Pamela 4.6 is available
Today we released the final version of Pamela 4.6. Available in all versions, go to the website and download the new version now!
Today we released the final version of Pamela 4.6. Available in all versions, go to the website and download the new version now!
The PamConsult Team grows again: please welcome our latest two new employees with me. They will both extend our team in our development office in Ebstorf, Germany.
Matthias is a developer who worked in web development before. He will be part of the web development team and will work on projects from our customers as well as on PamFax, the websites, etc.
Tobias is a new apprentice who will learn software development in the next 3 years in our company. Through his existing knowledge, he will also help developing our products and projects.
So, welcome!
Today we release a Release Candidate version of Pamela Professional 4.6. Release Candidate means that unless we find a serious bug, this version will go live in the next days, replacing Pamela 4.5.
So, what are the big changes? First of all we completely redid the Skype video recording module. This was used a lot in Pamela since introduction in 2006 but since then evolution of the software world has caused more and more issues with it. So we decided to completely re-write the recording part.
We have managed to create a very low resource recording, this is especially critical as any video application already uses considerable resources. We also wanted to make the settings very simple. In Pamela 4.6 you will see only three main settings regarding video. FPS, the captured Frames Per Second. This impacts file size and quality of the video. Then there is the size of the video file (320×200 up to 800×600 including a YouTube setting). This obviously impacts size of the recording too. And then there is the audio quality starting from “low” to “highest”.
The output file is default WMV format and with Pamela 4.6 we’re doing away with all the complex codec configuration.
In addition there is a video custom recording option which will just record anything from the webcam.
If you have Pamela Professional you can just download and install which will update your Pamela to 4.6. If you do not have Pamela Professional or another Pamela version you will have Pamela Professional in trial mode (full functionality for 30 days).
UPDATE: Pamela 4.6 is now released as final version. Download from www.pamela.biz
We just updated the PamFax servers to a new server build (.12). The changes in this release were mainly around time zones, languages and currencies. We’ve had feedback were people had a hard time to set & change the time zone, language and currency in PamFax. So this server release adds a lot of automation. E.g. when you install PamFax for the first time, the system will automatically recognize based on a few factors what country you are in and presets the PamFax settings accordingly. New in this release is that you can change these settings individually in the PamFax portal.
We also did some changes to the website at www.pamfax.biz. New is a twitter feed on the home page as well as some other minor changes.
Detailed changelog:
- Fixed: Empty inbox bug
- Fixed: Error when saving settings containing some special characters
- Fixed: Missing fax-in email notifications
- Fixed: Rounding issue in DRM calculation for Skype payments
- Change: Timezone detection algorithm and date/time formatting routines
- Feature: Added automatic country/timezone/language/currency detection for non-Skype users
- Feature: Change localization settings in portal
Note: No application update is required with this update.
Today we released a PamFax server update which addresses some performance and usability issues we have seen. This update does not require you to re-install PamFax.
ChangeLog PamFax Server 2.0.11.x
Today we released a pretty significant update which bumps up the version to 2.0.10.16. The main focus is performance and stability improvement. Below a list of the changes. The server part requires no update on your computer. The PamFax Windows version does require a manual download and install if you are effected by the issues listed here.
Changelog:
PamFax Server Platform 2.0.10
Fixed: Removed flash document uploader for improved reliability
Fixed: Macintosh application could hang when uploading same file again
Fixed: Issues from error logs and automatic reporting. Improved stability
Fixed: Bug when hovering on submenu-items in portal
Fixed: Missing prices/countries on rates page in PamFax Portal
Fixed: Display of incorrect Skype country for some Macintosh users
Fixed: Hopefully fixed bug with pending faxes where payment was done after the fax was submitted
Change: Changed zone calculation for service and mobile numbers
Change: Added notification settings explanation
Change: Unpaid faxes are deleted after 3 days (was 30 before)
Change: Removed some fax-in area codes (provider related, service level could not be guaranteed)
PamFax application 2.0.x.16 (PamFax Windows only)
Fixed: Installer no longer flashes but downloads all files at once
Change: Removed check if Flash is installed
Change: Updated scanner module with better scanner support
Feature: Availability of a full install package which does not download anything (Link: http://www.pamfax.biz/PamFaxFullInstaller.exe)
Vista Sidebar Gadget 2.0.0.11
Feature: Added PamFax inbox so you can see incoming faxes
Feature: Added auto-update function
Fixed: Occasional disconnect with “server error”
Our partner in Japan, Fusion Network Services Corporation, have started their campaign to introduce PamFax in Japan. We have jointly worked hard to prepare the launch by localizing the entire PamFax system in Japanese. Fusion is also a Skype partner and provide Skype with the local Skype-In numbers in Japan.
Fusion plan several marketing activities over the next months to introduce the PamFax solution to the market.
Further information (in Japanese) click on image below.
Our thanks to the professional team at Fusion for preparing this important launch with us.
Based on feedback and system logs we have compiled another PamFax update to address some issues found since the last update.
The new server build version is: .8 (In the PamFax application you will see the version as: 2.0.8.15). Note that we did release a new application version which fixes a scanner issue in Windows but we are not pushing the version to the existing customers. You can update easily by just downloading the installer package from www.pamfax.biz.
One major workflow change we made is that when you install PamFax for the first time you are asked to define a password for direct PamFax portal access. In the past we’ve learned that asking for then when users access the portal creates confusion so we added this to this release. This way PamFax users will always have a password to access the portal. Users that did not have a password will be asked for at next start of PamFax.
The changes we made today are:
Feature: A fax to multiple recipients can be canceled/deleted in the PamFax Portal
Feature: Define PamFax password on first start
Bugfix Mac: Skype language detection in PamFax Mac could hang PamFax
Bugfix Windows: When sending a document via “Send To”, via printer driver or Office toolbar the upload could fail
Bugfix: Added improved support for right to left languages on cover page
Bugfix: Minor IE8 issue fixed when cancelling/deleting faxes from the PamFax Portal
Bugfix: Upload button broken in IE7 and IE8 when clicking “back” on number entry page
Bugfix: In PamFax for Facebook clicking on “Send Fax” triggers “Launch Application” dialog instead of sending the fax
We also added the usual minor fixes and improvements. As we have more and more users submitting multiple recipient faxes we added a function to the portal which allows you to cancel these faxes at once. Till now you had to delete each individual number which could be a very tiresome task.
Last night we released a server and application update for PamFax 2.0 (bringing the version number to 2.0.7.15) with the following changes.
Server
Bugfix: Faxes paid for later were sometimes not sent
Bugfix: Resending faxes from portal
Bugfix: Rmoving numbers from list of updated pricing numbers
Bugfix: Improved sending faxes to high volume of recipients
Bugfix: Fax inbox now also shows name of sender instead on “unknown” and the number
Bugfix: Fixed issue when multiple recipient list contained a blocked number
Change: Multiple recipient sending increased from 400 to 2.000 numbers
Change: Upgraded document conversion servers for improved quality of fax documents
Language: Improved Arabic language support in converter systems
Language Italian, Spanish, Polish and Japanese translations updated
Application (Windows)
Bugfix: Proxy connection is now recognized correctly
Bugfix: Updated scanner driver as not all scanners were recognized correctly
Bugfix: Reset of cached web files on setup
Bugfix: Updated setup translations (Spanish, Italian, Polish and Japanese)
Bugfix: Fixed issue with Skype toolbars
Application (Mac OSX)
Bugfix: Fixed issue with folder naming
Note that if you have the issue with the scanner driver not recognizing your scanner, you will need to download the PamFax application manually and run the installer. We are not pushing an automatic application update with this new version.
A few weeks ago we have added a new module to Pamela for Skype and Pamela Call Recorder which will provide us better feedback when the application causes a crash. Unfortunately, despite all the testing, there are always situations where an application might become instable.
For this reason we decided to upgrade the reporter module. We added this to Pamela and PCR (Pamela Call Recorder) three weeks ago and have had some very good feedback. With this information we have released two new builds (versions) of Pamela and PCR and activated the auto update function too. So next time you start Pamela you should be notified that there is a new version available with the offer to download.
We have decided to push out a new release, based on feedback, every Friday. This of course only when there is enough feedback to justify this.
With this regular update cycle we want to further improve the stability of the applications to provide you with the best service possible.
On a side note, we will also release some changes to the video recording module to address some issues reported. Video remains high on the radar and we have been doing deep investigation into how to improve this function in Pamela further. Based on this research some changes will be implemented in this weeks update.