Can Video Conferencing Replace Travel?

The short answer is YES!
Since 2005, the push for HD video conferencing has taken off and with higher resolutions, it has enhanced the audio conferencing component that most used.
Now that the visual component of the exchange has improved in resolution and the ability to bridge multiple meeting participants, the advantages are easily realized.
Whether used in bail hearings, medical, government, military purposes and more, the costs are quickly realized.
Video conferencing can replace travel quite easily and beneficially. It can help make smaller companies more competitive, and reduce expenses for all size businesses that would have had a travel budget. The only downside might be to the travel industry, which can fight back with better corporate deals in their effort to stay competitive.
For overall savings, video conferencing beats travel for time, energy and cost.

Mirial releases SIP/H.323 Video Conferencing Client for iPhone

Mirial has announced the availability of ClearSea 7.2.18, the first professional video conferencing client for Apple iOS devices, supporting both SIP and H.323 standards, featuring high-quality video conference and optimized in order to get the most out of the mobile networks. The software is available today for iPhone(R) 4 and iPod(R) Touch 4th gen, and in few weeks for iPhone(R) 3GS and iPad(R).

Built by Mirial on over 10 years of video communication excellence, it provides a standards-based solution for video conferencing over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networks, enabling iPhone users to connect to other iPhones, iPods, Android phones and tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Windows PC and Mac or to any H323 standards-based video conferencing equipment such as room systems or existing MCUs.

BlackBerry Playbook Demo

Research in Motion is set to enter the tablet space with the BlackBerry Playbook, which weighs in at less than a pound and sports a 7-inch touchscreen. There’s also a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, paired up with a 3-megapixel front-facing cam for videoconferencing, a likely use-case for RIM’s business customers.

Video Conferencing: Understanding Color Temperature

Color temperature describes the spectrum of light which is radiated from a "blackbody" with that surface temperature. A blackbody is an object which absorbs all incident light-- neither reflecting it nor allowing it to pass through. A rough analogue of blackbody radiation in our day to day experience might be in heating a metal or stone: these are said to become "red hot" when they attain one temperature, and then "white hot" for even higher temperatures. Similarly, blackbodies at different temperatures also have varying color temperatures of "white light." Despite its name, light which may appear white does not necessarily contain an even distribution of colors across the visible spectrum.

The Basic Lighting Requirements Are As Follows:

Low contrast desired for light intensity. No dark spots.
Intensity at the meeting table 800-1400 Lux as measured with an Incident light meter.
Intensity at the back wall should be minimum 1/2 of that measured at table.
Color temperature: Depends upon wall color and camera. Typically 3200-3600 degrees Kelvin.
Block sun light from entering room. Do not setup with a window as the back wall.

Video Conferencing: Understanding White Balance

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) -- and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting conditions.
Different video conferencing codecs approach white balance adjustments differently and usually involve flooding the camera with a white source.

Smartphone and Tablets Primary Tools For Business

In 2011 we will see a greater shift to the mobile space for business with smartphones and tablets leading the way.
With increasing iPhone, Android, and iPad popularity in consumer space, enterprise will start adopting iPhone, Android, and iPad in addition to BlackBerry and Dell, Lenovo laptops. Most business users will continue to rely on their laptops for email and VoIP and web browsing or document creation. These common communication and data consumption tasks will be made easier on iPad, BlackBerry and other low-cost tablets, and they will start replacing traditional laptops as we know them today.