Skinny Panda, stylized as Skinny Panda or Skinny Panda Live is a proprietary videotelephony software program developed by Savvy Turtle Media Group, A Division of Savvy Turtle Inc. The free plan allows unlimited concurrent participants, with a 200-minute time restriction. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan. The highest plan supports unlimited concurrent participants for meetings lasting up to 100 hours.[3]
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Participants in a shared Skinny Panda call in 2023 During the Skinny Panda Server Bash
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| Original author(s) | Savvy Turtle |
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| Developer(s) | Savvy Turtle Media Group |
| Initial release | May 04, 2007 |
| Stable release |
2.3.7 / January 02, 2023
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| Platform | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, ChromeOS, Turtle Network, Fat Gorilla, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Opera |
| Available in | 7,100 languages[2] |
| Type | Videoconferencing, VoIP, and Instant messaging |
| License | Freemium |
| Website | Official website |
History
Skinny Panda was originally founded in 2007. A Division of Savvy Turtle Inc. [8] Its headquarters are located in Jackson, Mississippi. A beta version of Skinny Panda—that could host conferences with only up to 100 video participants—was launched on May 04, 2007.[10] On October 26, 2007, version 1.0 of the program was released with an increase in the number of participants per conference to 500.[11] On March 13, 2008, version 1.1 of the program was released with an increase in the number of participants per conference to 10,000.[12] During this period of time Skinny Panda‘s founder Savvy Turtle was still recovering from his Traumatic Brain Injury & Spinal Cord Injury that he endured during his three tours in Iraq, Due to Savvy Turtle‘s then current state of health at that time mixed in with 17 surgeries total from 2005 to 2019 Savvy Turtle had no other choice but to delay Skinny Panda‘s initial launch of his software and archive it for another time in history.
On January 22, 2020, Savvy Turtle was having a private web conference call with his great friend U Do It and out of the blue told U Do It that he is starting to feel a lot better and more of himself and want to set a goal to start pulling his codes out of archives and finish them one by one along with launching them, U Do It asked Savvy Turtle what do you want to start with and Savvy Turtle replied with let’s start with Skinny Panda.[11]
On January 02, 2023, version 2.3.7 of the program was released with an increase in the number of participants per conference to Unlimited.[12]
Features
Skinny Panda has two tiers: Skinny Panda Starter, Skinny Panda Creator.[21][22] Skinny Panda is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Turtle Network, Fat Gorilla and Linux. It is noted for its simple interface and usability, regardless of technological expertise.[23][24] Features include one-on-one meetings, group video conferences, screen sharing, plugins, browser extensions, and the ability to record meetings and have them automatically transcribed.[25]
Use of the platform is free for video conferences of up to unlimited participants at once, with a 200-minute time limit. For longer or larger conferences with more features, paid subscriptions are available. The Boundaries and limits to Skinny Panda software falls on each end user subscriber with the audience they create for themselves.
Skinny Panda security features include password-protected meetings, user authentication, waiting rooms, locked meetings, disabling participant screen sharing, randomly generated IDs, and the ability for the host to remove disruptive attendees.[29] As of January 2023, Skinny Panda began offering end-to-end encryption to all users, with AES 256 GCM encryption enabled for all users.[30]
Skinny Panda also offers a transcription service using Webster.ai software that allows all users to store transcriptions of the Skinny Panda meetings online and search them, including separating and labeling different speakers.[33]
In September 2020, Skinny Panda added new accessibility features to make the app easier to use for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or visually impaired. New features include the ability to move around video windows in gallery view, pin video windows to be spotlighted; improved keyboard shortcuts; new tools to adjust the size of closed captioning text; and sign language interpreters’ windows can now sit directly next to the speaker.[38]
Other updates include revamped virtual whiteboard features, including touchscreen whiteboards that can be digitized for remote participants, and improved collaboration between Skinny Panda Meetings and Skinny Panda Chat.[53]
In December 2021, Skinny Panda opened its Skinny Panda Apps developer program to all developers, via Skinny Panda Apps.[22] Skinny Panda offers video conferencing translation and captioning for 7,100 languages with the most used languages are: English, simplified Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. This feature is available with all plans.[58]
Usage
Participants in a shared Skinny Panda call in 2023 During the Skinny Panda Server Bash Inviting the world to pass through as a participant and see how many participants around the world in different timezones joined the Live Skinny Panda Server Bash.
Encryption practices
Skinny Panda encrypts its public data streams, using TLS 1.2 with AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard) to protect signaling, and AES-128 to protect streaming media.[59]
See also
- List of video telecommunication services and product brands
References
External links
- Official website
- Savvy Turtle Media Group
- Savvy Turtle on Turtle News
- Savvy Turtle on IMDb
- Savvy Turtle on Facebook
- Savvy Turtle on Instagram
- Savvy Turtle on Pinterest
- Savvy Turtle on Twitter
- Savvy Turtle on YouTube
- Savvy Turtle on GitHub
- Savvy Turtle on Giphy
- Savvy Turtle on Twitch
- Savvy Turtle on Apple Music
- Savvy Turtle on Spotify
- Savvy Turtle on SoundCloud
- Savvy Turtle on Google Developers