Second Life removes VoIP client
by Tateru Nino 
Sep 4th 2008 at 1:00AM
Filed under: Betas, Bugs, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds
In a lot of ways, we've got a bit of a traditional streak here at Massively. We like the good, solid, family values like "Kill a monster. Steal it's treasure". One tradition that we hold particularly dear is "Announce the software and then make it available". Yes, we know that makes us awfully old-fashioned in the modern, cool, vaporware world of the kids these days.
In the wake of our announcement and hands-on piece with the new Second Life SLim VoIP/IM client, Linden Lab has in turn announced it, stamped it "coming soon" and yanked the availability of the web-page and associated setup process. This all seems a bit backwards, to be honest.
Granted, the software doesn't actually work very well at all, and appears to be little more than a stripped down copy of Vivox Connector with most of the features removed (we think that it is exactly that, in fact), but still, it is supposed to be a Beta.
Perhaps it's the little details like the fact that Lindens can't hide their online status from it that have caused it to be pulled, rather than any other inherent kind of breakage. Since Linden Lab's PR people won't answer any queries about the product, all we can do is speculate.
 |
Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop. |
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pavig Lok said on 1:36AM 9-04-2008
It seems one of the reasons that it may have been pulled is because it can only currently communicate with other beta clients (i'm not sure which threads). Communication with the mainstream client appears broken, and LL is waiting until the hooks are compiled into the mainstream update before officially releasing it into the wild.
In it's current form it seems it can't communicate with most of the people in SL due to the extra hooks needed not being merged into mainstream sl. Considering how few folk are using the absolute bleeding edge clients on the main grid, it makes sense for them to keep it off the and avoid confusion.
So it seems to be... SLim works in the laboratory, and under laboritory conditions on the main grid, but not under everyday conditions yet.
Reply
Dedric Mauriac said on 12:38PM 9-04-2008
I'm wondering if Vivox plans to charge for the SLim client. I noticed yesterday that IBM also announced Sametime interoperability with OpenSIM. I use Lotus Sametime at work, so this is a potential winner for businesses.
Reply