ekkoTV

ekkoTV

This is very cool and simple to use. It enables you to do a video chat with 2 other people. No muss no fuss. No sign ups or other hassles. Flash interface with your mic and webcam.

I don't see many options at this point. There is a link that you can share with friends (anyone you want to speak with) at the bottom of the screen. I'm not sure how long this is good for. Maybe you could add it to your blog or other page and use it as a regular meeting place.

They also have a text chat box, which is wonderful for sharing that text information that audio is terrible for. Things like URLs are easier to cut and paste that having to listen while someone spells it out for you.

Very cool application. I can't wait to see it grow up.

Dan

Skypecasts

Skypecasts are a product from the friendly folks at Skype. In my limited experience with them so far, I think that these (or services like this) will be HUGE in the future.

Skypecasts is still a Beta product. Beta means that it is not finished and is just being publicly tested. This means that the product isn't without a significant number of bugs. However, after joining 3 of these Skypecasts now, I can tell you that the bugs don't impede use of the product.

While there are many languages represented here on many topics, tne of the most interesting use of this product is with the numerous Skypecasts focusing on English language practice (there are some other languages represented as well). These are run both by "teachers" (I don't really know their qualifications) and language learners themselves. The latter is the most interesting use.

There's a neat little "widget" (see the right side) that displays all of my upcoming Skypecasts. You can click on the right one (the times are a little off--just choose the one closest to the meeting time below) to get to the Skypecast (Skype must be turned on first). This will load a Web page that contains a link to "join this Skypecast" (only at the time it is scheduled--not earlier).

We'll give it a try for the first time next week

Korea: Sunday 12:00am
Sweden: Saturday 4:00pm
Greensboro: Saturday 10:00am
Indianapolis: Saturday 10:00am
Little Rock: Saturday 9:00am
Chicago: Saturday 9:00am
Clovis: Saturday 8:00am

If you notice the time span here, you can tell that it's tough to find a time when we can all meet. I think that the above time could work best. While I know that one time will never be good for everyone, this one seems pretty good.

* Please double check these times for your time zone (the Korea time is correct) try http://www.timeanddate.com

Dan