Changes:
Bugfix: Recording did not appear in recording list when connection to Skype was lost.
Bugfix: Recording did not appear in recording list when a new call was received during an active recording.
Bugfix: On Windows7 there was an error when recording Skype video when the Skype window was outside the desktop area.
Bugfix: Potential crash at the end of a call recording.
Change: Call recording warning disabled by default.
Change: Major improvements in audio engine of Pamela which improves the performance of Pamela.

To update just open Pamela and click on the Help menu and then “Check for update”. This will provide you with the correct update version. Download and run the setup which will update Pamela to the latest version. All your data and settings will remain untouched.

Note that upgrades are free for our free and license customers.

The new version is 4.6.0.1 and has some changes ported over from the Pamela for Skype versions. These are:

• Added WMA format support
• Correct MP3 activation in Windows7
• Fixes to the Emotion Player
• Potential crash situations fixed
• More…

We hope you enjoy the new release.

The changes are:

Bugfix: Improvements in call start/stop detection
Bugfix: Playing large MP3 files in Emotion Player could crash Pamela
Bugfix: Adding certain MP3 files to Emotion Player crashes Pamela – added improved MP3 file type compatibility
Bugfix: When installing Pamela on Windows2000, MP3 and WMA formats are disabled for compatibility reasons
Bugfix: Resolved more potential crash situations

Take a look at 12:00 where Stefan talks about Pamela. Thank you Stefan for sharing this great video with us.

After the first scan of the PamFax website we were able to add the McAfee logo to the PamFax website.

Today we added the logo to our PamFax website at www.pamfax.biz and on Monday latest the Pamela website at www.pamela.biz will also show the logo (the scans have been completed and nothing major was found – but hey it’s Friday).

The good news is that both our sites showed no major security flaws which could have impacted the users privacy.

As a concequence we will be switching over to an alternative “Pay As You Go” offer which will allow occasional PamFax users to still use PamFax “On Demand” without needing to buy a monthly plan. The minimum initial credit purchase will be €5 (Skype Credit was €0,99). The reason for the €5 amount is the cost associated with processing smaller amounts.

The good news is that PamFax is still the only product which allows you to send faxes by just paying a small pre-load amount.

This update will be done server side and will not require a PamFax update on your computer.

Feature: Info when user clicks “play” button during a call
Feature: Added additional variables to format the call recording file name
Bugfix: Mood editor showed wrong # of remaining characters when copying text into editor
Bugfix: Language editor set to max # of characters to prevent crash when loading the LNG file
Bugfix: Mood editor tooltips are now translated
Bugfix: “Minimize Pamela at video recording start” option is not saved after exiting Pamela
Bugfix: Sometimes error message dialogs were not in focus and thus not visible for user
Bugfix: Custom record full desktop had disabled record button
Bugfix: Fixed crash in custom video recording on removing webcam
Bugfix: Fixed an issue where Pamela would stop video recording after about 4 minutes
Change: Start external application entry box expanded to 256 characters
Change: Options: all port setting maxed to 65535
Change: Removed the cut off “Not…” text from list view
Change: Considerable speed improvements and lower CPU usage when recording Skype video

In addition we were able to significantly decrease the CPU usage when recording Skype video.

If you want to update, open the main Pamela window and click on “Help” and “Check for new version”. Alternatively you can visit the website and download. Make sure you download the same version as you have.

Additionally, we have fixed the games in PamBot: try it by typing LUCKYSLOTS, WORDPLAY or BLACKJACK.

Try it now.

Have fun with Pamela

We made the whole site much nicer then it was before and improved the usability a lot. It’s now much easier to get the information you are looking for about Pamela and to download and then order Pamela.

The website is now also available in german. If your browser is set to german, the page will automatically open in german. But you can also switch between the languages in the bottom right corner.

Any comments are welcome.

But this shut-down also includes the Skype Credit payment, which will be switched off shortly. No third-party software will then be able to accept Skype Credit payments.

So how does this affect Scendix/PamConsult products? The simple answer is: not very much.

Let’s take a look at all our products we have for Skype:

Pamela: Pamela only uses the Skype Public API and not the Skype Extras system. So this will not affect Pamela at all.

PamFax: With our upgrade to Pamfax 2.0 including a complete new architecture back in april this year, we are now completely independent from Skype’s Extras system. Current version of PamFax runs on any Windows or Mac machine even if Skype is not installed at all. What we loose in PamFax will be the possibility to buy PamFax Credits with Skype Credits and the entry in Skype’s “Extras” menu (once it will be removed by Skype; “later”). We are already investigating in other payment methods to use PamFax pay-as-you-go for some time now, as we heard from our users that only Skype Credit payment (which was not available on Mac or Linux at all) is not enough. So this is a very good time to add some more payment flexibility to PamFax.
As the fax-sending process is done by our own datacenters all around the world and not by the Skype network, PamFax will even work if they shut off Skype completely. Sometimes, independence is something very nice

Pamela Call Recorder: The Pamela Call Recorder can be seen as a small version of Pamela. So it will work even after this change in Skype. More then a year ago we built a “stand alone” version of the Pamela Call Recorder which can be downloaded from www.pamcorder.com. This version will work even if the user has a Skype version without the Extras Manager system. Just like PamFax you can just keep using the product.

mcePhone, Skype for Salesforce and others: Do not use the Skype Extras system at all. As the public Skype API will live on, there will be no change in these products.

We are still thinking about why Skype goes into this direction: the latest history has shown that opening up a product as a platform and to allow third-party software to connect and to enhance the core products can turn into a real self-runner making the platform and therefore the core product itself much, much more valuable. Think about what these products would be without any third-party software, plugins, addons or whatever they are called for each product: WinAmp, eBay, Apple iPhone, FireFox and thousands of other software products more that are good because there are good plugins for this product.

Could you imagine using an iPhone without any third party software installed on it? What if there would not be a possibility to buy iPhone apps as easy as it is right now? Would you enter your credit card data into a shop system you never saw before from a company that you have never heard before to buy a fun app for USD 1.99 just to try it out? Apple has shown that a very well done “Extras system” with a safe, easy and WORKING payment possibility can boost sales of the apps and the core product.

If Skype did not believe in their Extras System 1.0, perhaps it was because it had so many problems and was not extended for at least 2 years now. It was developed once and then there was no progress at all. Some major things that made the Skype Extras system a flop in our eyes: a) only on windows, not available on Mac or Linux, b) horrible client-only Skype payments implementation, c) very unflexible (games as developer-examples shows the focus when it was developed…), and loads more.
But why it’s so hard for a multi-billion-dollar company to hire some people with the according knowledge and make it better? Skype Extras System 2.0? Just shutting down the whole thing is just a decision at the round table, but standing up for a product platform and fight to make it better than it was before to make it a success is a hard and long road to go.

We believe that some changes are always a good chance to make something much better than it was before. For us, this means finding more ways to market our software and the opportunity to change the pay-as-you-go payment process in PamFax will be a great step forward in making our products even better.

So: R.I.P. Skype Extras System. Let’s find something better out there!