TokBox, a Sequoia-backed startup that offers tools for quickly integrating video functionality into apps and websites, is launching a new feature today for its OpenTok suite of video APIs: video recording and archiving.
You may remember TokBox as the service that let users quickly jump into live video chats with each other, sort of like a web-based Skype video. But that changed this past February, when TokBox shuttered its struggling consumer-facing products and decided to focus exclusively on a set of video-focused APIs, storage, and streaming features collectively called the OpenTok platform.
Obviously giving users the ability to record, save, and share video clips isn’t a new idea — people do it every day on sites like YouTube and Facebook — but the new video archiving API makes it relatively easy for other sites to integrate their own custom solutions. → Read More
Video chat startup TokBox is announcing a significant transition in its business today. The company is announcing that it will be shuttering its consumer-facing web-based video chat application, and focusing on building out its recently launched API has a business.
TokBox’s multi-user video chat from the browser has close to 2 million registered users. However, TokBox has been on a bit of a roller coaster rise with the video chat technology as its main product. In 2009, forced to fire 30% of the company’s total staff and shuffled the executive lineup. In the search for more revenue, TokBox unveiled paid features on its platform in early 2010. → Read More
TokBox, the web-based video chat application, appears to be testing new paid features on its platform. Although the startup creates a great product that allows for multi-user video chat from the browser, TokBox faced hardships last year and was forced to fire 30% of the company’s total staff and shuffled the executive lineup.
TokBox is obviously looking to create a revenue stream with the paid features, allowing users to pay $9.99 per month to add moderation functionality for chats. So with the paid features, you can choose who can join your call, remove people from your call, silence the audio of participants, control who shares media on the chat, and distribute moderator controls to other members of a chat. It also appears that the startup will charge users if they want to add more than 20 people to an individual chat. → Read More
Tinychat, which started out as a simple IRC-style chatroom app to complement the quick-and-dirty conversations on platforms like Twitter, has been steadily building a solid browser-based communication platform that rivals some of the tools built by large corporations or venture-backed startups out there.
After adding essential features like video chat and screensharing options to the application back in May, Tinychat has recently leveraged P2P technology to enhance the service (see p2p.tinychat.com) and added embed capabilities that basically enable anyone with a website to integrate a robust, 100% peer-to-peer enabled video chat system by simply embedding some code and fiddling with some of the variables. (Skype, you listening?) → Read More
Skype has been in the news a lot lately. Over the past six months, rumors swirled that the peer-to-peer telephony service provider was going to be bought back from eBay by its original founders, to be spun off as a separate company and then IPO, and ultimately to be sold to an investor group (which was confirmed at the beginning of this month). Now Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis through their Joltid holding are suing eBay and the new buyers over copyright issues centered around core p2p technology they developed and own.
The rumors just won’t stop.
This time, however, it’s about the company’s product strategy rather than its general fate. A well-placed source tells me Skype management is actively shopping around for companies that provide web-based communication services such as browser-based calling and video chats. → Read More
It was only seven months ago that video chat startup TokBox sent a taco truck to meet newly laid-off Yahoo employees in an effort to cheer up and recruit a few of them (the startup was kind enough to send the truck over to our office afterwards to let us in on the action). Now, it sounds like someone should be sending the taco truck in TokBox’s direction. We’ve gotten word that the company just fired six of its twelve engineers, or around 30% of the company’s total staff, and that all of the company’s founders are now gone.
TokBox offers a great product that allows for multi-user video chat from the browser, but it hasn’t really managed to take off, much to the chagrin of the company’s investors who include Sequoia and Bain Capital (TokBox has raised $14 million to date). That’s a lot of money for a video and chat startup, especially when there are a number of similar sites that have begun offering some of the same functionality. → Read More
Today, 1,500 people at Yahoo are losing their jobs, as layoffs across the tech landscape approaches 100,000. But for startups lucky enough to have cash to hire, 1,500 soon-to-be-unemployed Yahoos is a recruiting opportunity.
Video chat startup TokBox (which raised $10 million in August) will be parking a taco truck outside of Yahoo headquarters today, handing out free tacos and job applications. TokBox only has five jobs to fill, so maybe they can make room in the truck for other hiring startups. → Read More
TokBox, the impressive video chat startup that doesn’t require any kind of extra software, has launched a new AIR app that will bring the web service’s easy setup to the desktop. Thanks to Adobe’s AIR platform, the software will be cross-compatible and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users. The client offers a very simple interface that should be familiar to anyone who has ever used Skype. Users can access all of TokBox’s standard features, which include Video Calls, Instant Messages, and Video Mail. Beyond the easy interface, the client also improves on the TokBox experience by giving users instant notification whenever a contact initiates a chat with them, and also allows them to set their availability status so that others know when they can be contacted. The app also generates a standard TokBox link, so that users can invite their friends to the chat even if they don’t have the client. The new client should appeal to frequent users of the site, but it seems a little counterintuitive – TokBox is special because you don’t need to use a client, as you do with competitors like Skype or chat networks like AIM and MSN. The release of a desktop client pits TokBox even more directly against these massive networks, and makes it clear that the company isn’t satisfied with just solving a problem (easy browser-based video chat) – they’re looking to take on the big guns. The new client’s no-hassle setup and universal compatibility make it a strong addition to TokBox’s quickly expanding offerings, which include a recently launched Firefox extension that integrates with Facebook Chat, and integration with Meebo. CrunchBase Information Tokbox Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Orgoo, the long-anticipated, all-in-one, browser-based communications suite that presented at TechCrunch40 last fall, is releasing a new video chat service to the public today. This comes ahead of a general release of its email, IM, and SMS tools, which remain in private beta. Over the last seven months, Orgoo has been working on building a replacement to the Userplane video chat it has relied on. The new service is entirely browser-based and allows up to four people to chat via video together at a time (with an unlimited number of people who can join via text chat). For now, there will be a cap of 1,000 people who can broadcast simultaneously over Orgoo, although the company will increase that cap daily. Orgoo is one of the first to provide this capability independently and all within the browser for private chat sessions. Yahoo Live, which we covered recently here, allows for five-person video chats but in a more public-broadcasting type of setting. ooVoo supports up to six people but requires a Windows-only download. Tokbox supports up to six people but only provides text chat when used with Meebo. And MeBeam supports up to 16 people but has a very primitive user interface. Paltalk has been at this the longest, and offers a 10-person video chat via PaltalkScene (a Windows-only download) and PaltalkExpress (a Web-based version in alpha for both Macs and Windows PCs). When demoing Orgoo’s new service, there were some problems with audio echos and delays. However, I was assured that these issues would be worked out for today’s launch. If Orgoo’s video chat is able to function for several people as smoothly as Skype functions for two, then this will be quite an awesome service. Both businesses and casual users alike will find it very useful for connecting with people over long distances. Orgoo video chats will soon be embeddable into other sites as well. The company is working with MySpace to provide its users with video chat capabilities while alleviating the obvious concerns about child predators. Another cool feature is the ability to initiate one-on-one chats from within group chats. You can just select the person you want to chat directly with, and you’ll enter a dialogue only with them. Both group and one-on-one chats can be viewed fullscreen as well. CrunchBase Information Orgoo Meebo Tokbox Paltalk Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Sequoia backed Tokbox (they are actually working from Sequoia’s offices, just a couple of doors down from where YouTube was incubated), a video chat service that does not require any software downloads, is now allowing up to six simultaneous participants. Skype video, by contrast, only allows two participants, and it requires that all users be using the Skype software. For now TokBox is only launching this feature via their Meebo integration – this also means all participants can simultaneously text chat during the session as well. SnapYap, a sponsor of our recent Boston meetup, is a competitor to Tokbox (and by the way, see some video footage of the event here). CrunchBase Information Meebo Tokbox SnapYap.com Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
After speculation from last week, Sequoia backed Meebo launches Meebo Platform this evening, allowing third party developers to create applications for the Meebo web chat service. They’re celebrating the launch with a big party in San Francisco with hundreds of the company’s closest friends. Like Facebook Platform and the recently announced MySpace Platform it consists of a set of APIs to give developers access certain user features and information. Developers will be able to include Flash applets and Javascript snippets within the applications. Unlike MySpace and Facebook, however, the platform is not open to all who choose to come. The company is announcing four partners this evening and opening up a sandbox area for developers to build potential applications. Those that Meebo thinks will make the user experience richer, will be permitted to launch. Meebo Platform will allow developers to monetize their applications, but it’s not open. Meebo will sell ads into the applications directly and split revenue 50/50 with the application developers. Four partners are being announced this evening along with the launch. All are communication based: Tokbox (video chat), Talkshoe (conference calls on the fly), Ustream (lifecasting) and Pudding Media (PC to PC VOIP calls). Games and other types of applications will come next. Basically, any type of application that can benefit from having either instant access to friends who are online right then and/or the need to communicate with them via instant messaging, would do well on the platform. With the communications partners, they simply use the friends list and presence indicator to help start a voice or video communication on the third party platform. For gaming and other applications, it may simply embed a game within a chat environment, allowing players to communicate real time with each other. Meebo will also be hosting an open-door developer day on November 22 in their Silicon Valley offices. Developers can show up, show off their applications, talk to Meebo about potential applications, etc. We mentioned current Meebo user stats in a post about them last week. The image below shows the Tokbox application in action. CrunchBase Information Meebo Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Everyone wants to be “the next YouTube,” to take a simple concept—there, watching videos online—and bring it to the everyday Internet user, cashing out for $46 zillion. TokBox, whose name I still can’t figure out how to pronounce, is one of those companies, its focus being live Web chat. Think of how many times you’ve been on AIM or MSN and thought to yourself, Gee, if only I could see my friend in his or her pajamas, then my life would really be set. That’s what TokBox aims to do: to make live video chat as easy as firing up a new browser window. (Using Skype or iChat is much too hard for the average user, is what TokBox is banking on.) That TokBox has secured plenty of venture capital money, including money belonging to Sequoia Capital (a huge backer of YouTube back in the day), means that it won’t disappear like Pets.com. The site is in beta now, and the video is a little on the grainy side, but that’s expected to improve once Adobe releases an updated version of Flash. I don’t know, it seems to me that YouTube can be enjoyed passively. “Hey, let me watch a couple video clips of man getting hit by football.” That I can do in my office (or wherever) without drawing too much attention. Talking to my BFF online may be a different story—”Hey dude, nice haircut, what did you get in a fight with a lawn mowerlolz”—is more conspicuous. Video Chat Service Aims to Follow YouTube’s Path [New York Times] → Read More
TokBox, a cool new startup we covered in August that lets you set up video chat on the fly with no software downloads at all, gets a nice writeup by Brad Stone in the New York Times this evening. Note the comments in our original post – it got rave reviews from readers, which is rare. Not a lot of new information in the article, except for the fact that Sequoia Capital has apparently put $4 million into the venture. Rajeev Motwani and Tony Bates (a SVP at Cisco) are also listed as investors. The article also notes that Roelof Botha from Sequoia is involved, the same person who backed YouTube. “TokBox will face more formidable technical challenges than YouTube,” Stone says, which is exactly right. They’re solving a lot of problems YouTube never dealt with by handling two way, synchronous video communication without any kind of software on the computer beyond Flash and the browser. → Read More
TokBox is a new site that we just heard about moments ago. It’s completely live but appears to have been flying under the radar until now. It allows you to set up a video chat channel in seconds. It instantly and accurately detected the camera and microphone on my Mac laptop after registration. At that point, I was prompted to invite someone to the chat via email, or send them to my user page on the site. They click on the link and can participate even without registration. The controls are simple – set volume, mute or kill camera. If the person is not there, you can leave a video message. That’s all there is to it. If you enable browser popups you can pull the video chat out of the browser and go to other websites or applications without disrupting the conversation. The chat box can also be embedded on another website. TokBox is also a basic social network – you can add friends who’ve registered to call them more easily. You can also tag yourself, suggesting that the site will try to find people with similar interests and put them together. That also suggests the site may be used for online dating, which is a big venture capitalist-pleaser. While there are plenty of video chat products out there on the market, including Skype, most of them require at least some software download to the computer. Something about the simplicity of TokBox, which is entirely a web application, suggests it might get very popular very fast. Update: Ryan Merket whipped up a Facebook application that integrates the TokBox chat player. Update2: Check out competitor YouCams as well. → Read More
