Discussion on:

Five video communication apps

Any body know of a program that cam send video back from a high altitude balloon experiment for kids to watch as there balloons climb in to the sky?

Ekiga is an open-source video phone program (ekiga.org) that runs on Windows and Linux. You can get a free SIP address at ekiga.net. It interoperates on SIP and H.323 protocols.

I've been using Qik for almost a year now on my mobile, and it is great if you're on a decent network (preferably 4G, wifi, etc.). When I first bought my Moto Atrix Skype couldn't use the front-facing camera, but Qik had a version specially designed for the Atrix which allowed use of either camera. I still use it regularly.

Skype has served me well over the years but I've run into audio problems in newer version of LINUX. Ekiga also has been around for sometime. I've used it on several audio conferences calls with people all over the world but IT too has problems of late in both the Windows and Linux version and I've just stop trying to work with the product. It doesn't support multiple video conversation like Skype. I'm still working on my Android tablet.

When we used video calls in the past, here, we used Skype because it was available on Linux, which wasn't even mentioned in this article. I would be willing to use Ekiga, if we need to use this type of program again.

I've just discovered ReelPortal, which has an app for iPod, iPad, Android and BlackBerry devices including the PlayBook. On a computer you connect via your web browser, no install is required. Free service supports up to four concurrent connections via a chat room format. The room can be public or private. Since BlackBerry and Skype don't seem to co-exist, I was looking for an alternative on my PlayBook. This just might do it.

What about good old Yahoo messenger? I've used it for years, it is free (albeit with some ads) and it gets the job done, even for my non-tech relatives.