Skype to introduce video-conferencing

cosmos 1999cosmos 1999
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
From Reuters:

Quote:

Internet telecoms software provider Skype expects to be cash-positive in 2005 and plans to launch new services this year including video conferencing, corporate calls and a dedicated Wi-Fi phone, its head said on Wednesday.



Hope it will use H.264 video codec.

Hope it will be compatible with iChat 3.x too...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    god just give me ANYTHING with great quality and cross platform compat.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    I have friend at Skype. They were looking at H.264, but probably going with something else. H.264 is great, but as we know, takes a pretty damn recent computer to play well.



    They are even possibly going with proprietary codec.



    Anyway, what I saw was still very beta and to tell the truth... pretty miserable quality. Really postage sized and blurry as hell.



    iSight compatibility is for sure for Mac users, they were talking of having it work on PC (and even Linux) with iSights as well. That would be wicked.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    cosmos 1999cosmos 1999 Posts: 149member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ZO

    I have friend at Skype. They were looking at H.264, but probably going with something else. H.264 is great, but as we know, takes a pretty damn recent computer to play well.



    I don't understand this. We know that H.264 can do HD and needs tremendous power for that, but we talk webcam here, just 320x240 or 640x480 max pixels: isn't H.264 supposed to encode and play back fine at these definition or below, on ridiculously powered mobile phones? BTW a 600 MHz G3-class processor does it today in iChat 3.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    let me restate this: They ARE looking into H.264 and it COULD turn up to be the final solution. BUT they are also looking at alternatives.



    I haven't heard or asked updates since 3-4 months, so, I don't know where they are at.



    My personal opinion is that they should go for H.264 as well since its an industry standard and would make life easier for everyone and themselves in the long run.



    But, I don't run the company, so...



  • Reply 5 of 11
    revsrevs Posts: 93member
    Sweet - decent cross-platform Vid Conferencing
  • Reply 6 of 11
    t'hain esh kelcht'hain esh kelch Posts: 1,274member
    Dont. Pick. Crappy. WMV.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    cosmos 1999cosmos 1999 Posts: 149member
    Video-conferencing in Skype is now available... for Windows only

    They officially use a free third-party plugin with proprietary codec from Dialcom, called "Spontania video4skype".

    They claim high-quality picture on broadband connection, full-screen mode, SLL 128-bit encrypted video, and firewall/NAT friendly.

    They dont't offer multi-video conferencing for now but the feature will be available in the future.

    No word on any Mac or Linux versions...



    Read the story at Engadget and " target="_blank">TheRegister.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cosmos 1999

    Video-conferencing in Skype is now available... for Windows only

    They officially use a free third-party plugin with proprietary codec from Dialcom, called "Spontania video4skype".



    Please don't spread fud. Skype the company does not offer video conferencing. Video4Skype is a third-party application using the Skype API.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    cosmos 1999cosmos 1999 Posts: 149member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    Please don't spread fud. Skype the company does not offer video conferencing. Video4Skype is a third-party application using the Skype API.



    Ok, so it's really really third party only, and Skype will have its own solution later. Sorry for misleading.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    There's also vSkype, http://www.vskype.com/ . Skype's latest Windows beta has no indication of video support, and I really doubt they're going to use a Windows-focused codec when their client is available on Mac OS X and Linux.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cosmos 1999

    I don't understand this. We know that H.264 can do HD and needs tremendous power for that, but we talk webcam here, just 320x240 or 640x480 max pixels: isn't H.264 supposed to encode and play back fine at these definition or below, on ridiculously powered mobile phones? BTW a 600 MHz G3-class processor does it today in iChat 3.



    Exactly! This is my most recent pet peeve.



    High-def video is processor intensive, not h.264. The two aren't the same thing. Encode high def in just about any codec and it will take a lot of processing power to decode.



    Web cams aren't anywhere close to high def and h.264 video conferencing works just fine on today's computers.



    h.264 does not equal high-def!





    I too hope that skype offers cross-platform compatibility and excellent picture quality. iChat / AIM compatibility would make me very happy.
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