Comments on: Okay, So That’s Three Times People Have Used Video Calls…

By: Allen Harp

Allen Harp — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:58:10 +0000

I guess I am still looking for Dick Tracey’s wrist video-radio. Seem strangely cool at the time. Now I think about it and I rarely use my vid. It seemed to be the very best of ideas at the time but now…half the time I feel it’ just another invasion of my privacy. Guess I just haven’t found the best practical use of it yet. Just another disadvantage of aging faster than technology.

By: Ewan

Ewan — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 18:59:47 +0000

Love it I think you’re right Carlo… I reckon it’s still very much isolated and rather embarrassing to do on your own as you’re walking down the street.

By: Carlo Longino

Carlo Longino — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 15:21:09 +0000

Thanks for the comments, everybody — keep ‘em coming

Todd, most (thought not all) WCDMA 3G phones support video calls.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:37:24 +0000

As soon as I take delivery on my two Motorola RAZR V3i XX ( on pre-order ) I will report back with if it is easy or works at all…

…besides the V3i XX, what other phones support two-way video calling?

By: Florian

Florian — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:10:27 +0000

Kissing your Kids Good Night or impressing your girlfriend are nice to have niche applications. While you might find a few more ideas to neatly use video calls, that won¬¥t make up a killer app.
What made SMS a killer application?
- its simple
- it¬¥s (relativeliy) cheap
- its anonymous
- you can use it in public

Video Call is the exact antitheses of these success factors.

One thing I can imagine is incoming video calls as a means to deliver personalized mobile marketing messages. Responding to let¬¥s say a print ad, you could send an SMS and receive a video with a message in response.
- it¬¥s free and anonymous to the user
- it¬¥s simple
- you can use it in public (even without looking like a complete dork grinning into your mobile phone)
- it has real entertainment value

By: AAMAR

AAMAR — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:51:17 +0000

The perfect demonstration of the ‚ÄòVirtual Phone Booth‚Äô – essential for video calling! You don‚Äôt see people videocalling in public, because it‚Äôs not (generally) a public event. Too much ambient noise to a. hear the other person, b. make yourself heard. Here are my favorite videocalling spots (btw I‚Äôm in the ‚ÄòAway-on-business,-want-to-see-the-kids‚Äô videocalling demographic.

a. Hotel room – quiet and private – and the wife doesn‚Äôt get jealous of my jet-setting lifestyle
b. Hotel balcony – at a scenic location, to invoke jealousy in desk-bound colleagues
c. In the car – when the kids are playing somewhere cool – like building camps in the forest, showing me their muddy knees with the sunlight streaming through the trees giving radiance and colour to all god‚Äôs beautiful things.

When the operators wake up (like some already have) to making video costs the same as voice costs, my 5 & 3 year olds are already fully trained up video-callers. And when they hit the 18-25 bracket-> your business case is made! Only 13 years to wait then.

Note to the industry – my least favorite videocalling spots

a. Trade show floor demonstrations – too noise, no network capacity, punters who‚Äôve been shown it a zillion times before
b. The trade show floor again
c. You get the message
d. Anywhere public, where you shouldn‚Äôt be inflicting your ‚Äôspeakerphone‚Äô conversation to people trying to go about their daily lives in peace.

By: Stuart Mudie

Stuart Mudie — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:42:23 +0000

I have a friend who regularly video calls his girlfriend. He even did it from our house once, so our daughter could sing for the young lady in question. He does work in technology, but I’d hardly call him an early adopter when it comes to phones. Before he got this video-enabled phone (which I recommended for him), he had his last handset for nearly four years.

By: Piotr Kocel

Piotr Kocel — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:31:49 +0000

Pontus, that is one heck of a KILLER APPLICATION I mean it… On a more general level, I think we often forget how relatively little people to whom we are emotionally attached actually have phones capable of video calling. My parents, girlfriend, cousins, etc. are almost all 2.5G at the moment. Do I really want to pay extra to see the face of my colleague from work when I call him? – no.

By: Tommi's S60 applications blog

Tommi's S60 applications blog — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:26:11 +0000

Spot a video caller…

Carlo from Mobhappy spots an emerging trend: Okay, So That‚Äôs Three Times People Have Used Video Calls‚Ä¶ Back in August, Martin noticed two otherwise average-looking people making video calls, and now, Ewan‚Äôs spotted some teenage girls doing it as …

By: Pontus

Pontus — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:21:46 +0000

If you tried video, saying goodnight to your kids from the other side of the planet, you know it’s a given winner in the long run!