Webcams

I recently came across a nice blog post from John McArthur, a venture capitalist, mentioning how he uses Skype to speak to people at startups for free or cheap. Technology has developed quite a bit since John attended the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Back then AT&T debuted its Picturephone, which allowed video calls over standard phonelines way before computers were commonplace. I wanted to find out a bit more about the Picturephone and see how different it could possibly be from High Quality Video on Skype. How different are they? Wow. Read on to see what I found.

Continue reading "Flashback 1964: Low Quality Video" »

Have you ever made a Skype call and then just kept the line open, so you could talk (or not talk) to a friend or loved one for as long as you wanted? Because Skype-to-Skype calls are always free, the conversation never has to end—and with video it’s like having a window into what your companion is doing, whether he or she is talking to you or not.

I’ve heard of people having these sorts of lingering Skype conversations before—it was a couple who kept a video window open all day at work to say hi and smile at each another. This week I caught another example in a blog post by Roo Reynolds, who not only coined a term for this sort of connection (‘Ambient Skype’) but also provided a photo of a nap he was taking in the US while his wife was going to sleep in the UK. Aww. Roo said:

I found this to be very comforting. It’s rather reassuring to drift off with the familiarity of hearing each other breathing and (for me) the everyday noises of home in the background. A nice way to reduce the distance during a long trip abroad. I don’t know why we didn’t try it sooner.

You can read his whole blog post here. Have you ever used Skype to provide an open window into your life for a far away friend or loved one? Tell us in the comments.

Earlier this week Oprah took to the internet for a live classroom-style discussion with author Eckhart Tolle about his book A New Earth. Over 500,000 people went online at the same time on Monday evening to watch, and over 242 Gbps of information was transferred (according to Harpo Productions, Oprah’s company). Using High Quality Video on Skype, several participants were able to ask questions and speak directly with Oprah and Eckhart.

Having so many people connected to the same streaming video did lead to some (non-Skype-related) technical difficulties (which Howard mentioned on the new Skype US blog)—hopefully they’ll be sorted out quickly as the webinar series is scheduled to run for 9 more week (every Monday at 21:00 EST / 02:00 GMT). You can learn more about the series here, and watch or download the first lesson here (though beware: the iPod-formatted download clocks in at over a gigabyte). It’s also on iTunes.

This isn’t the first time that Skype’s been used in a ‘television-related’ capacity. It’s been used in Canada for CityTV and the CBC, in Germany, in Brazil, and in the US for Tom Green’s show.

If you’re a budding broadcaster, check out these excellent tips for getting great audio quality out of Skype during interviews from Doug Kaye and Paul Figgiani of The Conversations Network.

Several interesting bits of Skype Gear-related news from the blogosphere recently, on a variety of devices that show off many of the different ways you can use Skype.

• Video: great story about usage and a Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF review
• Mobile: Results to 3mobilebuzz’s recent contest: Why I need a 3 Skypephone
• WiFi phone: Netgear SPH200W one of Time’s top 10 gadgets of 2007
• Headsets: A look at the FREETALK Stereo Wireless Headset

My full take after the jump…

Continue reading "Gear News Roundup: A little bit of everything" »

Two nice recent video-related developments on the main platforms that aren’t Windows—last week the new Skype for Mac 2.7 beta came out, bringing with it 640 x 480 video at up to 25 frames per second (as well as full Leopard support). It’s not certified High Quality Video because it doesn’t use Logitech cameras with Carl Zeiss optics, but it’s certainly a nice improvement over video at 320 x 240.

Last month the latest Skype for Linux 2.0 beta also added video. My current object of gadget lust is the Asus Eee PC, the small, relatively affordable Linux laptop (based on Xandros Linux) with flash memory rather than a hard drive. Skype comes preloaded on the Eee PC, but it’s not the latest beta version with video support. If you’ve picked up an Eee PC and are a Linux novice, check out this video I spotted after the jump that gives a great tutorial on how to install the latest Skype beta and get video rockin’ on the Eee PC.

Continue reading "Video Love for Mac and Linux" »

Yesterday Skype 3.6 went gold (hooray!), which means lovely High Quality Video will now work without any bugs (fingers crossed) for people who have the right setup (which means having Skype 3.6, one of three Logitech cameras, the QuickCam driver 11.5, a dual core processor and 384 kbps broadband).

Will this higher quality make you try out a webcam if you haven’t before? If so check out these tips from a while back and these from this week for videoconferencing in a business setting so you’ll look and sound your best. And if you’re already a webcam user, I’ve got a question for you…

Continue reading "Skype 3.6 and a question for webcammers" »

A webcam is just a webcam, right? I’ve been living in the UK away from family in the US for over 3 years now, so I’ve been using webcams for a reasonably long time to stay in touch. For the longest time I did think a webcam was just a webcam—it’d have clunky drivers (that I’d prefer not to install when I could because they didn’t seem to do much) and the picture quality would be mediocre but you’d deal because it’s better than just talking. But with the recent release of some new webcams from Logitech, combined with the new Skype 3.6 Beta, I’m changing my tune. High Quality Video on Skype is here, and it really does make a difference. I’ve been able to test out a Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks for the past few days and I’m pretty impressed.

Continue reading "Skypegear Roadtest: Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks" »

It’s a go! (Well, nearly…)

High Quality Video on Skype brings the resolution of video calling on Skype up to 640 x 480 pixels (from 320 x 240) and up to 30 frames per second (from a max of 15) when you meet the necessary hardware and software requirements.

The difference is pretty amazing—it’s the sort of quality that was previously only available to big businesses (for lots of money), but now it’s available to everyone on Skype (for free)!

Continue reading "Clearer, Sharper, Smoother: High Quality Video on Skype!" »

You probably already know how great video calls on Skype are (and if you don’t, you’ve got to give it a try!). Seeing the face of a far away friend or family member never fails to put a smile on my face. But if you’re not always making video calls (or you have an extra webcam), there are a bunch of neat applications for webcams that go beyond the call of the video call. What else can you do with a webcam?

Continue reading "Cool Things to Do with a Webcam (or two!)" »

OK so it may not have face tracking and a 10 megapixel lens, but this cute little Skype cam is just the job. And it’s such an elegant design solution - a real lesson in simplicity - that you can’t help but love it. Throw in a decent Plantronics P2000 headset and 6 months Skype voicemail plus up to 2 hours of Skype calls to landlines and you really have a very solid, portable Skype setup for a staggering £14.99 / $19.99 / E19.99!

Continue reading "Skypegear Roadtest: The funkiest Skype webcam yet??" »

You gotta love Strobist. I stumbled upon this website, and it’s the perfect example of what the blogging is all about: taking a very small aspect of the human experience, and refining it through sustained and intelligent commentary.

In this case, the corner of human experience Strobist has taken is camera lighting. Or, more specifically:

At Strobist, our goal is to promote more effective use of small, shoe-mount flashes.

Whilst the connection with Skype is not obvious, as anyone who consistently makes Skype cam to cam calls will testify decent lighting is absolutely key to making this a useful method of communication. So today David at Strobist focused his laser-like attention on how to light a decent camera call properly. As you can see from the comparison above, with a couple of simple tweaks you can turn yourself from looking like some kind of scary cyber pest into the model of dashing web loveliness simply by ensuring an adequate light supply and making sure you appropriately set the lighting controls on your camera.

I really encourage you yo read the entire post, which is essential reading not only for the perenially vain but for anyone who wants to have a half-decent conversation over their cam with friends or family.

Continue reading "A beginner's guide to improving cam to cam calls on Skype..." »

Big news for US Skypers today—Skype and Wal-Mart have announced a partnership that makes Skype-certified products available at 1,800 Wal-Mart stores across the US starting today. What sorts of gear will Wal-Mart be carrying? There’s a pretty wide range:

Continue reading "Skype, Wal-Mart; Wal-mart, Skype." »

Andus Purde over on Skype for Mac blog makes some excellent brief points on which webcams you can Skype with on your Mac. As Andrus observes, “Apple iSight, Philips SPC900NC and Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 are pretty safe bets”, but there really are quite different cams you can use for your Mac.

A couple of other points from Andrus:

• Many other cams can be made to work with Skype on a Mac by downloading a suitable driver from http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net. List of cams here.
• Make sure you have at least an 800Mhz processor to run video on your Mac
• Ensure you don’t have more than one video window open at any one time, as the cam can only communicate with one application at a time
• Check out the knowledgebase or look at the forums for more information if you’re unsure about a particular webcam’s compatibility.

Continue reading "Which webcams can I use with Skype on my Mac?" »

Some new laptops these days have webcams built in to them, making them ideal for using Skype to make videocalls when you’re out and about. However, a lot don’t, and many of the ones that do have squeezed a camera in which really doesn’t do the job very well. Enter US Robotics’ Mini Cam for Skype, which aims to plug just this gap, providing a small, affordable way to add videocalling capability to your laptop.

Continue reading "Skypegear Roadtest: US Robotics Mini Cam for Skype" »

Life isn’t easy being an international firm of architects. Gone are the days of waltzing around in black polo-necks, talking Bauhaus and minimalism and wearing thick black specs to impress the ladies. These days, clients are demanding, deadlines are always imminent, and the boundaries of creativity always ready to be pushed.

It is these kinds of pressures that, with offices across the UK and in Prague, architects  Lewis & Hickey operate under. As you can see from their website, Lewis & Hickey are far from conventional in their approach to office space and working practices, and so Skype were delighted to work with them on the first Skype for Business showcase in the UK.

Continue reading "International Architects get a full Skypeover" »

Sorry, couldn’t resist the oversize Mac photo. Wow that is a thing of beauty.

And now, thanks to Skype Forums moderator extraordinaire Carola Clavo, we have a list of Mac-compatible Skype webcams (so that you can use all of that quad-core computing power to pull silly faces at your mum over Skype). It’s not, as she points out, an exhaustive list, so feel free to add any cams that you have found to work OK on the Mac. It should also be pointed out that not all cameras in her list are Skype certified, and so it’s worth looking out for the ‘Skype certified’ logo on the box or website when you’re buying.

Continue reading "Compatible Webcams for Mac users and more in the Skype forums" »

It may not be available until January, putting it safely out of reach of any Christmas present-buying cash that might be burning a hole in your Levi’s, but the USR9640 webcam looks like it’s packs a lot into a very small space.

Continue reading "US Robotics new Skype certified webcam: small, feature packed and cheap!" »

Sometimes the answer to a problem is right in front of you. Today on a Skype call I was trying to describe to a colleague a problem I was having with a phone, and something was getting lost in translation. In a (rare) flash of inspiration, I flicked on video, showed him the phone, and the problem went away. A picture, as they say, is better than a thousand words.

Video has been available on the last few Skype releases, but the question is: which camera will show you off to best advantage?

Continue reading "Those who cam, do: but which cam should you use for Skype calling?" »