Quanta Research Institute, the advanced technology research center of Quanta Computer Inc. (www.Quantatw.com), and ooVoo (www.ooVoo.com), the leader in providing high-quality, real-time video communication over the Internet, today announced a technology partnership that will for the first time turn any high-definition television (HDTV) or laptop computer into a simple high definition, multi person video instant messenger and chat screen.

The agreement calls for...

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Funny thing about this concept. Science fiction has been predicting this was the future for a long time. The movies "2001" and "Blade Runner" both featured video phones as future devices. In fact, the video phone along with the flying car were the main way we recognized this was about the future. So what happened? In this era of high data rates there's no reason why this technology can't be as common as cell phones. My guess: people are vain. Who wants to comb their hair or put on makeup just to make a call?

This looks like a great product for business which already uses video phones in cases where detailed visual information is important.

Henry

The problem is you can only talk to people with the same technology. If it doesn't work with a cell phone it just won't be that popular.

If TV cellphones ("video phones") are going to happen, my guess is they'll come out in the next couple of years or so as the wireless companies take advantage of the 700 MHz TV spectrum they've bought into. As far as I know, nobody's knows exactly what they're going to do with this spectrum and this just might be it. If they don't allocate for mobile TV now, we may never see it. Anybody heard any juicy rumors about this?

Henry