Video

The VoIP Users Conference Featuring LifeSize

Following our first video conference call with Blink Mind last August we’re at long last scheduled to do next call in the series. The VUC call on February 4, 2011 will feature LifeSize, the Austin TX based manufacturer of HD video conference systems. LifeSize is a division of Logitech.

Our guest will be Michael Helmbrecht, Vice President of Product Marketing. His responsibilities include product marketing, product life cycle management, public relations and analyst relations. Prior to LifeSize he spent nine years with Dell, Inc. where he was Director of Marketing. Michael held a number of key marketing roles at Dell, most recently leading product line management for data storage and networking in the Americas.

Unlike the earlier video call in August, the Feb 4 call will happen in 720p-based high-definition. A total of sixteen fortunate souls will have seats on the LifeSize video conference bridge.

The output of that bridge will also be streamed via a web feed, and recorded for later download as a video podcast. Audio from the LifeSize conference bridge will be joined to the ZipDX bridge so that people participating audio-only can join the call by their usual means.

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My First Telepresence Experience…kinda

The paradox of my demo this past week was funny, and kind of sad. It was a presentation to a sports network in LA. I was in an uplink facility in Atlanta with some HD graphics gear and a couple of people from the network. The rest of the audience was the creative team in LA. They took the 1080i HD output of my device and a camera (also 1080) pointed at me, running both over a fiber link to the group in LA.

The theory was simple enough; the group in LA had some specific concerns. I could demonstrate conclusively our approach to their issues. They see me operating the equipment as well as the output in real-time, in glorious full-resolution HD. The fact that the uplink facility was involved made the fiber link available. This was a first in my long history in this business.

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Skype & The New Skype 5.0 For Windows

After many months in beta Skype For Windows 5.0 went “Gold” a couple of weeks ago. The release was made available to all for down load. As I was running the beta I dutifully downloaded the final release to my various Windows systems.

While I was running the beta release I can’t say that I was an active participant in the beta program. I wanted to try the multi-way video calling, which was said to be the major new feature in the release. It works about as you’d expect. You can make video calls to up to ten people, but the video will be at best VGA resolution.

I’ve made a few test calls using this new video calling capability, but it has not worked its way into my routine. Interestingly, there seems to be little interest in video calling using soft clients within the ranks of my employer. People have the webcams but can’t be bothered to use them. In fact, we mostly use Skype for IM and ad hoc file exchange. Even escalating from Skype IM to voice chat is pretty rare.

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A Curious Pair: Skype & Traditional Broadcasters

As Skype has become more and more popular various other parties have tried to ride on their coat-tails, including old media companies like TV stations & broadcast networks. I know of at least one TV station that was clandestinely using Skype over broadband to “phone in” breaking news events. The station in question even went so far as to promote the fact that they were using Skype. They did so without prior permission from Skype, and were eventually asked to stop doing so by Skype’s lawyers.

TV stations have been doing “Live Remotes” for decades. Most often this involved using a vehicle equipped with microwave relay gear to send the video feed back to the station in real-time. Much effort goes into ensuring that the video signal looks good when it finally hits air. Larger TV stations or more important projects might merit the use of satellite transponder time to get the video feed back to the station via a satellite link, at considerable expense.

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