iPhone 3.0 to have Video Chat feature

A new Apple patent filing suggests the next iPhone may have iPhone-to-computer video chat.

According to Apple Insider, a recent filing would lead many to believe that the handset will be equipped with a front-facing video camera and software which is capable of adjusting itself in the event a user is in motion utilizing the phone.

The first patent discuses interfaces which would be used when an person is moving. The patent discusses motion based gestures which would allow an person to navigate their cell phone intuitively rather than actually looking at the device, by doing things like flicking the phone. This would be great for people on the go constantly who use the phone during driving, exercise, or while riding a bike or walking.

Changing your music, or making a phone call could be done safely, causing little to no distraction. When attempting to use an iPhone while out for a run, or traveling between events it can sometimes be difficult to toggle between making a call and changing music tracks, it also causes a great diversion from the task at hand. An onscreen or bezel button would aid in the elimination of unintentional commands during every day and normal use.

An additional platform shows a motion detecting function which resizes the interface and additionally the icons when it senses that an person is either jogging, or walking, the interface then resizes buttons and fonts to make reading and selection simpler.

"For example, if the user wishes to view the contact information for 'John Adams,' the user touches the display over the area of the row for the contact 'John Adams,'" Apple says. "While the device is moving, the motion of the device can be detected. The device can change the size of the rows of the contacts in the contact list application to give the user a larger target area for each contact. For example, the height of a row can be increased. This gives the user a larger touch area with which to select a contact. In some implementations, the height of the toolbar can be increased as well."

A before an after image from Apple's new patent shows how the interface will enlarge text for easier reading and navigation when the user is in motion(Source: Apple Insider)

The icons will also be enlarged, allowing the user to be able to click them more easily.(Source: Apple Insider)

A patent for a front facing video camera is also depicted in the iPhone drawings. This would lead one to believe that video conferencing would potentially be adopted. The new camera would allow game developers to create new games that allow for interaction via video among users.

Short-term long-distance doesn’t mean the end

Summer is upon us once again and a good number of students are in an unexpected state of disarray. Maybe you are one of these students, or maybe you just have a friend in this boat.

This awkward place is one I like to refer to as short-term long-distance. To clarify, this is the uncomfortable place you find yourself in when you start dating someone you met away from home and continue to date them while you are apart for the summer. It’s not exactly a long-distance relationship (as you’ll only be apart for three months), but for a short time you will not be as close as you’re used to.

The obvious reaction here is to realize that this will suck. While three months isn’t a very long time in the grand scheme of things, it can seem like an excruciatingly long period if you are used to seeing your significant other all the time, or even if you’re just used to seeing him or her moderately often. If you’re anything like I am, the more often you think about the prospect of being apart, the scarier the idea gets. Never fear, my young Casanova, there are solutions.

First and foremost, talk about it. Make sure you and your partner are on the same page for the summer. It sounds stupid, but I’ve seen plenty of situations where one person remains unwaveringly faithful while, unbeknownst to the faithful one, his or her partner thinks the two are on a sort of break. Cue the palm to the face.

Communication breakdowns do not need to ruin your relationship. These three months should be used to strengthen your relationship and gain a greater appreciation for your partner. In my experience, many college students develop unhealthily dependent relationships because it is easy to spend all of your time with just one person. In these situations, the three months apart is an even better idea. Codependency is something to avoid this early in your life. Even if you are married, you need to know how to take care of yourself and not depend on your partner for things you could, or should, be doing for yourself.

Modern technology makes it more possible than ever before to stay in touch with your sweetheart. With video chatting software like Skype and iChat, you can talk it up to your heart’s content and never even have to get out of bed, though that’s not exactly recommended. These methods are definitely also something to keep in mind if your special someone might be studying abroad eventually, too. However, there are countries where video chatting won’t be an option due to the lack of necessary technology, so don’t let cell phones and land lines become a thing of the past just yet. When all else fails, everybody likes getting good old-fashioned snail mail. You could even seal it with a kiss.

With just a little planning and communication, summer suddenly becomes less scary. Short-term long-distance isn’t something you should stress about. It’s a healthy way to develop a good amount of independence in your relationship while really growing to appreciate your partner when you see him or her again. Next August is closer than it seems.

Originally appeared in The Daily Evergreen

Facebook for Blackberry

The Facebook application for BlackBerry was released earlier this week with a handful of practical feature enhancements. Some of the features in the latest version are to partially merge your Facebook profile pictures with your BlackBerry address book & to add your Facebook events to your native BlackBerry calendar. The new feature added is First Look Video which can later be used for real time video chat with BlackBerry owners.

PalTalk is #1 Chat Program on Download.com

PalTalkScene software was the #1 Chat program downloaded on CNET’s Download.com with 75,000 downloads of PaltalkScene compared with only 40,000 of Windows Live Messenger product.

Paltalk, the leading real-time, video-based community with over 4 million active members, announced today that the PaltalkScene software was the #1 Chat program downloaded on CNET’s Download.com for the week ending April 19th. There were nearly 75,000 downloads of PaltalkScene compared with only 40,000 of Windows Live Messenger product.

“Paltalk’s rise in popularity on Download.com reflects the increasing popularity of video chat into the mainstream,” says Judy Shapiro, Paltalk’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Paltalk emerges as the best chat program because it is easy and full featured. This is a result of over 10 years of dedication to research and development in the video chat space.”

PaltalkScene currently available on Download.com includes a SuperIM feature; the ability for up to 10 people to video chat instantly for free. Connect with anyone in the world, with no downloads needed to participate in the video chat session. SuperIM is system agnostic and can be used by Mac or PC users with any browser.

The Download.com editors give PaltalkScene a four star rating. According to the editors, “Paltalk’s integration of video, audio and text chatting unified into one window makes for a strong chatware program that includes a wealth of features.”

Video chat website idea

Hello guys, this post may sound wierd to many. But I was just wondering if a website with the following featured could be made:

• The website will provide one single account to access the video chat.
• It may have different applications for different platforms such as iPhone, Windows, Linux, etc.
• Not just video chat, users would also be able to post & tag videos under different categories.
• The users can maintain a list of their friends & relatives.

Basically the website would be a mix of Skype, You Tube & Wordpress.

I hope they are hearing.

Nintendo DSi

Nintendo DSi has been launched in the US earlier this month and is being called the 'lifestyle' device that goes beyond just gaming and recent commercials have featured female celebrities like Beyonce Knowles & Lisa Kudrow. The DSi comes in a flip-case with 2 screens - the lower one being the touch screen & can be manipulated with the help of a stylus or user's finger. The size of the luminous screens has been increased by Nintendo after eliminating the slot for Nintendo Advanced Games.

There are over 850 games to choose from and the prominent being the Pokemons, Mario, Auto Thieves, etc. Users can also download games directly to the console with DSiWare & surf the internet with a wireless connection. It also has a camera but the DSi still lacks the feature of clicking & sending pictures through email & video chat.

New Apple Patent Points at Next-Gen iPhone Video Chat Again

A new Apple patent on a motion-aware iPhone user interface points again at the possibility of a front-facing video camera for video chat in next generation iPhones. One that won't require the 3G videoconferencing kit.

The new patent describes a morphing interface that will adapt to the motion of the user. For example, if you are in a shaky bus, the elements on a list will get bigger so you can target them better with your fingers. In the patent, the drawings depict a front-facing video camera that—if implemented—will enable the possibility of having face-to-face real-time communications between two iPhone users or—hopefully—one iPhone user and a desktop iChat user. And yes, with "face-to-face real-time communications" we really mean video sex. [MacRumors]

by Jesus Diaz Source: Gizmodo.com

Get In on the Skype IPO

If it first you don't succeed, let it go as an IPO.

eBay finally found a way to unload its popular voice and video chat platform. It will simply take Skype public as a stand-alone company in the first half of next year.

The move makes sense, since investors clearly aren't appreciating Skype's growth within eBay's sluggish digestive tract. It also will help put what eBay cynics -- and accountants -- consider to be one of its biggest mistakes behind it, since eBay took a whopping $1.4 billion charge to write down its investment in Skype two years ago.

Let's not cheat Skype out of its accomplishments. The software has been able to grow nicely, even under eBay's conflicted wing.

by Rick Aristotle Munarriz
Source: Motley Fool

BoostCam for 2-way instant video chat

BoostCam is known to be the quickest & simplest way to start a two-way video chat with your friend or family. No sign-up is required for you or for the person you are chatting with. Just send them the URL and with a click you can start chatting with them. The URL is created each time a new video chat is started and of-course web-cam is required to initiate the chat. One can also hear the audio of the person they are chatting with.

Trillian 3.1.12

Trillian messenging client, from Cerulean Studios, is used to manage your messenging, and more with a single touch. Trillian has long been regarded a leader in multi-network chat and has captured a large number of users with every incarnation, even with Alpha & Beta builds.

With Trillian users can use a single client to monitor all chat networks of Yahoo, MSN, AIM & ICQ apart from audio & video chatting, contact list and a detailed chatting history. The history of video chat is however not supported.

Trillian 3 is available in Standard (free) and Pro ($25) versions. The major difference between the two is of the video chat. The newest iteration of Trillian (version 4, also called Astra) is currently in Beta, and will not only be released for Windows-based PCs, but also for iPhone and MacOS! It is expected to support even more features in the basic version than Trillian 3. One of the other important features of Astra is the inclusion of Facebook, MySpaceIM and Twitter functionality, bringing social networking to the venerable chat suite's offered package.

Dell Video Chat softwares

Dell Video Chat software is powered by Sight Speed and is free to download from "www [dot] sightspeed [dot] com/dellvideochat/". The software allows FREE voice calling between two computers and real time video chat with anyone globally. It also has a feature of low rate calling to any landline or mobile number. The most important feature of 'Dell Video Chat' is that memorable Video Mails can be created, viewed & stored for future. It also provides the users a facility to text chat while in a video conversation.

Support is always availalbe on the above mentioned site and the software comes FREE with the DELL Vostro laptops.

Now an iPhone application from Yahoo!

Yahoo! Messenger for iPhone

'Yahoo Messenger for iPhone' is a FREE application from Yahoo! available through hte iTunes App Store and tailor made for iPhone & iPod Touch which can be used for chatting purposes. Although it's not clear whether the users can voice chat with the application but they can send & receive IM & SMS messages and share photos with the application. One can take new images from within the application itself and emoticons are supported.

The features of the desktop chat, such as the following, are included in the Yahoo Messenger for iPhone:

• Status updates
• Adding new contacts
• Notifications of new chats
• Yahoo! ping when a new message arrives
  

'Yahoo Messenger for iPhone' will log you off your desktop Yahoo Messenger.

Video Chat websites

Video chat websites allow you to easily see, hear and chat, in text or voice, with friends & people from all over the world through a web pages. These sites usually require registration before you can proceed towards video chatting and the users can broadcast streaming video & audio with the help of a webcam. Usually, no camera is required if the users want to see and hear people. A few of the websites which provide such facility are:

• Google Chat
• Haftoo
• ivideochat
• Camfrog
• Webcamnow
• Camvoice
• Freevideochat.net
• ispq
• oovoo
  

Skype on iPhone

Skype is VOIP (voice over internet protocol address) client and makes connections through WiFi and not through cellular network. The main advantage over using Skype is that if the person you are calling to also uses Skype then making the call doesn't cost you anything. The main benefit of using Skype on iPhone is that one can purchase Skype credits from their website and call any landline number in the world. Skype is also a video chat client but the quality of video is not that clear on iPhone.

The disadvantage of using Skype is that you can't call emergency services and the company accepts it. The future iPhones will be having video capturing capabilities which will give a palmtop or laptop kind of an experience on using Skype over the iPhone.

Skype is free to download for iPhone.

Ugly face of Video Chatting

While Video Chatting is a major technological advancement, it showed its ugly face recently in Italy when a husband killed his wife charging her of having affairs with an online partner. The accused called Giyusepe Castro (35) said that he could not see his wife, Maria (41), of having an online affair with someone and killed her. Police have recovered three computers and various account details from their home.

Interactive Video Commercials in Search Advertising

NeXplore Corporation announced the beta launch of NeXplore Ads 2.0 to enable search marketers for creating video commercials that have a blend of text, images & other rich media. The Search Advertising platform has in-built capabilities of video chatting, call scheduling, emailing & instant messaging along with the management of paid search ad campaigns.

NeXplore Ads, the complete lifecycle search advertising platform, seamlessly integrates NeXplore Search and already has around 5.5 million unique monthly visitors. NeXplore.com is a visually engaging Web 2.0 Search Engine which is optimized for multimedia display & easy social sharing.

The platform eases its users to do a real-time video chat with a call center representative and watch a brief video commercial side by side or with one click.