Instant messaging consolidation client Trillian is getting a video component: the Vibe Phone video instant messaging service, which is scheduled to be available by year's end for an additional service fee.
Vibe Phone will be integrated as a plug-in into Trillian Pro 2.0, the most current version, and will appear as an option in Trillian's menu. The video IM functions will be available for minutes-per-month fees much like cell phone calling plans. It's the first of several shared development projects between Cerulean Studios, makers of the popular Trillian, and Vibe Phone developer GlobalStreams. Trillian Pro 2.0 costs $25; a free version cannot yet use the video plug-in.
The cheapest of the three Vibe Phone plans buys 100 minutes of video IM for $4.95 monthly, and the high-end option provides 650 minutes for $19.95. As is common in cell phone contracts, users commit to a one-year subscription and pay a fee for early cancellation. No additional fees are charged to access Vibe Phone through the Trillian interface.
Feature Specs
Vibe Phone works with most Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP systems. The service requires a Web cam and a broadband connection operating at a minimum of 128 kbps upstream. GlobalStreams maintains a list of compatible Webcams at its Web site. A Webcam is not required for audio messaging only.
"We've done most of the work already for making it a plug-in for Trillian [Pro] 2.0," says Matt Luckett of Cerulean Studios corporate development. "Any 2.0 user will be able to download the plug-in and subscribe that way."
Vibe Phone is already available as a standalone product. A downloadable free trial of Vibe Phone 1.0 from GlobalStreams includes 100 minutes or 30 days of free service, whichever runs out first.
Video IM often has problems with firewalls--especially network router firewalls--but Vibe Phone can work around that common challenge, says Brad Herrick, GlobalStreams vice president of marketing.
"In most situations, we will cut through a firewall," he says. A notable exception is a video-blocking proxy firewall, which requires manual intervention.
Competing Services
Video IM is not new to Trillian. The instant message consolidation program has supported Yahoo Messenger's video IM component since version 1.0, Luckett says.
Also, Herrick notes that the two most famous video IM clients, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger, both started out as text chat.
GlobalStreams took a different tack, building a "total video--no text" platform that could be adapted for different communities. In an informal test, PC World editors found Vibe Phone's one-window video interface easier to use than Yahoo Messenger's multiple-window interface.
The companies are sharing other projects. Vibe Phone will be offered as an a la carte item in the free version of Trillian, and Trillian's text messaging technology is being added to Vibe Phone--which now offers video and audio IM, but no text-messaging component.
Trillian Pro and Trillian Free currently allow users to chat with AIM, MSN Messenger, ICQ, IRC, and Yahoo! Messenger. The recently released Trillian Pro 2.0 offers a Jabber plug-in.
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