Elance recently introduced video chat to its users as a new feature embedded directly into the site. That will allow employers and contractors to have face-to-face communication without having to open a different application or video chat client. Read more »
The idea of physically manipulating digital data through gestures, as shown in the movie Minority Report, may seem like sci-fi, but there’s much that applies to the desktop of tomorrow. Oblong’s John Underkoffler envisioned the future at the GigaOM Net:Work event on Thursday. Read more »
One of the major drawbacks with traditional room-based telepresence installs is that systems from different vendors are typically incompatible with each other. Video conferencing and online meeting provider FuzeBox, makers of the Fuze Meeting service, announced Fuze Telepresence Connect, which hopes to overcome these interoperability problems. Read more »
Comcast has partnered with Skype to bring its video chat service to subscriber living rooms. With an adapter box and HD video camera, Comcast subscribers will soon be able to video chat with any other Skype users from the comfort of their living rooms. Read more »
Microsoft’s $8.5 billion purchase of Skype is official, giving the Redmond company an instant voice and video calling user-base of more than 170 million globally connected customers. With only an estimated 2.5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets sold, there’s ample opportunity here to boost smartphone sales. Read more »
Does video really perform as well as face-to-face interaction? How does it compare to audio-only communication? Does it always outperform text-only channels like email? Let’s look at different types of tasks and see how video affects the work and communication quality experienced by remote teams. Read more »
According to some new research issued by Forrester, desktop videoconferencing is not yet taking the enterprise by storm. It found that nearly three-quarters of business technology users don’t want to use desktop videoconferencing, and just 15 percent have access to the tool on their computers. Read more »
Predicting what not to expect in mobile next year is a lot easier than predicting what will happen. You can be sure, for instance, that consumers won’t pay for on-the-go TV next year any more than they have in the past, and that carriers won’t embrace ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
HP today announced it’s releasing a new line of high-definition videoconferencing products. These new Visual Collaboration products provide a solution that not only works via hardware installed in conference rooms, but can also be accessed on desktop and laptop computers. Read more »
Enterprise use of real-time videoconferencing is on the verge of explosion. A short but critical list of demand and supply side factors have converged to fuel unprecedented rates of adoption of a wide spectrum of technologies in this sector. Even so, a rosy future for the industry is not necessarily assured, and several critical factors retard growth. This report examines these enablers and retardants of the adoption of a wide spectrum of current generation videoconferencing solutions, and offers recommendations to enterprises looking for opportunity in this sector. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
