Section 11.1. Hacks 8690: Introduction

11.1. Hacks 8690: Introduction

There is a burgeoning market for Skype add-ons and tools that extend Skype's functionality or that leverage Skype's services. This is one of the most exciting aspects of Skype. By using Skype's Application Programming Interface (API), third-party developers are delivering neat add-onsmany of them freethat plug gaps in Skype's feature set, or just do something "completely different" (to borrow a phrase from Monty Python's Flying Circus). So, if there's a piece of functionality that you desperately need or want, chances are someone has had a similar idea and has built an add-on to satisfy that need or want. And if they haven't, Chapter 12 might just help you to hack your own!

Perhaps the first place to start looking for add-ons is Skype's own Extras Gallery, which is updated frequently and is located at http://share.skype.com/directory/.

Given the rapid pace at which all things to do with Skype are developing this chapter can only be a snapshot in time and a peek at what's available. Having said that, it is nevertheless a starting point that will help you to understand where to start looking for add-ons, how to hack and extend add-ons, and how to manage add-ons from a security perspective.

11.1.1. Skype Add-Ons

Broadly speaking, there are two types of Skype add-ons: hardware add-ons and software add-ons.

11.1.1.1. Hardware add-ons.

A Skype hardware add-on is not just, say, a pair of USB headphones. Such things are merely generic computer devices. To qualify as a Skype add-on, a piece of hardware must interface to Skype through its API. Even though the Skype API was publicly released only a comparatively short time ago (October 2004), you already have a number of Skype-enabled hardware devices from which to choose:

Skype-to-phone USB box

Description: an adapter that allows you to use an existing phone handset with Skypethat is, to use a regular phone handset as your sound-in and sound-out device for Skype. Some have advanced features, such as call forwarding using your regular phone line, and a few have Linux drivers (still quite a rarity).

Where to buy: http://www.echostore.com/, http://www.yappernut.com/, http://www.rapidvoip.com/, http://www.pcphoneline.com/, http://www.skypomania.com/, http://www.mplat.com/, and http://www.voip-interactive.com/.

USB handset or desktop phone

Description: a handset or desktop phone that plugs into a USB port and interfaces directly with Skype (using software that comes with the device), and which allows you limited control over Skype from the handset or desktop phone.

Where to buy: http://www.skype.com/store/, http://www.echostore.com/, http://www.skypomania.com/, http://www.mplat.com/, and http://www.voip-interactive.com/.

USB Flash phone

Description: a USB memory stick with integrated audio from which you can run Skype directly. Just plug it into a USB port on a computer with an Internet connection and you can fire up Skype, and make and receive calls.

Where to buy: http://www.echostore.com/ and http://www.mplat.com/.

Only some of the vendors in the preceding list offer technical support for their products. Before purchasing Skype add-on hardware, it's always worth asking some technical questions to gauge the type of after-sales support you can expect.

11.1.1.2. Software add-ons.

Using the Skype API, software add-ons can control Skype or have Skype control them. Truly, it's a situation that is limited only by how quickly Skype enhances its API specification, and by the imaginative uses to which the API can be put by creative add-on software developers (or, indeed, by Skype users; see Chapter 12). If what's already been created so far is anything to go by, especially in view of the comparatively short period since the API was released, this area is going to be big! Just look at some of the add-ons that are already available.

11.1.2. Software Add-On Showcase

Information relating to Skype ages almost as quickly as bread on a baker's shelf. Even so, as a starting point in your own hunt for Skype add-ons, here is a sampler of many of the add-ons (including add-on services that don't use the Skype API) available at the time of this writing. The list is by no means comprehensive. It does, however, give you a sense of the breadth and scope of the Skype add-on marketeven though it's clearly in its embryonic stage.

Audiomatic Skype plug-in

Description: control Skype by using voice commands rather than the keyboard or mouse, see "Control Skype Using Spoken Commands" [Hack #86].

Where to get it: http://www.wiseriddles.com/Products/Audiomatic/index.html

Biz.KonuSh.NET (free)

Description: business directory (Yellow Pages) for Skype users.

Where to get it: http://biz.konush.net/

GizmozTalking Headz

Description: animated heads that give your Skype chat sessions more personality and humor (see Figure 11-1).

Where to get it: http://www.gizmoz.com/

IPdrum

Description: some mobile phone plans allow phones on the same network to talk free of charge within their designated home geographic region. Using a pair of mobile phones, IPdrum provides a cable and some software to connect one of them to your computer running Skype. As you move around with the other mobile phone, you can relay and route calls through your home computer using Skype. As mobile-to-mobile calls are free and Skype-to-Skype calls are free, you can effectively make mobile-to-Skype calls free of charge, or mobile-to-Skype-Out calls at rates lower than those of your mobile phone plan.

Where to get it: http://www.ipdrum.com/

Jyve

Description: Jyve Web Tools for Skype enable you to add Jyve-type functionality to your web site. Jyve Tag provides an HTML snippet that puts a live Skype button in a web page that shows your current online status. Jyve Card allows you to collect call-back details from people who visit your web site.

Where to get it: http://www.jyve.com/

Pamela

Description: a productivity add-on for Skype that comprises a suite of functions, including two-way call recording, podcasts, email forwarding of voicemail, and much more!

Where to get it: http://www.pamela-systems.com/

Skype 3D Avatar Messenger (free)

Description: animated 3D avatars for Skype chat.

Where to get it: http://www.vaka.com/

Skype E911 plug-in

Description: Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) positioning for Skype users that lets people know where you are calling from. Limited geographic coverage.

Where to get it: http://www.skyhookwireless.com/

Skypeteer call cost calculator

Description: calculate your SkypeOut call cost in real time, without having to go to the Skype web site for current call rates.

Where to get it: http://www.skypeteer.com/

Figure 11-1. Liven up your Skype chat sessions with animated Talking Headz