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First look: airtime video chat service for facebook by ferujkll sdff
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First look: airtime video chat service for facebook |
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I just took Airtime , the new video chat service from start-up stars Shawn Fanning andSean Parker, for a spin on Tuesday, its first day of generalavailability. My first impressions: It works fine, though I'm notsure I'll get addicted to it. The free browser-based Skype/Google+ hangout/Facebook chatalternative works pretty much as advertised, and as promoted at itsNew York press conference today with Snoop Dog, Jimmy Fallon andother stars participating. The company is backed by at least $25million in funding, so has plenty of such splash cash. A premiumversion, ads and virtual goods will all be ways for Airtime to make money down the road.
I visited the site via Google Chrome, and while my MacBook Pro'sfans started whirring wildly, things settled down and I got down tobusiness on Airtime. First up it forced me to surrender Facebookinfo I'd rather not give up in order to sign in (access to myfriends, interests, etc., for the purpose of enabling Airtime tosync me up with my friends as well as people I don't know but whohave similar interests). No downloads are necessary, though you doneed a Facebook account and a webcam-equipped computer that meetsthe following tech requirements: 1.5Ghz processor, 512MB RAM,1.5Mbps bandwidth (see video demo of service at bottom of thisstory). RANDOM: ASUS apologizes for sexist butt tweet APPLE IPHONEYS: The iPhone 5 edition My list of Facebook friends showed up on the right hand side of thescreen, and presumably would have indicated if any were also usingAirtime. None were.
I was able, from within the Airtime site, tomessage a couple of Facebook friends to see if they'd like to givethe video chat service a try with me, but none happened to bewatching their Facebook feed at the time. I couldn't figure out howto backtrack from there, so wound up closing out of the service andstarting over. This time I immediately turned to the big Talk To Someone button inthe middle of the screen, which like the notorious Chatroulettevideo service is designed to hook you up with others anonymously.However, the spin here is that you can fill in interests (based onFacebook pages... I wasn't able to just type in any old words) orcheck/uncheck buttons for friends of friends or people nearby, andAirtime will then match you up with people who at least havesimilar interests. I actually didn't fill in any interests on my maiden voyage, so wasconnected with people purely anonymously.
The first guy (everyone Isaw was a guy) just saw the Hulk Hogan glass on my desk and shoutedout "Hulkamania!" and then he was off. But I then did settle inwith a friendly gent in NYC with a bunch of Dutch-related interestsnamed Sander (Sanders? Zander?) with whom I had a nice chat aboutAirtime, Google+ (his preferred video chat method) and more. Wetook turns pressing various buttons to see what would happen. I gota little nervous when he suddenly left the room through a curtain,but it turns out he was working from home and just needed to signfor a package. With Airtime, live camera feeds of each individual and their listedinterests are shown in side by side boxes taking up most of thescreen.
There were also thumbnails of videos underneath, whichappeared to be sponsored links or videos that the users had sharedon Facebook recently. You can play a video and mute it whiletalking to your chat partner. There's also a mysterious starredbutton in the middle of the screen which supposedly lets you giveyour chat partner points or ratings (a little obligatorygamification). Sander and I said our goodbyes, and then I settleddown to write this quick summary.
My next chat (conducted after I did add a few interests such asjournalism and Boston Celtics) was with the VP of product from Wahooly , a company in Austin that works with startups and influencers. Mychat partner and I were able to text chat in a side box on thebottom right, swapping website URLs and Twitter handles. I askedhim a few questions regarding a story package we're planning, andhe was helpful, and even chatted about the town where I live and hewent to college. A good random meeting.
While I wasn't at the Airtime press conference Tuesday, I did readin the company's press release that although Airtime is intended togussy up Facebook, it's even more intended to liven up theInternet: "There's something exciting about bringing spontaneityto the Internet," said Parker. "All of yourinteractions online are constrained by the people you already know.That wasn't always the case. If it weren't for theinternet, Fanning and I would have never become friends. As we movefrom a social graph to an interest graph, there are greatpossibilities for our world. That's what we're tryingto tap into with Airtime." Bob Brown tracks network research in his Alpha Doggs and Facebookpage, as well on Twitter and Google +. I am a professional writer from Other Luggage, Bags & Cases, which contains a great deal of information about fleece lined shoes , rocky shoes boots, welcome to visit!
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