Healthcare company Teladoc has been in the doctor-visits-over-webcam industry for the last 8 years. In that time, the group has facilitated somewhere in the range of 80,000 patient/doctor visits by webcam or telephone.
Now it seems like the group is looking to release new iPhone and iPad apps that will allow patients to visit the doctors office, by simply making a FaceTime call. But can a doctor effectively diagnose a patient over the web?
In a shocking report, The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Microsoft has purchased Skype in a 8.5 billion dollar buyout. This deal gives Microsoft complete ownership of Skype Technologies SA, and this buyout is one of Microsoft's biggest purchases to date.
Skype has been a key player in the desktop and mobile space as one of the most popular VoIP services in existence. On iOS, Skype has always been a wonderful service for those wishing to make calls (both audio and video) over 3G and Wi-Fi.
Earlier this month, we told you that the popular video chat client, fring, was adding four-way video conferencing to its iPhone app. This new feature would allow cross-platform video conferencing with up to four different calls at once.
Fring has been beta testing this groundbreaking feature for awhile, and the update has now been officially added to the iPhone app in the App Store. This is the first time that you've been able to do group video calling on the iPhone.
The popular video chat app called fring has announced that it will bring the world's first group video chat functionality to iOS and Android. The fring app offered video chat on the iPhone long before Facetime, and it's exciting to see such an innovative team bringing group video chat to the mobile space.
The group chat feature will allow you to have simultaneous video chat with up to four friends at once. Check out the demo video below...
If you have a small child that is watched by a baby sitter in your house, or just want to know what your really weird roommate does when you aren't home, listen up! If you have a desktop computer or laptop with a webcam, then you already have a security camera.
Now all you need is an iPad 3G or iPhone that is compatible with Skype's iOS app to act as the monitor. This way you will be able to see what is going on in your home using your iDevice, from anywhere that you can get 3G service...
The popular option for video chat on Android handsets is now available and better than ever on the iPhone. Today, Qik officially launched its Qik Video Connect app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad 2 (although it isn't completely optimized for the iPad).
Qik Video Connect offers two-way video calls and also lets you record video mail. Qik's live broadcasting feature lets you post a live link to Facebook and Twitter, so friends can watch in real time as well...
As if this wasn't already enough, Skype has further removed the veil concerning its pending announcement at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
In what can only be described as an Apple-esque marketing approach, Skype video chat looks destined to make the jump outside of the desktop and into the mobile platform. The only question remaining is, which platforms will it jump to?
Either the guys at Skype got the memo, or this was in the works all along, and they're just a bit slow going about their business. Better late than never, right?
Just as Apple is gaining steam with its relatively new FaceTime video chat, here comes the blue elephant in the room. While I didn't hesitate to give Skype a needed shellacking in a previous article, one thing's for sure, if they get on the ball with mobile video chat, it could be a hard ball to stop.
Even with FaceTime continuing to gain footprint in various other areas with the upcoming iPad, and the recent desktop Beta release; all it would take is for Skype to release a decent competitor to make things interesting...