diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9a8c0464..c41556b1 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
   <groupId>io.github.pquiring</groupId>
   <artifactId>javaforce</artifactId>
-  <version>69.1</version>
+  <version>70.0</version>
 
   <scm>
     <url>https://github.com/pquiring/javaforce</url>
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index c25ba5a0..c87dd488 100755
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 JavaForce SDK
 =============
 
-Version 69.1
+Version 70.0
 
 Description
 ===========
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Before checking out the source make sure to configure line endings:
 Checkout Javaforce and a specific version:
   git clone http://github.com/pquiring/javaforce
   cd javaforce
-  git checkout tags/69.1
+  git checkout tags/70.0
   ant
 Next build the native launchers.
 
diff --git a/src/javaforce/JF.java b/src/javaforce/JF.java
index 478a863e..28175bdf 100755
--- a/src/javaforce/JF.java
+++ b/src/javaforce/JF.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 public class JF {
 
   public static String getVersion() {
-    return "69.1";
+    return "70.0";
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args) {
diff --git a/versions.xml b/versions.xml
index dce75347..f4ea50e9 100644
--- a/versions.xml
+++ b/versions.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <project xmlns:if="ant:if" xmlns:unless="ant:unless">
   <!-- Note : any changes should be reflected in lib/package.sh -->
   <!-- JavaForce version -->
-  <property name="javaforce-version" value="69.1"/>
+  <property name="javaforce-version" value="70.0"/>
   <!-- native dependancies versions -->
   <property name="glfw-version" value="3.4"/>
   <property name="ffmpeg-version" value="5.1.2"/>
diff --git a/whatsnew.txt b/whatsnew.txt
index 80d694a0..bcb237e5 100644
--- a/whatsnew.txt
+++ b/whatsnew.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,22 @@
 What's new...
 
+Oct 7/2024 : JF/70.0
+  - VoIP : added speex 8k,16k,32k audio codec (issue #20)
+  - VoIP : use "sip" prefix in URI for message() (issue #21)
+    - default can be changed with SIPClient.setMessageURI()
+  - jfPhone/1.31
+    - added support for speex,speex16,speex32
+  - debian/fedora repos
+    - URL now includes a component for OS version
+    - this is required mainly because of ffmpeg
+    - sym links are used for old URLs
+      - debian:bookworm
+      - fedora:40
+  - linux loader improvements
+    - no longer links against X11 and other libs
+      - only libc and libm are required
+    - improved Java location detection
+
 Oct 3/2024 : JF/69.1
   - jfDVR/0.31
     - increased viewer max memory size to 12GB