Posts Tagged ‘Macs’

Google Adds Video and Voice Chat to Gmail

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

If you use Gmail you would have noticed the addition of a new feature last week: video and voice chat. Hmmm, looks like Google plans to take on Skype!

To activate the new feature, you need to install a small browser plugin. The feature will work on PCs with Windows XP or Vista, as well as on Macs with OS X 10.4 or later. The plugin will work with all the major browsers, including Google’s own Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Source: Justin Uberti, “Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat”, Gmail Blog, November 11, 2008

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Amazon’s Video Streaming Service Goes Live

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

Amazon has launched its Amazon Video on Demand video streaming service and, according to Dan Frommer from Silicon Alley Insider, “it’s the best competition iTunes has seen yet.”

Amazon Video on Demand delivers streaming video - so the minute you order a given program, the video starts playing instantly.

Amazon Video on Demand offers video rentals for $3 to $4, movie purchases for $10 to $15 and (most) TV episodes for $2 (with season packs also available). Amazon’s entire library consists of 40,000 movies and TV shows.

For the moment, full downloads for offline viewing are only available for Windows PCs and TiVos, not Macs or Apple TVs. Portable movies won’t play on any Apple gadgets such as iPods or iPhones, but the service will stream to some Sony TVs and TiVo devices, as well as Windows Media Center extender devices, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Source: Dan Frommer, “Amazon Launches Video Streaming Service: Look Out iTunes, Hulu, Netflix”, Silicon Alley Insider, September 4, 2008

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