of the conversation will be recorded on one track and the other end is recorded on the other, which comes in handy if you need to edit the audio for a podcast or some other purpose.

Call Graph also offers a transcription service, where you can pay $0.50 for each minute of audio you want transcribed. The transcripts are generated by machines and proof read by real people. So if there's anything you wouldn't want someone reading, you might want to consider transcribing it yourself.

We brought you the news that Skype is now available for the iPhone last week, but what we didn't mention is that it's available in every country where the iPhone is sold, except for Canada. The CBC is reporting that there is a patent-license restriction causing the hold up, and goes on to clarify that the restriction has to do with Skype, not Apple, though it's hard to see how the issue would be with Apple.

With so few details, it's hard to be optimistic that Skype will be available on the iPhone any time soon in Canada. Message boards and even the comments on this CBC article are rife with links to pages instructing Canadians on how to go about getting a US iTunes account. Clearly Skype is a killer app for the iPhone, and if Skype can't sort out the problem, many Canadians will simply find a way around it.

It would be appreciated if Skype were to come clean and explain exactly what the issue is that is causing the problem; a little public pressure might be what is needed to gently influence the other party to relent.

Is this another case of Canadians getting the short end of the stick, or are we just a bunch of whiners up here?

Skype Call Recorder is a no-frills Windows utility for recording both ends of a Skype conversation. Because of the way Skype transmits your voice across the interwebs, you can't just use most all-purpose audio recording apps like Audacity or the Windows Sound Recorder. Instead you need to use third party apps or Skype plugins that will record both your voice and the sounds of the person on the other end of the call.

There are a number of Skype recording applications available for Windows and Mac. Some record in WAV format while others store your recordings as MP3s. Most cost money if you want to record long conversations.

Skype Call Recorder is free for all calls, but it doesn't offer a ton of features. You can crecord calls in Mono or Stereo, and while you can choose a few different bit rate settings to adjust the recording quality, all calls are stored as MP3s. But did I mention the utility is free?

[via gHacks]

As expected, Skype showed up in the iPhone App Store today. But iPhone users who have upgraded to the developer preview of the iPhone 3.0 software are noticing a special feature: They can make Skype calls over 3G wireless network connections.

Skype for the iPhone is only supposed to be able to make voice calls over WiFi connections. This has nothing to do with bandwidth and everything to do with AT&T not wanting customers to use its 3G network to make VoIP calls and avoid AT&T fees.

But for some reason, iPhone OS 3.0 users are able to get around this restriction. For now anyway. A word of caution for anyone who was thinking of downloading an illegal copy of iPhone OS 3.0 to try out this feature: it probably won't work. You need to be a registered developer to use the latest OS. And by the time it's available to the public I'm guessing this feature bug will be squashed.

You can check out a video of Skype for iPhone working over a 3G network from 9to5Mac after the break.

[via SlashGear]

Skype plans to begin offering a mobile VoIP client for iPhone through the iTunes App Store starting tomorrow. The New York times reports a BlackBerry version is due out in May.

The mobile clients will let users make free calls to other Skype users or low cost long distance and international calls to other phones. iPhone users will only be able to use Skype when connected to a WiFi hotspot, which prevents users from connecting to the AT&T network and skirting AT&T international fees by making calls over Skype.

In addition to making phone calls, the mobile client allows users to send instant messages, make conference calls, and snap profile photos using the iPhone's camera. You can find a series of screenshots of the iPhone app at Skype Journal.

Skype has launched a beta of Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile. As expected, the new client has two major new features: SMS and file transfer.

The file transfer feature lets you swap files with any other Skype member, whether they're using a mobile or desktop client. With the SMS function, you can send domestic or international text messages at Skype rates, which in many cases are lower than the rates you'd pay to send international SMS over a wireless carrier. You can send or receive files or text messages over a 3G or WiFi connection.

Skype has launched a new beta service that allows businesses using SIP telephone systems to make and receive Skype calls on their regular telephones. No headphone and computer needed.

Skype for SIP beta works a lot like Skype, in that you can call and receive calls from other Skype users for free, and pay Skype rates to make calls to domestic and international land lines or cellphones. Customers can also purchase Skype phone numbers that people can use to call in from traditional phones.

The service is aimed at medium to large sized businesses tht use PBX phone systems with Session Initiation Protocal, or SIP. Because the service hooks right into the PBX, users will be able to use their phone hardware to do things like route calls, engage in conference calls, record calls, and record voicemail.