Google has purchased some video conferencing software, no, not just copies of the software, the software from a company called Marratech. I foresee free video conferencing from http://gmeeting.google.com with lots of Google video ads and adwords ads to increase the bottom line a little. Add it to some software you already have, and herd users there.
As a company, we thrive on casual interactions and spontaneous collaboration. So we’re excited about acquiring Marratech’s video conferencing software, which will enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there’s an Internet connection. Source: Collaborating with Marratech
Interesting. Om Malik suggests it could be added to Google Talk and that video conferencing is starting to take off as manufacturers add cameras to laptops.
If they are making a deal to buy the software for internal use only, then you need to wonder why this company, and why acquire a piece of software? It doesn?t exactly seem to be a good way of spending their cash. I think they might have bigger ambitions though, as it also tries to capture the small-and-medium enterprises with its office-suite. Perhaps some of the Marratech functionality ends up in the Google Talk client.
Conferencing - video, voice and white board - is now part of work life, whether you are a small company, a web worker or a large corporation. Source: Video reasons for Google-Marratech deal
Mashable says MySpace News sucks. I had trouble finding it as it wanted me to login, I don’t have a MySpace account, so I guess I will never see it, so it sounds like I am not missing anything. I guess lots of users are in the same boat, as they say it’s impossible to find on the MySpace site.
MySpace News has the advantage over Digg because of its huge audience, but they?ll need to do some substantial tweaking if they want to make this work. I feel the same way about MySpace Video: if they could make that service 80% as good as YouTube, it would win. So far, MySpace has failed to push that huge audience to its own services (think: MySpace IM, MySpace Video, fact that photo hosting is mainly done by Photobucket etc). Source: MySpace News?Kinda Sucks
Business 2.0 Beta agrees and says no wonder MySpace users are still using Youtube and Photobucket, and are not using MySpace IM, they can’t find the MySpace versions of either.
What is it about the Web that made Rupert Murdoch lose his taste for synergy? Offline, his News Corp. (NWS) empire is as self-promoting as always. But MySpace, Murdoch’s Internet jewel, can’t even seem to promote its own services. Source: Rupert, the Cowardly Internet Lion
The Google Earth ban in the Sudan is not because of the Sudan, it is because of US export restrictions which say,
SELLING TO SUDAN - Except for information or informational materials and donated articles intended to relieve human suffering, such as food, clothing and medicine, and the licensed export of agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices, no goods, technology, or services may be exported from the United States to Sudan, either directly or through third countries, without a license. Source: Oh the irony: Google Earth ban in Sudan is due to US export restrictions
This in effect helps the current regime, and makes it hard for its citizens and aid workers to find information about what is going on in the country.
If you are like me, you hate conference calls, it’s usually one or two people talking, or droning on and on, but if you can’t meet someone it’s almost the next best thing. WebWorker Daily has put together 27 tips for all of you conference callers out there and here is the first one.
Whether you call them conference calls or telecons or excruciatingly dull time-wasters, multi-participant phone conversations are as important to most web workers as email. If you can?t meet face to face or arrange video conferencing, the conference call is the next best thing. But just as with email and instant messaging, people don?t always agree on how to use them as effectively as possible as a tool for collaboration.
Try these tips for your next telecon whether you?re the leader of the call or just a participant. And share your own ideas for making conference calls worthwhile and productive in the comments.
1. Get the dial in. If you?re leading the call, it?s your job to make it easy on the people calling in by setting up a dial-in or otherwise getting everyone together on the phone. If you?re an employee, your company may have already chosen a conference calling service for you to use. Otherwise, you can use a variety of online services including foonz, FreeConference.com, and LiveOffice.
These services and others like them allow you to set up a conference dial-in for free, but long distance charges will apply. They also provide premium services such as toll-free numbers for US and Canadian callers. For example, FreeConference.com will provide a toll-free conference dial-in number for $0.10 a minute per caller. Source: 27 Tips for Teleconferencing
If you would rather try video conferencing, you should check out the free trial available from GoToMeeting
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Looks like Cisco networks is jumping into the Video Conferencing arena, today they launched Cisco TelePresence, their high end attempt at real time video conferencing using high-definition monitors, highly sensitive audio equipment and integrated networking gear. They aim to make it so real that you will think the person on the monitor is in the same room.
One of Cisco’s newest products is a high-end room that can accommodate up to 12 people around the virtual table and comes with three 65-inch plasma displays, three high-definition cameras, and the table and lighting. Price: $299,000.
The other is a single-screen version that costs $79,000 and can accommodate four people. Source: Ap at Yahoo
I guess they are targeting Fortune 500 companies, and large organizations who can afford such an investment, but I don’t know too many of those myself. They say a robust network is needed, the high end room will use 10 megabits of bandwidth per second! Wow! A Gartner analyst said it was an amazing illusion, but the steep price makes it irrelevant for most businesses.
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Here are the latest news articles on video conferencing, web conferencing and online meetings.
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