MeBeam

Skype video conferencing

A couple of months ago, I posted an entry about multi person video conferencing for Skype using MeBeam.

The solution was unique, in that it enabled anyone on Skype to establish a video conference with up to 16 other people directly from Skype, without the need to download any software. The service turned out to be a lot more popular than I had expected, and as a result, it was taken down only after a few days, until a more robust back-end could be designed.


The service is now up and running again, so please feel free to try it out, and get back to me with your comments and suggestions.


So, if your using Linux, Mac, or Windows, and want video conferencing for up to 16 people, without the need to download or install any plugins or software, then click the following link.

Click here to add 'MeBeam video chat' to your contact list



If the link does not work, then add 'MeBeam video chat' as a Skype contact

Ready AIM Fire. MeBeam plugin for AIM

If you are one of the tens of millions of people who use AOL AIM instant messenger, you may find this post of some interest to you, because now, your AIM messenger, can make multi person video calls directly from the AIM user interface.

Simply open the link at the end of this post, either from your browser, or by double clicking it after downloading, and your AIM messenger will have full video capabilities.


Once installed you can right click on one or more contacts, and select
Invite to MeBeam as shown in the following screen shot

Click here to download/open the AIM MeBeam plugin

Linux Video

As I am not a Linux user, I have been regretfully unaware that MeBeam does not actually run on all Linux machines, as it does on Windows.

With the release of Flash player 10, which is available for Linux, Mac, as well as Windows, MeBeam should now be available using Linux.

Download and open the following link, to upgrade to Linux Flash 10


Download AddFlashPlugin.sh


You may need to restart your computer after the install

Pidgin using MeBeam for video

Over the last twelve months, MeBeam has been working with key instant messaging clients, providing a generic, protocol agnostic video call and conferencing solution, that works across any jabber network.

Today, I am very happy to announce, that Pidgin IM can make video calls to one or more friends instantly from their contact list.

Video calls can be made to anyone on your contact list, regardless of which Jabber network they are on.

Imagine, selecting one friend on your contact list from Adium, another friend who is on ICQ, and a third friend who is on Pidgin and make a 3 way video call.

Only the person making the video call needs to have a Jabber client with a MeBeam plugin. In other words, anyone can receive a video call, regardless of what client, network or platform they are using.

The following are step by step instruction on how to install and use the Pidgin MeBeam Plugin.


(1) Download Pidgin MeBeam plugin for Windows by clicking here.


(2) If you have Pidgin already running, you should close it at this point.


(3) Once download is complete, run the installer.


(4) Start Pidgin again


(5) Go to the Tools menu and click on plugins.



(6) Make sure the MeBeam plugin is ticked, and then click 'CLOSE'



(7) To make a video call to a single friend, right click on their name, and select 'Invite to MeBeam'.




(8) To make a video conference for multiple friends, right click on the main 'Buddies' section, and select 'Invite to MeBeam'




(9) Select all the contacts you want to invite to the video conference by selecting them from the left column and then click 'Invite to MeBeam'

The World's Fastest

Many moons ago, myself and a small community of early adopters, set out to design and build , literally

"The world's fastest video phone"

At the time, this was a powerful mantra, because video phones back in those days, suffered from jerky, photo like video and terrible audio to video synchronization.

The project, called WigiWigi, was, without a doubt, a labor of love.

It was not uncommon for me to release dozens of versions of the project every night, with each one ever so slowly inching towards faster and faster frame rates, until it was common knowledge, that WigiWigi, was without a doubt the world's fastest video phone.

The late Russel Shaw of ZDnet, covered my work, by writing an article about our first commercial release called Vwho.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1040

The challenges were massive, everything was developed by hand, in both C and assembler. Audio compression, Video compression, network protocols, P2P layers etc, were all written completely from scratch, and optimized to the point, where, even today, the WigiWigi engine, still beats the pants off, virtually all of todays video phones.

The WigiWigi project, was a very satisfying chapter in my and the amazing crew of testers and community.


Today, "The World's Fastest...", is still at the core of everything I do.


Recently, this goal was immortalized, by a group of kids, who are known as sport stackers, who use MeBeam, to show off their skills to each other, and trying to break speed records in this unusual, yet, very cool, past time.

SportStacking, is the art of stacking and unstacking, plastic cups, into different formations at a blindingly fast pace.

Steven Purugganan, who is currently the world record holder for this, along with his friends, use Mebeam, to display their skills and try to smash record times.

MeBeam, is used, because, it allows people to communicate using video, at real-time speeds, without jerky, grainy movement.

Check out the following recordings of MeBeam sessions, to get an idea of how fast MeBeam and these guys are.