If I made Skype-type website where people can do video chat sessions, would you use it? The idea is that you can log into the website with a username and password and access your skype account, without having to install any software. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

You mean like this, this, or this? From what I understand skype doesn't have any 3rd party libraries or specs that allow 3rd party apps to communicate with their server, so I'm not quit sure how you plan on pulling this off without having sensitive user data store on intermediate computers.

Quote: Original post by essial
You mean like this, this, or this? From what I understand skype doesn't have any 3rd party libraries or specs that allow 3rd party apps to communicate with their server, so I'm not quit sure how you plan on pulling this off without having sensitive user data store on intermediate computers.

Not really... those online programs do not do video chat. I am talking about a skype-like online client that allows video chat just like skype. It could even have a similar user interface as skype.

Quote: Original post by andreib
Not really... those online programs do not do video chat. I am talking about a skype-like online client that allows video chat just like skype. It could even have a similar user interface as skype.

The reason skype/msn/etc can offer video calling is because it runs peer-to-peer. All the bandwidth requirements are with the sender and receiver only. If you ran the video calling via a website, that website would have to be an intermediate for all of that bandwidth - the costs of which would be prohibitive. The reason that sites like meebo et al work is because text messages require a tiny amount of bandwidth.

If you wanted to make your application peer-to-peer, you'd have to write a new browser plugin, but then what would be the point of running it in the browser?

Quote: Original post by Codeka

Quote: Original post by andreib
Not really... those online programs do not do video chat. I am talking about a skype-like online client that allows video chat just like skype. It could even have a similar user interface as skype.

The reason skype/msn/etc can offer video calling is because it runs peer-to-peer. All the bandwidth requirements are with the sender and receiver only. If you ran the video calling via a website, that website would have to be an intermediate for all of that bandwidth - the costs of which would be prohibitive. The reason that sites like meebo et al work is because text messages require a tiny amount of bandwidth.

If you wanted to make your application peer-to-peer, you'd have to write a new browser plugin, but then what would be the point of running it in the browser?

This can be done with a simple browser plugin that could be done with Adobe Flash or maybe even Adobe AIR, but that would require this plugin to be installed: http://get.adobe.com/air/ Maybe even Google Gears can be used to bring the application offline, but I don't think it has streaming video support.

Here's an example of a website that does flash based video chat: http://tinychat.com/

I would use it, provided:

1. It can work behind restrictive firewalls, without me having to punch a hole manually.

2. It works on Linux.

3. It avoids Adobe Flash if it can (Silverlight? Video canvas? I don't know, but flash is simply too slow for full screen video).

Edit: Opera support also a most. Handheld support (mobile browsers) a nice extra.

obligatory:

Quote: Original post by Fiddler
I would use it, provided:

1. It can work behind restrictive firewalls, without me having to punch a hole manually.

2. It works on Linux.

3. It avoids Adobe Flash if it can (Silverlight? Video canvas? I don't know, but flash is simply too slow for full screen video).

Edit: Opera support also a most. Handheld support (mobile browsers) a nice extra.

Quote: Original post by Fiddler
3. It avoids Adobe Flash if it can (Silverlight? Video canvas? I don't know, but flash is simply too slow for full screen video).

I can watch youtube videos on fullscreen 100% smooth. It depends mostly on the video codec.

Honestly, I don't know that an inability or unwillingness to install software characterizes a large segment of the population. It's also technically infeasible, unless you think that installing Flash or Silverlight shouldn't "count" in the you-can't-install-anything game.

Quote: Original post by Sneftel
Honestly, I don't know that an inability or unwillingness to install software characterizes a large segment of the population. It's also technically infeasible, unless you think that installing Flash or Silverlight shouldn't "count" in the you-can't-install-anything game.

I don't think installing Flash or Silverlight counts in the
you-can't-install-anything game because most of the users who are looking for a quick-video-chat-setup-like-skype-access-from-anywhere website already have Flash installed.