maemo.org - Talk - Skype/Other App EDGE Access?

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- Nokia N900 (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=44)

- - Skype/Other App EDGE Access? (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=31308)

Skype/Other App EDGE Access?

I remember reading in the specs that Skype would be usable via Wi-Fi and 3G. Living in Hawaii, where T-mobile still hasn't deployed 3G access, I was wondering if folks knew if this was an innocent ommission or if it's compiled in such a way as not to run with only EDGE access? I know voice quality might be mediocre, but if I'm trying to conserve minutes, mediocre is better than non-existent.

More broadly, I was wondering if folks knew whether apps could be written to take advantage of whatever connectivity is available, or whether the SDK/hardware limited 3rd-party developers to wifi or a wi-fi 3G combo in some way. I've been trying to read over the Maemo 5 dev guide (here: http://wiki.maemo.org/Documentation/...eveloper_Guide) but honestly, I'm not a developer, and the answer just isn't apparent to me. TIA.

Re: Skype/Other App EDGE Access?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bocaJ (Post 321873)

There are no limits placed on the types of connections applications can or cannot use unless placed in the program by the creators. I cannot think of any applications in the history of Maemo that has done so.

Skype has never been limited to certain connections in previous tablets/versions of Skype. While I don't have an N900 in my hands to say otherwise with absolute certainty, I doubt they would start now.

Re: Skype/Other App EDGE Access?

what zerojay said.

In addition, they probably left EDGE off of the listing for skype due to concerns about the user experience. While it is *usable* if you can get a decent connection, the latency is pretty bad compared to 3G and in most places you would be really pushing the upstream bandwidth of the connection with a voice call. I just tested skype on my N800 via AT&T edge (bluetooth tethered to n95-3 with 3g manually disabled) to the "echo" test account. I had solid all-bars connection, and the quality was patchy and it was clear that there was a LOT of latency in the call. A text session would probably be fine, but I can imagine an actual 2-way voice call would be pretty frustrating. As usual, JMHO, YMMV...etc.