Download Skype 2.1 Beta For Linux

[kattman]

The company Skype has announced an update of its software VoIP, now in version 2.1 for Linux users.

This new version supports high quality video for a definition 640x480 at 30 frames per second. Note also the inclusion of Codec Silk SVOPC replacing the old and originally introduced in Skype for Windows 4. Silk would be able to analyze the flow of bandwidth and adjust on the fly audio stream. In the case of slow connection speed, quality is optimized to more than 50%. In all, the firm has spent several million dollars to design and Silk by developers, the audio quality is greatly improved. While traditional phone systems use frequencies between 400 Hz and 3400Hz, Skype can now transmit calls over a wider range between 50 Hz and 12 Hz 000 Skype 2.1 for Linux also supports PulseAudio sound server used to make audio exchanges between different operating systems.

The development team has also added several features like sending SMS, the ability to form groups of contacts or to affix a label to them. The chat window has been improved with better editing of messages and new emoticons. Finally note also, some cosmetic corrections in the contacts list and icon in the notification area are done. For more details, you will find here a list of all changes in this new version.

Download Skype 2.1 Beta for Linux

[kattman]

Hardware requirements for Skype 2.1 Beta For Linux

• 1 Ghz 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). .
• Video card driver with Xv support.

Software requirements

• Qt 4.2.1+
• D-Bus 1.0.0
• libasound2 1.0.12
• PulseAudio 0.9.10+ (optional)
• PulseAudio 0.9.15+ (optional recommended)

[Joshua]

PulseAudio, a sound server that is used to make audio exchanges between different operating systems.

To put it mildly, not very fair as a definition. It's actually a sound server, but that means it handles audio exchange between applications and hardware. It's just a check box to enable the headphone jack.(see the official website www.pulseaudio.org).