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Wednesday January 25, 2006
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 I'm reviewing the T-Mobile MDA and SDA right now, and I am reminded of what a lousy product the Pocket PC version of Skype is. Why are people so crazy about this software? I've dialed it up on both phones. It connects, but the sound quality is so much worse than bad, it requires me to get out my thesaurus to find the appropriate words to use. Here: "awful, terrible, dreadful, ghastly, horrific, dire, unpleasant."
Most of the time I sound like Darth Vader, Max Headroom or some sort of crazy art-student sound collage project. "C..ip...uck...me...ip...ip...now?" At best, it sounds like a satellite call to Zambia. At best. And this is over Wi-Fi networks. Sorry, but there's a certain boundary where something's worthless at any price, no matter how low. If you need to make cheap international calls from your mobile phones, people, get a calling card. Send a text message. Or wait for T-Mobile's upcoming UMA VOIP solution, which will have some sort of quality of service.
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January 25, 2006 9:16 PM
There is actually a simple reason for your findings - The T-Mobile MDA and SDA which you tested are not suppose to run Skype Mobile - they simply don't meet the minimum requirements stated in the Skype web site i.e. 312MHz (MDA is 200MHz) and Pocket PC (Not smart Phone like the SDA). I've tried Skype for PPC on the Dell X51 and it works like a charm - I Love it!
January 25, 2006 9:17 PM
Sasha Segan's post overstates the problems with Skype for the Pocket PC. No doubt this BETA version of the popular peer to peer software has problems with occasional voice drop outs and calls between two Pocket PCs can sound as bad as claimed. The Pocket PC version of Skype requires, at minimum, a 312 mhz speed processor and a faster than typical dial-up internet connection on your Pocket PC. There are two versions that are free to download: one for 312 mhz Pocket PCs and one for those with faster processors. It works best with an EVDO or high speeed 802.11 connection. A 3G or EDGE connection is the minimum required. The reason for this is that Skype uses data encryption to keep your calls private. If privacy is not important to you, other VOIP options are available. I use Skype for Pocket PC on my Treo 700w just fine, thank you. Looking back fifteen or more years to the old days of analog cell phones, I can remember dropped calls, static and unrelaible connections. Like any new technology, Skype for Pocket PC BETA will evolve and get better over time.
January 25, 2006 9:23 PM
I know, but there are various people on HowardForums and elsewhere who have claimed to have gotten the program working on devices that are physically identical to the MDA and SDA. That's what I was responding to, otherwise, I would have been a sensible person and believed the minimum specs. I have no idea what voodoo those folks were using. You can indeed run the Pocket PC app on a Smartphone, by the way. Though, as I have discovered, not wel.
March 25, 2006 12:34 PM
I came across this article in which somebody suggested using an overclocking utility to increase the speed of the processor. I dont know how safe it is to overclock it, but here's the link.. http://ctsimpson.com/Weblog/tabid/93/ctl/ArticleView/mid/485/articleId/11/Using-Skype-with-the-HTC-Wizard-TMobile-MDA.aspx