Fuze Meeting, which spawned from CallWave, is bringing its online meeting software to the iPad with a new app. Similar to GoToMeeting or WebEx, Fuze provides a conferencing service that allows users to share screens and run meetings online. As opposed to its competitors, Fuze promises a sleeker more lightweight interface.
Fuze, which already has apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms, includes the ability to pull and share any document or file directly from a server. Both hosts and attendees can share, control, and present content from their iPad.
The app allows users to take advantage of the pinch and zoom features on the device and also can transform a users finger into a digital laser pointer, viewable by all meeting participants. The app also includes in-app VoIP, allowing call-ins via the web. And you can chat with and invite colleagues into collaborationsessions via integration with AIM, Yahoo, Google, OCS and others.
Fuze has a pretty unique history as far as startups go. CallWave was founded in 1998 and went public in 2004, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CALL. After reaching a peak soon thereafter of over $15 per share, the stock dropped steadily, dipping as low as 50 cents early this year. Deciding to cut its losses, the company delisted itself from NASDAQ after buying back shares from public shareholders at a 44% premium over the current market value and paying out a total of $10 million. Last summer, the company rebranded itself as Fuze Box and launched Fuze Meeting. Fuze also launched Tweetshare, a platform for branded Twitter channels, and brought on streaming media inventor Dr. Alan Lippman its Executive Vice President of Media Technology.