If Yahoo's new CEO was ready to buy companies, ooVoo would be on that list. ooVoo has stellar management, proven technology and advertising opportunities all around it making it an ideal fit for Yahoo today. Add to it the fact that ooVoo clearly gets mobile and desktop, as well as video calling, add in Yahoo's global reach and need to diversify fast, and you have opportunity.
Today, Engadget is reporting that ooVoo added four way video chatting to iOS and Android devices, thus expanding its reach. The new apps are available in the iTunes App store and Android Play market for download. Earlier this summer the company announed 12 person video chat on select Android devices from Motorola.
The news is interesting because it clearly shows the smarts of ooVoo and the rising interest in real time video communications. The mobile multi-party participation is something that Skype isn't doing and clearly turns up the heat on Silicon Valley darling, Tango, who remains the cross platform leader with apps for iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.
Currently ooVoo lacks a Windows Mobile client. But so have many app and services players out thre. Instead ooVoo has focused on making their software work by going down to the actual device level of versions on Android, something that is needed with the myriad of options that one has now with Android and the many versions needed that seem to vary not only by manufacturer, but by model too. My guess is though, that with Windows 8 and Windows 8 Mobile blending together soon the lack of a Windows Mobile client won't be around much longer.
Why is this important? Video is not a sleeping giant. While enterprise and business customers in large companies are not using it as much as the communications companies would like to see, services like ooVoo and Skype are growing. Back in July, 2011 before Skype started counting video on devices like the iPad and Android tablets, 42% of all Skype minutes were video calling. Factor in that and you see why services like ooVoo and Skype, as well as Google's Hangouts are cutting into the revenues of Polycom and others in the video conferencing hardware sector.
ooVoo is also moving into the realm of media (think personal TV) with an emphasis on entertainment so by connecting to more endpoints, the company is poised to become the leader in social television, likely leaping ahead of Microsoft and Google in that area and then being bought by a larger entity, which is why I suggest Yahoo as the player of choice or perhaps Comcast who also has the same need, but already is wedded to Skype.
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