Filed under: Internet, web 2.0
Look out, Skype: Vivox bringing voice chat to 250 million Facebook users
Facebook's on-site chat applet has been a big ol' success. Nearly everyone and their grandmother has at least tried it out, and I know plenty of people that don't even bother with traditional IM after using it.
But text chatting is so last decade. Heck, I could do that way back when our high school computer lab was running on token ring and Cleveland Freenet was the place to be. Why not something a bit more modern, like voice chat?
While Facebook themselves might not be in any hurry to roll out voice, Vivox is more than happy to fill the void with their own app. Vivox Voice Chat -- which is currently in private beta -- will allow Facebook users to chat with anyone on their friends list. Vivox also plans on offering call-in numbers so that non-Facebook users can interface as well. That could be a big selling point for companies using Facebook to interact with their customers.
The company already has a strong position when it comes to in-app voice, providing solutions for SecondLife, Eve Online, Sony Online Entertainment, and Electronic Arts' upcoming Command & Conquer 4.
I'll have to agree with Chris Pirillo's thoughts on the app - it's going to catch on, and it's going to take users away from Skype. With a quarter billion users spending 5 billion minutes a day on the social networking Death Star, Vivox is bound to make some serious noise.
[via CNet]
But text chatting is so last decade. Heck, I could do that way back when our high school computer lab was running on token ring and Cleveland Freenet was the place to be. Why not something a bit more modern, like voice chat?
While Facebook themselves might not be in any hurry to roll out voice, Vivox is more than happy to fill the void with their own app. Vivox Voice Chat -- which is currently in private beta -- will allow Facebook users to chat with anyone on their friends list. Vivox also plans on offering call-in numbers so that non-Facebook users can interface as well. That could be a big selling point for companies using Facebook to interact with their customers.
The company already has a strong position when it comes to in-app voice, providing solutions for SecondLife, Eve Online, Sony Online Entertainment, and Electronic Arts' upcoming Command & Conquer 4.
I'll have to agree with Chris Pirillo's thoughts on the app - it's going to catch on, and it's going to take users away from Skype. With a quarter billion users spending 5 billion minutes a day on the social networking Death Star, Vivox is bound to make some serious noise.
[via CNet]
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
turu said 1:40PM on 9-15-2009
How about call quality of this apps ?
Skype has raised their popularity on the field of VOIP because it can beat (or being equally at least) legacy land-line phone. If the Vivox is just same as other million of crappy apps on Facebook, it can't even be a competitor of Skype.
Reply
Muffin_man said 6:54PM on 9-15-2009
Yeah but Skype did make their VOIP technology publicly available a while ago (no idea why).
I personally would prefer a Skype app. Some intergration with my already existing Skype contacts would be nice.