Video Roundup: Video Conferencing Hype

I'll be placing here links once in a while of news items and blog posts that I find interesting and are related to visual communications.

If you have items you'd like to feature here - just email me at tsahil@radvision.com.

Here's a first batch:

• TELEPHONY Online that Verizon is planning to provide video conferencing service on their FiOS network "sometime this year". Bill Heilig from Verizon says "If you think about the full video-telephony program, we think it has to be on the TV, but it also has to be on the PC." I couldn't agree more that video telephony has to be on the TV.
• Garrett Smith, a VoIP blogger by heart, is now  to video (or a video believer). If you are not reading his blog - it's time you start. The fact that he is looking closer at video calling goes to show that video is catching on.
• Skype has released version 4.0 officially this month. It is video centric and consumer oriented. VOIP IP Telephony believes it's impressive. I tend to agree.
• NoJitter, another must-read, connects the way YouTube is being used by kids to the future adoption of video communications. Might be a bit far-fetched, but it doesn't hurt the fact that video calling is growing fast. I simply think that the technology has come along far enough for people to adopt it.
• IntoMobile the other day with a Juniper Research report that places video chat as the largest revenue generator for mobile adult content by 2013. This will probably be one of the main drivers for video chats on mobile handsets - these platforms are the hardest to use for video chats and their widespread use depends on adoption of video communication elsewhere. You can get the report at Juniper's site.
• Tim Belfall writes a short piece on telepresence. What interested me is that he doesn't see the adoption of video conferencing assisting mobile video calling. I tend to agree - there are a lot more showstoppers on mobile video calling than other visual communications.
• Gizmodo did a neat iPhone 4G concept, which revolves around visual communications. Worth a look, but still doesn't solve the technical issues of mobile video telephony.