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Video Demo of Video Chat on the BlackBerry PlayBook!

By Kevin Michaluk on 3 May 2011 01:10 pm
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This morning's BlackBerry PlayBook OS update to version 1.0.3.1868 brought with it a number of updates, including BlackBerry Video Chat!! The Video Chat app allows BlackBerry PlayBook owners to... well.. you know.. chat over video with each other. Gone is the phrase What's your pin? when it comes to adding contacts. Instead, the big question from now on is What's your BBID? Enter in a person's email address tied to their BlackBerry ID account and you can easily call up a contact. There's no availability status at this time, so for it to work you're both going to have to have your PlayBooks turned on and in WiFi coverage (calling somebody not online will result in a Contact Not Available message). The person you're calling doesn't need to be in the Video Chat app though as long as their PlayBook is turned on (it can be sitting with the display off in standby) and WiFi-connected - even with the PlayBook display off and the Video Chat not open it will wake the display and you'll get a notification of the incoming call and can accept it and begin to chat. 

With the call connected we've found the video to be really smooth so far. WiFi coverage at BlackBerry World can be pretty spotty with 6,000 people all carrying multiple devices fighting for signal, but out of 10 calls so far we've found it to be more than acceptable in terms of smoothness. Talking to some of the other bloggers and writers in attendance, the word is it's way better than anything video chat on Android and looks to be as good or even better than Facetime on iOS (the PlayBook's video quality is really top notch thanks to the awesome camera and display). I really like the fact you can use either the front facing or rear facing camera during video chat. You can also do audio-only calls (no video), and set yourself to Do Not Disturb if you want to ensure nobody interrupts you. Overall the experience is quite impressive and we're sure it's only going to get better as RIM continues to work on it. We have run into some issues with trying to connect a couple calls where the error message "A firewall is preventing a Video Chat connection." We're not quite sure exactly what the situation is that can cause that to happen but we're going to figure it out. Stay tuned.

Check out the video above to see Adam and I call each other. It's a good ole video chatting time. Awesome stuff RIM. Keep the PlayBook updates coming. This device just keeps getting better and better and better!

Topics: BlackBerry BlackBerry Playbook Video Chat News & Rumors BlackBerry Apps

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Kevin Michaluk Kevin Michaluk 3674 (articles) 3017 (forum posts)
37 comments

zensen

Video chat is looking great except nose view angle isn't the most flattering position for anyone :P (no offence to Adam, haha)

Yousif Abdullah

I just initiated a call with one of my friends in New York. I'm located in Finland myself and call quality was good, clear audio and only occasionally stuttering video. Overall a great experience. I hope this gets expanded to PC / Mac and so on (:

Peace,
Yousif.

zensen

definitely! would love to see a client for pc/mac and if for the tv but if that never materialises, there is always skype when thats available. :D

hammers18

The zoom on both cameras seems a bit too much or is it just me?

Kevin Michaluk

It does feel like holding your arms fairly outstretched results in a bit better picture than holding it closer to your body. It's not too bad. I would bet RIM can do some software tweaks to really optimize the default focus distance on it. Though I guess it'll vary a bit depending on your height/arm length as to what's naturally comfortable.

zensen

yeah a zoomed out option - wider angle would have been nicer especially if you wanted to fit another friendly face in there.

diego.roscetti

Nice case Kevin. Looks like the Convertible Case that is on back order. Been dying to cover up my Playbook with one of those babies.

peter9477

Video chat is looking pretty solid, and makes good use of bandwidth over flaky conference WiFi. JohnP called me from BBWC and even when his image froze for 2-3 seconds, not a syllable was dropped from the voice channel.

By the way, make sure UPNP is enabled on your wireless router, if you have a simple home setup, to avoid errors reporting Firewall problems.

experiment 626

Looks Good, but why isn't this on the Bold Touch or any of the newer BBs coming out?

Kiddo2050

I don't know... because RIM is mornons???... God I am so sick of the whiners on here.....

DDS0728

Has there been any word on a Skype app to take advantage of the video chat capabilities??? I'm the on BB guy among my group of Apple and Android Fanboys... cross platform compatibility would be really nice!

enzo07i

add me up: enzo07i@yahoo.com
Thanks.

seancomp

Is anyone else getting a firewall error? I was able to video chat for about 2 minutes, tried to reconnect, and have been getting a "A firewall is preventing a Video Chat connection" error. I do have ports forwarded on router. Could this be creating a problem?

Adam Zeis

Not sure on this one - I had the error on two calls so far, while others went through fine. We'll have to check into it and see if we can figure out what the exact cause is.

o2bal

"Posted by peter9477 Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Video chat is looking pretty solid, and makes good use of bandwidth over flaky conference WiFi. JohnP called me from BBWC and even when his image froze for 2-3 seconds, not a syllable was dropped from the voice channel.

By the way, make sure UPNP is enabled on your wireless router, if you have a simple home setup, to avoid errors reporting Firewall problems."

This could be a possible response to your issue.

velkcro

i think RIM should assign a PIN for your BB ID like how it is with live profile so when you sign into a device it will have your PIN and your wouldnt use your email but rather have a PIN.

so no matter what device your using, you will always have the same PIN

Kevin Michaluk

They are doing that.. but in reverse. The BBID email address is your master identity that doesn't change.... then you'll be able to own a BB phone, tablet, etc (each with their own pin) that are tied to the BBID.  So you won't have to know your inidividual pins... as they'll just map back to the BBID. It's an optimal solution.

velkcro

I understand what they are trying to do, but i just hope BBM dont turn into another MSN.(no one uses it anymore)

but concerning the PIN what would happen when someone scan my bar code would they get my BB ID?

im assuming when you sign up for a BB ID on activation of your device it will import everything so your will get your ID bar code?

zensen

No one uses it anymore (msn)? how can one take u seriously with that statement?

Kev is right this is an optim$al solution.

velkcro

lol, i guess what i meant to say is that most of my contacts on msn have now moved on to facbeook and twitter and it is not as cool to use as it once was, if you understand what im saying.

SharpieFiend

RIM is getting rid of PINs for the BBID solution - your BBID is easier to remember and you can have cross platform abilities with BBID.

ces2011

hey kevin,

any word on sms/mms added to the bridge feature in the latest OS upgrade? RIM working on it or would they rather push the bbm and exclude sms//mms functionality with the playbook?

thanks!

The_Adventist

The mobile links brings up the 9900 review.

Please change the link so us corporate youtube banned people can watch on our phones please.

LOL

dmxking512

The big question tho , can you run this while Teitherd?

AKA VIDEO CALLING ON THE GO :D

???????????????????????????

Kiddo2050

This is neat but playbook really needs a skype app. If I'm at a conference and want to call home people don't have playbooks to call and all I want is to take my playbook and not my laptop. If I have to take my laptop then playbook is fun but not essential, kind of like an iPad. IPad might have video chat but if I'm going to carry something that big I'd rather carry a laptop - mine is very light Sony Vaio Z, so the iPad offers no advantage.

Skype really doesn't have the functionality of BBM video so RIM will still get the demand for BBM video even if they allow for Skype so please do.

If not a skype app please make BBM Video software for a PC. Thanks.

bookaki101

I'm sure you guys know this already but you guys look like the biggest nerds...lol...God bless ya

Fr3lncr

While this is great...and cool, the only downside is waiting till 2012 (?) to get front facing cameras on the BB phones to make this a complete package as being able to only video chat with PlayBook owners is kinda limited. (I don't have any friends that have PlayBooks yet :-( )

So... I hope the front facing BB phones come out sooner than later, but I guess in the interim we will get Skype and Android apps that use video chat.

velkcro

lol 2012 is like 2 days away

yalervp

I'm getting the same firewall problem when trying to initiate a chat. I hope RIM fixes this soon.

Sonic_SOGMC

The viewing angle/zoom is too close. Deaf people would have to find a counter or table to prop it up in order to video chat in sign language. Let us at least be able to sign one-handed by changing the lens.

Jimcmf

Great demos Kevin ... thanks.

If EVERYONE in the world had a PlayBook, would long distance charges be a thing of the past?

How was the voice quality (seeing that the PlayBook has AWESOME speakers)
I have a PlayBook .... but I don't have any friends ................... that have one, so I can't do a test myself.

Thanks

mavricxx

I wanna see OoVoO, Yahoo messenger, Fring and Skype on PB. I actually love and even prefer OoVoO, works flawlessly on Android to PC and vice versa and I've had problems with Skype and Fring on Android. Overall I'd rather see Yahoo Messenger and OoVoO but I know there are other people oput there that use the other apps so come on RIM get us those apps please. One suggestion: It'd be AWESOME if you could intergrate Yahoo messenger, Skype, and OoVoO into this new app with how smoothly it runs. It would blow Apple out of the water!

xyzco123

I dont know about the playbook, BUT i love your Panerai that you are wearing.

red2wu

Great... how do I hang up now??? LOL

OniPod

Trillian and Skype for me.

Gamesdmc3

Nice and smooth,it didnt look all pixelated,thats a plus