BuddyVision Adds Video to AIM

A great piece of buddy icons news - this FREE AIM add-on sends video from your PC Camera to your AIM Buddies. Family and friends with modems or broadband can see your live pictures as your buddy icon even if they don't have BuddyVision.

• Visual Instant Messaging (VIM) - Easily send snapshots from your webcam in an IM text chat.
• VideoChat - Chat with real-time moving video!
• V-Mail - Send an email with your picture to any valid email address.
• BV Buddy Icon - Personalize this AIM feature with a snapshot from your webcam.

Find out more about BuddyVision www.buddyvision.com

Videoconferencing from AOL Instant Messaging Clients

Instant Messaging News - AOL is reported to be close to launching a new videoconferencing service for AOL and instant messaging clients. Up until July '03 AOL have been banned by the FCC from offering advanced, high-speed internet services, such as videoconferencing to its network of users. The ban was set up two years ago to prevent AOL becoming the monopoly supplier of of Instant Messaging services. To get the ban lifted AOL managed to convince the FCC that it no longer was the dominant player in Instant Messaging.

The addition of videoconferencing for AOL will enable AIM and AOL IM to more ably compete with Microsoft and Yahoo!'s Instant Messaging services. Yahoo! has offered Webcams for years and Microsoft have recently bagun supporting Webcam connectivity In its Instant Messaging client.

Microsoft wins a crucial Instant Messaging Patent

Instant Messaging News - Microsoft has patented the widely used instant messaging (IM) feature that allows users to see when their correspondent is typing. Microsoft offers the feature on its MSN Messenger instant messaging service, but its competitors AOL, Yahoo Messenger and Apple (iChat) have also included this feature with their Instant Messaging systems.

Microsoft is currently investing heavily in IM and could be hoping to use the patent award to help establish itself as the de-facto instant messaging provider for the potentially lucrative corporate IM market. Currently the Microsoft IM software MSN Messenger is available as a free download, with over 2 million users. However, later this year Microsoft plans to launch Live communications Server, Microsoft's instant-messaging software designed for businesses at a price price of $929 for installation and an additional $34.95 per employee.

The software giant believes that companies will pay for IM services that are bundled with security and manageability features. Microsoft expects IM to be the center of its strategy to power corporate Internet networks and plans to provide other features such as Net phone calling and video conferencing.

With the corporate IM market promising a long-awaited way for IM suppliers to charge for a free service the stakes are high.

However, to enforce such a patent Microsoft would need to prove in court that it is the rightful owner and originator of the invention. In a similar case, AOL's subsidiary ICQ won a patent in December 2002 that named it as the inventor of IM. AOL has yet to act on the judgement.