Without a doubt, Skype has released its latest version of Skype 3.5.0.202 for Windows just a few days ago. I was completely taken aback by this new release as it contains several enhancement and improvements, integrated with new newly designed security features.

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There have been several updates with Skype during the last couple of weeks, when I was not around. So, it might perhaps be a good idea to cluster all the distributed platforms into this one single post. As of now, the latest releases of Skype are:

1. version 3.2.0.175 for Windows
2. version 1.4.0.94 for Linux (still beta)
3. version 2.6.0.151 for Mac OS X

Download (or upgrade) to the latest version now. It contains security fixes and bug fixes.

Download links
Skype for Windows
Skype for Linux
Skype for Mac OS X

With AddMovie, several movie files can be concatenated into a single piece of movie. This application supprots various input formats, including Quicktime movies.

Since the output format is also configurable, it also supports format conversion from MPEG-4 to 3GP, which can be displayed and playback on Bluetooth phone.

The software is supported on Mac OS X 10.4 and above. To use the application, simply drag-and-drop the files into the main window, re-order them and click on Generate to create the single movie file.

Download Application
AddMovie 1.2.1

Just released only, Linux users can only be happy to receive the news that they are not forgotten by the Skype developers. Skype 1.4.0.74 Beta for Linux has just been released.

In order to run this version on your computer system, the following hardware requirement is necessary:

• * 400 Mhz processor or faster.
• * 256 MB RAM.
• * 20 MB free disk space on your hard drive.
• * Microphone and speakers or headset.
• * Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).

In addition, the software requirement for this application is:

• * Qt 4.2.1+
• * D-Bus 1.0.0
• * libsigc++ 2.0.2
• * libasound2 1.0.12

Binaries for various distributions, e.g. SuSE, Ubuntu, Debian, etc.., are available for download from this site.

People with hearing problems can find it difficult trying to identify sounds made by the computer. With that, the PCAudi was developed to allow people with hearing disability to hear much better of the sound produced by the computer, through any program.

Some of these programs include, but not limited to, MediaPlayer, RealPlayer, WinAmp and Skype. The software has the resources used in digital aid devices of the last generation, but with greater quality, as it utilises the capacity of personal computer.

Download Application
PCAudi 1.10.0

The last time I discussed about SMPlayer is probably one and a half month ago. SMPlayer is a very used multimedia (video) player in Linux. To compliment the use of this utility, SMPlayer is developed as a complete front-end for MPlayer. Now, the latest version of SMPlayer 0.5.2 is released.

This application uses MPlayer as the engine, and has the capability to play the most known video and audio formats without the need of external or third-party codec. It has some of the basic features, such as playing DVDs and VCDs, to advanced features such as MPlayer filters.

With SMPlayer, it has the ability to remember the settings of all the files you have played. Therefore, you will resume the movie from where you have stopped, and there is no need to worry about having to open that movie and configure the settings, e.g. audio track, subtitles and volume, etc.

Download Link
SMPlayer 0.5.2 (Windows)
SMPlayer 0.5.2 (Linux)

As a simple MP3 Player, Ultimate MP3 Player (aka UMP) 1.0, has a rather interesting model feature. Models are files that can be uploaded into UMP, the way like changing the theme or skins.

As model files are much more complicated than skins, they can have different design, buttons, features and player. Some of the features are as follow:

• -Models
• -Playlist (some models)
• -Mp3 scan (some models)
• -Mod,Midi,Wav player (some models)

The requirement for this application is a Windows operating system, i.e. Windows 95/98/2000/XP, and a 16-bit sound (audio) card.

Download File
UMP 1.0 (490Kb - BlueUmp Model)

Similar to Skype, the Gizmo Project is an Internet telephony service that also provides functions, such as instant messaging.

With Gizmo Project, users can make all the calls from the desktop and talk for free. Below are some of the reasons of why users should choose to use Gizmo.

Why?

• * FREE!
• * FREE calls to any Gizmo Project, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, or Windows Live user
• * Free Voicemail and Conference calling.
• * Super clear call quality
• * Inexpensive add-ons that let you make and receive calls from any mobile phone or landline

I just received an email from them today. This time, Gizmo Project is offering an All Calls Free Plan.

…Get 40 minutes of FREE calling to mobile and landline phones in over 60 countries by participating in the All Calls Free plan. No commitments and no hidden fees….

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Command line (CLI) applications often fascinates me. For what you can do with Graphical User Interface (GUI) environment or X-screen environment, you can also use CLI to achieve the same task. It may be easier to do so with Linux, but there are also applications made for Windows; and PlayWav 1.0 is one of them.

PlayWav is a CLI application that can be easily integrated into any kind of application. It can be run from batch files, various types of scripts, and even NT services such as a web server.

For example, the program can allow a web server application to play a sound on the web server.

…For instance, imagine that you are running a web cam on your home computer so that you can watch and listen to your baby, kids, or pets. By setting up a web server (such as Microsoft Personal Web Server or Internet Information Server) on your home computer, you can create a simple web page with hyperlinks that cause pre-defined .WAV audio files to be played on your home computer’s speakers. For instance, when you hear your dog start barking, just click the No button on your web site and your dog will hear the correction and (hopefully) stop barking….

The software is supported by u-Consulting, and is available free for download.

Download Application
PlayWav 1.0

Sorting MP3 files is now easier with MP3 Sorter 1.1, a file sorting utility made especially for MP3 files. It is a relatively simple and easy-to-use program. Furthermore, it is small in size, and does not even require any installation.

MP3 files can be sorted according to their filenames, or according to their tag. This new release has the following changes:

· added the mp3 Tag sorting. the program is using only the Artist field from tag….

Download File
MP3 Sorter 1.1