Global IP Solutions takes videoconferencing mobile

While mobile video inches along in North America, Global IP Solutions (GIPS) is advancing the market for mobile video calling with its latest release of VideoEngine Mobile for the Windows Mobile platform. The platform enables peer-to-peer video calling and multipoint video conferencing on compatible mobile handsets for a market in its very early stages.

Aimed at handset manufacturers and vendors, VideoEngine Mobile is designed to work even under adverse network conditions by addressing packet loss and lip synchronization, said Dovid Coplon, GIPS director of product management. The platform uses Marvell Technology chipset and will work on the Samsung Blackjack at launch. Coplon said GIPS also plans to support Symbian and Apple’s iPhone as well as additional hardware platforms for Windows Mobile in future iterations.

While the platform is targeted primarily at handset vendors, it will likely take carrier support for the market to really take off. To date, similar peer-to-peer videoconferencing technologies have been in use in Asia, but no significant commercial deployments have taken place in the US, where most of the focus has been on enabling Internet video on mobile and subscription TV services. Another potential issue is that many handsets have the camera positioned on the back-facing side of the phone, so that two-way video is not possible. More mobile phones are being manufactured with two cameras, facing both inward and outward, like the Samsung Blackjack, Colton said. He recognized the industry’s infancy but pointed out that a technology like GIP’s VideoEngine could have implications for consumer use, enterprise videoconferencing or one-way videos for documentation purposes.

“On mobile, it is important to work with our customers to make sure all the nuances of the device have been worked out effectively,” Colton said. “Mobile phones are not like on the PC front, where you have Microsoft and Intel with a stranglehold on the market, and every PC is basically the same. There are so many different manufacturers on the mobile phone front, so many chipsets, that every phone is a unique challenge. Our customers don’t need to worry about all the intricacies of the different mobile phones; they can just focus on their application and the user experience.”

The mobile platform builds on GIP’s desktop voice and videoconferencing technology, which integrates with the PC’s camera and microphone. The service has had more than 800 million downloads to date, Coplon said, adding that GIPS anticipates announcing customers, primarily those with an enterprise focus, within the next three to six months.

“Mobile phones are getting more powerful more quickly,” Coplon said. “Consumers are adopting smartphone technology, but we definitely see a very solid opportunity in enterprise communication. Whether you are watching presentation mode, only receiving video or actually participating in a two-way real-time video call, there definitely is a great promise in the enterprise space. Other areas growing potentially are gaming, instant messaging and the extension of VoIP and video on that platform, which are more consumer-faced.”