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Skype confirms fix rolling out for instant messaging bug
When one of your main services throws up a pretty embarrassing bug, you're going to want to squash that quick. Skype has stepped up and done just that, according to its blog. The hotfix will be rolling out for version 5.10 for Windows, 5.8 for Mac, 4.0 for Linux and 1.2 for Windows Phone. Skype was also quick to point out that not all clients (and therefore users) were affected. If you were on 5.9 for Windows, version 2.8 for Android or Skype 4.0 for iOS, then the firm assures you that you won't be affected. The official line is that the fix should start arriving in the next couple of days, so still best to keep a lid on those office gossip chats for now. Let us know if you start getting the update in the comments below.
Skype confirms 'rare' bug that sends messages to unintended contacts, promises fix soon
Only a handful of Skype users have reported this problem over at the support forum, but what they're complaining about is pretty hair-raising. They say that, following an update in June, instant messages have repeatedly and unintentionally been forwarded to random people in their contact lists. In other words, third-parties are seeing stuff they were never meant to see, which constitutes a serious breach of privacy. Skype now tells us it's aware of the issue and is working on a fix. Here's the official response in full: "We are aware that in rare circumstances IM's between two contacts could be sent to an unintended third contact. We are rolling out a fix for this issue in the next few days and will notify our users to download an updated version of Skype." [Thanks, Kuldar]
Gmail now stores up to 25,000 contacts for the insanely popular
Are you quietly proud of the girth of your social circle? Do you think having 146 Facebook buddies is impressive? Snap out of it, saddo. Some Gmail users have thousands upon thousands of contacts in their list -- so many, in fact, that they've been begging Google to increase its 10,000 limit. The Big G has now obliged these jabbering fiends, yanking the limit up to 25,000 and also boosting available cloud storage to 128KB per contact instead of 32KB. We imagine this could be of some help to business users perhaps, or those nice strangers who send out stock tips. But for the rest of us, the gesture is about as inconsequential as the professionally good-looking.
Verizon Wireless customers to get automatic contact list updates
There's nothing like keying 300+ contacts to your cellphone, only to have something catastrophic happen and lose them all. Sure, providers offer certain forms of backup, but a new service from Plaxo will make all your worries over losing that oh-so-precious contact list disappear. The firm is hooking up with Verizon Wireless (with Alltel and US Cellular to follow suit) to offer automatic list updates from "commonly used e-mail systems" (such as Outlook, Yahoo Mail, OS X Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.) wirelessly via its Plaxo Mobile Plus system. Customers will still have to choose which names receive the honor of being placed in their always-available contact roster, but the service "eliminates the need for manual reentry or copying directly from a computer." While specifics weren't given, this convenience is slated to work with "30 Verizon Wireless handsets" initially, and run customers $4.49 per month, which seems like a lot to ask unless you're notorious for destroying phones.[Via DigitalTrends]
