I wanted to let everyone know about a new free desktop sharing
plug-in..... Unyte from WebDialogs....download the beta www.unyte.net
<http://www.unyte.net> ....

Unyte is a desktop sharing plug-in that can make a Skype chat or voice
call into a fully graphical web conference.

It's tightly integrated with Skype and very easy to use since it runs directly from the Skype client UI! AND it is Skype-certified!!!

You can share documents, applications or even your entire desktop with
anyone, anywhere, anytime.

A wonderful program!!!

Ike

Seriously, this program sucks. It plainly does not work. Sure, the invited person can see my shared application... for a second or two, after waiting for the "application viewer" to start, which takes 5-6 minutes.

Has ANYONE run this plugin successfully?

[quote=garton]Has ANYONE run this plugin successfully?[/quote]
Yes, frequently and for business. It is a great program. Make sure you both have the latest Java (update) running. This is important for a succesful use of Unyte.

Ike

[quote=paraveterinary][quote=garton]Has ANYONE run this plugin successfully?[/quote]
Yes, frequently and for business. It is a great program. Make sure you both have the latest Java (update) running. This is important for a succesful use of Unyte.

Ike

I see. I'll try. What version of Java can you confirm works with Unyte?

[quote=garton]I see. I'll try. What version of Java can you confirm works with Unyte?[/quote]
Java 5.0_06

Ike

[quote=paraveterinary][quote=garton]I see. I'll try. What version of Java can you confirm works with Unyte?[/quote]
Java 5.0_06

Ike

You mean 1.5_6? Where do you look?

[quote=garton]You mean 1.5_6? Where do you look?[/quote]
Yes, sorry. Just go to their site and downlaod the latest version. If you already have one running, it will update to the latest.

Ike

Thanks. That did work. The sharing is not very fast, but it works. Editing code together, for example, is not very easy.

Garton,

What type of bandwidth connections do your two ends have?
What do you consider fast, you should see @2-4 seconds for a full screen update when using broadband or better connections.

As far as java, unyte will work with most versions, however the 1.5x versions seem to be faster than earlier versions.

Also, if you're running IE you can install the plug-in on both ends, and we'll use the ActiveX version of the viewer which may give you better results than the java verison.

-BS-

I think that one end (the viewer) has a broadband connection. Me (the "issuer" or whatever you'd call it) has a 64kbit/s connection. I'd consider it "fast" if I was able to edit files in emacs over a unyte connection. 2-4 second delay doesn't really allow me to do that.

Fast would be "as fast as a X-server/client" connection. Like when you ssh from a Linux box into another Linux box and set "DISPLAY=myhost.mydomain.com:0.0" and the, for example, launch emacs.

But this is good too! Just not, perhaps, for the same purposes.

I noticed that the latest Java version was considerably faster, yes.

I'm not really fond if IE, I like Firefox. But still, I'm ready to try that ActiveX-thing. How do I do that? Or is it done automatically?

If both ends have the unyte plug in installed, and you use IE, it will automatically use the activex viewer. (you may be able to use IE Tab http://ietab.mozdev.org/ with firefox, not sure what the performance would be like).

Yeah, it won't be as fast as a remote X session, yet?

I will try that. Sounds good.

It's a shame that there's no unyte plugin for Linux, btw.

I should have also mentioned, if you are just doing straight text editting, you may find that setting the quality slider on the application selection window to "best speed" gives you better response.

This will run in a low color mode, which should be OK for text editting.

We have been experimenting with the Unyte plug-in and like it very much except for one thing: we wish it had a way to visually tell us who had mouse and keyboard control at a particular moment. Obviously this is not a problem when you are not sharing control so that only 1 person has control and the other person can only see what is happening. But when control is shared, we have found that we often are "fighting" each other because we don't know that the other person is still trying to use the mouse. There are several possible solutions to this, such as if the second person is using the mouse or keyboard a red light appears in a corner, with the light turning green when neither is using the mouse or keyboard and blue when the first person is using the mouse/keyboard.

I second that!

The mouse pointer fighting is pretty clear as an annoyance right from the start.

will this app have a prolem with firewalls?
If my skype works (and it does via the http 80 port) will all info be passed trough it or does it need extra ports?

We send and receive data through our own data stream seperate from Skype.

We are pure outbound http, using port 443 (https), we work with the majority of firewalls without problems.

Hi Bill,

Unyte works well. It will save my blood pressure going off the scale when trying to provide remote pc support (by telephone) to my apparently rapidly ageing mother.

One query though. If the host end has the taskbar set to autohide, how can I access it from the remote end. I have tried, but it seems impossible. I assume that unyte only transmits the actual desktop and misses off the 2-3 pixel strip that is the taskbar when hidden.

Cheers, Andy

How is security being addressed with this? Nearly every remote desktop sharing software to date has had multiple expoit's directed its way in the past, so I think security is a concept that should be weighed heavily when deciding to deploy such software on a system. IOW, anytime we open up a port and enable file and desktop sharing, we also create a possible vulnerabilty to intrusion and attack.

Andy,
When the taskbar is auto-hiden, if your sharing the entire desktop, you should be able to move the mouse to the bottom of the screen and the taskbar should show. (I will verify this as well).

mechanic_05,
We do a few different things for security, first, we do not listen to any ports until you start sharing (currently we actually connect outbound to our server), and if no one joins within a small timeout (10 minutes now I think), we automatically cancel the session.
Once a session has ended, unyte has no ports open, and returns to the mode of not listening for connections, until another session is initiated via the UI.
All data transfered is protected by SSL (currently via HTTPS) so the data on the line is encrypted and cannot be decrypted by other parties.

-BS-

Hi Bill,

Still does not work for me.

Have you verified this as an issue/bug ?


Cheers, Andy

Andy,

I have noticed this happen, but not all the time. It seems like the
initial screen is a couple of pixels too small on the viewer. I'm trying
to track it down and come up with a fix.

In the meantime, I noticed if I zoom in/zoom out, it redraws correctly,
that may work for you until the fix.

Another workaround would be to use IE on a system that has the Unyte
plugin installed, that will cause it to use the activex viewer which
doesn't have this issue.

Thanks for the workarounds Bill.

Just to confirm, I am using the Java viewer, not ActiveX.

Cheers, Andy

Unyte works fine with xp and somehow with w2k. Are there any plans to make Unyte work on Linux?

Hello every one!

This is Felix living in Shanghai.Usually I used skype to work with my partner in USA to discuss and communicate.In my opinion it really is the best voice tool I ever met.
Yesterday I tried to show some documents to my partner by Unyte,but I found that it is very slow to show what I was doing on my partner's screen.
Could anyone tell me if I should set something to get a good speed?

Many tks!
My skpe:huoheshu

I wish unyte would allow taking control of a remote desktop per request.

This way I could bring support services remotely.

I have a few questions regarding skype and adding it to my website and we also have an instructional video that we would like to put skype one, do you need permission for this and if so what documentation needs to be provided

I have been using Unyte lately again, and although it works as advertised it seems to slow
down my Windows desktop turning it unstable after some minutes of use.

I am new to skype and unyte, having just read that IBM has bought Webdialogs.
I accidentally asked Skype not to allow unyte to be used.
Now, although I am correctly registered with unyte, I cannot use unyte
I tried re-installing Skype and Unyte but Unyte still does not work.

For Unyte to work fast it is important that local end has a fast download connection and remote end (a person who is sharing his desktop) has a fast upload connection. In many cases internet services providers do not mention your upload speed limit. Even though you think you have a "broadband" connection, in reality your upload speed could be limited to 256 kbit/s or less which is of course not enough for real-time communication. Low speed upload channel will prevent you from sharing your desktop in real-time and there will always be a delay. So if you face this problem, check with your service provider what is your upload speed limit - you might get surprised.