Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Migalot]

I have a Samsung smart TV and bought a camera at Christmas so that we could Skype family members.

Samsung have just announced that as of 2 June, the Skype service will no longer be available. Apparently, Skype is now owned by Microsoft and they do not want to continue support for TVs.

I am beginning to hate Microsoft with a passion. 

[tunnie]

Skype was bought by Microsoft way back in 2011 

The take up of Smart TV's is so crap, no one really uses them. The market share is probably not worth development the effort, I suspect most just use a tablet/phone/ipad etc for Video calling. Also remember it's not just 'one smart tv' the amount of combinations of software to hardware version across all TV's is massive. Even in the UK for Samsung have a huge variety of hardware versions across their TV's, just one 50" TV could easily have 20 or 30 different versions.

No one really updates them either, so I can imagine it's a bit of a nightmare to support for very little gain 

If you want video calling on a big TV, either use a Chromecast or AirPlay or similar.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, smart TVs are just a complete joke. Their manufacturers work on a model of shipping a box, updating it for the first few months then dumping support in favour of next year's model.

Quite apart from the fact that the APIs for most services change regularly, so they can't be supported unless the manufacturer provides continuous development, the lack of security patches is a recipe for the device to get owned if it's connected to the internet.

[Jimbob]

hit the bbc now....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35752658

[steve6367]

I have a Samsung smart TV and bought a camera at Christmas so that we could Skype family members.

Samsung have just announced that as of 2 June, the Skype service will no longer be available. Apparently, Skype is now owned by Microsoft and they do not want to continue support for TVs.

I am beginning to hate Microsoft with a passion. 

Second that - pain the the *&^%

[TheBoy]

Blimey, you'd have to be desperate to use Skype. 2 words sum it up:

1) Shite
2) Shite

Added to that, it is shite. Always has been, always will be. Did I mention its shite?

I don't normally praise Samsung, but well done for not wasting time on that

[VXL V6]

Apart from I can see Skype for Business will start to eat into the big vendors (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya) rather poor UC offerings. As it's a Microsoft product it'll have proper integration with exchange / outlook as opposed to the poor products from the above three that struggle on thin clients and the Lumia phone range is at Microsoft's disposal for the 'one handset does all' solution.

[steve6367]

Apart from I can see Skype for Business will start to eat into the big vendors (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya) rather poor UC offerings. As it's a Microsoft product it'll have proper integration with exchange / outlook as opposed to the poor products from the above three that struggle on thin clients and the Lumia phone range is at Microsoft's disposal for the 'one handset does all' solution.

They already have it and have had for some time in the shape on Lync and Exchange UM - I am sure they will become one and the same thing in time.

[VXL V6]

Apart from I can see Skype for Business will start to eat into the big vendors (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya) rather poor UC offerings. As it's a Microsoft product it'll have proper integration with exchange / outlook as opposed to the poor products from the above three that struggle on thin clients and the Lumia phone range is at Microsoft's disposal for the 'one handset does all' solution.

They already have it and have had for some time in the shape on Lync and Exchange UM - I am sure they will become one and the same thing in time.

Yep they're rebranding Lync as Skype for Business

[Gaffers]

Anyone desperate for Skype will still be able to use it as someone will likely create some interface with the APIs and opensource it.

I use it for the parents in Spain, the in-laws in the USA, occasionally with thwe wife if we are going through a period where we are like ships in the night and for work conferences.  All on the computer.  Icant imagine needing it for the TV.  Play to roku for 'gentlemans art' however is a different ...ahem....beast

[Migalot]

Blimey, you'd have to be desperate to use Skype. 2 words sum it up:

1) Shite
2) Shite

Added to that, it is shite. Always has been, always will be. Did I mention its shite?

I don't normally praise Samsung, but well done for not wasting time on that

If you don't have relatives far away, you may have an excuse for that opinion. But I have found the ability to use Skype on the kitchen TV and chatting to family members whilst preparing a meal etc., is really useful. I find having a conversation in front of a smartphone or tablet somewhat tiresome (as I do with regular phone calls), since one is prevented from doing any other task at the same time.

Just my view. Sorry if you disagree. 

[TheBoy]

Apart from I can see Skype for Business will start to eat into the big vendors (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya) rather poor UC offerings. As it's a Microsoft product it'll have proper integration with exchange / outlook as opposed to the poor products from the above three that struggle on thin clients and the Lumia phone range is at Microsoft's disposal for the 'one handset does all' solution.

Having had to suffer Lync and subsequently Skype for Business on a daily basis for work (a cost cutting measure...  ...at a telephone company!) and also a user of Cisco Communicator softphone (and deskphone) with a UCS backend, believe me Cisco have absolutely nothing to worry about (ignoring licencing costs).

The Cisco Communicator softphone is just like using any other phone, apart from being constrained by a wired connection to a laptop. Skype for Business demonstrates how badly VoIP can be done - dropout, lots of digital noises, delayed speech, everyone talking over everyone on conf calls due to latency. Its hopeless.  And that's with a proper "Skype optimised" headset, something not needed with proper VoIP systems.

Skype for Business also has video conferencing facilities built in, but again, hopeless in comparison to the various variations of WebEx. Screen updates several seconds behind, sometimes even a minute if the connection isn't fast, making presenting unproductively embarrassing.

Can you guess I'm not a fan

[steve6367]

Apart from I can see Skype for Business will start to eat into the big vendors (Cisco, Mitel, Avaya) rather poor UC offerings. As it's a Microsoft product it'll have proper integration with exchange / outlook as opposed to the poor products from the above three that struggle on thin clients and the Lumia phone range is at Microsoft's disposal for the 'one handset does all' solution.

Having had to suffer Lync and subsequently Skype for Business on a daily basis for work (a cost cutting measure...  ...at a telephone company!) and also a user of Cisco Communicator softphone (and deskphone) with a UCS backend, believe me Cisco have absolutely nothing to worry about (ignoring licencing costs).

The Cisco Communicator softphone is just like using any other phone, apart from being constrained by a wired connection to a laptop. Skype for Business demonstrates how badly VoIP can be done - dropout, lots of digital noises, delayed speech, everyone talking over everyone on conf calls due to latency. Its hopeless.  And that's with a proper "Skype optimised" headset, something not needed with proper VoIP systems.

Skype for Business also has video conferencing facilities built in, but again, hopeless in comparison to the various variations of WebEx. Screen updates several seconds behind, sometimes even a minute if the connection isn't fast, making presenting unproductively embarrassing.

Can you guess I'm not a fan

It sounds like you have not had a good experience!

Had good results here with UM / Lync / Mitel - however we are education so its spectacularly cheap 

[TheBoy]

It sounds like you have not had a good experience!

Had good results here with UM / Lync / Mitel - however we are education so its spectacularly cheap 

I guess when you've had something that works well, using something (newer) that is so poor in comparison, is a bitter pill to swallow.

At home, really since the advent of ADSL making VoIP viable, I've been a heavy user since 2002. And at work, used VoIP (both softphones and hardware phones) for several years. I've never seen anything as bad as Lync/Skype, and at least most of the other options are standards compliant (Cisco's SCCP aside )

I've enjoyed over a dozen years calling overseas relatives and friends for less than 1ppm, free for the more technical amongst them. And obviously when abroad myself, its nice to join weekly work calls to describe the vista , for free, obviously.

[TheBoy]

In fact, despite the fact I rarely use my mobile at home, my landline serves little more than a physical carrier for the internet.