November 2005 Archives

Here is a sneak peak of the Eyeball Messenger v1.0 currently in beta, built using the yet to be released Eyeball Messenger SDK. Now with federated IM accounts including MSN, AOL, Yahoo! and Google plus support for open standards = SIP (VoIP, Video) and XMPP (IM and Presence).

I can't tell you how pumped I am already, I am now using this instead of 5 other applications = 4 messengers plus our SIP softphone, now I get them all in one app.

Main Messenger Interface

The SIP softphone / dial pad is really cool, accessed by clicking on the purple phone button, it works pretty slick. I can use it to call via my Buddy List (as long as they are using SIP) or I can call a SIP URI / real phone number via my SIP / VoIP network. Video calls also use SIP and it's very easy to use, highlight your buddy and in one click you're in business.

SIP Softphone

I have had a huge amount of input on this design so it's not suprising that I think it's a HOT app, I might be little biasedwink If you are interested in getting in on the beta send an email to the beta program manager = rsc AT eyeball.com, he tells me that he is still looking for a few good beta testers who have access to various SIP and XMPP networks.

More on Eyeball...

This is part 3/3 of the footage that was shot at the last IETF P2P SIP Adhoc BOF in Vancouver, BC.

64th IETF - P2P SIP Adhoc BOF: Part 3
180x240, Streaming MOV, 45MB, 30min, 256kbps


Click on the image to start the video.

http://sipthat.com/movies/p2p-sip-3256K_Stream.mov  

If you are interested in getting your hands on the AVI files (for DVD production for instance) I would be happy to send them to you, just send me an email: erik AT sipthat.com. For meeting presentations and notes: http://www.p2psip.org

This is part 2 of the footage that was shot at the last IETF P2P SIP Adhoc BOF in Vancouver, BC. There is one more reel to follow, I will post that early next week. In an effort to maintain quality and reduce file size I have made the display only 180x240.

64th IETF - P2P SIP Adhoc BOF: Part 2
180x240, Streaming MP4, 160MB, 132min, 256kbps
Click on the image to start the video or rght-click the link below to save it.

http://sipthat.com/movies/p2p-sip-2256K_Stream.mp4

If you are interested in getting your hands on the AVI files (for DVD production for instance) I would be happy to send them to you, just send me an email: erik AT sipthat.com. For meeting presentations and notes: http://www.p2psip.org

This footage was shot at the last IETF P2P SIP Adhoc BOF. This is the first reel, there are 2 to follow, early next week. In an effort to conserve quality and reduce file size I have made the display only 180x240.

64th IETF - P2P SIP Adhoc BOF: Part 1
180x240, Streaming MP4, 160MB, 132min, 256kbps


Click on the image to start the video or right-click the link below to save it.

http://sipthat.com/movies/p2p-sip-1256K_Stream.mp4

The video is a little blurry at points due to my wide angle lens, which ended up being a bad idea. Parts 2 and 3 are much better as I removed the lens. The audio is also better in Parts 2 and 3 as I uses an external directional mic. All in all it turned out well and the number of people that showed up on a Friday being Nov. 11 (Rememberance Day) was awesome.

Sponsorship was provided by Eyeball Networks

If you are interested in getting your hands on the AVI files (for DVD production for instance) I would be happy to send them to you, just send me an email: erik AT sipthat.com

For meeting presentations and notes: http://www.p2psip.org

I have been talking quite a bit lately about SIP, VoIP, XMPP / Jabber and IM interop. I think most of us would agree that if we could get the best of all worlds in one easy to use IM application we would potentially be a little happier every day coming into work.

From my perspective, an avid user of the larger IM services (AOL,MSN,Yahoo!,Google) and a Broadband Telephony services user, I would love an IM client that I could use to get a good quality softphone and a federated messenger app that I can also use with my own IM / XMPP network.

This last part is important for many organizations judging from the conversations I have had with several large organizations. According to them it's crucial to have control over their own IM network. They need to be able to connect to their own XMPP / Jabber and SIP servers for many reasons including Usage Auditing, Black Listing, SPAM control etc.

As part of my new Blog Series on The Future of IM I recently had an interview with Sean Egan of GAIM. He had some very interesting things to say about Voice Interop with Google Talk. Here's a small piece of the conversation...

Me: Hey Sean, what's new in the land of GAIM
Sean: So we've got Gaim 2.0.0 coming up soon.
Sean: It fixes every problem anyone's ever had with Gaim, ever!
Me: whoa, those are some big words
Me: what else does it do?
Me: new GUI by chance?
Sean: Well, not entirely changed, of course. But some hugely major improvements.
Me: ok, an example of hugely major would be?
Sean: So, maybe the two biggest complaints about the Gaim UI are the stupid "I'm Away" window and the Disconnected/Connecting windows. Those are all gone.
Me: ah yes, much better
Sean: We slashed a ton of preferences.
Me: k, more user friendly... good good
Sean: So that dialog is no longer an navigable mess and Gaim just does the Right Thing all the time.
Me: sounds good, and what about Voice calling interop?
Me: Heard you were working on that
Sean: It'll do Google Talk.
Me: nice
Me: so have you incorporated GIPS into GAIM ?
Me: or is the Voice processing in GAIM the same as it was before
Sean: There was no voice processing in Gaim before.
Me: ahh, ok
Me: right
Sean: But, we obviously can't use GIPS.
Sean: I'm using a free alternative

Sean also touched on SIMPLE vs. XMPP and told me that he thought one standard was enough and really did not see the reason for two. I know that some of the SIMPLE advocates out there might disagree but for the near term I think Sean may be on to something.

I will be taking some video of the P2P-SIP ADHOC BOF on Friday and I am hoping to corner some of the SIP gurus to talk about SIMPLE and XMPP strategies and how they may differ. Stay tuned for that one!

Holy VoIP! We have had an incredible response here to my posting announcing the Eyeball IM Beta. It looks like we are in for a great program.

Very soon we will be uploading our very first Beta version of the Eyeball Instant Messenger with VoIP, Video and Presence using SIP and XMPP to the Beta forum. If you have not already signed up for the beta you can do so by including the following info in an email to rsc AT eyeball.com:

[Name] 
[Phone
[Primary email
[Organization] 
[Position]
[IM id’s

[Background – 250 words maximum]

I myself am looking forward to this software. I use 4 different IM services and although I like GAIM it's still not enough. I use SIP-based VoIP networks and XMPP-based IM networks as well so GAIM is not quite there yet. The fact that I will have less apps running on my desktop makes me very happy.

The voice and video quality on this prelim beta is quite good. I am very sure that this initial app will change dramatically, not only in appearance, from the near term to our expected launch later this year.

If you have already sent in your info you will be receiving an email shortly providing you with further instructions.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from November 2005 listed from newest to oldest.

October 2005 is the previous archive.

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