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Video Chat Between iOS and Android, Courtesy of Qik and Skype

Qik, the mobile video company that Skype recently acquired, has launched a new version of its Android app and an update for its iPhone app, which allow people with Android devices and iOS devices to v...
Video Chat Between iOS and Android, Courtesy of Qik and Skype
Written by Chris Crum
  • Qik, the mobile video company that Skype recently acquired, has launched a new version of its Android app and an update for its iPhone app, which allow people with Android devices and iOS devices to video chat with one another.

    “This new version of Qik Video Connect for Android gives users the ability to video chat seamlessly with friends on both Android phones and iPhones. In addition, Qik Video Connect is the only mobile video calling solution that also enables video mail,” a representative for the company tells WebProNews.

    “And when you want to share something with more than one person, Qik Video Connect offers some cool ways to share videos with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, on YouTube or your blog,” the company says on its blog. “And you don’t even need a front-facing camera on your phone—just show them what’s happening around you.”

    Frankly, I’m surprised Apple would allow the iPhone app, as this would compete directly with the company’s “magical” FaceTime, and even extend video chat capabilities beyond just Apple devices (granted, this is not the only app to do so).

    New Android app launched – Video chat with other Android & iPhone friends. Only mobile video app that lets you send video mail, too! 5 hours ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto

    “As you might know, Qik first brought video calling to the Android Market through device and carrier partners including Sprint, T-Mobile, Samsung, HTC and Motorola,” the representative says. “With this announcement, for the first time, Qik will bring its video calling capabilities to the general Android Market. The news is even more significant as predictions from IDC forecast Android market share to reach over 45 percent by 2015; while Gartner says Android will command nearly half of worldwide smartphone OS Market by Year-End 2012.”

    Last month, Qik launched the Qik Video Connect app for the iPhone at SXSW. We spoke with co-founder Bhaskar Roy about the product at the event:

    If you’ve watched much video on your phone, you probably know that it tends to drain the battery. This is something Qik has considered thoughtfully, according to Roy. “What we have done is – that’s one of the key things that we have worked very hard on…that’s where the cloud comes in, where we try to put more processing by the cloud servers, rather than try to do it on the handset,” he told us. “So if you’re trying to do more on the handset – trying to do more and more here – obviously you’re gong to leverage more CPU, more battery power, so we tried to put all the processing – all the hard processing on the server – let the servers handle that, and so that way the client itself becomes a light client, and so it doesn’t consume as much battery overall.”

    The new apps work on Android (2.1-2.3.3) phones, iPhones, the iPad2 and every iPod Touch with a camera.

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