Switzerland-based Logitech, maker of personal computer peripherals, is entering the software market by acquiring internet video communications services provider SightSpeed for $30 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in early November.
The acquisition of the 25-person company, born out of a Cornell University lab, is a result of Logitech looking to complement their hardware solutions with solid video communication technology in combination with a R&D knowledge buy. → Read More
Conference calls can be a pain, and getting charged by the minute doesn’t help. But these days, there’s really no reason to pay for them. There’s FreeConfereceCall.com, FreeConference.com, Lypp, and a bunch of other small startups giving away the service. But while there’s no difference in the cost, Rondee’s Evite-like web interface makes it the simplest conference calling system I’ve seen. The service lets you schedule calls with several little features that make it easier to use. All you need to do is pick a date, fill out an invitation, and Rondee will email the participants with the number and a pin. Like Evite you can pick a theme, participants can invite others, times can be readjusted by participants, and the service sends an email reminder of the meeting. You can also add meetings to your Outlook calendar in one click. Participants call into 619-2-RONDEE (619-276-6333) and enter a PIN number (You can pick your own). If you give Rondee your phone number, it automatically logs you in to your conference when you call. Rondee remembers your previous calls and contacts for future reference. Soon they’ll be adding free call recording. Rondee has plans for putting premium services on top of the platform, such as transcription or WebEx-like screen casting. Competition is fierce, though, with a lot of startups looking to make Cisco regret that $3.2 billion they paid for WebEx. DimDim, Zoho, SightSpeed, Vyew, and Google (acquired Marratech) are all nibbling at their customer base. CrunchBase Information Rondee Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Video conferencing company Sightspeed is hopping on the web 2.0 train with the launch of a new video blogging site, Vlip. Vlip lets users post webcam video commentary to the Vlip site along with a thread of video replies. It’s taken the post and reply vlogging from YouTube and placed it front and center with a few enhancements. Vlips, like YouTube videos can be embedded in sites, but also let users make and view replies to the thread. In a good move, Vlip makes it ridiculously easy to reply to a Vlip even if you’re not a member and even connect live to Vlippers that are also SightSpeed members. On the main site the Vlips can be searched by rating, date, and views. Check out the widget below. We’ve seen some other non-YouTube video comment threads before. NYU has a plugin for WordPress. Flikzor also has a video comment widget embeddable on any page. Vlip wants to be a destination for all of these conversations, which reminds me a lot of Chinswing. Chinswing is also a destination site, but for audio. Like Chingswing, Vlip unfortunately leaves the keyboard-only crowd out of the commentary, a big “no no” in my mind. For Vlip to succeed against YouTube and Flikzor, they have to nail the interface. The front page lacks the quick top video list or director channels that worked so well on YouTube. If they get that right, Vlip’s combination of passive and active video chat could really catch on. http://www.vlip.com/beta/VLIP_Embeded.swf?thread=264&url=http://www.vlip.com/ → Read More
Berkeley, CA based SightSpeed, an IP video and voice services company, is launching its 5.0 product tonight. While many of the changes are upgrades to its video product suite (including a new video codec) and user interface (which is already good), SightSpeed makes several introductions in this launch. Among them, it’s adding new PSTN out and in-calling features to extend SightSpeed functionality to mobile and regular phones. And it’s leveraging its video expertise to add a new “place-shifted” TV service, which gives users a “Slingbox-like” experience without the hardware. A small remote control icon lets you flip through channels being served up via your TV at home. With an already highly regarded video product that touts video at 30 fps and ultra low latency, the move to add TV is a natural extension of its technology. Additionally, it could prove to be a savvy competitive move, with Novac’s Skype-based TV product being one of what will be many entrants in the place-shifted space. In a highly competitive space with a slew of well-funded competitors like Skype – product quality matters. SightSpeed really delivers. Their affordable video conferencing service is stunning. We aren’t alone in our enthusiasm. Read, for example, Davis D. Janowski’s breathless account of SightSpeed’s new feature set at PCMag. → Read More
