Sony Unveils Free Internet-Based Phone Service
Posted on: Thursday, 17 November 2005, 03:00 CST
By PETER SVENSSON
NEW YORK - Sony Corp. on Wednesday announced a free Internet-based phone service similar to the popular computer-to-computer calling provided by Skype, but with an emphasis on video conferencing.
Called IVE for "Instant Video Everywhere," the service relies on Windows-based software that can be downloaded from the Internet. It will also ship with Sony's new line of Vaio BX laptops, which feature built-in video cameras.
Like Skype, IVE also will feature a premium service that lets users dial traditional wireline phones and cell phones from their computers. The monthly fee of $9.95 for the premium service includes a 10-digit phone number so IVE users can receive calls from regular and mobile phones.
The service, created in collaboration with GlowPoint Inc., marks the latest attempt at delivering a "picture phone" for the consumer market.
The concept, first introduced by AT&T Corp. at the 1964 World's Fair and unsuccessfully marketed in the seventies, reappeared during the dot-com era as high-speed Internet connections made live video connections accessible to a wide audience.
While Internet portals such as Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL have long offered a video option with their instant-messaging services, few users have availed themselves.
More recently, Skype Technologies SA has been promising to introduce a video version of its hugely popular voice service by the end of 2005. In fact, in a separate announcement Wednesday, a company named Yak Communications Inc. also launched a free Internet calling service that incorporates video.
Sony's alliance with Hillside, N.J.-based Glowpoint expands on an Internet video-conferencing service for business that the companies launched in June to complement Sony's equipment.
This doesn't mean that Sony Electronics wants to be a telephone company.
"We are a manufacturing company that sells hardware ... we're not going to become a voice telephony provider," said Eric Murphy, vice president of video conferencing at Sony Electronics.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
Related Articles
- New Sony Ericsson Equinox(TM) Phone, Now Available at T-Mobile USA, Lights Up Your Life, Literally
- Consumers to Spend Billions on Internet Video Services By 2013
- IPEVO's Skype Desktop Phone Named to "Top 25" List By VoIP News
- New Directory of Internet-Based and Mobile Video Services Details Over 240 Web Sites, Media Conglomerates, Content Suppliers and Tech Vendors
- Fiber Internet Center Provides High Speed Fiber Connection to Creative Video Services in Newark, California
- ExpertVillage.Com Announces Expert Village Mobile, a Free How-To Video Service for Mobile Phone Users
- Convenos and IPEVO Team Up to Promote Skype Conferencing Phone
- Video4Networks Releases Its Revolutionary Pay-Per-Minute Internet Video Services, Making Streaming Video More Accessible
- Google's Internet Video Service 'Embarrassing'
- TiVo Mobile Video Service Now on Microsoft Devices
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds