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.

Video Chat on Smartphones a Reality in 2011

Video chatting over smartphone and tablet devices will take roots. With launch of iPad2 (expected sometime mid this year) that has dual-camera just like iPhone4, BlackBerry Playbook and other competing tablet devices, video chatting will become one of the popular applications of next generation tablets. This will be accelerated by enterprise's adoption of tablets, and general availability of camera-enabled devices become default communication devices in business settings.

Media Consumption Will Shift Mobile in 2011 Including Video

As internet bandwidth continues to grow and the availability of 3G & 4G mobile networks, people will consume more media on mobile devices. There will be additional media curating sites where people can share TV shows or video contents with others just like YouTube video links are shared today on Facebook. As people will consume more media contents on the go, cable and media companies will create their own sites to service these contents directly to users through subscription services.
Picture is of waiting passengers on subway platform in Seoul South Korea watching media on mobile.

Desktop Video Doesn't Have To Suck

The following tips are purely for those using a desktop model of delivery.
That would include the computer and a client for peer to peer like Skype and other video conferencing applications. The meeting rooms with codecs integrated or not will have different requirements.

Wear A Headset
In order to address any audio feedback and the requirement for echo cancellation, these are a must plus you'll enjoy better audio quality. Headsets should be of the USB variety and where possible stay away from analog type connections and the cost around $40 to $60 dollars.
Aside from the audio issues being addressed it also takes care of privacy concerns.

Will Video Conferencing Adopt 3D Technology?

All the hype around the technology of displaying a video conferencing session 3D is drawing mixed reviews and rightfully so.
While executives will be very hesitant to stand around in special glasses to see each other in a more in depth way, it could be justified in a research and development deployment.
3D and higher resolutions are finding their way to corporations who have the resources and budget to spare but the majority have yet to take the leap to HD for varying reasons including budget, network and adoption.
Finding a way to view 3D content without wearing glasses is an area that needs more attention.

It's A Camera, Scanner and Document Camera

New from CES show.
The HoverCam Neo redefines the office multi-function device. It combines the functions of scanner, video conferencing camera and document camera into one product so that office workers communicate more effectively - and also meet the needs of the visually-impaired. It was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
Called the HoverCam Neo, these office cameras are designed with high-end optical distortion-free lens and sensors to capture document images, 3D objects and technical drawings. Unlike a low resolution webcam, point-n-shoot digital cameras or SmartPhones, the HoverCam Neo is best suited to handle digital imaging and video communication needs around the office, capturing still or live video images of objects, documents and people. The Neo can perform a quick "scan" of a document instantly and also record full motion HD video at 1080p resolution. Pathway?fs HoverCam office cams are also highly compact and versatile, which allows them to be placed next to a laptop or on a desk at all times, functioning as a convenient and indispensible and always available digital imaging tool around professional or home offices.

3D Videoconferencing from Panasonic

Panasonic – a company known more for its consumer electronics prowess than its enterprise applications – has added 3D to its HD Visual Communications system, offering an advanced depth of field ideal for any situation in which that extra dimension would be helpful.

3D HDVC, unveiled at CES 2011, features full HD 1080i video and 360-degree audio, and is aimed at verticals such as education, health care and manufacturing – markets in which videoconferencing doesn’t always work because of the 2D nature of the technology.

H.264 SVC

Scalable Video Coding has gained a great deal of market momentum in recent weeks.

Consider the following:

 - Arkadin adding H.264 SVC video (licensed from Vidyo) to its web conferencing offerings

 - Cisco leveraging SVC as the basis for its high-quality video offering within WebEx Meeting Center

 - HP’s expanded line of video conferencing products based on Vidyo’s H.264 SVC technology

 - KDDI’s announcement of SVC-based video services (also licensed from Vidyo) to deliver video conferencing as a service

 - Polycom announcing support for SVC for mobile video to support tablets and video delivery across lossy networks such as mobile services and the Internet

Vidyo to show off mobile-to-mobile videoconferencing at CES

Vidyo will demonstrate today an Internet videoconference among six types of mobile devices made by multiple manufacturers in an effort to show how flexible its core VidyoConferencing platform can be for creating business meetings among personal devices.

The demonstration at the Showstoppers event at CES in Las Vegas will link an iPhone 4, an iPad, a MacBook, a Samsung Galaxy tablet, a conventional PC laptop and a Google Nexus S running the latest version of the Android mobile platform, Gingerbread.
To access the meeting, participants access the videoconference URL where a VidyoRouter will link them. Each device runs a Vidyo client. One participant will connect from Japan, one from a restaurant in California and others from the show itself, Vidyo says.

Skype and Cisco announced videoconferencing products for TVs at this year's CES

The television. It isn’t just for watching anymore.

Skype and Cisco both launched new products at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show that allow users to turn their televisions into videoconferencing hubs.
Skype announced that Skype-enabled TVs were in the works at last year’s CES, and this year it’s partnered with Sony and Vizio on Skype-enabled Sony Bravia and Vizio Via television sets, the company announced on its blog. Skype-enabled TVs are already available from Panasonic and Samsung.
Skype-enabled Blu-ray players with Web cams are also expected to be available soon.
Cisco announced the release of Cisco Videoscape at CES. The comprehensive TV platform for service providers combines digital TV and online content with social media and communications apps, the company said.