Most of the initial hype around the new 4.0 beta version of Skype centres around the improved video quality and the amount of space the revised client takes up on screen. However, the most interesting new feature in the long term may be the fact that multiple conversations -- video, voice or text -- can all be managed from the central screen. Alternating between numerous discussions is a major nuisance in earlier releases, so this might be some compensation for the crowding that'll be inevitable on ultra-portables like the Eee with the new triple-width client. Skype 4.0 is currently a Windows-only beta, but Skype hopes to get the gold version out the door later in the year and follow with Mac and Linux versions. (Personally, I'm too scarred by the bugs in 3.8 to test 4.0 just yet, but I'd love to hear any reader experiences in the comments.)

Windows only: Skype has released an early beta of their 4.0 release for Windows users, and the best word for it is "bigger." (Odds-on this is the "fundamental change" Skype hinted at earlier this week.) The client itself is now a full-screen affair, putting your contact list at left and offering all the user options in a big central box. Video calls are both literally bigger, with full-screen streams and picture-in-picture chat, and a larger part of the client's focus. Hardware setup has also been streamlined to detect compatible hardware, or recommend it if troubleshooting fails. It's still an early beta—my XP box just couldn't run it without crashing—but worth checking out if you regularly use Skype video chat. Skype 4.0 beta is a free download for Windows systems only (for now).

Something is afoot at Skype, it seems (and not necessarily the endlessly rumoured selloff by eBay). The company is scheduling media and blogger briefings on a "fundamental change" for later in the week, pitched this way: "Now it's time for our most exciting change since inception, designed to inspire even more conversations." No idea what that means (social networking is the obvious target), though rumours will surely emerge before any official announcement. We'll keep you posted.

With the version count sitting at 3.8 for Windows, Internet telephony giant Skype isn't shy about rolling out the updates. That's great when they work, but my recent experiences trying to upgrade to 3.8 have been painful: no sound at all for a week, then -- just as technical support were starting to take me seriously -- basic sound returned, but with 10 seconds silence every minute or so. Not good enough.

The best solution in this case would seem to be rolling back to an earlier working package, but Skype doesn't make that easy: its installation routine comprehensively ditches the previous version, and only the latest release is ever available at its site. Thank goodness for Filehippo, which maintains a comprehensive archive of Skype releases. I wouldn't want to guarantee they'll all work with the current infrastructure, but if an upgrade starts playing nasty and stuff was working fine before, this is the first place to check in (after taking a deep breath, of course).

Popular VoIP application Skype has introduced a new unlimited international calling plan for a measly $9.95/month [AU - that seems to translate to $12.95 in Aussie dollars, if I read the Skype site correctly]]. That means unlimited calls to any land-line phone in 34 supported countries, including the majority of Europe, Canada, China, and Japan. Additionally, Skype's $3/month unlimited calling plan for the US and Canada is still in play, along with a $5/month Unlimited Mexico plan. The Unlimited World plan does not cover cell phones in all areas, so you may want to verify that your international calling location of choice is covered. As always, Skype-to-Skype calls remain free.

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If you liked the idea of making VoIP calls on your iPod touch or iPhone, but all you've got in your go-bag is a Sony PSP, DIY web site Instructables steps through how to run the popular VoIP application Skype on your PSP. This PSP hack feature isn't new by any means, but the Instructable is detailed and easy to follow along with. We don't have a PSP to test this at Lifehacker HQ, so if you've setup Skype calling on your PSP, share your experience in the comments.

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The iPhone and iPod touch are almost indistinguishable devices except for one major difference—you can make calls from your iPhone, and you can't from your iPod touch. For the privilege of making phone calls with your iPhone, you have to pay $100 more upfront to Apple for the device itself, plus a minimum of $60/month to AT&T for the next two years (and that's only if you're in the US - AU editor) Let's say you didn't need that kind of firepower from your iPod touch, but that you would like to use it make a phone call every now and then. You can, and today I'm going to show you how to make VoIP phone calls from your iPod touch or iPhone using a freeware application called SIP-VoIP.

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Mac OS X only: The latest beta 3 release of Yahoo Messenger for Mac adds voice and voicemail capabilities a la Skype. Using Yahoo Messenger, computer to computer voice calls are free, and you can purchase a PhoneOut and/or PhoneIn account to call land line or cell phones, or receive calls on your computer, or even set up call forwarding to land lines or mobile phones. (Rates start at 1 cent/minute in the U.S.) You can also send SMS messages with Yahoo Messenger, and get free voicemail; Yahoo Messenger delivers voicemail as an email attachment to the address you specify. Skype's had all these features for Mac and PC for some time now, so Yahoo's pretty late to the game—but it's still good to have options.

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Lifehacker Reader Jared Valentine tried ensuring a fast internet connection by setting Quality of Service rules on his router but found that QoS just wasn't working well for his needs. To solve his problem, Jared wrote an extensive howto detailing how to set up his computer to automatically detect when he's on a VoIP call, then aggressively limit his other traffic to make sure he's got plenty of bandwidth for his voice calls. The tutorial is not for the faint of heart, but if you can pull it off, Jared calls it his holy grail of traffic prioritisation. If you're looking for a simpler way, you may want to give router QoS rules a try to see if they'll work for you first.

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