VoIP call transfer?

[adrian cockcroft]

On 4/2/07, Paul McMillan <Paul at semicubic.com> wrote:
>
> It's nice to have rational conversation and argument about this, rather than
> the great amounts of handwringing which sometimes constitute the bulk of
> these discussions...

Agreed :-)


> I agree... there's very little reason for us to cache the skype password.
> But if we're talking about an integrated function-library type application
> rather than running the full-blown skype desktop ap in the background, these
> needs may be different. I wouldn't want to have to put in my skype password
> everytime I power cycled my device or reset it.

This doesn't seem to be a problem, as Skype stores something on disk
(key or encrypted password, I'm not sure), since I can restart skype
and reboot my laptop without needing to re-enter the password. Enter
the password once after installation. This is settable, so if you want
to keep skype use private, you can enter the password each time.
Either way, the Neo shouldn't store a copy of the password.

>
> > I'm not sure that our only goal is "total integration". If I want to
> > run Skype on my phone, I may want to use the standard Skype UI. A
> > plugin could do addressbook integration as it does on the desktop.
>
> We're talking about a limited resource device. Running the Skype desktop
> application all the time in the background is not the most optimal solution
> if a more streamlined one could be made available. In addition, a device
> like the NEO is going to need fairly specific network activity profiles...
> For instance, we probably want the user to be able to send and receive text
> messages via GPRS, but we don't want to generate much traffic over that type
> of link otherwise, and certainly can't accept voice calls. We don't want the
> device to act as a proxy (probably ever, due to battery life concerns). When
> it's connected via a broadband connection, we still want low-resource usage
> where possible for power saving reasons.

I'm not sure how Skype behaves in a low bandwidth setup, it definitely
won't proxy unless it has spare bandwidth, stable IP address and a
long uptime (also a firewall can stop it), it may decide that it
doesn't have bandwidth for voice or video calls automatically, or
there may be a way to tell it that its going from Wifi to GPRS.

At the moment its all moot, as there is no ARM binary, and no
timescale to create one, however once the Neo is up and running I'll
make sure they see it and get asked the right questions. I'll also ask
about the API license, and see if they will consider changes.

Adrian