Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat

Posted by Justin Uberti, Software Engineer


I'm a big user of Gmail chat. Being able to switch from email to chat as needed, all within the same app, is really great for productivity. But people can only type so fast, and even with our new emoticons, there are still some things that just can't be expressed in a chat message.

That's why today we're launching voice and video chat -- right inside Gmail. We've tried to make this an easy-to-use, seamless experience, with high-quality audio and video -- all for free. All you have to do is download and install the voice and video plugin and we take care of the rest. And in the spirit of open communications, we designed this feature using Internet standards such as XMPP, RTP, and H.264, which means that third-party applications and networks can choose to interoperate with Gmail voice and video chat.

Once you install the plugin, to start a video chat, just click on the "Video & more" menu at the bottom of your Gmail chat window, and choose "Start video chat." You'll have a few seconds to make sure you look presentable while it's ringing, and then you'll see and hear your friend live, right from within Gmail. You can click the "pop-out" iconto make the video larger, or click the fullscreen iconin the upper left-hand corner for a fully immersive experience. See this all in action in the video below:

Our team is spread between Google offices in the US and Sweden, and video has really changed the way we work. Collaborating across continents and timezones is a fact of life for us, and it sure is easier (and greener) to click "Start video chat" than to get on a plane! And when I do have to visit another Google office, I can use Gmail voice and video chat to check in with my family.

We've just started to roll out Gmail voice and video chat for both PCs and Macs, so if you don't see it right away, don't worry -- it could take a day or so for this feature to be available in all Gmail and Google Apps accounts. If you want to download the plugin right away, visit http://gmail.com/videochat. And if you need a webcam, there are a few models with special discounts through November 30th (I use the QuickCam Pro 9000 myself).

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Update On Google iPhone Voice Recognition App: Look For It On Monday

Google’s voice recognition search application for the iPhone, originally set for launch on Friday, will likely go live sometime Monday, we’ve heard from a source with knowledge of the situation.

Google was under the impression that the application would be live on the App Store on Friday (obviously, since they pushed all significant press attention to it). Sometime Friday they found out Apple wouldn’t be pushing it, despite the fact that Google submitted it for review earlier in the week and got a thumbs up for Friday. One source says they’ve had little direct contact with Apple during the review, instead getting their updates via the standard iPhone developer tool, which has said “in review” for the last few days.

Who knows why Apple delayed the application, or why they tend to treat every application developer equally poorly.

But in this case Apple really screwed up in our opinion.

If the application is half as good as the demo video shows, Google has done something pretty amazing with voice recognition and mobile platforms. This application will, quite simply, sell iPhones. Lots of them.

Google faced a decision on which mobile platform to first launch the application - the iPhone or their own Android. The fact that they decided to launch first on the iPhone shows a willingness to embrace what’s right for the user, and it’s something that few other companies would have done. Google could have launched for the Android first and pushed sales of phones on their platform. They didn’t, and Apple should have embraced them for that.

Next time I expect Google won’t be so trusting. And I don’t blame them.

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Seaside

3rd Edition FP1 Theme in 240x320px with changed Icons

Seaside_yI.zip = 3rd Edition (240x320px) changed Icons

cliff_lighthouse_animation.zip = Screensaver

Downloadversion with default Icons:

http://www.imserba.com/forum/showpost.php?p=894771&postcount=885

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Disney's Wizards

A turn-based strategy. The player plays for a team of magic beginners- Mickey Mouse, Donald and Goofy which must win different battles against other magic teams. The game follows the plot of the first series of comic book Wizards of Mickey. The team must win the Great tournament to reform an ancient Great crown and also find a way to free Mickey’s master Nereus who has been captured by evil Black Phantom who wants to reform the Great crown himself to rule the world.



Game Features: Sound, Help, Save Option, Suspend/Resume, Bus/Tube Friendly,



Mirrors



176x220

http://www.ziddu.com/download/255858...6x208.zip.html

http://www.uploadjockey.com/download...s60176x208.zip



240x320

http://www.ziddu.com/download/255850...0x320.zip.html

http://www.uploadjockey.com/download...S60240x320.zip



320x240

http://www.ziddu.com/download/255850...0x240.zip.html

http://www.uploadjockey.com/download...S60320x240.zip



352x416

http://www.ziddu.com/download/255850...2x416.zip.html

http://www.uploadjockey.com/download...S60352x416.zip

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Introducing the Flocktography Photo Challenge!

Flock isn't about technology. Flock is about a feeling.

While the technology powers Flock, the reason you and I love this browser is because it makes the web fun and easy again.  Using Flock gets me excited about going online, keeps me in better contact with my friends, and makes my day easier.

With the new look of Flock's homepage and tour, we're fully embracing this feeling.  We scoured Flickr for days finding the perfect images that represented the fun, freedom, and ease of Flock. We've been all smiles viewing these pages day after day as we prepped them for launch.

Of course, nothing is permanent on the web and we're going to want to keep our homepage fresh with some new images in a few months.  Which brings us to...

The Flocktography Photo Challenge!

We want to take this fun, relaxed feeling even farther and put YOUR photos on the homepage!  Nobody knows the joy that is Flock better than you, and we're sure that you've got tons of photos of you and your friends that will shine on our homepage.

All you have to do is submit your photos.  We'll choose the finalists, and your fellow Flockstars will vote on who will be the winners!


The winner of the Flocktography Photo Challenge will have their photo featured on our homepage, and will also receive a collection of awesome Flock swag!

Entering the Challenge

Each Flockstar can submit up to 3 photos to our Flocktography group on Flickr.

Photos must be at least 917px wide by 385px tall.

Any person prominently featured in these photos should have given verbal or signed approval to be featured on flock.com...which means you shouldn't include a celebrity or musician photo unless you can get their approval.


Winning the Challenge

A group of qualified folks at Flock will choose the finalists for the Flocktography photo challenge.  Finalists will be called out in a discussion thread on the Flocktography Flickr Group.  At that point we'll let you know how YOU can vote for the winners.

---

Obviously the rules are a little loose for this first contest as we feel it out, but we fully hope to do this again...hopefully with more organization, more submissions, and bigger prizes!

Please spread the word about this contest to all your awesome photographer friends (who, of course, you've already turned into Flockstars) so we can have a really awesome set of submissions.

We can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Flock'n'roll,

Evan Hamilton

Community Ambassador

evan at flock dot com

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Tags: flock, browser, photography, contest, challenge, homepage, flocktography, flickr

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DirectTV May Enter Online TV War With “Web On Demand” Service

We’ve received a couple of anonymous tips that DirectTV, a $24 billion satellite TV provider, may be entering the online TV wars with a new site called DirectTV Web On Demand. The site would compete with startups like Hulu, Joost, Fancast, Sling.com, etc.

We don’t know much about the service, or even if it’s real. One of the tipsters says they’ve worked on the project and supplied us with the mockup screen shot above, which could quite possibly be real. On the other hand, we’ve spoken with industry insiders and they say they’ve heard nothing about the project.

The screen shot shows Heroes, which is an NBC show. The only way for Fox and NBC shows to be syndicated on the web is via a deal with Hulu. For CBS shows, they have to go through the CBS Audience Network.

That means it’s either very, very early in the development process or it doesn’t exist at all. We have an email in to DirectTV for comment.

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