MONTREAL - If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video phones open up many new visual possibilities.
Maybe you'd like to get a second opinion about a gift, or show faraway relatives your toddler's first steps. "You can now share experiences wherever you are with somebody in another location in real time," said Marc Saltzman, a syndicated technology columnist.
For example, you can be at the mall and say "Honey, I am about to buy this blouse. What do you think?" said Saltzman.
Of course, both callers have to be using mobile video phones to do this.
A very fast wireless network called High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) makes it possible to send data, such as images, voice and sound, over the Internet.
"It's pretty new technology because up until recently the speeds that you need in order to facilitate real-time video calls with sound weren't possible," Saltzman said in an interview.
"It would be choppy and it would look like those old infomercials."
The video technology is already available in Asia, and Saltzman said Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) was the first to introduce real-time video phones in North America in recent months using the High Speed Packet Access data network.
Saltzman writes for numerous publications including Rogers' UR magazine and the MSN website, an effort between Bell, Microsoft and their contributors.
Telus (TSX:T) and Bell Canada (TSX:BCE) said they don't yet offer real-time video phones.
Bell is focusing on video voice messages, a feature the company introduced recently, said spokesman Jacques Bouchard. Bell offers a mobile phone with a built-in camera that allows people to be seen when they leave a voice message, he said, adding that both parties would need this capability on their phones.
Other providers are expected to offer real-time video phone service in the United States in early 2008, said the Toronto-based Saltzman.
Here's how video phones work:
Both callers have to activate the video call option, said Jean Laporte, president of Rogers Communications for Eastern Canada.
"If you don't allow it, it will be a regular cellphone call," Laporte said during a demonstration at a downtown Rogers store in Montreal.
Each caller sees himself in the top right corner of the screen, and the person he's talking to fills the screen due to built-in cameras. You can zoom in or out with the phone.
The phone is held up in front of the face, not to the ear.
Laporte doesn't view the video phone as a gadget or novelty item.
"I believe that we will learn how to use it through our kids," he said. "Remember, kids moved from text to pictures and will move to live video."
Such a phone can be used for job training and for video conferencing, a business application that can save customers money, Laporte added.
The video-capable phones, made by companies such as LG, Motorola and Samsung, start at $99 but can cost several hundred dollars depending on the model. Consumers must also buy data packages - which can range from about $30 to over $50 a month - that include video phone service.
These phones also have capabilities for such services as digital radio, Internet, e-mail, video streaming and mobile television offering 24 channels.
Video calling with Rogers is available in most parts of Canada from Vancouver to Chicoutimi, Que., and will be available in Atlantic Canada in 2008. Laporte describes the video quality as "high" for the size of the screen.
"To have a network like this, it's expensive," said Laporte. "We're talking about millions and millions of dollars (in network costs) for across Canada. But it's a brand new technology and we see a lot of future in it."
Technology analyst Iain Grant said the "$20-million question" for Rogers is: Do people want to see each other when talking on the phone?
"Video phones are much more interactive and much more personal, but I think the pricing is going to have to change," said Grant of the SeaBoard Group. "We're all getting a bit of a shock about the cost of data transmission."
He also said young people, who are most likely to use the service, are the least able to afford it.
Grant said he considers video phones as novelty or gadget items, "but all markets start as niche markets, so good luck to them."
Saltzman said it's too soon to know whether video phone use will become widespread.
"I am not sure, because we still tend to hold the phone up to our ear to talk. That's something that hasn't changed in a hundred years with the phone."
