Color has now launched in private beta around the concept of visual Facebook status updates, called "visits." We explore the new color and its evolution below.

Here is what Color has become: a means of posting 30-second soundless status update videos to Facebook. Color does not like to refer to these status updates as video but for lack of a better word on how to describe moving pictures in the digital age, that is what it is. The way Color wants to think of it is instead of using words to update for Facebook status, you will use these visits to show what is around you. A live broadcast to Facebook with the option of adding a caption. It is not a two-way communications portal or a way to do long form live video from a mobile device, like Qik. It is fairly simple, just a 30-second visual feed of your surroundings.

Color still attaches itself to location. On Android devices the app will prompt users to turn on GPS so the app can work more efficiently. On iOS it will prompt to make sure that location services are turned on. Once launched and attached to Facebook, Color will prompt users to post a photo or a visit. That will then pop up in the Facebook newsfeed as "Live From (Location)." It seems that a lot of the back-end systems for Color are alive and well, what CEO Bill Nguyen described as Color being a "research and data company" when ReadWriteWeb had an in-depth interview with him shortly after the funding announcement. If Color is not careful it is going to step in some of Facebook's privacy controversies, especially around a sensitive issue like location.

Color will also be integrated into Facebook's Timeline feature, whenever that happens to launch (now more than two months overdue). Within the app itself, there is a feed of all your friends' pictures that have been recently posted to their walls. Not just friends' visits, all recent photo activity. There is also a personal timeline of all your activity, from visits you made to pictures you have posted to pictures that you have been tagged in.

Color uses an aggressive push notifications system as well, one that we turned off on both Android and iOS (on an iPad 2) about two minutes after installing the app. The notification sounds like a doorbell and comes whenever a person hosts a live visit.

Cold Start, Lean Startup & Network Effects

One of the problems that Color had when it first launched was the "cold start" problem. It did not have the network effect (attract more users which in turn further develop the platform which attracts more users) from the beginning and was more or less just another app to most users. One that they did not understand. The fact that it had a terrible and confusing user interface did not help Color's cause.

Color has lost two of its three super star founders leaders since it launched. In July, ReadWriteWeb's Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote about how it was more or less a failure of the Lean Startup philosophy and CEO Bill Nguyen has been referred to as a "the boy in the bubble" that is really good at making money for venture capitalists.

We liked the concept of Color when it was announced and our founder Richard MacManus said that it had the potential to be as big as Twitter. "That wasn't my finest hour in analysis," MacManus said.

Color will eventually tie itself to Facebook's open social graph, which the company said was going to happen later this month. So, the elastic, implicit social graph has been completely abandoned.

Update 10:10 p.m. EST Dec. 1, 2012:

There was a bit of miscommunication with Color as to the nature of the elastic graph. We asked during our preview if the Color was going to still have the "implicit" graph. At the time, Color said no. What they meant was that this preview version would not have the implicit (or "elastic") graph but that when Color comes back out of private beta, the implicit data connections would return. We will be dutiful in explaining how that process works when Color launches to the public once again. Color also noted that while it will be coming out of private beta soon, it cannot speak for Facebook as to when the open graph will be made available to the public. We also noted above that two of the three super star "leaders" (not founders) had left the company.

Facebook creates implicit data but it uses it more for its own purposes. Color will do that as well, though in a naturally different way now that it is tied to the explicit social graph of Facebook, augmenting original idea of implicit data (having similar data points to a person in a similar location taking similar pictures). Attaching Color to Facebook will certainly help with the cold start problem but some people may not see the visit as anything fundamentally different from the fairly simple act of uploading a video taken with a smartphone camera to Facebook.

Does Color have a chance? With funding in the bank, it can certainly pivot again if it needs to (if it has talent left at that point). Let us know what you think about the fundamental nature of the visit in the comments. The video that is not a video but rather a real-time broadcast of your surroundings posted to Facebook.

Over the past decades, the promise of video as a standard form of communication has been presented to us through many mediums, from Star Trek to The Jetsons and even through my old Avengers comic books over 30 years ago. While corporations utilize video conferencing technology at a rapid rate, it hasn't yet penetrated the daily habits of people across the globe but it will.

The core technology has been there for decades, but not the bandwidth and compression technology along with the hardware to make it an everyday utility. With the growth of Skype's video chat, Google's GTalk, Apple's Facetime and other services, combined with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, video will become the standard form of communications versus SMS, voice only and even email in some situations within a few years. Drilling down further, here are a few trends that I see.

The days of text-based communications as a primary tool are reaching an end. SMS is slowly being replaced by mobile video chat services such as Facetime, Qik (acquired by Skype earlier this year) and Tango. Even just looking at Tango's numbers reveals a rapidly changing landscape. Two months after their launch late last year, it hit over 4 million users and now boasts 23 million users. I can tell you that those users are SMSing less often these days.

Video Will Replace Live Chat Communications

I see the same trend for Web-based text communications, whether through personal services, such as AIM, or business applications, such as various live chat services.

New Efficiencies And Disruptions Will Take Place Across Industries

One area is healthcare. The promise of telemedicine has been coming for over a decade, but I believe today's combination of technology, hardware and bandwidth will bring it to fruition. How much more efficient will doctor "visits" become? Unnecessary visits and waste will decrease while increasing the reach of various experts. Where else can video transform an industry? Education? Construction?

What other trends do you see with the coming ubiquity of video communications? I would love to hear other ideas or feedback on my thoughts!

Photo by jacopoL

When we wrote about Alien Dalvik 2.0 last week we promised to track them down and get a hands on video this week at CTIA Enterprise and Apps in San Diego. We are a couple days behind, but finally got a presentation of Android running on an iPad. Check it out below.

Otherwise, it is an interesting demo. Oliver Bartholot, VP of business development at Myriad took us through the paces. He mentioned that, yes, Myriad had met with Research In Motion to run Android apps on the BlackBerry QNX platform but that RIM went in house with their Android solutions.

Bartholot said that Myriad is following up on its promise from Mobile World Congress in February to run Dalvik everywhere. The next step, as you can see in the presentation below is to go "big." That means the connected home market, such as televisions. Expect announcements from Myriad coming around the time of CES 2012 in January.

Because Dalvik 2.0 is virtualization running through the cloud, it is perfect for the connected home market. Virtualization requires horsepower in the ways of CPU and GPU support, which TVs do not have. So, the heavy lifting is done in the cloud.

Myriad did not work with Apple in any way, shape or form on Alien Dalvik 2.0. Hence, it is not optimized to anything on the iPad. It runs a little slow (partly because of the network at the San Diego Convention Center) but it is definitely more than just a proof of concept at this point.

Check out the video and let us know your reactions in the comments.

Most of the apps are geared toward businesses users, while a few are for personal use. The directory features just under 25 apps, whose functionality includes things like call recording, screen sharing and integrations with third party services.

Naturally, Qik, the mobile video app Skype acquired earlier this year, is included as a "featured" app in the directory. Qik is not offered as an add-on to Skype, but rather its listing links off to the iTunes App Store where users can download it for iOS.

Other popular apps include InnerPass Screen Sharing and Zaplee, a cloud-based phone system for businesses that forwards Skype calls to phones, routes calls and handles voicemail.

Developers who use Skype's API to build applications can submit them by generating an XML file of their content, hosting it somewhere and sending Skype a link to it for consideration.

What third party apps would you like to see in the Skype app directory? Give us your wish list in the comments.

This time around, we're again focusing on new (and notably updated) iPhone and Android applications, as well as a few iPad, tablet and cross-platform apps that caught our eye. As always, share which apps are your new favorites in the comments below.

Discovr Apps: An interactive map of all the iOS applications on iTunes. Search for a favorite app, and Discovr shows you related apps in a beautiful visualization. ($0.99, iTunes)

Frenzapp Music: A social music player for sharing songs with friends. (Free, iTunes)

Roger Ebert's Great Movies: Offers all of the reviews in Roger Ebert's series of Great Movies books, from 1915 to the present. ($0.99, iTunes)

Doxo: A file cabinet in your pocket. Snap photos of bills and receipts, view digital files, backups supports, and receive paperless statements from select providers. (Free, iTunes)

BiteHunter: Like Kayak.com for restaurants, this iPhone app helps you seek out dining deals via real-time search. (Free, iTunes)

SayClip: Free & private video messaging. Coming soon to Android. (Free, iTunes)

Agenda: A beautiful calendar app with a clean, minimal design. Great replacement for the stock calendar. ($1.99, iTunes)

WeatherTrends 360: Discover your future weather...up to a year ahead! Uses the company's high level statistical forecasting model to project temperature, precipitation and snowfall trends for 6.4 million locations in 195 countries. ($0.99, iTunes)

SmartFuel: Lets you find cheap gas, but also rate station cleanliness and safety. Uses the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) database which tracks credit card swipes at the pump for determining fuel rates. (Free, iTunes)

Photosynth: Microsoft's 360-degree photos app was recently updated to offer cropping, expanded sharing (now Bing, Facebook and email) and includes "Best of Bing Maps" contest, where the prize is free Xbox 360 and Kinect. (Free, iTunes)

Flixwagon Live Video Share: Broadcast live video from your iPhone and share on Facebook, Twitter, via SMS or email. Sketch and draw over the live, video too. (Free, iTunes)

Universal (iPhone/iPad) and iPad-only

exfm: Social music discovery app goes mobile, letting you follow favorite tastemakers, note songs to favorite or share, listen to friends' shares and buy from iTunes. (Free, iTunes)

NBC: Clips and previews, not full-length episodes. Worth noting, we suppose, but kind of lame. (Free, iTunes)

Fring: Recently updated to include video conferencing on iPad 2. Supports groups of up to 4 people. (Free, iTunes)

Flixlab: Lets a group of friends share video clips and pictures to make movies together. (Free, iTunes)

Hipmunk: Popular flight search app is now available for iPad, letting you sort flights by "agony." (Free, iTunes)

Roadshow: Lets you save online videos for later viewing, even if you go offline. Supports Vimeo, CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, The Onion, but not YouTube. (Free, iTunes)

Book Crawler: Book database and reviews app was recently updated to integrate Skyhook's Local Faves. Now lets you talk to others nearby about the books you're reading. ($1.99, iTunes)

Next Page: Android & Cross-Platform Apps

Android Apps

Google+: Google's new social network comes with its own Android app offering access to your streams, circles and photos. An "instant upload" feature is also supported, to immediately post camera photos online to a private album only you can see. Widget included with app. (Free, Android Market)

Hulu Plus: Now on Android, Hulu Plus brings you TV shows and movies for $7.99/month. (Free, Android Market)

Path: The private photo-sharing app for connecting with family and friends is now available on Android, in addition to iOS. (Free, Android Market)

Skype: The Android app has been updated, bringing video calling to the Google Nexus S, HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo and Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro, with more on the way. Our coverage. (Free, Android Market)

Third Eye: A reality-based game using Viewdle's facial recognition technology. You play as a vampire or a slayer. (Free, Android Market)

Crackle: Now on Android, Sony Pictures Entertainment's video network brings ad-supported, full-length Hollywood movies and TV shows to Android. (Free, Android Market)

Music Unlimited: Sony's Qtriocity service goes mobile with access to 7 million+ songs. Free for 30 days then $3.99 or $9.99 per month afterwards, depending on plan. (Free, Android Market)

QikCam: This Android widget lets you snap photos or videos quickly just by tapping the homescreen widget. (Not new, but we just discovered!) (Free, Android Market)

UberMusic: From LauncherPro's creator, UberMusic is a new music app offering artist/album downloads, album art, last.fm scrobbling, headphone controls and a homescreen widget. (Free, UberMusic.com APK)

Zimbra: VMWare released an app for Android as a "fling," allowing access to email, contacts, calendar, tasks and files from any Android device. Not guaranteed to be a part of any future product offering, says VMWare, nor is support offered. Our coverage. (Free, VMWare.com)

Wikitude World Browser: Now available for Honeycomb tablets, this AR browser lets you explore the world around you via informational overlays on your camera's display. (Free, Android Market)

Cross-Platform Apps

Snipper: Lets you share short videos with family and friends using private broadcast channels that send clips directly to specific people or groups of people. Public channels are also supported. (Free, iTunes, Android Market, BlackBerry App World, Ovi soon)

Nearparent: GPS-enabled app lets you alert a network of family and friends when your child needs assistance or is in danger. Kids can use the app to check-in, too, or alert the network if they need help. (Free, iTunes, Android Market)

PInger Textfree Web: This free mobile Web application lets you text message with any phone in the U.S. and 18 other countries for free. Unlimited picture messages are included, too. (Free, but you have to sign up on a PC that supports Flash)

Opera Mini and Mobile: Both Opera Mini (uses data compression) and Opera Mobile (full Internet browser) were updated to include search suggestions from Google and Yandex and a top-level domain learning feature where the appropriate domain (for example, .uk, .ru, .id) is picked by the browser. (Free, Mini - Java J2ME, BlackBerry, S60, Android, iOS; Mobile - Android, S60, Win 7, MeeGo)

The rollout of video calling on Android for Skype is limited because of the system requirements. A phone must have a front-facing camera (of course) and be running version 2.3 (Gingerbread) or higher. As more devices upgrade to Gingerbread, the more will be able to take advantage of Skype video chat. Can Skype remain relevant in the mobile ecosystem as services like Pinger, Google Plus/Talk, Facebook and others become more prevalent?

Skype is following in the list of companies that have recently made previously unavailable apps accessible to a limited set of devices. Netflix and Hulu Plus finally came to Android in limited rollouts, with promises of more devices to be added later.

Qik Video Connect also allows for video calls over Android. Qik allows for video calls between Android and iOS devices, as well as users on computers. Qik was bought by Skype for $100 million in January.

Social media research company Sysomos looked at all the tweets from May 30 to see what services people were using. Of all tweets that day, Sysomos found that 1.25% of tweets contained a link to a photo sharing service, or about 1/12th of all links shared. That translates into 2.125 million tweets that were pictures from third-party services. It is just one day of Twitter, but it's probably indicative of day-to-day trends. What third party services were the most popular?

The next on Twitter's list of services to build is probably video sharing. TwitPic unveiled the ability to host and share video in February and there are services like Qik (bought by Skype, which now makes it Microsoft property) that integrate with Twitter. Video hosting and sharing is a bigger and more diverse market to break into with giants YouTube and Vimeo roaming those grounds.

[Source: Sysomos.com]

Everybody else has been playing catch up. Skype quickly moved to add video chat, one of its staple products, and then added Qik Video Connect earlier this year. Now, Yahoo has gotten into the game with its new Yahoo Messenger app for iOS. The new Yahoo Messenger for iOS has been optimized for iPad and can do video and voice calls, text chat, presence, send SMS and share photos in real-time. Importantly, iPad 2 users can video chat to talk with PCs. As a communications app, it is a strong entry from forgotten source of innovation.

One of the first problems I have had with Yahoo Messenger is that it did not import all of my Yahoo email contacts. As such, I started the service with zero contacts in my queue at all. Yahoo has been throwing Messenger at users for several years but, unlike Google Chat (and now Google Talk), it has not reached critical mass of adopters in the U.S. who actually use it. If an app falls makes a video call in a forest and there is no one on the other end, does the app even exist? To be fair, Yahoo Messenger is well used internationally. Yet, so is Skype.

For this reason, Yahoo has smartly tied its contacts in with the ability to import contacts from Windows Live MSN Messenger. The theory is that, of the two services, users will have a deep contact list on at least one of them. Windows Live is widely used on PCs and in the enterprise and in terms of pure volume has more users than either Google Talk or Yahoo Messenger.

Speaking of Google Talk, it is curious that Yahoo Messenger was able to beat Google to the punch with a video calling app that functions with iOS. Yahoo has focused less in recent years on creating and maintaining technological endeavors (so long, Delicious) and more on beefing up its content offerings. Google is the complete opposite. Is it a sign of the cold war between Apple and Google that Mountain View has not made an app that can video chat with Cupertino? It is hard to tell, but for all the negative streams swirling around Yahoo, it took the initiative and built a good communications application for popular mobile devices. Wonder if anybody will actually use it.

The offering, when it ships, sounds like it will be more compelling than Apple's Facetime but less useful than independent mobile video chat apps like Tango that offer iPhone to Android video chat. A number of mobile video chat apps have been launched in just the past few weeks from Skype, Qik, Fring (now with group video calling on iPhone!) and others. But how long will we have to wait until Android users can video call iPhone owners without any more thought than voice calls require today?

Why all this video chat going live now? Tech blog VentureBeat ran a guest post earlier this month from Rebtel CEO Andreas Bernstrom about why now is the time for mobile video chat to take off. Bernstrom argues it's because of four factors: social networking, improved call quality, increasingly common cross-device compatibility thanks to software and the network effect of exploding sales of mobile devices with front-facing cameras.

From dreams of remote medicine to already deployed high-end hotel concierge consultations, video chat has a lot of potential in a lot of different circumstances.

That potential, though, is hobbled by the contemporary equivalent of an inability for customers of two different telephone companies to call each other by voice or different trains to make it across the whole country over different rail line company tracks.

Where's the Open Technology Standard?

When Apple launched Facetime a year ago June, Steve Jobs said it was going to become an open, universal technical standard. We haven't seen that happen though, or at least we haven't seen much development on top of it. Might Google try to accomplish that big picture goal to go post-silo in mobile video chat?

Will the Google Talk implementation be as well executed as Apple's is? Will it be available anytime soon for iPhone and thus be at least that close to cross-platform? Will we someday be able to video chat from one phone to another regardless of its maker or OS, as easily as we can do voice calls today? Presuming that's something people really want beyond the initial wow factor (and to be honest, I'm not sure it is) then those will be big questions to watch for answers to.

Did we forget any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

SocialCam: This app offers you an easy way to share videos with your friends. With the app, you can record, tag and share your videos in addition to browsing, liking and commenting on those belonging to friends.

Kazaa: Instead of launching in the official app stores, Kazaa made its music subscription service available on mobile via www.kazaa.com. The decision was made primarily to thumb its nose at Apple, because of the company's "recent announcement that it will now keep 30% of revenue generated by new subscriptions and media purchases," says Zazaa.

Color: At launch, this location-based photo sharing app was widely denounced by reviewers who weren't pleased with the user experience (but who were likely just expecting more given the outrageous $41 million in funding its creators received). Curious what all the fuss was about? Color is free for iPhone and Android. (Our coverage)

iPhone

QuickCam: A seriously fast iPhone camera app is perfect for taking photos quicker and allows for fast switching between photo and video mode. You can even hold the button for rapid-fire photos or take stills while shooting video. (Note to parents with small, wiggly children: it's a must!)

Qik Video Connect: Post-Skype acquisition, Qik launched a new iPhone app that offers video calling, video messaging and video sharing. A Plus version for $2.99 offers more features including real-time effects, video editing and HD support.

Vimeo: The popular video-sharing website now has its own iPhone app - and it doesn't just let you watch videos, it lets you edit and share them too. Take that, YouTube! (Our coverage)

Last Night Never Happened: This awesome app lets you automatically delete the (drunken, embarrassing) social networking posts you made during your lapse in judgement. Supports Facebook and Twitter, and allows you to remove posts, photos, comments, tweets and direct messages. Genius.

Addieu: This app lets you connect with new friends on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare in addition to adding them to your Contacts app list. Maybe this should have been in the SXSW section below, but it's actually handy long after the SXSW party week ended.

Follows: Obsessed with your stats? Follows tracks data related to your social networking profiles on services like Twitter, Facebook, Feedburner, MySpace, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn. With this app, you can easily see your follower count, reader count, friend count and more.

TechDygest: An intelligent aggregator providing relevant news, summarized for quick reading. There are four different apps to choose from Dygest.com. TechDygest for tech news, iDygest for Apple news, gameDygest for gaming news and celebDygest for Hollywood gossip. (Our coverage)

Mozy: The new iOS app works with the online backup and storage service allowing you to locate files, photos and other media using your phone. You can then open those files, share them via email or post to Facebook.

Pimp Your Screen: A useful tool for iPhone customization without jailbreaking, this app provides backgrounds, icon skins, app shelves, neon combos and more. And it lets you preview your customizations before applying them.

Ditto: From Jaiku founder Jyri Engeström, this location-based app lets you post what you're doing and where, under categories like "at home," "eat out," "work," "see movie," and more. (Our coverage)

Zapd: This app lets you create an attractive website from your iPhone in minutes using templates.  And it's free! Isn't technology amazing?

MyStreamApp: Instead of sharing headphones, this app lets you share your music over a Wi-Fi connection.

Android

Flow: A Facebook app for Android that brings push notifications, comment liking, tagging friends in statuses and other missing features from Facebook's official app. (Actually, Facebook allows for push notifications, but not to the same extent as provided in Flow).

Thrutu: This app enhances phone calls by allowing you to share your location, photos, contacts and other files with callers without disrupting the conversation.

ReadItLater Pro: This 99 cents app lets you read your saved reading list items from the online service via your Android phone.

Feedly: This RSS app's popular online magazine-style reader comes to Android. It integrates with Google Reader, Twitter, Read it Later, bit.ly and Instapaper.

Dynamic Paint Live Wallpaper: From KittehFace Software (oh, the name), this fun live wallpaper lets you spray and splatter paint onto your home screen with a touch of your finger.

Wave Launcher: Not a full launcher, but more of a pop-up bar for launching favorite apps through a simple gesture.

Launcher 7: Lusting after Windows Phone 7? This app lets you modify your start screen with the Metro UI look and feel.

Firefox 4: The newest version of the Firefox for Android Web browser brings Firefox sync, tabbed browsing, HTML5 support, and speed to Android. But it's 14 MB in size, be warned. (Our coverage)

Comcast Xfinity: The Xfinity app, now available on Android, brings remote DVR management, TV listings and OnDemand searches to Android. No remote TV viewing, though. Bummer.

Slate: Popular online mag Slate arrives in Android format.

imo instant messenger: This multi-protocol IM app launched into beta for Android in late March. Supports Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Skype, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, and Myspace.

Scannify: Discover, manage and connect to devices on your Wi-Fi network using this new app.

The Apps of SXSW

Beluga: Acquired by Facebook just prior to SXSW, Beluga was the app of choice for team RWW at SXSW. This group messaging app lets you create "pods" where you can chat with friends in private chat rooms, share photos and share your location. iPhone/Android supported. (Our coverage, and again here)

GroupMe: Similar to Beluga, this group chat app also made waves at SXSW. In addition to text-based group chat, another feature gives each group a unique phone number for conference calls. GroupMe also just added support for brands, allowing users to engage in conversations about favorite TV shows, bands and events. (Our coverage)

Yobongo: A location-based mobile chat app lets you communicate with those around you, a feature which the company calls "ambient real-time communication." The app is currently available in NY, SF and Austin only. (Our coverage)

Fast Society: Launched last fall, this group texting app debuted new iPhone and Android versions for SXSW. Groups can chat, conference call, share location, photos and more. It also supports audio-based "shout outs" that are sent right into the group's stream.

Hurricane Party: This app helped SXSW'ers find the happening parties. We're not entirely convinced the app has shelf life beyond the Austin festival, though. But maybe that's just because we live somewhere really boring. (Our coverage)

Ask Around: Yes, that Ask.com This iPhone app is a lot like Yobongo in that it connects you to nearby conversations, but it also lets you find out what people are saying across town, too.

Retrollect: Before there was Color, this mobile photos app let you mashup pics, tweets and status updates to give you a play-by-play of your night, outing or other experience or event you wanted to remember.

Kik: This older group messaging app introduced a "Concierge" service at SXSW, letting users ask questions and get answers in real-time.

Here are some stats on how other apps fared, plus a couple infographics.

Notable Updates

Posterous added private groups to its iPhone and Android apps, allowing users to create private sharing groups on the go, each with their own dedicated website.

Camera+: Everyone's favorite alternative camera app for iPhone was updated to version 2.2, introducing a new feature called Clarity that lets you tap once to automatically adjust a photo to perfection.

LauncherPro: The update to this popular Android launcher brings new animations and a Gmail widget.

Adobe Connect Mobile for Android: This is the second major version of the Web conferencing app. It now supports two-way video, tablets and more.

IMDb: The IMDb iOS app was updated this month to feature a watchlist and enhanced showtimes. It also lets you buy movie tickets within the app.

Qik Video Connect offers video streaming and video calling - available for real-time viewing or recorded and sent as a video message. The app will also allow you to post live video links to Facebook and Twitter.

The pro version offers HD video recording and includes additional features like filters and editing tools.

The live video chat will work between iPhones on Wi-Fi as well as on 3G, and the video messages can be shared to those not on the iPhone platform, making it a good alternative to Apple's own video-calling app Facetime.

Despite the acquisition of Qik by Skype, it appears as though the video sharing app will retain its own name and branding. It's an indication, nonetheless, that Skype plans on being active in video and mobile calling.

Unfortunately, only Windows users will be able to use the service - and it isn't free. After a 7 day free trial, multi-person video calls will cost you about $5 for a day pass or $9 for a month pass, with annual and business discounts available. That's no surprise, multi-person video chat was destined to be a very big business. Check out the video below, is this something you can foresee yourself using?

Cisco was expected to unveil a dedicated home telepresence machine this Fall, at a price point of between $200 and $500. While such a service might be technically superior, the giant install base of Skype will make all consumer-level competitors take pause.

As enterprise analyst James Governor wrote in May:

"It seems to me that if Skype gets its act together around the business model its Video product could be a runaway success (and by runaway I mean enterprisey revenues). Cisco evidently knows it needs to nail a 'lower' end space - thus its acquisition of Tandberg. But Skype Video brings the barrier to participation down to one question- do you have a web cam?

Now, about that Mac version.

Update: Skype has confirmed the acquisition on its blog: "Through this acquisition, we'll also be able to take advantage of the engineering expertise that is behind Qik's Smart Streaming technology, which optimizes video transmission over wireless networks."

The tip comes from a reliable source, according to Business Insider, who broke the news of the acquisition this morning. Neither Skype nor Qik have confirmed this, and we'll update this story when we hear more. The two companies do share some of the same investors, notably Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

For Skype, both mobile and video have been two important areas it has pursued. Just last month, it added video-calling functionality to its iPhone app.

So if the news of a Qik acquisition is true, we can expect to see more developments with the combination of video, mobile and Skype VOIP on other smartphones in the months ahead.

We last rounded up our picks for top new apps in October, when there were 225,00 apps available in iTunes. Today, Apple offers over 300,000 apps, according to its website. And in October, Google announced there were 100,000 apps in the Android Market. Now, independent Android app tracker Androlib puts that number at closer to 195,000 apps. How on earth can you find the good ones? We hope to help...a little.

Friends is an attractive, well-built iPhone application that lets you manage contacts from email, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks in one interface, even viewing status updates, friend lists and shared photos. If your contact list is large (mine was around 5,000), setup may take a while, but the result is worth it. Friends is $1.99 in the iTunes app store.

For what it's worth, Friends reminds us a lot of Twezr, an app that combines all your communication (email, Facebook, Twitter) into one interface. This is something that people clearly wanted - the demand was so high, its servers crashed. On December 3rd, Founder Delip Andra  announced that the company was working on adding capacity and no new users would be allowed in for now. That appears to still be the case. If deciding between the two, it looks like Friends is the way to go.

SkyFire (Android)

SkyFire's November update for Android delivered the "Facebook edition" of the alternative mobile browser, which introduced features for tracking content (links, photos, videos) shared by your Facebook friends. "All the the random status updates and musings are left for later - this is just the meat of your Facebook feed," we said in our review. Social feed reading? We're in. The app is free in the Android Market.

Speak With Me's VoiceDJ (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

We were offered the opportunity to review VoiceDJ at launch, but unfortunately it requires the latest Apple firmware. Since my iPhone is rocking a great, untethered jailbreak which I'm not willing to part with, I can't give you a hands-on, tested recommendation on this one. But Robert Scoble will. In truth, VoiceDJ sounds great - it lets you control the music library on your mobile device using conversational style voice commands (e.g., "Play The Killers"). Now that's a smart smartphone! How long until Apple buys it, we wonder? VoiceDJ is free in iTunes.

ooVoo (Android)

Qik and Tango competitor ooVoo just launched a new Android application that allows for multi-user video chat sessions - with up to 6 participants! Unfortunately, the app is Android-only for now with an iPhone version coming "soon." (Psst...how's that for a switch? Building for Android first?) Until it reaches cross-platform status, it's less useful than the one-to-one iPhone/Android and now iPod Touch mobile video calling app Tango, but it's definitely one to watch. ooVoo is free in the Android Market.

mSpot (iPhone)

mSpot just announced an iPhone version of its cloud music service that lets you upload your music collection to its servers then stream it to your mobile phone. (Android has had this app since June, now with over 1 million downloads). Unlike the shuttered cloud music service Lala (acquired by Apple), mSpot doesn't try to match your library with its master collection - it simply puts your music online for streaming purposes. mSpot offers 2 GB of storage for free; 40 GB for $3.99.

On a personal note, I'll admit this is a viable alternative to iTunes and a "cheaper" way to do streaming music than competitors like MOG and Rdio (~$10/month) but it's just your own tracks. For a few extra dollars, you can have an all-you-can-eat buffet of music, including new releases, at your fingertips. For a couple of us at RWW, we can tell you that MOG is is the first thing that has actually prompted us to "pay for" music in ages. Previous coverage: MOG launch, Rdio review, Comparisons (note dates, some stale content)

LiveNation (iOS)

The newly launched LiveNation app for iOS devices lets you find concerts in your area and buy tickets. Yes, concert tickets are overpriced. No, sometimes you don't have a choice but to pay those outrageous fees. At least it's a little easier to do so now from your iPhone. We'll hold our thanks, though, if you don't mind. Sigh.

Google Reader (Android)

Finally! An official Google Reader application built for Android. I know reading RSS feeds is kind of geeky, but some of us still rely on what's now only one of the only dedicated RSS reader apps left to get our jobs done. The new native mobile app for Google Reader includes some nifty additions that the Web app and/or mobile Web app don't have, like sharing feeds to Facebook and Twitter, optional volume key navigation and a long-press to rename a folder, unsubscribe or change folders. Google Reader is free in the Android Market. (See our coverage here, QR code here)

Google Voice (iPhone)

At long last, Apple permitted the official Google Voice mobile application into its store in November. Now, Google Voice users can make cheap international calls from their iPhones, send text messages to other U.S. numbers, see call logs, check voicemails and transcriptions and receive push notifications for new voicemails or text messages. The app is free in iTunes. (Our coverage here).

Pushpins (iPhone)

OK, the video is a little hokey (you like saving money, right?) and comes across a bit like a late night infomercial, but the truth is, I do like saving money. And with Pushpins, I can. Well, maybe you can. This mobile couponing application supports over 2,000 stores, but only the following big names: Carrs, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Pavilions, Randalls, Safeway, ShopRite, Tom Thumb, Vons. If that list includes one of your favorites, enjoy - the app looks great. But in all seriousness, if I don't see more apps supporting Publix soon, I'm going to get mad. We don't all live on the West Coast, you know. Pushpins is free on iTunes.

Aisle411 (iPhone)

This free iPhone app (Android, BlackBerry launching next year) helps you locate products in stores, manage shopping lists, read product reviews, get offers (sometimes in the form of digital coupons saved to your loyalty card) and earn rewards. We would rather it ditch its standalone check-in badges though, and integrate with Facebook or Foursquare's services instead. Aisle411 supports 600 stores in select markets, so again, it may or may not be useful to you just yet.

SlideRocket (Mobile Web)

Although not an app per se, we have to give a quick shout-out to SlideRocket, which introduced a mobile-friendly, iPad-friendly HTML5 player for its PowerPoint alternative presentations service in November. Yay for Web standards! Thank you, SlideRocket.

Notable updates:

• Thanks to eBay's acquisition of Milo.com, eBay's RedLaser barcode scanner now includes results from nearby retailers. (We told you barcode scanning was hot!) (iPhone, Android)
• Flipboard for iPad has been updated twice...this month! (Free, iPad)
• Bing has added more services (Grubhub, Open Table, Facebook, Foursquare and others) to its app. You can now use it to find a restaurant, book a table, access Streetside maps, check-in to your location, update Facebook, get reminders and more. What doesn't this app do? (Free, iPhone)

New Games:

• Laura Croft and the Guardian of Light (iPhone, iPad $6.99)
• Pocket God ($0.99, Android)
• Angry Birds Season ($0.99 iOS, Free on Android)
• Rock Band Reloaded ($4.99 iPhone, $9.99 iPad)
• Riven: The Sequel to Myst ($5.99, iPhone, iPad)

Be on the Lookout For:

• BBC iPlayer for iPad: an international version is expected soon
• Jigsaw for iPhone/Nokia: This crazy app will use the phone's microphone, GPS and accelerometer to monitor your every move, collecting data that can be shared with a doctor, fitness trainer or, for the uber-oversharers, social networks. (Sarah sat at her desk blogging for 8 hours today!)

That's it for now! Tell us about your favorite new apps in the comments below.

The company also notes that jailbreaking is not a widespread phenomenon. Only 5% of the survey respondents reported they had jailbroken or unlocked their phones, two terms referring to different types of hacks that allow users to have more control over their devices. It uses this statistic as proof of how little everyday consumers care about the restrictions placed on their phones.

Junkware is Great! (Or So Says New Study)

But the majority of the research focused on the "realities" of pre-installed applications. According the study:

• Two-thirds said pre-installed apps were a factor in the purchase of their device
• 25% of consumers reported that the kinds and quality of pre-installed mobile applications factored into their buying decisions
• 48% said they tried the pre-loaded apps on their phone, while only 33% said they tried apps recommended by friends and 26% said they browsed app stores
• 64% wanted Maps/Navigation/GPS apps, 37% currently use those on their phone
• 49% wanted call control applications (caller ID, call blocking), 39% currently use those
• 15% (including only 6% of smartphone users) said they did not want pre-loaded applications on their phone
• Only 35% said they did not use pre-loaded apps
• 55% of the above non-users said they did not use the pre-loaded apps because of the additional fees and charges associated with them
• Of those that used the pre-loaded apps, 51% said they do so because they like them

The study concludes by stating that there is a "significant potential negative revenue impact" to mobile operators who choose not to pre-install mobile applications on their phones.

What We Think: Icky, But Possibly True

On a personal level, this news is disturbing. Pre-loaded apps are the mobile equivalent (to some extent) of the "bloatware" that comes pre-installed on PCs. Except in this case, it's not just a matter of third-party companies subsidizing costs by getting manufacturers to include their software, it's also the handset makers themselves doing installations of their own apps, in hopes of an additional revenue stream.

Or should we say "streams?"

For example, Verizon Droid and Fascinate owners have to contend with third-party mobile apps like one from Blockbuster and EA's new racing game called Need for Speed: Shift, the L.A. Times reported earlier this summer.

And Verizon is hardly alone. T-Mobile pre-installs several apps on Vibrant phones, the Times story noted, including the movie "Avatar," MobiTV, Amazon's Kindle app, EA's Sims 3 game, Slacker Radio and a button that directs you to Gogo Inflight Internet's website. Also, Evernote was pushed to T-Mobile Samsung Android users in a March update. 

Elsewhere, Qik comes pre-installed on Sprint's EVO phones as does Sprint's Nascar app, Sprint Football and Sprint TV. And AT&T has virtually cluttered the otherwise stellar Samsung Captivate with a number of apps, both AT&T-owned and otherwise, including AllShare, YPMobile (Yellow Pages), MobiTV, Mobile Banking, Where, Write and Go, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Music, AT&T Radio, AT&T Maps and AT&T Hot Spots. (Here's how to remove them, by the way).

Pre-installed apps are only part of the picture, though. Just this week, Verizon announced its own VCAST music and app stores would soon be available on Android devices, a move which the Wall St. Journal said highlighted the "growing importance of applications to phone companies." The VCAST store has been available on Verizon Blackberry smartphones since March (the Storm, Storm 2, Curve, Curve 2, Tour and the Bold) and will soon come to Verizon Android devices including the Droid X, Droid 2 and Samsung Fascinate, as - guess what? - a pre-loaded application.

Unfortunately for those of those who can't stand this bloatware (like me), it sadly seems to be par for the course these days with no end in sight. And if you can believe this new data, most consumers are just fine with that.

The survey only asked 2,000 consumers for their opinions, however, so we would like to see a broader study back this up before buying into this "love-of-junkware" mentality. What do you think?