Think of Spreecast like a multi-person video chat service mashed up with a traditional, text-based live chat feature. It allows up to four people to appear on camera at one time and invites an unlimited number of viewers, all of whom can make comment and ask questions of the participants. Alternatively, sessions can be held privately.

Each Spreecast chat is archived and saved for later viewing, which makes it an ideal tool for educational live chats and business presentations.

So how is this thing being used? Klout CEO Joe Fernandez participated in a chat in September in which he announced an important product update. The editorial team for Al Jazeera's The Stream has used it to broadcast editorial meetings and invite public participation. Those are just some examples from the product's closed beta period, so expect to see more use cases unfold if it takes off.

Spreecast is the latest venture from Jeff Fluhr, the former CEO of online ticket marketplace StubHub, which is now owned by eBay. Fluhr said that the social Web we know and love lacks some of the nuances of human interaction, so he set "to bring face-to-face interactions to the Internet in a far-reaching way" with this new offering.

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.

With Video Chat, you'll see a picture-in-picture display so you can preview your image before placing the call. You can also switch cameras during the call, in order to show your caller what you're seeing around you. A mute feature and call logs are available, too.

To maintain a list of friends and colleagues available for calls, the app ships with a Friends List feature which lets you list your contacts, associate a picture with their contact entry.

RIM says the app will begin to roll out starting on May 3.

DEMO, the conference where companies get six minutes on stage to present their product, kicked off this morning with VentureBeat's Matt Marshall talking social. "It's all about social," said Marshall, explaining that social media companies like Facebook have grown at an unprecedented pace. It took half a century for IBM to hit $1 billion, whereas it only took Facebook a handful of years, he said.

With that in mind, let's take a look at three companies that presented this morning at DEMO and hope to latch on to the ever-expanding social web.

AboutOne describes itself as a "location to manage memories and household information." In short, it looks almost like a Facebook for the familial unit, but with much more utility in mind. It serves as a place to not only store family-related documents (like instructions for the babysitter) but also information like car insurance and other useful documents. The site connects with other services via API, so that you don't even need to enter all of this information manually. Key in your car's VIN number and AboutOne can automatically import the model, make, year and everything else into the system.

The service also serves as an online location to store all sorts of other family-related documents, such as pictures and scans of your children's artwork. From this data, users can create newsletters for friends and family and even create online baby books, which they can then order hard copies of.

PhotoRocket

PhotoRocket jumps in the try to handle a key space in the social web - photo sharing. Facebook's photo sharing feature is one of its most popular, but photo sharing doesn't end there, with a plethora of other popular services. Where does PhotoRocket come in? It attempts to help users "share photos instantly in one step" to multiple destinations from a variety of platforms. Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen an app attempt this, but it's all in the execution. Just last week, we saw Chute display a similar product, but PhotoRocket tries to edge out competition with an important feature - integration.

PhotoRocket is available on Windows, Mac and iOS (What? No Android?) and shares content to Facebook, Twitter and a host of other sites. According to the company, it steps beyond competition by integrating directly into the operating system and letting users right-click on files, use a browser button or an app to share.

Social Eyes

Social Eyes, an ambitious app that lists among its competition some big hitters like Skype, is a "social video service that instantly connects you to your friends and groups of people who share your interests." So how does this differ from Skype? Social Eyes is a video and text chatting service that is centered on your existing social graph. You sign in using your Facebook login and it automatically populates your list of contacts according to your Facebook friends that have also signed up.

Social Eyes also does something Skype doesn't do - it organizes other users around interests, so you can join groups like "Current Events" or create your own group based on your interests. Beyond that, you can also record and send video messages to other users, so not everything has to be live. What keeps Social Eyes potentially a bit more above board than other live video chat services like Tiny Chat or Chat Roulette is its authenticated identity by way of Facebook Connect. Using Facebook Connect leads to greater accountability, and wearing of pants, than purely anonymous systems.

The move would bring Yahoo, which already has 81 million Yahoo Messenger users, again to the forefront of chat services and would pose a serious challenge to Apple's own FaceTime.

According to Reuters, Yahoo VP of Mobile David Katz told them that the app would allow users to call not only each other, but anyone that currently uses Yahoo Messenger for video calls on their PCs. The Reuters article does not mention, however, if video calling between iPhone and Android users would also be possible. If it could happen between phone and PC, then it likely could between smartphone platforms as well.

The Yahoo Messenger iPhone app has not made it into the App Store quite yet, although two other video chat services - Fring and Tango - have already been accepted. However, as Reuters points out, "neither of these apps have the level of mass-market brand recognition of Yahoo, and their impact on a wireless network is probably not in the same league."

Video chat on Yahoo Messenger could bring this capability to a significantly larger number of users than any of these other services could. Anyone with Yahoo Mail has immediate access to Yahoo Messenger and that's a lot of people - people I would video chat with, from my mother to my friends. And how much easier is it to get someone to install a Yahoo-something that a "Fring" or "Tango" something?

When the company first introduced group chat in May, it limited the number of participants to five, but now it has doubled that number to 10.

Note that everyone in a group video call now needs to be running this version, so if your friends, family or colleagues are using Beta 1, they'll have to upgrade before you can include them in group video calls.

In addition to the increased video chat features, the second beta of Skype 5.0 brings a "refreshed user interface" along with a Skype Home "where you can follow your contacts' mood messages, set your profile picture and mood message, receive account notifications and learn more about using Skype."

While the company says it has fixed some stability issues, it notes that this is still a beta version so some bugs are to be expected. The second beta version of Skype 5.0 is available for download now.

"Think of SkypeKit as a 'headless' version of Skype - that is, a Skype client with no user interface that runs invisibly, not only on PCs, but also TVs, notebooks, and other connected devices," the company said in a blog Tuesday morning. "Developers communicate with SkypeKit through the SkypeKit API, surfacing Skype calls through their own applications."

What About Mobile? What About the Web?

The new SDK is only open for desktop app development and for integration by consumer hardware manufacturers. Skype says they are aware of demand for an SDK for Web developers, but has "nothing to announce at this time." As far as mobile goes, smartphone users can already download official Skype apps, but mobile chat clients may be left out of the development fun until the SDK is expanded.

It seems likely that Skype will make its SDK available on Web and mobile platforms eventually, since the company's idea is "that every connected device can become a communications device, with the addition of SkypeKit." For now, desktop developers and hardware manufacturers have the chance to create some interesting Skype integrations with the new SDK.

The camera can track where your face is, so if you move around the room during a conversation, the camera will pan to follow you. To end a chat, hand motions can be used, but most people will likely opt for blurting out "Xbox - End video chat!"

The disappointing part of this is that Windows Live Messenger connections are required to use the video chat capabilities. Xbox live already features Facebook and Twitter integration, so it would be nice if connecting for video chat with these friends was easier than asking for their Gamer Tag.

Will video chat even take off on the Xbox? Or will the novelty wear off? Much like the iPhone's video chat capabilities, I see this kind of feature being used in special situations. If there's a party at your house and you want to have a group of people chat with some people who couldn't make it, Kinect's video chat could be nice way to do that. As would the iPhone. There seems to be a lot of momentum behind video chat, and perhaps it is hitting its stride in 2010. Kinect could be one way video chat becomes a predominant form of communication.

The majority of Microsoft's keynote focused on introducing new games as well as applications for the new Kinect technology. Interestingly, however, pricing for Kinect was not announced and a rumored Hulu app for Xbox Live was also disappointingly absent.

Images by Engadget.com

Using the popular Qik mobile application, EVO owners will be able to chat with other EVO owners and, eventually, with any smartphone user whose phone sports a forward-facing camera.

Are we on the precipice of a whole new form of communication? Or is mobile video chat going to be just for fun?

Qik is not the first company to launch video chat, neither here in the U.S. nor overseas, where similar services have been available for some time. On Windows Mobile, for example, niche solutions like iVisit and camfrog are available now, but don't kick yourself for not knowing they existed. In the U.S. at least, no large video chat brand has ever attempted to do what Qik is doing now - launch a consumer-friendly video chat service on this scale.

Oh, and it's free, too.

Pre-launch, there was some confusion as to whether Qik would be yet another nickel-and-dimed upgrade from Sprint, when leaked news seemed to point to a $5/month upgrade for its use, but now that the service has officially arrived, we at last have full details on what's free and what's not.

The $5/month upgrade plan brings EVO users additional, premium features, but most can get by with the basic, free service without any issues.

A comparison chart on Qik's website highlights all the differences between the two plans, but the most notable valued-added features include video conferencing at higher video resolutions, unlimited video archiving, specialized video access permissions and "priority" support. In other words, this package is aimed squarely at business users whose needs will be greater than the everyday consumer.

The premium features will be offered to all new users until July 15th, at which point the upcharge will kick in if you want to keep the premium service.

Another interesting feature available in the new Qik for EVO application is its "video mail" capabilities. If you want to send a video to a non-Qik user, you can send it out as an SMS message. This isn't just a useful feature for unshackling video communications from being limited just to EVO handsets, but it also has the benefit of raising awareness about mobile video chatting services in general. Every SMS video message sent is like an ad for Qik...or maybe for EVO itself.

Beyond Qik: Skype, Fring, More?

Video chatting won't be limited to Qik/EVO pairings, though. If the stolen iPhone prototype is any indication, the upcoming iPhone 4G will include a front-facing camera as well and likely a mobile version of Apple's iChat to take advantage of the feature.

Fring is another up-and-coming company which began offering mobile video calls late last year on various Nokia devices. They're now doing the same on all capable Android phones - in fact, they even beat Qik to the punch by a matter of days.

And of course, there's Skype, the grand-daddy of video chat solutions, who is launching an Android app later this year. Although Skype won't officially say whether a mobile video calling feature will be included, an accidental blurb released from Skype PR seemed to confirm the company's plans in that area. ("We intend to set the bar on mobile video calling, and it's something we're going to do this year," a spokesperson had said before they took it back.)

Are we on the verge of a mobile video chat revolution? It appears so. How useful will these types of service be? Time will tell, but our guess is: very. Video chatting is already popular on the desktop and laptop, both for business and personal use. Remote workers, virtual teams, work-from-home staff, helpdesk professionals and others take advantage of video chat capabilities while at work and individuals use it to connect with families and friends when far from home, too.

Now with mobile video chat, the opportunity to reach another segment of the market - those whose primary "computer" is their mobile phone - is ripe. Not everyone slaves away behind a keyboard where traditional video chat programs reside. Now they don't have to - mobile video chat brings this new avenue of communications to all owners of modern-day phones.

Now if we could just get it on our wristwatch, we'd be all set.

Now with iGoogle video chat, the threat of the unwanted video chat is even more constant. For many iGoogle users, opening the main page is similar to opening a morning newspaper. Imagine opening your news feeds and having your boss or mother-in-law call you when you least expect it. Egad! We'll have to keep our homes clean, brush our hair and put on respectable clothing. And what about home office productivity? All of those precious morning minutes we spent mentally prepping for phone interviews will now be spent picking out an appropriate shirt.

If you're the kind of upstanding citizen that gets dressed before 10:00 am, install the iGoogle voice and video chat plug in and try it out. But if you're a nudist, self-employed hermit or hopeless slob, consider holding off until the community has established guidelines for etiquette.

One of the niftiest features in the new TinyChat is the implementation of a push to talk button. A typical video and audio chat with multiple users can often be ruined by echo from a user who doesn't use headphones. TinyChat now asks users if they have headphones when they sign in - if they don't, the application will automatically put them into the push to talk mode.

Room owners (that is, whoever starts a room) now also have greater control over who can be on cam. In addition, room owners can now also pass control of a room on to other users - a feature that is quite useful when you have to leave, but want the chat to continue.

Room starters can now also require users to sign in through Twitter. Whenever a user signs in through Twitter, an invitation to join the chat will be posted in that user's Twitter stream. In addition, room starters can now also force users to push all of their chat comments back to Twitter. This might be a somewhat controversial feature, as some may see this as spam.

Coming Soon: WordPress Plugin, New Video Screen, Custom Hashtags

In the next few days, the TinyChat team also plans to release a new WordPress plugin, a restyled video screen, and custom hashtags for rooms (right now, every tweet about a TinyChat room features the #tinychat hashtag).

TinyChat's founder Dan Blake tells us that the service is currently growing about 5% every day. Given that the service has been completely self-funded and is only relying on word-of-mouth marketing (largely through Twitter), this is quite an impressive feat.

No Growth

It's important to note, though, that Seesmic plans to keep its video service running for the time being, but unless we see a major shift in how users perceive 'video conversations,' we have to wonder if this kind of service has any real future, especially given the asynchronous nature of Seesmic in a time where real-time conversations and video streaming, even from mobile devices, are becoming the norm. In his video, Le Meur also notes that other Twitter-based video services aren't growing right now either, though he hopes that video will be ready to grow again at some point in the future.

Service Still Up, But Completely Deemphasized

We definitely have to give Le Meur credit for keeping the community informed, though. Unlike imeem, which is shutting down parts of its service in the next few days, Seesmic is keeping its service up and running, and the team is communicating with the Seesmic community.

Note: tip of the hat to Allen Stern, who first noticed these changes.

One of the nicest things about Tinychat is how easy it is to use. Just head over to their site, click on create room, choose a username (no need to register), and allow Adobe Flash to access your webcam. You can also just use a microphone or join the old-school text chat. You also have the option to send a message to your Twitter followers if you want them to join you in the chat room. The free version of Tinychat will have very few privacy controls, though the room owner (generally the first person to enter a room), can ban users or mute them. The most complicated thing to figure out for new users is how to choose their webcam and to remember to click the "start broadcasting" button if they want to participate in the video chat.

Tinychat is also available as a Facebook application, which replicates most of the functionality of the regular web app, though with a different layout.

Up to 12 users can be on video simultaneously and up to 100 users can watch the stream live. If you want to give it a try, just join our RWW video chat room here.

Pro Version: Better Video Quality, Recording, and Screen Sharing

Some of the best features of Tinychat are hidden behind a pay wall. Tinychat offers a pro version for $20 a month which will come with better video quality (though the regular video quality isn't too bad). Other features available with the pro version are: the ability to reserve names for up to five rooms, more privacy controls (including password protected rooms), and, maybe most importantly, the ability to record and save your conferences.

For now, the pro account allows you to download the various streams separately as FLV files and edit them in your favorite video editor (though you might need a converter to turn the Flash video into a format that your video editor can use). Soon, though, Tinychat Pro will also give users a widget that will allow paying users to just embed a video with the recorded chat as well.

Sadly, the screen sharing feature is only available for paying customers. We got a chance to test it, though, and while it only refreshes about once a second, and would hence not work well if you were planning to stream videos over it, the image quality was excellent and the refresh rate is probably sufficient for most of the online demos it would most likely be used for.

We talked to Tinychat's CEO, Dan Blake, as he and his team were developing this new app over the last few weeks. He told us that, as part of Tinychat's business model, the company will also provide white-label versions of Tinychat to corporations which will not have any limits on the number of viewers.

Verdict

While Tinychat will be great for just getting a group of friends together, we could also see how this could be a great tool to easily create a video podcast with multiple guests (similar to what TechVi is doing, for example). In some ways, the new Tinychat is similar to the now defunct Yahoo Live platform, though with more features and an easier to use interface. Yahoo abandoned this product last November, but Tinychat might just find a nice niche here, especially thanks to its close connection to social media tools like Twitter and Facebook.

Give it a Spin

If you would like to try Tinychat out with us, just head over to our room here.