BlackBerry Playbook

I currently own an iPad 1, wife has an iPhone 4S and I have a Windows Mobile 7 Phone, so I have enough devices to do what I need on the go. I have been looking at tablets for a while now and a few caught my eye such as Sony Tablet S, Blackberry Playbook and the Motorola Xoom. The end choice is always about money, splashing out £400 for an iPad 2 was too much money in my books and even the £329 price points of Android Tablets seem a bit high. The two machines that are at the £200 price point are the Blackberry Playbook and Arnova 9 G2.

Buying on Impulse

I had watched some YouTube videos already and was in two minds if this device would suit my needs or not, I was standing in the store and had they no 32GIG models in stock (as the online site told me) I would have happily walked away but they had 4 in fact. I bought the device on the grounds that I could take it back for a full refund, this would allow me to try it out fully and see what it can really do.

Packaging & Initial Boot

The box that it came in is very well presented and contains the Playbook, Neoprene Sleeve, Micro-USB Cable Cleaning Cloth and the Mains Charger. There is a piece of paper that tells you to make sure you have Wi-Fi Coverage, press the power button and follow the steps on-screen. The initial steps including connecting to a Wi-Fi, setting up a Blackberry account, country based settings and finally checking for updates. It took a while to download and update the device, nothing major but until this is complete, you cannot use the device. The last thing it does is take you through a guide on how the device works.

Specifications

• 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor (Cortex A9 Processor), w/ GPU
• 1 GB RAM
• Memory: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions to be available
• 5300mAh battery
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
• Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
• Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)

The Device – Connectors

This is a 7 inch tablet, a lot smaller than the iPad (9.7”) and it runs the screen at 1024×600 which compares nicely to the iPad 1024×768. There are very limited connectors on this device; there is a power button along with volume up and down and a play button on the top. Underneath we have a Micro HDMI, no lead is supplied but you can get this cheaply online. Given the low cost of the cables, I am not sure why RIM did not include this in the box? Next this this we have Micro USB connector and I guess another connector for the Dock you can buy.

Hardware – Camera, Speakers & Microphone

The Playbook has a better front camera than most tablets have back camera. Both cameras can do full HD (that’s 1920×1080), the back camera of course been better quality. They are rated as 3MP front and 5MP back (2592×1944). The microphone is just amazing and can pick up very clear and loud audio. Finally the speakers, unlike most tablets, they have placed them on the front and they are loud and have good bass, perfect for playing music. If you want to think of this device as a HD Camcorder, then that is money well spent in this regard and of course it can do so much more.

The Web Browser

I have tested many sites on this device and I would say that just about all of them work as they would on a normal desktop web browser. I could happily view a stream on Justin.TV and access many of the file sharing sites. The one site that did not work was soundcloud, I could not press the arrow to start the music playing for some reason. I noticed a lot of the applications were in fact just a short cut to the web site, for example BBC iPlayer. Using TVCatchup website allowed me for example to watch TV live which was handy. The reason why most work? Simple, it has a fully functional adobe flash built right in and in no way did the device slow down because of this.

Application Store

This is where the device starts to fall down, there are a lot of applications that are just not there and a lot are things you have to buy. I failed to find for example a decent Twitter program, teamviewer, Skype and so on. One of the reasons why there are applications missing is simply the fact you open a web page and do the same thing, such as Tweetdeck.

Gaming

Battery Life

This is one area where I heard was not so good and it is claimed an 8 hour battery life. With general use throughout the day, I went from 100% to 56% and that was with using it heavily. I agree the iPad has a longer life which means it can last for a whole week without charging but maybe as the iPad does not fully multitask and has no flash is the reason why. I did not feel the battery life was an issue since using this device over the last few days, maybe as I was plugged in via USB half of the time and it trickle charging it?

OS2.0 Beta & Android Applications

I followed a guide online which was as simple as going to the Blackberry site, typing in your PIN number plus email address and I soon had an update flagged on my device (511MB) to the beta OS, which is due out Feb 2012. Before I went ahead with this, I wanted to make sure I could go backwards and again on the same site, it tells you how to do this. One major update here was the fact that wireless which was previously connecting at 11Mbps was now at 65Mbps. You can side load BAR files (Android apps) via a tool called DDPBInstaller. I tested a handful of Android programs and some worked 100%, some looked like they were working but did not function properly and finally some just crashed straight out.

Using this method I was able to get Citrix installed and connect to my work Citrix farm and access the desktop without any major issues. I tried Skype but that failed as well as teamviewer. DS File & DSAudio (both Android Applications to access files from my Synology NAS) worked 100% and I was able to stream any of my music or watch any movie on my NAS box (as long as the format was correct). Doing some testing as to what video formats it can play, it copes with MP4 just fine, it can also play WMV & MOV formats as well. AVI and MKV was a no-go and instead of playing them, just copied them to the device instead.

Bluetooth Keyboards

I used the Apple Bluetooth keyboard as a test and set it to search for devices. It found the keyboard (I held the power key on the right hand side until the LED flashed) and asked me to type in a number on the keyboard. I typed it and pressed enter and the keyboard was paired. I tested an IRC application and was typing away at full speed. Any Bluetooth keyboard would work of course as would a headset.

Comparing it to iPad

Before I compare devices, remember that a 32GIG iPad 2 is currently £479 and this device only cost me £200. The iPad is bigger (9.7”) but no much more screen estate (1024×768 vs. 1024×600). As iOS has a wealth of application, you can normally find just about anything you want but the reason it needs applications in the first place is due to the browser on the iPad not been able to do flash or air stuff. A good example of this is either Ustream or Justin.TV, both need an application on the iPad (which is the iPhone version) while the playbook can not only use the proper website but also stream using the built in camera & microphone. If we add the ability to use Android applications then this opens up the playbook to a more level playing field.

Conclusion

I bought this device with the express thought that I could take it back should it be a waste of my time and for the first couple of days, the “swing-o-meter” was edging towards “take it back”. In fact I almost put it all back in the box and took it back just the other day as I felt it did not do what I wanted out of a device, this was until I placed 2.0 Beta and side-loaded some Android application. Ask yourself this question; what else is out there that will cost you £169, £200 or £329 (16GIG, 32GIG, 64GIG) for so much hardware? I looked at the ‘cheap’ android tablets (Arnova 9 G2) and that cannot do half what this can do plus only has 8GIG ram and costs the same price (£200).

The plan is simple, I keep using this device for another week solid and by time Saturday comes around, if I feel this is just a mere toy and a waste of my £200, I shall flash it back to production OS, wipe it clean and take it back. If it lasts the full week then I shall keep it plus buy myself some much needed items such as a case (which doubles as a stand) and a mini HDMI convertor.

The one last thing to mention is this device has no GPS which means it cannot really function as a replacement SatNav in your car which is a shame as it wound have rounded the device off nicely.

****** UPDATE 10 Jan 2012 ******

I grabbed the device last night to sit down and chill out, I had problems, lots of them. The video player just quit half way through a movie, the browser would hang for a long time on flash related sites and the Android Apps would crash out for no reason. I followed the guide to bring the device back to 1.8.0, cleaned it up and re-boxed it “good as new”. I took it back to the store today and got a full refund. If you do buy one due to this review, the device might work out better for you but I cannot wait until RIM get the software working correctly, maybe this is why they are so cheap?

Google frequently have a new service they offer out and is the normal with Google, they start the thing in Beta, send out invites and finally after a long time, they let the world and his dog sign up. The best example was Google Mail, this used to be Invite only at one point and now anyone can join. A few recent services though have been released in the USA but have not made it at all to the UK. Is there a reason why Google feel only the USA can benefit from these services or is there other reasons?

Google Voice

Google Voice gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail as easy as email, free US long distance, low rates on international calls and so forth… If you are in the UK though and head to the website – this is what you get:

The reason that it is not in the UK is how the phone system works in the UK – if I call someone from my land line, I pay the connection fee and the cost of the call. If I call using my mobile, the same happens, all the costs sit with me. To my understanding, in the USA – this is not the case and probably why they cannot offer me the same Free Service.

Google Music

“Upload your personal music collection and access it instantly on the web or any compatible device without the hassle of wires or syncing.”  – This is then Google offering a cloud service were you get to upload your entire music collection and then using another computer, a phone and so forth – you can listen to your music anywhere. To my understanding, the UK will not allow people to have there collection on-line as this breaks some sort of copyright and thus why as of yet the UK cannot sign up to try it out.

Google Plus

This is Google’s answer to Facebook and no matter how much I try and apply – they have closed invite’s yet many of the USA people I know or have read on-line seem to already have this service. As proven with say Skype, unless everybody uses the same thing, then the service is liable to fail. Facebook has a strong hold so google need to let more people in quickly.

Frustrating

For a company to tease people with some limited invite service means that the thing can fail – look at Google Wave and Google Buzz. By the time I got an invite and had a chance to try it out – nobody was online as they had moved on or they did not have an invite themselves.

I need to state here that websites need adverts, they use this as a mean to get money which in turn helps pay for the time and effort they put into producing the goods. Static adverts I can live with and even sometimes they show me something I might want to buy and all is good but when a site (mostly the video streaming sites) start to push adverts down your throat and they are loud and annoying and repeat over and over on each new page you go to – this is when you as a person need to take a stand.

While I Love the way Google Chrome works, there is just too many things that make me want to jump ship back to Firefox such as Adverts, flash slowing down the browser, my NAS box not working properly via Chrome and so forth. I have given the latest Firefox 4 Beta 12 a run and added a couple of extension and I will document how  it is working out for me so far.

Firefox 4 Beta 12

Firefox got slow and clunky and I honeslty started to hate this as much as using internet explorer to be honest but it did have some good points such as extensions. Version4 Beta 12 adds a few much needed features such as search from the address bar, menu now a drop down and much faster.

Adblock and Ghostery

The one extension that is almost a must is Adblock this manages to strip out most if not all the adverts present on the web including the ones that are present in videos and streaming type pages (as above). The other addon which is worth mentioning is Ghostery and this also blocks out items that are hidden.

As you can see from Justin.TV – it sensed and blocked Comescore Beacon, Google Adsense & Analytics, media6 and Quantcast. These not only track you but also can slow you down – combined with adblock and I would be surprised if any adverts come up every again.

If we are to compare Google Chrome using also Adblock (by the same person) – while there is not as many adverts littered about the place, I still get an annoying 30 second advert for Bulletstorm – this is both loud and annoying and if I refresh the stream, I get it again and again.

It seems that Firefox 4 which was planned to be released in February has once again been delayed. There is talk of a Beta 13 coming out and they say that they have got the bugs down to 15 now. Beta 12 was scheduled for a Beta build late last week, but that slipped to Tuesday night. Now Mozilla says that the code will sit there for a “couple days ” and wait for patches. The current bug count is 15 (at the time of this writing) which is down 7 from 24 hours ago, but up 1 from 72 hours ago.

Earlier this week, Mozilla’s Christian Legnitto told Mozilla developers that Beta 12 is likely to be the last beta, but he wouldn’t rule out a Beta 13. It turns out there will be a beta 13, as pre-Beta 13 builds surfaced on Mozilla’s FTP server. This indicates that Mozilla will miss the RC release target of February. At this point, a March release for the final seems to be almost too optimistic as well.

Now that 5.1 is out of beta, Skype has two price plans for those who want to hold a video conference call. You can either fork out $4.99 for a day pass, presumably for people who only want to hold once-off or rare group calls, or you can purchase a monthly subscription for $8.99 per month. Also included in these “Premium Packages” is live chat customer support.

While a bit late on the news front, for those that are not aware Skype has brought out version 5.1 and along with this they have taken away the ability to Video chat with more than one person. When VOIP company Skype announced group video conferencing last year the company was very clear that it was only free for the time being. Though it didn’t elaborate on how much it planned on charging for the feature, the company made sure we all got a nice long taste of the good life.

Out of Beta

Now that 5.1 is out of beta, Skype has two price plans for those who want to hold a video conference call. You can either fork out $4.99 for a day pass, presumably for people who only want to hold once-off or rare group calls, or you can purchase a monthly subscription for $8.99 per month. Also included in these “Premium Packages” is live chat customer support.

Will we miss it?

The more people that you video chat with, the more bandwidth you need (if you are hosting the call) and of the time that I personally had version 5.0, I only tried the Multi Video a few times anyhow. I myself cannot see anybody I know forking out the money to hold this feature, remember that only One person needs to pay to have multi video chat – maybe a group of people could share the cost?

The other option of course if you do want Multi Video chat is oovoo – this does the same thing, also for a cost but you can chat via a web page which means no client install.

If your a Fan of Firefox and own a Android or a Nokia N900 Phone – then your in Luck, there is a Beta version for you to try today. You can find out more HERE as well as download the latest nightly build. I shall be trying this and giving a much fuller report later but for now – you can check out the app yourself and report back your findings.

Just a heads for people currently running Skype Beta 5, although the software tell’s you that you have the latest version – if you check out the Beta page you will find it has been updated today – 2nd September 2010. Might be worth a shot even though it is Beta, I had no major problems that I could not work around and who can forget the multi Video conferencing.

Synology® Debuts its DiskStation Manager 3.0 Beta, Including Multi-tasking Web UI, New iPhone® and Android Phone Support and Enterprise-level Features. Synology® Inc. today announced the beta release of its operating system, DiskStation Manager 3.0 (DSM 3.0), introducing multi-tasking web UI and new web desktop that make Synology NAS server even more intuitive and easy to use. The enriched iPhone® and Android phone support greatly increases multimedia files’ mobility. In addition, Windows® ACL support simplifies file privilege management. Comprehensive iSCSI support and extended volume size capability offer businesses with scalable NAS solution to meet enterprise-level demand.

“DSM 3.0 realises our commitment in delivering the best in class NAS solution with forward-thinking features,” said Derren Lu, CEO of Synology Inc. “The breakthrough multi-tasking web UI has raised the bar for NAS server’s using experience.”

The new multi-tasking web UI offers users a new way to quickly move between apps. Users can run multiple applications simultaneously on one tab browser and switch between them instantly, or perform real-time inter-app file exchange between two or more File Browsers. Dynamic loading saves users from the constant wait of refreshing the whole webpage. All of these features are performed on a web browser, imitating a full desktop experience.DSM 3.0 is the first NAS operating system allowing for customization and individuality, at the same time being easy-to-use and intuitive.

DSM 3.0 offers a customizable web desktop that allows users to make sure their favorite apps are easily accessible and the backgrounds scream their personalities. All accessible folders and files can be managed within File Browser.Synology smartphone apps, the new DS photo+, DS audio and DS cam, now support Android phone in addition to iPhone. With DS photo+, users can upload photos or videos from their iPhones or Android phones straight into and download from their DiskStations. Users can also view photos and videos that are stored on their DiskStations while leaving comments for their friends. The Android version of DS audio comes with a unique remote function, allowing users to conveniently remote control the music playing on their DiskStations through attached USB speakers.

DSM 3.0 simplifies file privilege management with Windows® ACL support, allowing access permission settings for shared folders and every file object on DiskStation in a Windows environment. The comprehensive permission precedence rules formulate a hierarchy, with each file’s explicit permission settings rule above inherited ones. This Windows-native experience aims at providing administrators a more flexible privilege management method to meet enterprise-level demand.For more flexible virtual storage solution, DSM 3.0 now offers multiple cross-mapping between iSCSI Targets and iSCSI LUNs. It also offers multiple connections per session (MC/S) and multipath I/O (MPIO) to provide connection failover and load balance benefits to strengthen the stability of a network storage environment.

To ensure file integrity, DSM 3.0 is compliant with SPC-3 PR standard to support Microsoft® Windows 2008 Server Failover Clustering or other systems such as VMware® Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) or Oracle® Cluster File System (OCFS).DSM 3.0 with EXT4 system provides a well-structured base for enterprise-class data storage. It adopts EXT4 file system and supports the maximum volume space of 1 exabyte, equivalent of 1 million TB, with greater stability, better performance and lower possibility of file fragmentation.Another key enhancement in DSM 3.0 is the upgrade to the new Surveillance Station 5 that supports over 580 IP cameras and 500 megapixel resolution, and is compatible with ONVIF and PSIA industrial standards, securing users’ future investment. In addition, Surveillance Station 5 makes propertysafeguard even easier to do. Users can live view up to 36 channels in one layout. Time Slicing feature splits playing event into four equal lengths of video clips to help users to quickly glance through the whole event.

Beta Testing

The beta release of the Synology DSM 3.0 additionally includes WebDAV support, IPv6 integration and more new features. For further details, please visit

http://www.synology.com/enu/support/beta/Synology_DSM3.0_2010.php

Synology DSM 3.0 Beta Reward Program

Synology will award a DiskStation DS110+ to a maximum of three beta testers who provide the most valuable feedback and assistance for making DSM 3.0 even better when the beta program ends. Visit http://www.synology.com/enu/support/beta/Synology_DSM3.0_2010.php for details.

Availability

The Synology DSM 3.0 beta is free to download for users who own a DiskStation x07 series and onward. The supported models are:

DS411+, DS1010+, RS810+, RS810RP+, DS410, DS410j, DS710+, DS210+, DS210j, DS110+, DS110j, DS509+, RS409+, RS409RP+, RS409, DS409+, DS409, DS209+II, DS209+, DS209, DS209j, DS109+, DS109, DS109j, DS409slim, RS408, RS408-RP, DS508, DS408, DS108j, RS407, CS407, CS407e, DS207+, DS207, DS107+, DS107, DS107e

The download is available at http://www.synology.com/enu/support/beta/index.php

The live demo site is available at http://www.synology.com/enu/products/demo/index.php

Synology at a Glance

Founded in 2000, Synology is a young and energetic company dedicated to developing high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly Network Attached Storage (NAS) products. Our goal is to deliver user-friendly solutions and solid customer service to satisfy the needs of businesses, home offices, individual users and families.

Press Contact

marketing@synology.

Have you ever wondered why it takes so long for your Windows Machine to load up ever day? While there is tools out there that can help yo in the process, what about a nice graphical and very easy to use FREE piece of software to do the task for you? Soluto is that very tool and I gave it a whirl – read on to see what I thought.

Installing

After I installed the software, it asked me if I wanted to reboot now or later – eager to see how long it took and why, I pressed the reset button – Windows started to load and when it got to the desktop, in the bottom corner it showed what looked like a turned up page with what was loading and the time it took.

Results

It informed me (as per the screen grab above) that my system took 1:33 and presented me a list of No-Brainers, Potentially can be removed and needed apps. You have a choice of Pausing it (stopping the service) or Delaying the program until the system has finished booting.

End Results

With a few clicks of this program, I shaved the boot time to 60 Seconds, that a saving of 30 Seconds and my system still worked as it should. I am busy going through what is loading through and removing some applications that I was not aware were loading at start up or are not needed any more. Combined this with a Defrag and we should have a much faster system.

On the Skype Beta page at the moment, for Windows Only (for now), you can get the latest very of this program 5.0 Beta 1. One of the main features that have been introduced is Group Video Calling. With this release, you can have 5 max video’s per conference – this means you and 4 other people can have a video chat.

Also in addition to introduction of group video calling we have re-designed the call view. The new call view is focusing on the ongoing call and taking away all possible disturbing factors like other conversations. If you like then you can still see the other conversations and data there also.

Remember that this is a beta release which means that we are still working on the release and that there are some rough edges in. Consult with known issues list below first before running it. We do not support Windows 2000 in this beta release.

New Features:
* Up to 5-way group video call
* Redesigned calling experience
* Improved video snapshots gallery
* Improved browser plugins performance on some websites.
* Reduced false positives on browser plugin phone number recognition.

Changes:
* Call host is not displayed anymore in the user interface
* Windows 2000 is not supported in this Beta version

Fixed issues:
* Microsoft Lifecam Show webcamera crashed Skype
* CPU usage was high on low-end computers during video calls when using a TouchCam N1 or Twincam encoding camera
* ‘Test’ button name was changed to ‘Record’ after testing
* Skype did not always ring on all audio devices when it was selected to.
* Accessibility was always turned on
* Skype browser plugins for Internet Explorer and Firefox ignored meta tags not to highlight phone numbers.
* Skype browser plugin may have hanged or frozen Internet Explorer browser.
* Refreshing webpage turned off phone number highlighting in Internet Explorer browser.
* Skype browser plugin highlighting tags become visible in webmail
* The Skype browser plugin highlighted phone numbers and names while creating content on various popular websites.
* Skype sometimes crashed when importing contacts through welcome screen.
* Only one field change was saved when editing phone contacts.
* Skype sounds were not working over remote desktop

Known issues:
* It is not possible to restart video sending in a group video call, only local preview is working.
Workaround: Restart the Skype call.
* “My Video” button may be missing in a group video call
Workaround: None available at this time
* One or more participants may not be able to start their video in a group video call
Workaround: None available at this time
* Webcam may switch off during a group video call
Workaround: Updating webcam drivers may solve the issue for some users
* The call quality indicator will say “Video not available” during a group video call.
Workaround: Ignore this false message.
* Messaging around the maximum number of particpants allowed on a group video call may be wrong.
Workaround: None available at this time
* After a user drops off a call or hangs up, it’s not possible for the group to re-add the participant to a group video call.
Workaround: Callee has to join call manually from the “Join call button”
* Video can’t be resumed after holding a call
Workaround: Restart the call
* This version of Skype has increased CPU usage which may effect video quality on some computers.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype memory consumption increases with every video call by about 6MB.
Workaround: Restart Skype after video call.
* Video calls may not work with virtual machines.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Video calls on a secondary display causes higher CPU load compared to use on the primary display.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype may not work properly with virtual cameras
Workaround: None available at this time
* Some old graphics cards models such as ATI RAGE Pro, NVIDIA Riva TNT2 or NVIDIA Vanta may not render Skype video streams
Workaround: None available at this time
* My video button will not appear after switching devices.
Workaround: Change the device before starting the call.
* My video preview may freeze after unlocking a locked PC.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype may crash when viewing video preview in Options.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The ASUS virtual webcamera remains open after terminating a video call
Workaround: Select the actual camera in Options->Video or uninstall the problematic virtual software
* Video may freeze on the other side in the following cases: two incoming calls at the same time > accept first call with video > accept second call with video while putting the first call on hold > hang up first call
Workaround: None available at this time|
* After holding and resuming a Skype call the video quality may be degraded
Workaround: None available at this time
* The Skype video snapshots feature is not working on Windows XP SP3.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Late switch to hardware video encoding when using TouchCam N1 or Twincam encoding cameras
Workaround: None available at this time
* When receiving screen sharing or sending video, then the video preview feature will not be aligned correctly
Workaround: None available at this time
* The microphones of the TouchCam N1 and Twincam encoding cameras generates CPU spikes in every 20 seconds that may result in lower video quality
Workaround: Avoid using the encoding camera microphone
* Changing audio or video devices during a call is not supported
Workaround: Don’t change devices during a call.
* It is not possible to enter DTMF tones on the dialpad using copy-paste.
Workaround: None available at this time
* It is not possible to enter DTMF tones on the dialpad using your keyboard.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The Skype user interface may freeze when starting a call.
Workaround: Restart Skype
* The call volume slider in the call quality indicator and in the call view are not always synchronized.
Workaround:
* There may be user interface issues when using Skype over a remote desktop connection
Workaround: None available at this time
* The “Call dropped” error message persists for some time even if the next call is successful
Workaround: None available at this time
* It’s not possible to see whether a group call participant has put a call on hold
Workaround: None available at this time
* It’s not possible to submit call feedback after the call has dropped
Workaround: None available at this time
* On calls with high echo level, it might be hard to hear the other side
Workaround: None available at this time
* It may be difficult to find the Dialpad for entering touchtones in Skype to Skype calls
Workaround: Dialpad can be accessed from the small arrow below the profile image of the callee
* The Skype ringtone will sometimes persist beyond a call being picked up.
Workaround: More information from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979303/
* The ringtone may not stop if the CPU is overloaded by another application
Workaround: Close other applications.
* When a call is forwarded to a phone number then the user will see myself video preview if he started a video call originally
Workaround: None available at this time
* The country drop down list in the call phones area becomes inactive when inserting an incorrect number
Workaround: Insert the country code manually
* Calls may not be successful when two users call each other at exactly the same time
Workaround: None available at this time
* While on a call to the saved phone number of a contact, it’s not possible to access the IM history of this contact.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The dialpad button is missing from the call window if the conversation window is minimised to the maximum extent
Workaround: Open the Dialpad from the dropdown menu under the call receiver’s name
* Call quality indicator suggestions may sometimes be incorrect
Workaround: None available at this time
* During a group video call the call quality indicator may not display video quality descriptions.
Workaround: None available at this time
* If a user receives a video call while their webcam is already in use by another application, then the call quality indicator will not display the correct video indicator
Workaround: None available at this time
* The call quality indicator incorrectly reports medium quality when the call is in fact the video call is in high definition.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The call quality indicator may display a slow CPU message during audio-only calls on computers which can handle audio calls without problems.
Workaround: None available at this time
* All web links from the call quality guide direct to the English language site rather than localised pages
Workaround: None available at this time
* The call quality indicator will not update if a webcam is still in use by another application
Workaround: Close and re-open Call Quality Indicator after releasing the webcam.
* Call Quality Indicator says “Medium” for a high quality video call between two Logitech pro 9000 webcameras
Workaround: None available at this time
* The Call Quality Indicator shows a false error message that your webcam is in use by other application, even if it is not in use anymore.
Workaround: Ignore the message.
* Sharing a larger area of your screen than 1696 x 1056 sends a distorted and cropped image to other participants
Workaround: None available at this time
* Users may not be able to switch in between screen sharing and sending video in a one-to-one call
Workaround: None available at this time
* During screen sharing the start and stop buttons may not work
Workaround: None available at this time
* Screen sharing from a multiple desktop setup leads to a compromised display on the receiver side
Workaround: None available at this time
* Taking snapshots of a shared screen produces two identical images
Workaround: None available at this time
* My video button will not appear after a screen sharing session.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Netbooks with Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Graphics Chipset and Windows 7 can have problems when receiving large screen sharing resolutions beyond 1322 x 823.
Workaround: Set smaller screen sharing size
* Transferring a call to another phone without having Skype Credit will disconnect the call without a proper warning message.
Workaround: None available at this time
* If a user has their call returned after an unsuccessful call transfer, that user must decline the call twice
Workaround: None available at this time
* Transferring a call to a phone contact and Skype user at the same time will cause the call to disconnect for the Skype user when the phone contact answers the call.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Switching between conversations can be slow for some users.
Workaround: None available at this time
* No warning message is being displayed when closing a conversation with the close button in compact mode.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Video snapshots from cameras with a 16:9 aspect ration webcameras are displayed in 4:3 aspect ratio
Workaround: Open the video snapshots in another picture viewer
* Skype 5.0 Beta 1 for Windows does not fully support accessibility.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype fails to detect some screen readers when they are started after running Skype. Workaround: restart Skype.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype will crash when selecting multiple contacts from the contact list.
Workaround: None available at this time
* On Windows Vista the Firefox browser crashes if it is running while Skype is installed with the Firefox browser plugin.
Workaround: None available at this time
* When a user opens their web browser with no network connectivity, Skype displays an error message that SkypeNames.exe wants to use Skype. This happens when opening Firefox for the first time after installing Skype with the IE and Firefox add-ons.
Workaround: None available at this time
* On Windows 7 Skype installer offers to install Skype internet explorer browser plugin even if Internet Explorer is not installed in that machine.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The automatic ‘Away’ status setting doesn’t work if it has been set a long time ago.
Workaround: Change the auto away time in options to something else and then back.
* Skype installer may be slow for some people.
Workaround: Download full installer from http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-full-beta
* When exiting from Skype Access a false message is displayed about disconnection.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The Skype Access connection offering does not pop-up correctly when trying to connect to supported hotspot after starting Skype up.
Workaround: Connect to supported Wifi hotspot before running Skype.
* Searching contacts in Korean, Japanese, simplified and traditional Chinese languages may not give relevant results.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Users with screen readers may have problems noticing the new authorization requests in the Notification tab.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype notifications about account changes can be delayed by a few hours
Workaround: None available at this time
* An error message appears when the Extras Manager is started while Adobe Flash Player is not installed
Workaround: Install Adove Flash Player before opening Extras Manager
* DailyMotion videos which have been added to a mood message are not being displayed to other contacts.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Hebrew and Arabic text is incorrectly displayed in the call view
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype will sometimes not correctly display Arabic and Hebrew languages in the user interface.
Workaround: None available at this time
* For people who use Skype in Traditional Chinese the “Give feedback” form is displayed in Simplified Chinese.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Skype alerts may be displayed in wrong language in the Notification area.
Workaround: None available at this time
* The country drop down list in the call phones tab is not localized to Russian.
Workaround: None available at this time
* ‘Full Screen’ menu option under View menu is always grayed out
Workaround: None available at this time
* Netbooks can experience problems displaying some of the Skype windows.
Workaround: None available at this time
* Certain graphical components may be misaligned when running Skype with a high graphics DPI setting.
Workaround: None available at this time