Over the years Yahoo Messenger has been really at the forefront of desktop video, and overlooked by many. Even former client SightSpeed, and now Skype, all got the big kudos from the press, as has of late newcomer ooVoo. But all along the folks at Yahoo always just smiled and kept going along their merry way, knowing that their numbers of installed users with video chat capability and consumption was really dwarfing the competition.
Now with Google entering the race with their new web based video chat, Yahoo has made a big move forward and embedded the GIPS Video Codec into Yahoo Messenger 10 on the Windows platform.
For Yahoo video users, many of whom are in Asia, this will really brighten things up. Having seen the GIPS video codec in action at their SF offices (they are a client) I was astounded by the clarity, depth and field of vision. Most of all it handles transitions seamlessly, with no jumping when you're moving in front of the camera. Since Yahoo hates to admit it, but the truth is there, a lot of the video conversations (especially back in the Brad Garlinghouse/Jeff Bonforte era of Messenger) are of the "adult" type (and I doubt it has become any less of their market share) making this all a wonderful picture to see. When you take it in the context that the "adult" technology market has always been the harbinger of things to come, that market in the world of the early adopter and tastemakers is the sector that is constantly seeking a better and more lifelike video experience. Just look at history with adult video, and how it has progressed from film to digital delivery and how the various formats that won out versus those that lost (VHS vs. BetaMax is one example.) have fared.
But to get back out of the gutter and into the mainstream, this is a huge win for both Yahoo and GIPS. Yahoo Messenger represents perhaps the most significant user base the world over, with a major portion of those users on Windows PC laptops and desktops. Given how Yahoo Messenger hasn't gone away, especially outside of the USA, making their video platform better is a significant commitment by Yahoo to the next wave of person to person communications For Global IP Solutions, the back to back wins of both Google and Yahoo are telling the market that leading companies want to work with a non-competitive codec provider vs. using Skype's SILK. This is no different in how companies vote with their dollars for share of wallet, and share of mind, so even though SILK is royalty free, it still is associated with Skype, and to Yahoo and Google, Skype is the competition today.
From Yahoo, the message is clear. They went with a state of the art, market leading technology to deliver a better full screen video experience that they can keep giving away for free, because the underlying part of the message is that Yahoo is all about giving the user the best experience possible. They looked to GIPS for that, and they are getting the key piece of the video communications mix that gives them just that.
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