TUAW reader Troy sent an email the other day stating that he'd found one of our posts from last August to be very helpful. In Using your iPhone on a cruise ship we talked about Cellular At Sea and getting your iPhone to send and receive pricey calls from many cruise ships. How expensive are they? Last year, they were running about US$0.79 per minute. This year, they cost about the same.

Troy's email got me thinking about how to make cheaper phone calls on cruises, since I'll be on two cruise ships next year. Since last August, we've seen Skype for iPhone / iPod touch [App Store] appear, and for US$2.95 a month you can make unlimited calls to the USA and Canada over a Wi-Fi connection. That's great, but you're going to need to pay anywhere from $0.30 to $0.75 per minute for that Wi-Fi! And another big dead fly is floating in that soup -- the bandwidth on cruise ships is so incredibly low that your calls may not even go through using Skype or another VoIP app.

Unfortunately, things haven't improved much in this realm since last year. My recommendation? Buy the biggest onboard Wi-Fi account you can afford (more minutes = cheaper per minute) and use it with your iPhone or iPod touch for emails, Tweeting your friends, using IM, and checking TUAW. If you want to send voice messages to your pals, record them in the new iPhone OS 3.0 voice memos app or (if you have a 3GS) with video, and then email the messages over Wi-Fi. Your friends can respond the same way.

If you absolutely must have a two-way conversation, your cheapest alternative is going to be to wait until you're in a port, then use one of AT&T's international calling plans (or another carrier's plan if you're not in the US) or see if you can use Skype at a portside bar with free Wi-Fi. You probably don't want to use the ship's on-board satellite phone service at the US$6.99 to US$10.99 per minute rate!

Do you have any other hints for cheap communications afloat, other than sending postcards from ports? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to Troy for reminding us about cruise ships and iPhones

Skype (iTunes link) has been updated to 1.1, which brings it some new features making it more closely resemble its desktop sibling. So, what's new? Well, there's now support for Skype voicemail (subscription needed) and SMS text messaging.

However, SMS texting is not bidirectional. Which means that you can send SMS texts, but not receive them. And while a dialog box states that sent SMS texts will show up as sent from the sender's Skype screen name, in my case it displayed the "999-99" caller ID that typically accompanies calls from a Skype-based client. Perhaps that's because I don't have a SkypeIn number?

The 1.1 update also provides additional language support as well as more help when dialing phones.

FileMaker Pro fans can now tweet and make Skype calls directly from databases, thanks to a pair of free files from FMWebSchool. There are a couple of movies that demonstrate how these files work, which you can view by clicking the links below.

The FMSkype file allows you to import your Skype address book into a FileMaker Pro database (Windows only; Mac FileMaker users must manually import their Skype info), and then click to call a contact using their Skype name or phone number.

FMTweet lets you send messages to Twitter from a FileMaker Pro database. This is not a plug-in; it's a database with associated scripting that can be customized by the user. FMTweet could be useful if you want a database to provide notification of a specific situation through Twitter -- for instance, send a tweet when someone enters information into a web-enabled Filemaker database.

To get the two files and other FileMaker goodies that may come out in the future, you do need to subscribe to the free FMWebSchool newsletter.

As the midnight line rolled across the globe last night, international iTunes users picked up the Skype app with glee and enthusiasm. While users in Germany are fuming at reports that T-Mobile plans to block use of Skype via its WiFi hotspots, everyone else seems quite happy so far. We're already hearing about Bluetooth speakerphones or plug-in mics that should work well with the service.

More updates: users of jailbroken phones may want to check Cydia for an update to the mobile substrate component that stops Skype from crashing. Canadian users are, for the moment, out of luck due to a patent concern.

If you've got Skype fired up on your iPhone, let us know how it's going for you and what the advantages/drawbacks of VoIP on your iPhone or iPod touch are so far. Leave a comment below, or send us a Skype IM at 'TUAW_on_Skype' with your thoughts.

Update: Our pals at Engadget are reporting that Skype for the iPhone has just hit Japan!

We heard it was on the way, but now CNET says it's official: the Skype application for iPhone and iPod touch should be available tomorrow on the App Store. As expected, the voice-over-IP app will require a WiFi connection to place and receive calls; it will also handle conference calling as a participant, not an initiator, and the first version leaves out SMS, call waiting and an integrated voicemail tool. Skype text chat, unlike voice traffic, will work fine over an EDGE or 3G connection.

Imperfect? Yes, and there are other apps -- Fring and Nimbuzz, for example -- that can talk to the Skype voice network... but the big blue S is providing the stamp of approval for VoIP on the iPhone, and you can bet that Skype's app will shoot to the top of the App Store charts as soon as it's released.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

VOIP for iPhone is the dream of many a user, and Om Malik suggests that it might be days away. Citing a "...very reliable source," Om says that Skype is ready to launch their iPhone app, perhaps at next week's CTIA Wireless event.

That's whole lot of "suggests" and "might" and "perhaps," is it not? Frankly, I don't see why Apple or AT&T would be keen on Skype for the iPhone or iPod touch. Of course, here are other VOIP options available, like fring and iCall (among others), so what do I know? It's an interesting rumor, but for now, that's all.

Good news for Skype users. Skype has announced the availability of Beta 2.8 for the Mac, which offers two huge new features: Screen sharing and WiFi access for a MacBook or MacBook Pro via "Skype Access."

Screen sharing works via the Skype video channel, of course, and allows for a complete view of a participant's screen. For now, only a Mac may act as a source, though a Linux or Windows machine can view its screen. File transfer is also possible, though a lot of detail wasn't available on this.

The other major feature, Skype Access, offers WiFi access for a MacBook or MacBook Pro via any Boingo access point. These include McDonald's, hotels like Marriott and Hilton and more than 500 international airports. Skype Access will run you $0.22US (€0.16) per minute using Skype Credits.

While we haven't had a chance to play with it yet (we're a bit distracted by a little trade show today), the pitch from Skype sounds interesting. Let us know if you give this a try.

We have all been waiting on an iPhone VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution, since we heard that Apple would allow VoIP application access while connected to WiFi. Fring has finally made our dream a reality -- and it's a reality that's available today!

Fring is a new, free iPhone application that integrates with Fring's network and allows access to the following IM/presence services:

• Fring
• Skype
• AIM
• Yahoo
• Twitter
• ICQ
• MSN

In addition to simply chatting with buddies from the above services, you can place VoIP calls to other fring users, or using Skype/SkypeOut or another SIP provider (Gizmo, Vonage, etc.). We'll take a more in-depth look/review this weekend -- so be sure to stay tuned to TUAW. In a quick test, I was able to call Skype users from my iPhone and carry on a (slightly echo-y, but perfectly audible) conversation.

You can download this application today by visiting the iTunes App Store. The application weighs in at 3.0 MB. You can also get more information about this service and the application on the Fring website.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

We use Skype for the TUAW Talkcast and recently, our host and podcasting guru (OK, not guru, but he is the host and we like him), Michael Rose, has been looking at possibly using Ecamm's Call Recorder 2 plugin as an option for recording our weekly talkcasts. I actually have used it to record both audio and video chat for the Squadcast and really think that it is a fantastic, fantastic add-on.

For anyone unfamiliar, Call Recorder is a great little tool that adds a recording window to Skype. This makes it easy to record incoming and outgoing calls (audio and video). The files are saved in the QuickTime format and they can be converted to MP3 or split into separate tracks.

With the release of the latest version of Skype for the Mac, Ecamm has updated Call Recorder as well. In addition to the latest Skype compatibility, Call Recorder 2.3 also includes a new two-track video recording option (so that you can have a separate stream from each side of the conversation) and enhanced video recording quality.

Call Recorder 2 is $14.95 (for $7 more, you can also get Conference Recorder, which adds the same functionality to iChat, and unlike the built in iChat recorder, doesn't require both users to have Leopard) and a free demo is available if you want to try out the tool.

If you want a simple, hassle free way to record Skype conversations, give Call Recorder a shot!

Skype, which has become my primary means of communicating with anyone not standing directly in front of me, has updated to version 2.7.0.257 with improvements, changes and a very, very long list of bugfixes.

I'm happy, possibly even thrilled, about an alleged improvement in video stability. If you've ever used the video features, you've probably noticed that, in numerous scenarios, Skype prefers to show up more in your crash logs than on your desktop. I haven't had a chance to fully test out the video portion of this update and the release notes simply refer to it as "improved stability", so I'm hoping for the best.

The 20+ bugfixes, by and large, deal mostly with errors I haven't run into and one grammatical correction to a dialog. Oh, and they fixed the language name for Belarusian, which could potentially appease 9,081,102* people.

Fewer crashes and proper grammar are tantalizing but, as is usually the case, I find the API additions to be the most exciting. The Skype API is AppleScript-able and fairly comprehensive. This update adds more interface access, new voicemail features, and a few intriguing looking options which I'll just have to play with to understand.

It would be nice if the updater built into Skype actually did what the name implies, but for now you'll have to head for the web page and get it yourself. Be sure to check out the release notes.

Making phone calls from your television set is a clear sign that you are Living in the Future (tm), right up there with the jet packs and the meals-in-a-pill that we're all enjoying so much. If your current TV/phone configuration isn't meeting your needs, developer Brandon Holland has your back; he's just released an extremely early version of his Skype for Apple TV plugin (noted last month & today at Engadget) that leverages the Skype API to allow calls via USB headsets, text messages and more.

I can't really picture how this module is going to work for actual calling (and I don't have an Apple TV to try it out on), but if it refines into a true Skype client, and the Take 2 update doesn't completely nuke the Apple TV development scene, and Skype gets past its current security worries, this could be a very interesting path towards our videophone-enabled, jet-pack-wearing future.

Update: Matt comments that Brandon has a demo video up on his site, which is both technically interesting and slightly hilarious (watch for the test call where he tries to put the moves on Echo123, that faceless e-babe).

Thanks CK!

Attention all ye users of Adium, Skype, iChat, Twitter, Facebook and Jaiku - Brett Terpstra has struck again with MoodSwing, his excellent utility for updating your status across all these apps and services. Why do I call it a utility instead of just a Quicksilver action, you ask? Because Brett is now providing both the original action and a new full-blown menubar app - at the request of TUAW readers - called MoodBlast. Both now live on the same download page at Brett's Circle Six Design blog, and they both allow you to update your status across all the aforementioned services at once. While MoodSwing is an action you set-and-forget to work with Quicksilver (though you can reconfigure later), an advantage of the MoodBlast menubar app is that you're presented with the UI you see above every time you activate it, with any services you used previously already selected for updating. The other advantage of the MoodBlast app, of course, is that you don't need Quicksilver in order to minimize the effort spent for online socialization.

As with his other excellent projects, Brett Terpstra provides MoodSwing and MoodBlast as donationware.

For those who want to spice up their video conferences and would like to use their iSight (or other webcam) with more than one application simultaneously, CamCamX might just be the app for you. Offering an old-school UI for mixing movies and images into your video conferences, CamCamX allows you to play digital broadcaster with most of the webcam-enabled apps for Mac OS X. In addition to mix-master-iSight with your video and media, CamCamX also allows you to use more than one webcam app at once, allowing you to, for example, hop into a video chat while also providing a live webstream or recording yourself with QuickTime (though, for some strange reason, you apparently need to purchase iChatUSBCam if you want iChat to fit into your CamCamX workflow). While the UI isn't the most beautiful thing this side of the HIG, it's a powerful concept that mimics Apple's upcoming iChat Theater in Leopard, but seems to open a few more doors since it works with apps like Yahoo! Messenger, Skype and even Flash.

A watermarked demo of CamCamX is avaialble from VJ Software, while a license costs $29.00, with 3-year and lifetime upgrade memberships available for $59 and $99, respectively.

If it seems like it was only last week that Brett Terpstra introduced his side project MoodSwing, a clever script that allows users to change their status message across multiple apps with Quicksilver - well, it was. People loved it, so Brett quickly began updating, tweaking and adding a slew of new features and services that MoodSwing could manipulate. The script is now up to v4 with a dedicated page at Brett's Circle Six Design blog, listing out all the features and supported services:

• Supports Adium, iChat and Skype
  
• Supports Twitter, Jaiku and Facebook
  
• Automatic Qurling of long URLs
• Word Count
  
• Send current weather (international)
  
• Send current iTunes track
  
• Encryption of passwords stored in preferences
  
• Easy-to-edit defaults, can be overridden by command syntax

In a surprisingly short time, MoodSwing has become an incredibly powerful Quicksilver action that can simplify the process of letting your friends across many services know what you're up to. The action is pretty easy to set up and configure to your bidding, but be sure to check out the MoodSwing page for instructions to get the ball rolling. As with so many of Brett's other excellent offerings, MoodSwing is provided as donationware, so scroll down on Brett's Downloads page and show him some appreciation.

If you are a text, audio and video chatter, chances are you have some combination of iChat, Skype, Adium and a Twitter client running throughout the day. It's also possible that you're a Quicksilver junkie, which means you might appreciate Brett Terpstra's new Quicksilver script that will let you update your status across all these apps and services from the comforts of your Quicksilver window.

To get set up, download the MoodSwing script and then follow Brett's instructions at this page to install the script in the proper location for Quicksilver. There's a simple system for entering the proper status message so that it fits into all the apps you have running, but bear in mind that Brett isn't taking bug reports or offering support; this was more of a fun project that he tossed out there for the masses, so if you know some AppleScript and can improve upon what Brett has already designed, have at it.