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Welcome To SIP, Video Surveillance

April 30, 2009 12:07 PM

Video surveillance is one of those huge markets where standards aren't used enough. Though I am not an expert in video surveillance, I have been on the edges of this market and its requirements in the past several years.

During this time, I have seen only two types of surveillance systems:

  1. The closed proprietary ones, where everything is done with some obscure protocol.
  2. The hybrid ones, where camera links use proprietary protocols, but some gateway along the way is capable of converting it to a standard protocol.

The standard protocol of choice in this industry is RTSP - Real Time Streaming Protocol.

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Video Calling Going Prime Time

April 9, 2009 4:16 PM

Visual communication is a different thing in different markets, with the consumers being the "late adopters" in this case. While this might be true, as we're still in the early adoption stages of these technologies/services, it is probably all about to change in 2009.

Living in Israel, I wasn't exposed to any videophone ad on TV, but there have been a few in the US, which were targeted consumers directly.

Here are some I bumped into following twitter:

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This might sound like an April fool's joke to some, but it really isn't: we've got a new class of phones (and screens), and someone decided to give it the (boring) name "Media Phone".

In-Stat even taken the liberty of writing a report on media phones. (free!). It is touting the media phone as "our 4th screen", after the PC, the TV and the mobile handset.

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20090304-TalkingVideo-Siracom-Wifi-Videophone.jpg

A press release I bumped into the other day, about Siracom's UniData WiFi Videophone, set to launch at CeBIT (that's like yesterday), got me thinking --- What a cool idea!

We already have mobile phones with video telephony embedded into them. Many Smartphones today already support WiFi. And we also have a bunch of WiFi phones (mainly for enterprises). So why not a WiFi videophone?

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Do We Really Need a Set-top Box?

February 25, 2009 11:09 AM | 2 Comments
20090225-TalkingVideo-cable.jpg

Have you noticed this new trend of "connected TV"?

It showed up at CES in full force, with every TV manufacturer out there having its own version of a television that connects to the internet - showing YouTube videos, latest news, stock market tickers or even your collection of photos out of Flickr or Picasa.

Chris Albrecht at NeeTeeVee  questions this evolution step:

How much of the Internet do you want on your television?

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Apple is Patenting iContact

February 3, 2009 9:34 AM

If there's anything I like about Sagee it's the amount of interesting links he sends out on twitter (and via email).

Last week he sent this one out: apparently Apple has filed a patent on a camera that is "hidden" behind a display screen.

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If there's anything that makes video calling weird it's the fact that you simply can't keep eye contact.

Before you jump in with your hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars worth telepresence conferencing system equipment, I ask you to think about people like me for a second.

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Where Was Video Calling at CES?

January 21, 2009 2:24 PM | 1 Comment

Now that CES is over and most of the other bloggers out there have wrapped it up and moved on, it is time for me to look back and ask where was video calling at CES?

Video conferencing is an enterprise thing: it fits large international organizations with multiple sites around the globe. With expensive systems, high bandwidth needs and complex management, this is how it is viewed today.

Now this is changing, and some of the indications of this change were visible at CES.

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I really wanted to write a prediction post for 2009 on the last day of 2008, but what would I write about? That video telephony is going to happen, Jajah's CTO Amichay already stated that.

So, I was more than happy when this dropped into my lap through my beloved inbox (thanks for this one Sagee!).

20081231-TalkingVideo-LG-GD910.jpg

 

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Recent Comments

  • http://openid.aol.com/michelsjdave: I think you raise some very good questions, but I read more
  • Tsahi Levent-Levi: That's a good question. I'd say that the opinions on read more
  • https://me.yahoo.com/a/G7ndiFJhx.3s7G1hrt_anus.G_62rQ--#a68ba: Interesting post. I agree that it's not just niche apps read more
  • Tsahi Levent-Levi: Nick, While I think you are correct in your general read more
  • https://me.yahoo.com/a/00IYxJELxYh5QX0y9j2UEPZHoTE63GMy#a7928: Web Based TV is the future. No set top box. read more
  • https://me.yahoo.com/a/G7ndiFJhx.3s7G1hrt_anus.G_62rQ--#a68ba: Videoconferencing will never replace all in-person meetings. There are times read more
  • karleen: Hi Tsahi! Thanks for the post! It was very insightful! read more
  • vidtel.wordpress.com: I read your December 31, 2008 preview of the tiny read more

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