UPDATED 08:20 EDT / MAY 01 2012

Skype 4.0: New Version, New IP Hack

iOS users got some good news after the weekend cleared with the launch of Skype 4.0, which features a few notable tweaks. First and foremost is the ability to change the location of that tiny square displaying what the other person on the other end of the video call is seeing, which is more of a hindsight than an update.

“Skype for iOS has just been updated to version 4.0, and among other additions, users can now reposition their own video preview when on a call,” writes The Verge.  “That’s an (admittedly small) advantage that FaceTime and some other video conferencing apps had held over Skype until this point.”

On top of that the login screen and contact list received a facelift, as did the app’s display for text-based messages. Last but not least Skype for iOS v4 features an automatic recovery function that makes it easier to restart the app after a crash.

The new release comes about a week after Skype launched on the PS Vita handheld gaming device, making all of the features available on a platform that can easily be classified as non-standard. This may be a part of Microsoft’s promise to realize the return on its multi-billion investment as fast as possible and that means rapid expansion – these plans evidently include an HTML5 web app as well.

But in Skype’s haste to be on every device possible, a more alarming bit of news concerning the popular communications service surfaced alongside the iOS roll out. An SDK exploit now allows hackers to pull up a user’s external and internal IP addresses. A cracked version of SkypeKit contains a workaround that bypasses Skype’s authentication and gives the intruder instant access to the data behind that line of defense, making the target more vulnerable to certain types of attacks.


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