Video-Conferencing Arrives for the Amiga!

In the "Opinion" page of last month's issue, you may recollect that I made a reference to Omnilink Corp with the news that they were working on an interface to implement the Connectix QuickCam on the Amiga.

This development brings to our realm the possibility of "video-conferencing" - that often shouted about facility which was previously only readily available for the PC and Mac' platforms. Further possibilities include scanning images for DTP and web-pages and the like.

Well I received the following mail shortly after that issue went on-line...

I read your overview of the Omnilink QuickCam adaptor, and want to update a few details for you.

I distribute the AQCVid for Canada, and I'm also a beta tester for Omnilink's products. I can assure you that you can use the QuickCam (via AQCVid) to add snapshots and anims to your homepage. And, unlike PC and Mac users, you have the benefit of an ARexx commodity to allow you scripted control of the QC.

CUSeeMe is also a fact for the Amiga. Omnilink has licensed the source and is proceeding with porting the software to work on the Amiga. With it, you will finally be able to visually chat with other users. Omnilink is also going to be adding sound support for people who are using 16-bit sound cards in their Amigas.

Add to that, ImageFX is going to be supporting the AQCvid, so you'll be able to import images directly from the QC.

Currently, AQCVid supports greyscale QC's. However, as we speak, Omnilink is adding support for the 24-bit colour QC's. The colour updates will be free to anyone who will have already bought the greyscale version. The updated colour version will still be able to use the greyscale QC.

AQCVid users also have the task priority option (+3 to -3) in the menu. The higher the number, the better the refresh rate for the pics. The lower the number, the quicker multi-tasking will be.

An accelerator (like an '060) and a 24-bit graphics card will definitely enhance performance, but AQCVid will work on Amigas from A500's to A4000T's.

There is another QC package for the Amiga which is available via the shareware. However, AQCVid's software and hardware are professionally manufactured, better supported, and have much greater support capabilities. The other product also requires using the external disk drive port, which will exclude A4000T owners who don't have an external disk drive port.

The AQCVid, I should emphasize, also has CyberGraphX support. There are many other features, but this should help to bolster your Optimism for the Amiga's future.

Regards,

Vance Schowalter
Director of Sales
Northern Light Computing

Further systems are becoming available too. Eyetech are advertising a system called Cocktel which, they claim, is a "Professional colour and sound video-conferencing [unit] - for all '030+ Amigas with HD & 6Mb". Wow, things certainly move fast in the computer industry - no VC-systems for ages, then two come along at once!

Eyetech are also advertising the plain hardware adapter and software package for the QuickCam for just 40(UK-Sterling). The QuickCam itself can be obtained for approximately 70(UK-Sterling).

Here at The Lair!, I am going to try to get hold of these systems so that I can put them through their paces and review them for you. So watch this space...