Video chatting tools

A person’s facial expression can tell you whether or not the person is sincere in what they are telling you, and you may be able to weigh the seriousness of what is being said by the expression on the speaker’s face. Moreover, you have to listen to both the “lyrics and the music” in order […]

A person’s facial expression can tell you whether or not the person is sincere in what they are telling you, and you may be able to weigh the seriousness of what is being said by the expression on the speaker’s face. Moreover, you have to listen to both the “lyrics and the music” in order to be able to figure out what a person is not telling you, as non-verbal and non-written communications can be extremely important. This explains why communication means such as phones, e-mails, and letters, though useful, are still inferior to face-to-face approaches.
Face-to-face (video) devices come in handy in remote business meetings, interviews, socializing, and keeping in touch with friends and family members who are located in faraway places. Thus, we can easily understand why video-chatting tools are very popular.
I personally had a delightful experience with one of the tools recently. I became a grandfather a month ago and my daughter’s parents-in-law, who live in Chicago (USA), were unable to be physically present at the naming ceremony which took place in New York City. No problem! We just turned on the Skype and the in-laws were able to take part fully in the event. When they visited a week later, they expressed how delighted they too were to have been able to participate. Believe me, this stuff is cool.
Below are a few of the common video-chatting tools. Because it has been around for a while, Skype is the most widely known. However, FaceTime, by Apple, is turning out to be the preferred product because of the ease-of-use. Other developers, such as C2Call, TangoMe, fringland, and ooVoo, have gone to work to break any monopoly that FaceTime or Skype might present, a few even coming up with better functionality.
FaceTime
Introduced by Steve Jobs in June 2010, FaceTime is an app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or even the Macintosh PC. If your device has a built-in FaceTime high-definition (HD) camera, you can make video calls over Wi-Fi from your device to someone else’s. You can also make FaceTime calls over cellular networks on iPhone or iPad.
FaceTime calls can be made in two ways: You can simply call the other person as you normally would, wait on the FaceTime icon to light up after the call connects and then tap on it. Alternatively, you can select the person from your contact list, and tap the FaceTime button. Your FaceTime call will begin just like a regular call, except that your camera will turn on and you’ll see yourself. If the person you are placing the call to accepts the call, FaceTime will send video from your camera to the other person’s camera and vice versa, so you both can see each other.
FaceTime does have a few limitations. Without Wi-Fi you will need to rely on your carrier. In the US, for example, Verizon supports it, while AT&T doesn’t. Also, FaceTime can only be used to make video calls with other Apple users, leaving Android and Windows users pretty much in the cold.
Skype
Microsoft acquired Skype Communications S.a.r.l in May 2011 in order to aggressively enter the video conferencing market. As pointed out in Apple Insider online magazine on 7 August 2012, “Skype is fundamentally, technologically different from FaceTime, using a wholly proprietary system of call setup, authentication and peer-to-peer transmission that is not even remotely compatible with FaceTime on any level.” Skype is more difficult to use compared to FaceTime. Note that, with a suitable app, both Apple’s iOS and Mac can use Skype. Skype users can’t call FaceTime clients, and vice-versa. Qik is a high-quality video-chatting app, also developed by Skype.
Google’s WebRTC
Google acquired Global IP Solutions in Janaury 2011 for the purpose of competing with Apple’s FaceTime. Google currently offers WebRTC as a FaceTime alternative. The Insider article alluded to above has this to say about Google’s offering: “Google’s WebRTC is essentially an experimental open source project being offered to web developers, not a finished product like FaceTime. This makes it more akin to Google Wave compared to Apple’s Mail app: one is a complex technology erector set, the other is an easy to use, finished end-user app.”
FriendCaller Video Chat
FriendCaller, developed by C2Call GmbH, allows iPhone owners to talk with up to 7 friends at a time, with support for 3G and 4G. FriendCaller also supports other iOS devices, Android, and PC’s.
Fring
Fring was developed by fringland Ltd. The app is attractive for its cross-smartphone-platform capabilities. This app also supports group video chat and text messaging.
ooVoo Video Call, Text and Voice
Developed by ooVoo LLC, this app allows iPhone users to sign in with their Facebook accounts, removing the process of setting up a profile, and make video calls to folks in your Facebook address book. Calls to up to 4 people are supported.
Tango Text, Voice and Video
Developed by TangoMe, Inc., this tool allows video calls over Wi-Fi and cellular networks, and lets you send video messages to someone who doesn’t have Tango installed on her device. Tango supports animations in its video calls and supports international calls. Tango offers real-time effects.
ÜberConference
ÜberConference by FireSpotter, Inc., is an audio conferencing app for business that can also be used for video chatting with friends. It allows 5 callers on the line by default for free, but up to 40 users can also be connected for a fee.
The bottom line of this article is that many cool, free apps are available for video-chatting. The ones discussed here work on iPhones.