Rabbit: A Video Sharing and Chat Service Launching on the Mac Only

thisisdallas said:

No, it isn't redundant at all. When I went to college, that meant that all of my high school friends became long distance friends for the most part. We always watched some shows together beforehand, and we still do; the only difference is we have to use skype group calls. Do you realize how annoying and unintuitive it is to all load up the show/movie on hulu/netflix, wait for it to load, then countdown the play button and hope we're all synced up? It's too much hassle.

Honestly, this is the service I have always dreamed of having. The only downside is you have to have the camera on, which is a bit dumb, as we usually just voice chat; but that won't be a problem a simple ripped sticky note cant solve


Needless to say, I'm excited for this app!

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It opened just fine for me without any issues on my ML MBP 2011.

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Sounds like a lonely way to watch a show.

What's up doc?

Just another Facetime, over cooler. It will only start on Mac ... lets clear that bit up

Wonder what the chances if this also over over LTE??

Not to reduce the scope of this software to netflix client, but by "Netflix should already be doing this", I meant, Netflix should have a "theatre mode", where you and your friends have accounts, you can all watch simultaneously, and IM, VOIP, or Video chat while the film is playing to watch it "together" (when you can't be).

Don't know about the 2 device limit, but I watch my one single Netflix account on my iMac, MBP, 2 iPads, and an ATV, and have never had an issue.


I use skype exclusively as my phone, but I'm crossing my fingers that Apple rebrands iChat as a better VoIP alternative.

Messages
IChat (VoIP)
FaceTime

The completion and integration of these elements with sharing services seems inevitable.

Paid advertisement?

This is totally unworthy of a post. A closed beta for a product of questionable worth? You should have to notify us when you're just posting something because they paid you.

For those who discount video Chat

I own a small business with clients scattered across the country. I had clients that wanted to meet "face to face". I could not budget travel to places like San Francisco, Hawaii, or New York. Video chat has allowed these meetings to be possible. Also, i have children that live two states away, and it is great to be able to see their face at any time. if Apple does this thing correctly, i can see plenty of useful applications.

Netflix

"This means you can watch a movie from a service such as Netflix with your friends in real time." Netflix lawyers assemble!

samcraig said:

I'm pretty sure the sharing of movies from Netflix isn't going to fly - if that is indeed one of the functions. Cease and desist in 3..2...1...

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That's what I thought but you can already do something similar to that on PS3 (http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2011/11/20/2576479/playstation-home-free-movies-tv-ustream-radioio), so why not?

a0me said:

That's what I thought but you can already do something similar to that on PS3 (http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2011/11/20/2576479/playstation-home-free-movies-tv-ustream-radioio), so why not?

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Crackle does not equal Netflix.

edfore said:

I own a small business with clients scattered across the country. I had clients that wanted to meet "face to face". I could not budget travel to places like San Francisco, Hawaii, or New York. Video chat has allowed these meetings to be possible. Also, i have children that live two states away, and it is great to be able to see their face at any time. if Apple does this thing correctly, i can see plenty of useful applications.

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But Skype can address your needs.

God NOOOO, please not another Mac-only service!!!

Facebook?

Seems to require a Facebook account.
I guess I'll pass.

"Once you are a beta user, you can then freely invite any of your Facebook friends to also become beta users."

Requires Facebook?
Fail.
I don't do Facebook,I'm a grownup(or old codger if you prefer).

HenryDJP said:

But Skype can address your needs.

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I agree completely! However, I would like to see what this app can do. If they allow multiple users w/ out paying for a premium service, that would be great. If this ends up being an "Apple ONLY" app, it will suck!

I was really addressing these people that were indicating that video chat was not applicable because THEY had no use for it. There is a lot of small businesses that use this everyday or at least several times a week. Clients like working with people they can actually "lay eyes on".

edfore said:

I agree completely! However, I would like to see what this app can do. If they allow multiple users w/ out paying for a premium service, that would be great. If this ends up being an "Apple ONLY" app, it will suck!

I was really addressing these people that were indicating that video chat was not applicable because THEY had no use for it. There is a lot of small businesses that use this everyday or at least several times a week. Clients like working with people they can actually "lay eyes on".

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Not sure why would you say if the app was for Apple's computers only it would suck? Are you saying that Mac software isn't good or are you speaking as a Windows user? If it's the latter, let's be fair about this, one of the reasons why Windows is supported by more developers is because in the earlier days there was a lot of "Windows only" software. That wasn't fair. Do you really want to live in a Windows only world? That would give more reasons for people not to switch to Mac even if the software is on both platforms. Today there are more Apple Macintosh users than ever and Macs are no longer considered niche, therefore in order to increase penetration of the Mac we need more Mac only software.

Now in regards to your concern about paying for group chats. Yes, Skype does charge for that, but if a person has a small business and they'll be using the group chats for business then looking for every free option out there shouldn't be their priority. I have my own business in insurance and I pay annually for my Skype subscription and it also entitles me to have a phone number, make and receive calls from anyone with any type of phone and the service certainly isn't expensive. I'm paying $60 USD per year with unlimited calling and group chatting. Surely your small business colleagues can pay that. The only thing that may not work well (and I do not know how this works) is if Skype's group chat requires everyone to have the group service including friends and family, then that would suck! I'm thinking that the initiator would only need the group service.

wovel said:

Am I the only one excited to see Google+ hangouts redone with out all that pesky functionality and a very "unique" design....

BTW, rebroadcasting most Netflix content is probably a federal crime in the US. They might want want to leave that out of their more obvious paid ads.

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Not if its a paid app...maybe they have a licensing agreement?

As far as the "Mac only app", I deal with companies as well as individuals in business. Not all of them have apple products. One company, listed as the 33rd largest in the nation (i can't give their name), will not use Macs (until hell freezes over). I have all apple products, and love all of them. However, Microsoft, since Jobs went back to Apple, has been writing software that will cross between systems; Apple does not (as far as I know). As Steve Jobs said (paraphrase), Microsoft does not have to fail for Apple to succeed.

I don't mind paying for group chat. I really do like Skype. Their platform is much more user friendly than FaceTime. Skype works better on 3G service than Facetime.

God nothing new here! For crying out loud!!

Rabbit was a British location-specific (Telepoint) telephone service backed by Hutchison, who later went on to create the Orange GSM mobile network, followed by 3. The Rabbit network was the best-known of four such services introduced in the 1980s, the others being Phonepoint, Mercury Callpoint and Zonephone.

I love a Mac exclusive. All your conversation in video chat will automatically be with smarter, better looking people.

Zing!

It took 69 posts and no one has made the tie in to ****ing like Rabbits?

edfore said:

As far as the "Mac only app", I deal with companies as well as individuals in business. Not all of them have apple products. One company, listed as the 33rd largest in the nation (i can't give their name), will not use Macs (until hell freezes over). I have all apple products, and love all of them. However, Microsoft, since Jobs went back to Apple, has been writing software that will cross between systems; Apple does not (as far as I know). As Steve Jobs said (paraphrase), Microsoft does not have to fail for Apple to succeed.

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But you just made my point. In order for MS to succeed, Apple has had to fail, and the way that has happened is partly due to developers making Windows only software. But I got your point. In terms of MS making cross platform software? Other than Office, there's nothing else, everything they make is Windows only. Apple has iTunes for Windows. Both companies make at least one software product that works on the other's platform. One is free...guess which one is not?

im sure netflix would love their content being streamed openly...

This is the kind of crap that makes me go over to 9to5mac. I get that you have to pay your bills, but given that you own TouchArcade and AppShopper I'm pretty sure you dont need to stoop to creating such poor quality adverts and shoving them on the front page.

I still don't know anybody personally who actually does video chat. That doesn't mean there isn't an audience out there for it but I certainly haven't seen it. Best of luck in this venture.

-PN

thisisdallas said:

Exactly! I think the concept of this app is brilliant, they should just have an option to eliminate cameras, sticking to only using mics and text chatting.

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turtlez said:

Well I am not a teenager so I will give this one a miss

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I am a teenager... and I think I’ll give this one a miss

pmz said:

I'm sure thats how ugly people feel about it.

The rest of world seems OK with it, especially in the business arena.

This product is just another niched hangout.

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Because "ugly" people don't exist in the "business arena," I guess.

"You've got all the skills we need and would love to offer you this position, but unfortunately you're ugly and old."

Huh? What??