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Apple Video Conferencing

Well, could be an extention of QT6, which by doing it over the internet with mpeg-4 compression seems most likely. Very cool, and another application could be no more plain old email, now we'll have v-mail. Which makes me wonder about the digital hub as well. Could we be seeing an Apple Video iCamera? Something that would come standard with new machines.
 
A no-brainer..

Well, they've had the Quicktime video engine for how long now? Built in networking for how long? This is really a no brainer. Once MPEG-4 is given a green light, they'll have the bandwidth-acceptible codec for videoconferencing over dialup even. It takes no imagination to see that Apple wouldn't have much difficulty in making an "iConference" progam. There is no free video conferencing software for OS X, and only one shareware vconference program for X ($40 and not that good). Apple can do it, universalize it, and do it right the first time for OS X. Sounds like a good idea!
 
iCamera? Hmm.. that'd be a sweet new feature to build into the laptops with Bluetooth or Airport huh? Right ontop of the screen is a super-small camera. Wireless video conferencing from any Surf-N-Sip Starbucks or airport near you! Lol... I think if this iConference thing comes out, then it will probably come out with Quicktime 6.. would just make sense..

(And I'd like to take credit for coining the term iConference ! :) lol..
 
didn't Apple do something like this a few years back? called Quicktime TV or something like that... you had to have a camera hooked up to one machine, along with a broadcaster, and people with the receiving client could watch via IP number or something... I had never heard of it, but a friend at the time used it to send me messages... presumably it could have been used both ways... no sound tho, i think...

it would be cool if it was updated with MPEG4 and shipped standard... and it makes sense to me for Apple to get into this type of thing (again)...

:)
pnw
 
Yes it's a no brainer in terms of the technology involved, but considering Apple's touch with the iApps, this could be BIG, bigger than imovie or itunes.

I've seen people use various webcam software and hardware on the PC side but they all seem clunky, tricky to set up, and not particularly fun to use. An Apple iTalk could change all that and make video telephony an everyday reality.

This raises the prospect of another Apple-branded digital appliance. Maybe the famed iphoto digital camera people've been rumoring about.
 
Isn't that what QuickTime Broadcaster is supposed to do? You know, that free software from Apple that we're all waiting for...
 
Apple webcam

It would be so cool for apple to come out with a firewire webcam... and as a bonus to iPod users, it would be cool for it to connect to the iPod via the firewire port and be used as a standalone digital camera.

And for that matter, an addon that connects to the firewire port of the iPod that is a voice recorder... saves audio as MP3s on the HD....
 
If Apple do this just right...... it'll be incredibly popular...

I know I for one would love to (easily) be able to set up multiple webcams and streams and v-c capabilities, that can be done easily and without major headaches.....

And that other people can view with no problems aswell......

Although can you imagine macrumors with web cams..... :p

Makeup......:D
 
how about an iPhone

I would love to say (but have little hope) an Apple sip compatible voice over ip implementation. Microsoft has added compatiblity with NetmeetingNet Meeting .

This would be great for organisations (like mine) that are rolling out VoIP. For those not familiar with the technology, a friend of mine was in Taiwan, and his father is a professor at a university that is part of Internet2 . He was able to run Cisco Softphone and connect to our call manager (software pbx) in Pittsburgh and make local calls (ie. he is in Taiwan calling someone in Pittsburgh) for basically free.

Now, for the average person, this is not something that they would be able to use, but there is a largemarket for VoIP.

If Apple is getting into videoconferencing, I see that as niche as voip, and the technologies go hand in hand. It would be nice if their videoconferencing application (if it exists) will include compatibilty with sip and H.323
 
Originally posted by iGAV

Although can you imagine macrumors with web cams..... :p
Click to expand...

Avatars would take on a whole new meaning:D

But this truly would change computing and the internet as we know it. This is the **** Tracy wristwatch/tv/video all wrapped up into a Mac. If Apple can pull this off it will be amazing.
 
iChat

I expect that Apple's video conferencing solution will be integrated with iChat.

It seems most video conferencing apps today use chat applications to overcome the problem of identifying machines which have dynamic, ie. often changing, IP addresses. I believe MS NetMeeting for example, uses Passport - same as their internet messenger.

iSpQ (available for OS X) uses a similar system, ie. you have to log into their chat 'community' to video conference, and create buddy lists of your friends.

So internet messengers and video conferencing apps both need to solve the problem of dynamic IP addresses. iChat uses a .Mac email address to do so - effectively solving the dynamic IP problem for both internet messenging and video conferencing.

So I expect Apple's video conferencing will be a new feature of iChat. Sounds wonderful!

However, the downside is the possibility that we will have to buy into .Mac just to get an email address to use iChat, ie. if you don't have any other use for .Mac, iChat may end up costing $100 per year - which raises the inevitable question: do I really need video conferencing?

Amelia
 
Bill Gates has been saying the broadband providers need to come down in price in order to get larger market share. Though as well he knows the need of killer apps to make use of broadband. Something like this might be perfect. I've never played around with webcams myself because of lack of Mac support and they can be cumbersome. Firewire web cams would be best. If Apple brought it together with their Quicktime software then there is something there. Heck even if you could do it with any firewire based camcorder it would bring a lot of people into the fold.
 
First, you won't need a .mac adress for iChat, its an AIM client, and those screennames are free of charge, I have several of them.

Second, I think that this is a wonderful idea, and I think that apple could do it better than anyone else, of course. I would like to see support for other brand cameras though. I think this would be a no brainer as I can plug any of the four cameras one of my firends has, (two canons, a panasonic and a Sony) as well as my canon video and my Olympus still, and everything is just plug and play with iPhoto, iMovie, and a little tweak in FCP 3.

I'm sure apple could build this hardware recognition into confrencing, its already present in most peoples systems:D
 
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