updated: 3/20/2014 WebRTC (Real-Time Communication) has been getting a bit of press between meetings.io getting acquired by Jive (specifically chosen for its WebRTC technology) and TokBox announcing its new Opentok WebRTC for iOS SDK. What’s the big deal with WebRTC? WebRTC is exciting because it allows real-time audio/video to be…
Competition
Skype vulnerabilities are always cropping up. The newest Skype security leak was all over the tech news this week. Apparently, its create-a-new-account procedure coupled with its password-reset procedure allowed anyone to take over another person’s Skype account just by knowing that person’s email address. The Next Web actually reproduced the…
Are VSee and ooVoo really that different? After all we both claim to have HD video conference, ongoing collaboration, free video calls, and no need for fancy equipment. While I can’t tell you if VSee is the ooVoo alternative for your needs, I will point out some issues with video quality,…
Several people have commented on the speculative nature of my earlier article on the TokBox acquisition being a semi-fire sale. I want to give our readers a more thorough explanation for my statements. When a company is acquired for more than $20-30M, typically the price is leaked, since the acquiring…
Last week, a struggling TokBox announced its acquisition by Telefónica Digital for an undisclosed amount. This is a pretty sad news for TokBox and its investors. They raised a lot of money, and given this is a semi-fire sale, its investors lost money. Also, its people, who have worked long…
Microsoft Lync (formerly Microsoft Office Communicator) offers a great set of communication tool integrations, making it popular with enterprises both large and small (<300). Unfortunately for many businesses, going beyond Lync Instant Messaging (IM) is proving to be more headache than it’s worth. According to Jeff Wellemeyer, West IP Communications’…
Last December, when Brother purchased Nefsis, I thought it was a great outcome for Nefsis and a great move for Brother. Nefsis had a very complex pricing structure and needed a huge distribution partner to push its complicated solution into enterprises. Brother had a huge distribution base, with its long…
The newly launched Zoom Video Communications hit the waves last Tuesday and received a rave review from WSJ’s Walt Mossberg. In his AllThingsD review of Zoom, Mossberg was wowed by Zoom’s “free, high-definition, group video calls for up to 15 people simultaneously,” its ability to work over “wired and WiFi Internet connections, or…
We are often asked how VSee compares to room-based conferencing systems (or legacy video conferencing systems) and when is it appropriate to use each type of system . A recent thread on the VSee Forum covers this topic in detail and is worth reposting here (headings added): by mbrown1 on Thu…
We heard that FuzeBox, an online collaboration and meeting tool, recently raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by Index Ventures. “Fuze HD is a mobile and web-based collaboration service that features integrated audio conferencing as well as high-definition, synchronized video and image sharing.” – Crunchbase FuzeBox uses Vidyo…
Airtime was launched on Tuesday by the founders of Napster – Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning. This Chatroulette-inspired random video chat service seems to have piqued the curiosity of even Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The event was filled with celebrities, but with so much fanfare, 2 years of work, and…
Is Vidyo really the next big thing in video conferencing? It has been attracting attention for being the new Cisco and Polycom of the video conferencing world. This is because Vidyo dirt cheap compared with traditional videoconference leaders Cisco, Polycom, Avaya/Radvision (at about a third of the typical price tag). However, if you want to talk…
Image courtesy of 401kcalculator.org Video conferencing i s supposed to save you money, but this is only the case if you’re in it for the long haul. If you’ve ever looked into getting a traditional Cisco/Tandberg or Polycom system, you know how ugly the upfront cost for equipment and set up…
P.S. An inside source recently let the cat out of the bag that Avaya is not only on its way to a happy union with video conferencing provider Radvision, it apparently also has the hots for Persony, a virtual company that makes full-featured web and video conferencing software for private labeling. …
A NY Times article shook the video conferencing space when it reported that hackers were able to easily listen in on the board room discussions of major firms. The dark secret of the industry is that almost all existing video conferencing systems ( Cisco, Tandberg, Polycom, Vidyo, Blue Jeans, Radvision ) use the H.323 protocol which has many security flaws I had…
photo credit: bitjungle Blue Jeans Network is a hot video conferencing startup that has been gaining a lot of attention even since before the public release of its product earlier this year. They raised $23M from a set of A-list investors with its cloud-based solution that aims to bridge any…
Convenience The beauty of Flash for video conferencing is that it’s nearly ubiquitous. Unless you happen to be working on student computer in a public school, Flash is probably already installed and running like a deer on your computer. In fact, if you can watch videos on YouTube, Reuters.com, or…
