video-calling

Chat in living color using Video Calls with Facebook

There are a few video-calling options for the iPhone. The built-in FaceTime functionality works very well but is only an option if the person you are calling is using an Apple device (iPad, iPhone, or Mac). Similarly, Skype is a powerful video chat tool, but without a good connection and if your quarry doesn't use Skype, you're out of luck. So, a video chat tool using Facebook is very enticing. Seen - Video Calls for Facebook promises just that, but does it deliver or is it yet another feature-rich, connection-starved video chat app?

Upon installation, you are prompted … Read more

Chat, and make video and audio calls across multiple platforms with Vtok

Vtok is a messaging and audio- and video-calling app for the iPhone and iPad, available free from iTunes. Using a browser plug-in you can also use Vtok on a Mac or PC. You can use a Google ID to identify yourself to Vtok, although Vtok is not a Google-provided service.

From the Vtok's clean interface you can select the person you want to chat or talk with from a list of contacts, or dial that person's number using the keypad, and then the connection is made. A small bar of icons at the bottom of the screen lets … Read more

Stay in contact with your friends with Tango Voice & Video Calls

Web-based communication apps offering free voice and video calls over Wi-Fi, 3G, and 4G as well as text messaging are some of the must-have apps for any Android device. Tango Voice & Video Calls lets you easily connect to friends while making your communication free and fun.

The primary menu of this app takes users to the standard line-up-at-the-top arrangement of most interfaces in mobile OS platforms, with options like calls, messages, and settings organized at the upper part of the screen. This makes the presentation of basic options easy and intuitive, since you've most likely already encountered such … Read more

Easy VoIP

Tango Video Calls is a free VoIP application for iOS with high goals, but low performance. The app is very easy to use, but its interface misses the finesse of a native iOS application such as FaceTime.

With its intuitive interface, most users will be able to skip the video tutorial and get started right away, especially those who've used a VoIP app before. Tango Video Calls does offer some great features, such as the FaceTime-ish video call (the primary aim of the app) or (what we liked the most) video messaging. We loved the concept of breaking down … Read more

Add a locked Vault to your phone

NQ Mobile Vault is the simplest application I've seen for keeping text messages, call history, contacts, photos, and videos private on your mobile device. Celebrities, pay attention.

Basically, Vault creates an encrypted, password-protected space on your device, in which you can store photos, videos, text messages, and call history. It's easy to move items into and out of the space, and you can even permanently delete them, if you'd like.

Once you create your password, there are a few ways to start using Vault. First, within the app, you can pull up all of your messages and … Read more

Skype lands on PlayStation Vita

Skype for PlayStation Vita essentially works just like any other smartphone version of the software, providing a comprehensive set of features, free Skype-to-Skype voice, and high-quality video calls. Also, gabbers can choose between the rear and front-facing Vita cameras during video communication. The aesthetics of the Skype client seem tailored to blend in with the overall tone of the Vita user interface, which I consider a nice touch. … Read more

Game on: Samsung's second to market with Android-based Skype HD videophone for TVs

LAS VEGAS--A few days ago, we wrote about how Tely Labs, a startup out of Silicon Valley, had launched an Android-based Skype HD video phone for TVs. Well, the $249 TelyHD now has company, as Samsung Techwin America has introduced a very similar product, the InTouch camera system, for $50 less.

Like the TelyHD, the Samsung InTouch is designed to be hooked onto the top of your flat-panel TV, runs on the Android operating system, offers Wi-Fi connectivity and 720p video, and has the Skype application integrated right into the unit. The service is free, and if you're a Skype subscriber already you can log in immediately and start making video calls.

Also like the TelyHD, the InTouch comes with additional preloaded apps, such as YouTube, Google News and Weather, and full Web browsing, plus it can display photos stored on a thumbdrive (there's a USB slot on the back of the camera).… Read more

QNX powers the BlackBerry Colt

Apple releases a tool to automatically create recovery disks for Mac OS X Lion, researchers at the Black Hat hackers conference say that you should change all of your passwords if your laptop gets stolen, and the BlackBerry Colt will be the first QNX-powered smartphone from Research in Motion in early 2012.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

QNX-powered BlackBerry Colt in Q1 of 2012 Apple Lion Recovery Disk Assistant Barnes and Noble Nook e-book deal Skype 5.3 on Mac Lion and HD video Stolen laptop: change ALL of your passwords Man starts waiting in line for iPhone 5 … Read more

Skype for Mac update adds Lion support, HD calls

Skype this morning put out a new update to its Mac client that brings compatibility with Apple's Mac OS X Lion, as well as HD video calling.

The jump to support Lion comes some three weeks after the release of Apple's latest Mac OS X iteration.

As for the HD video calling feature, Skype first brought that in a beta to Windows users in January of last year. The new HD quality can take advantage of FaceTime HD cameras that ship with Apple's newer iMacs and MacBook Pros. Users need to have an upload/download speed of … Read more

Sony PlayStation Vita delayed in U.S.

Skype for Android expands two-way video calling to more phones, Apple's Find My Mac makes its debut on the developer testing version of iCloud.com, and Sony delays the launch of the PlayStation Vita handheld console in the U.S. and Europe.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: