News 29

Google has announced Hangouts on Air, a way to live stream and record a group video conversation from different video feeds. Just a few years ago, it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars in hardware to accomplish something like this, but now it’s free and it couldn’t be simpler. The video above gives you the quick overview on how to do it. This is going to open up all sorts of possibilities for video podcasts, archive-able teaching, webinars, roundtables, world-wide meetups and lots of things that people have never even imagined because of the previous technical obstacles. I can’t wait to see what comes of it!

One of the things that makes Facetime so great is its simplicity. That’s probably in large part due to the obsessive nature of Steve Jobs. A new book has just come out that details so much of the philosophy of Apple and the late Steve Jobs: Insanely Simple: The Obsession that Drives Apple’s Success.

Take a look if you enjoy getting the inside scoop from people who knew Jobs and Apple best.

Now this has a cool factor. “The Galileo is a revolutionary, iOS-controlled robotic iPhone platform with infinite spherical rotation capability.”

So it’s a way to remotely control your iPhone to pan, zoom and tilt. As of this writing, the minimum threshold has been met to produce the Galileo, so you can put in your pledge now to receive one of the first ones, or simply wait until production ramps up and buy one off the shelf. Cool!

Although you will have the bandwidth to do a high quality video chat if you’re on a 4G LTE wireless cell network in the US, you wont be able to Facetime unless you’re on wifi.  Word has begun trickling out (I saw it first on Cult of Mac) that the carrier-imposed restriction banning video chat over cell towers will remain in place as the iPad 3rd Generation gets into people’s hands this weekend.

The only upside to this is that you won’t have the chance to accidentally blow through all of your monthly allotment of data for your mobile plan.

The internet is buzzing with anticipation of the newest (generation three) iPad. This site is primarily focused on Facetime & video chat technology, so let’s hit this highlight first. The big news from Apple in relation to the new iPad is that they have specified that the front-facing camera is officially the “Facetime” camera, while the back-facing (higher-quality 5 Megapixel) camera is now called the iSight camera.

Although the new iSight camera is the same super-awesome camera in the iPhone 4S, the Facetime camera is still the same old VGA (low-res) camera we’ve become so accustomed to.

Big news from Apple today! The future Mac OS X operating system (dubbed “Mountain Lion“) has been announced, and it’s taking messaging on your Mac one step further. Click through to find out more about the update, but it looks like there is going to be a central place on your Mac to deal with all messages to and from your Mac and iOS devices, including Factime. This is gonna be big!

Putting a human touch on the technology, the NY Times published an article about how we are using technology not just for nerdery, but for connecting with each other. From “Skypanukkah” holiday celebrations, to saying a final goodbye to a dying relative across the country, the article is full of vignettes of how video chat is changing the way we connect with the people we love.
– NY Times article

Video Chat service Tango just launched a new Video Messaging service on their platform. VentureBeat has the scoop and the details on how you can leave messages for friends when they don’t or can’t pick up a video chat request. I can’t say how many times I’ve wished for this on Facetime. Here’s hoping Apple is listening watching.

The good folks at Patently Apple have a huge rundown on a new feature that Apple has patented, and that could someday make its way into improved Facetime software. The basic rundown is clear if you’ve ever used Facetime while running around your home or office. Apple wants to make it so different lighting sources don’t make your face washed out with light and then covered in shadows. As lighting sources around you change, Apple wants to help keep the camera focused on a well-lit face in front of it. Check the article for the full rundown!