Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the still-no-mac-audio-blah dept.
lotusleaf writes "According to an article at PCWorld, "Google Inc. has bought video conferencing software from Marratech AB", "The client software runs on Windows 2000 or XP, Mac OS X 10.4, or versions of Linux". Could this provide a cross-platform video conferencing boost to gTalk?"
Agreed. There is a serious lack of crossplatform video conferenceing software that actually works well on all platforms. One can only hope Google is up to the challenge. Though if any company can do it, it's probably them...
I just had a video conference with my mother over Skype. She use Windows and I am using a Mac. That is, your post is wrong in that it is only for windows.
However, the Mac implementation is rather buggy and one have to restart Skype occasionally when the video stops working, but it is working more or less. Despite this, it is actually the only realistic alternative to cross platform video conferencing at the moment.
I doubt google will support all platforms. At best, maybe windows, mac os and linux. People forget about PDAs, BSDs, Solaris, ecomstation, cell phones, game consoles, etc. There are a lot of platforms in this world.
Windows, Mac OS and Linux are not the only platforms. Its really funny to hear people complain about software support on their platform. Windows users complain if it does work on every version of windows, or at least the one they like. Mac users complain about windows only software but tout their platform as superior if they happen to get a Mac only product. Linux users try to say Windows and Linux or Windows, Mac, Linux without remembering they are an open source platform. I remember when we were all in this together. Now that linux has commercial support from IBM and other firms its now OK to ignore every other open source OS on the planet. From my perspective, the only thing Linux is missing is games. You already have the video drivers to play them.
If google were smart, they'd take the approach Netscape did years ago and port to everything possible. Remember Netscape shipped for linux, solaris, irix, hp-ux, windows, mac os, and a slew of other platforms. There was even an OS/2 version. I can't think of a single company that is not open source that ships on that many platforms today.
Google must be doing something right
by
porkThreeWays
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I was thinking the other day... in the past 2 years google has bought A LOT of companies, technologies, and created new ones. I thought there's no way they could be a profitable company right now. Well I checked google's Q1 profits and they are actually up 68% to 1 billion a quarter. I know there will be a lot of posts that google is becoming a one hit wonder. Perhaps... but I think if they've got their financials in such good order they've really separated themselves from the dot bomb's of the 2000's. Just a thought...
-- If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
A cursory reading of the product FAQ reveals it is SIP based and supports H.264. Hopefully means that Mac users will be able to use iChat as a gTalk client, since it uses the same protocols and codec. Better yet, this could mean real standardization.
-- It is cowardly, and a betrayal of whatever it means to be a Jew, to act as a white man
Agreed. This is something often overlooked when there is a discussion about Google, but its willingness to develop on open standards for multiple platforms should serve as a model for the tech industry.
While a number of scenarios have dinged their "Do no evil" approach, I'll take Google over any day.
Congrats Marratech
by
gnurfed
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
As I attended Luleå university of Technology as a CS student when the technology was developed, I got to use the software from its infancy. Before I graduated they started recording lectures with the system (with video and slides), so you could either follow it live from home (and of course ask questions to the lecturer) or review it later. Cool shit which is probably a lot cooler today.
The Marratech crew were all true nerds (meant as a compliment, of course) and they really deserved this success. Hmmm.. They're probably all slashdotters and reading this, so GRATTIS! (congrats)
Re:Congrats Marratech
by
ltjohhed
·
· Score: 3, Informative
It's good to see that the development of Marratech has gotten in touch with the real world in the last couple of years. This wasn't all the case when the product was released in the mid/late 90's. A product which assumed that everyone had 100Mbit switched multicast routing enabled networks, and of course a 100Mbit internet access.
Although being a geeky developer is often a good thing, the academic world somethimes clashes hard with the 'real world'.
However the product has evolved, and now we have gotten our first Google office in Luleå!
Misleading Summary
by
mpapet
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
The entire summary is filled with misconceptions.
1. SIP client protocol has been implemented for every desktop. Windows/Mac/Gnome-ekiga/kde-twinkle and kphone. 2. Multiple SIP servers are open, and Free AND integrate with Google's IM platform. (openser being generally excellent, there are a number of others) 3. Conference bridges are open and Free and work nicely through most clients. 4. Nortel-style phone systems are still absurdly priced.
The SIP protocol should revolutionize communication. The thing holding everyone back in the U.S. is the telco patent portfolio. The message waiting indicator has been litigated, the claims AT&T successfully made against Vonage are ridiculous.
I predict Google will be in court with AT&T over VOIP-related patents in very short order.
Slashdot Mirror
Hopefully this will let Skype start quietly dieing the way it should have when it started providing video support for Windows clients only...
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
I was thinking the other day... in the past 2 years google has bought A LOT of companies, technologies, and created new ones. I thought there's no way they could be a profitable company right now. Well I checked google's Q1 profits and they are actually up 68% to 1 billion a quarter. I know there will be a lot of posts that google is becoming a one hit wonder. Perhaps... but I think if they've got their financials in such good order they've really separated themselves from the dot bomb's of the 2000's. Just a thought...
If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
A cursory reading of the product FAQ reveals it is SIP based and supports H.264. Hopefully means that Mac users will be able to use iChat as a gTalk client, since it uses the same protocols and codec. Better yet, this could mean real standardization.
It is cowardly, and a betrayal of whatever it means to be a Jew, to act as a white man
-James Baldwin
As I attended Luleå university of Technology as a CS student when the technology was developed, I got to use the software from its infancy. Before I graduated they started recording lectures with the system (with video and slides), so you could either follow it live from home (and of course ask questions to the lecturer) or review it later. Cool shit which is probably a lot cooler today. The Marratech crew were all true nerds (meant as a compliment, of course) and they really deserved this success. Hmmm.. They're probably all slashdotters and reading this, so GRATTIS! (congrats)
Actually, if you have OS X 10.4 you can add a Jabber account to iChat.
a nswer=24076
I added my gTalk account to iChat, and I can video chat with other Mac users using the same setup.
Hey! Google even has a help page about this!
http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/answer.py?
Ramen
The entire summary is filled with misconceptions.
1. SIP client protocol has been implemented for every desktop. Windows/Mac/Gnome-ekiga/kde-twinkle and kphone.
2. Multiple SIP servers are open, and Free AND integrate with Google's IM platform. (openser being generally excellent, there are a number of others)
3. Conference bridges are open and Free and work nicely through most clients.
4. Nortel-style phone systems are still absurdly priced.
The SIP protocol should revolutionize communication. The thing holding everyone back in the U.S. is the telco patent portfolio. The message waiting indicator has been litigated, the claims AT&T successfully made against Vonage are ridiculous.
I predict Google will be in court with AT&T over VOIP-related patents in very short order.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html