Skype released a new version of its software this morning.  The most exciting feature seems to be the ability to drop some HTML into  your blog post and create a link that allows up to 100 users to have a Skype conversation at once.  It seems to use SkypeOut, so it will be a money maker.  I wonder if those calls will act as conference calls - the new software lights up the picture of whoever is speaking at the time in a conference call.  Nice.

So last month or so AMD subpoenaed Skype alleging that they were colluding with Intel to limit Skype conference calls on non-Intel machines to 6 or less users at a time.  This Skypecast service seems to get around those allegations.  That's nice.

Tell me though, why oh why is there still not a way to record the audio from calls?  Third party services abound, but selecting one is no small task.  GizmoProject has one click record to .wav file.

The deal breaker?  No Mac version yet.  I'm going to freak out if that doesn't get resolved soon.  Mac versions are way behind the Windows versions.  That's just cold. 

Tony Walsh at Clickable Culture has posted a long write up of some experimental technology in the works from a company called Vivox that will enable Voice Over Internet Protocal calls to made inside and out from VR worlds like Second Life.  What a trip.  The company sees it as a way to enable foreign language immersion learning and goodness knows what else.

 You can even call out into the real world from inside another world.  Given the Second Life/Walmart comparisons being made I can't help but insist that my avatar is not going to be taking a job working in a Second Life call center.  Nor is he going to accept telemarketing calls from other avatars, ok?

The Skype alternative Gizmo Project just began offering a service that allows users in the EU cities with the most Gizmo users to get local phone numbers that will redirect to their Gizmo accounts.  (France, Spain or the United Kingdom)  That way folks with land or cel phones will be able to make a local call and reach your Gizmo wherever you are in the world.  Nice.  I don't see any mention of pricing being any different from the usual $3 per month Gizmo call-in service.  The best thing about Gizmo is probably still the one-click record to a .wav file, but this is very cool too.

The above is a cell phone call I made to the new podcasting system Evoca.  Reviewed today by both TechCrunch and Mashable, I found this service via eHub.  There's browser based recording, phone-in recording, descriptions, tags, RSS feeds, groups, albums and oh so much more.  You can also charge a fee for listeners to be able to listen - but the first one here is on me, ok?

Update:  I've tried two more times to make recording through Firefox on a Mac.  Both times I got choppy recordings that were lost when I tried to save them.  I saw an error screen about browser difficulties and am now frustrated enough that I will be darned if I try the browser record again.

The service is free for pretty basic use but for $5 per month you can do lots more, including recording Skype phone calls!  Very nice for those of us on a Mac.

Problems:

According to News.com, AMD has send Skype a subpoena for all documents related to the company's deal with Intel to offer 6 to 10 way conference calling exclusively to users with Intel chips in their computers.  Background stories on the hardware requirements and how legitimate the exclusive deal is can be found here and here.  SkypeJournal Technical Editor Bill Campbell said last month that if he really couldn't do Skype conference calls with more than 5 people just because he has a non-Intel PC he was going to "start a revolution."

The subpoena is part of a suit alleging that Intel is using their dominant market share to pressure various vendors throughout the industry to make deals only with them.  Infoworld's Tom Yager has had good, ongoing coverage of the lawsuit.

I know that the issue here is Intel's pressure, and Skype's motto isn't "Do no Evil" (nor is it "the world can talk for free, all at one time") but there's something that seems dirty about this.  The above background stories that came out before the subpoena are filled with people not wanting to comment but admitting that unsavory things were true.  There's no proof of anything yet, but do you trust Skype?  Now that they are owned by eBay do you trust them more or less?  I don't know how I feel about it yet.  It will be interesting to see if any back room deals at the expense of users come out of this subpoena.