Skype has finally released SILK

Skype VOIP has slowly popping out from their shell and opening up their propietary audio codecs to the entire VOIP industry. Skype has been known to keep their award winning audio codecs private. We all know that Skype has some great in house audio codecs which can deliver great sound quality at much lower bandwidth usage but it wasnt readily available for third party integration.

Skype has finally released SILK, a New Skype-designed and developed default audio codec for all Skype-to-Skype calls. SILK is currently used in the latest version of Skype. If you don't have latest skype version, I strongly suggest you download one, its way better than older version and has superior audio quality.

Skype claims that with SILK, a super wideband audio codec it redefines the entire VOIP market by giving the best audio quality on VOIP calls with almost 50% less bandwidth usage.

What did they achieve with SILK codec:

-improved audio bandwidth going from 8 kHz to 12 kHz, meaning that a SILK conversation sounds like you are in the same room as the person you are speaking with. SILK can go upto 24 Khz.
-provides real-time bandwidth scalability to deal with degraded network conditions

-balancing codec optimization between voice, music and background noise, each of which can have an impact on the overall user experience.

-delivering a robust solution that delivers a more consistent audio experience, regardless of network conditions and an individual user’s voice signature

Skype is now expecting that industry and third party application developers will adopt SILK as a standard in wideband audio. SiLK is available for FREE. It would be interesting to see SILK adoption with Trixbox, Asterix and the likes with wideband hitting the entire VOIP world.

USE VOIPaX 4 Free calls and SMS Worldwide Guaranteed

This new service was launched recently by betamax or their affiliated company but no mention of betamax on their website. All their services and conditions are just exactly what we are all used to from betamax products like voipbuster, voipcheap etc. Maybe betamax is feeling the heat from complaints about their unethical business methods and therefore decided to launch this product as another company.
Anyway, Voipax is a voip application that lets you send sms and make calls to about 40 countries worldwide for free. The rates for other destinations are quite low too. There are several ways to use voipax, you can download and install the voipax application on your system and make calls with it using your headset or bluetooth earpiece or you can use the Phone-2-Phone features which let you enter your telephone number and the number you want to call and connect both numbers or finally you can configure voipax on your SIP based IP Phone and call directly from it. Whichever way you choose to use voipax you will get very good audio quality and quick call connection.
There are some limitations to using voipax, you have to buy a credit of at least 10 euros for you to enjoy the free calls. Once you have some credit on your account you can call up to 300 minutes per week free for 120 days and you can send 10 free sms per week too. If you have used any of betamax products before then you allready know these conditions by now.
For more information and to download voipax visit www.voipax.com.