Skype beta for Mac OS X available for download

January 6, 2009

Skype have introduced a ton of innovations for users this year, but the Betas have all been for Windows and now it’s the turn of Mac users to get an upgrade. Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X is available for download from the Skype website.

It’s not often I regret not having a Mac, but this is one of those times as the Skype Mac Beta has a couple of really cool features. The first is the ability to share your screen with whoever you’re chatting to. This has so many uses from training to showing technical problems and just demonstrating software, I can’t wait for this to appear in the Windows version of Skype.

The second feature is the ability to use WiFi hotspots and to pay for them using your Skype balance. Skype have partnered with Boingo and even better, you don’t have to pay for a day’s WiFi useage, you can pay by the minute so if you just want to check you’re email while waiting for a plane it’s not going to cost you a fortune (In fact it’ll cost just £0.13/minute).

In related news Skype will be available on the iPhone though the Truphone app from January 12th this year.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 7 Comments 

eBay release new mobile site and iPhone app in EU

September 26, 2008

eBay iPhone App

eBay iPhone App

eBay are working on all things mobile this week with the release of a new version of the eBay Mobile site and the iPhone app for Europe.
 
eBay Mobile is the version of the site that you’ll see when browsing on your phone or PDA. Although it’s possible to log on to the full site, eBay mobile is optimised for low bandwidth and small screens. If you don’t have an Internet enabled mobile you can view the site at ebaymobile.co.uk.
 
The eBay iPhone app (iTunes required) which went live this week in the EU, is currently the most downloaded free iPhone app in the UK.
 
According to eBay mobile shoppers spend more per person than the average eBay user and place the winning bid more often than other buyers. As a group mobile users are purchasing hundreds of thousands of items each month via their phones so anything that makes it easier, faster, or available on more devices, has got to be great news.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 3 Comments 

iPhone hysteria

July 12, 2008

Giving Us a Demo While in Line
Creative Commons License photo credit: chrisscott

What is it about the new 3G iPhone that makes it so desirable? Scot Wingo was up a 4am in the morning to be 11th in line for his. David Suen was first in the queue at the Apple store in Regent Street, London but he didn’t queue. Suen won an auction on eBay for the bargain price of just £41.00 and the seller had the job of standing in line for eighteen hours to reserve his spot.

Of course it’s a great phone, not least because of the new Apple App store which enables you to download tools for everything from games, business, news, sports, health, reference, and travel. Top iPhone downloads for TameBay readers should of course be the eBay and PayPal apps.

It’s not been plain sailing for those clutching their new iPhones though, when they tried to activate them there was a meltdown with O2 and Apple’s servers unable to handle the traffic. In stores across the country people waiting up to two hours to try and get their new iPhones activated and many were sent home to activate the handsets from their own PCs only able to make emergency calls in the mean time.

I’m tempted by the new iPhone, but not enough to buy one. I’ll wait until I can at least get an iPhone on Vodafone with my existing telephone number and wait for the price to drop. After all, do I really need a phone that can do more than make calls?

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 10 Comments 

The iPhone gets eBay enabled

June 10, 2008

This post was written in June 2008; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

I’ve largely ignored the iPhone, not particularly because of the price but more because it was tied to O2. That’s just changed with the announcement of an iPhone eBay auctions app at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

What’s even better news are the rumours that Apple are to offer the iPhone with Vodafone, T-Mobile and the Carphone Warehouse in Europe. Although this might not include the UK doubtless some Vodafone ready units will slip into the UK and I won’t need to change my mobile provider. The release of a new 3G model iPhone should be launched in the near future with O2 already offering free upgrades to some existing customers or just £99.00 to those on cheaper contracts.

Unlike other mobile experiences the iPhone screen and functionality allows a much richer eBay experience, this is one toy I just *have* to have and it now qualifies as an eBay business tool.

You can view the eBay iPhone software in your normal browser to give it a test run without an iPhone. The eBay software will available for free when Apple launch the App Store, expected to be some time this summer.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 4 Comments 

O2 sacks staff for selling iPhones on eBay

June 2, 2008

This post was written in June 2008; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

O2 has sacked several employees for using their staff discounts to purchase iPhones which they later re-sold on eBay. The Mail on Sunday reports that around six people have been sacked from London stores, and another twenty are under investigation. Staff are said to have been “scooping up job lots” of the phone handsets which were then sold on the internet. One would think that, if their employers don’t want them to sell phones on, the most obvious solution would be for no one to be allowed to buy more than a phone for personal use.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | Comments Off