Every mobile video chat client has one limitation or another. Either you can't communicate with users on the other major platforms or you can't use them over a 3G connection, or both. Upstart video conferencing provider ooVoo promises to change all that later this spring when it releases an iOS client to go with its current stable of Android, PC, Mac, and web-based apps.
While Skype's Qik service for Android has provided choppy video almost every time we tested it and FaceTime only works on iOS and Mac and only over Wi-Fi, ooVoo's cross-platform conferencing solution promises high-quality calls even over a low-bandwidth 3G connection, because it does all of its video processing in the cloud rather than establishing a peer-to-peer connection like, for example, Skype does. Unlike Skype and FaceTime, ooVoo also supports three-way calls in its free version, allowing anyone to have a group meeting.
ooVoo iOS Version
While we haven't tested ooVoo's latest version ourselves to see how it stacks up to its competitors, we were impressed with the iOS, Android and PC-based chat the company showed off at Mobile World Congress last week. In the video below, you can see a live demo of an iPod touch chatting with two remote users on the PC.
Android ooVoo on Galaxy Tab
In the video below, you can see the Android version in action as we chat with a couple of remote users in an ooVoo call, using a Samsung Galaxy Tab.
ooVoo HD for Mobile
While the PC and Mac versions of ooVoo currently support HD video, you can't get 720p on the mobile versions just yet. However, at Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm showed how its latest generation of chips can be used to enable hardware-accelerated HD on Android phones and tablets.
