Eyejot launches simple video e-mail service

Launching at Demo 07 tomorrow: Eyejot, a simple and free video e-mail service that doesn't require a download. I tried the service last week and found it to be slick and very simple. It uses Flash to do what installed software video e-mail products do. The downside is that it's a separate service, so if you want to send a vid-mail, you've got to go to the Eyejot Web site to do so. Integration into e-mail clients is coming, CEO David Geller told me.

The Eyejot message window.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

People receive Eyejot messages in their ordinary e-mail, as pointers to the video messages that are hosted on the Eyejot site. You also can go to Eyejot.com and view your video in-box there. Video quality is not stellar--if you bob your head your image will pixelate badly--but it's good for quick, informal messages.

Eyejot is a Web service, so of course there's a widget for it. You can embed a video greeting on your site and allow visitors to reply to you directly from the widget, which is slightly reminiscent of what Stickam offers. In my testing, the video greeting service was not yet working reliably, so I have not included my widget here.

In the free version of the service, the messages expire eventually, are advertising-supported, and are limited to 30 seconds each. If you pay for the "pro" version (about $5 a month), messages are retained indefinitely. You also can record longer messages, and transcode the messages to audio-only and 3GP formats for playing on mobile devices.

There are other video services that record to the Web directly from a Webcam (for example, Viddler), but I like Eyejot because it's conceptually simple and very easy to use. I'd like it better if it also allowed live two-way videocalls, though.

[garybl]

video email

Another service that I've used for a while now is SpringDo which also requires no sofeware download!
http://ennz.springdoo.com

[garybl]

video email

Another service that I've used for a while now is SpringDo which also requires no sofeware download!
http://ennz.springdoo.com

[caldwdo]

There is more than one video email service.

Thanks for the info about this means to embed video into my emails. I tried the service right away and it worked as described. Very simple setup, registration required, no download needed, my web camera worked just fine. I posted a comment on my blog about this software and within an hour a competing video email service, www.freegabmail.com, contacted me. Gabmail has features and benefits not provided by eyejot.com and is worthy of it's own CNET review. When I asked the Gabmail rep how he found my blog so quickly he explained that they had an Google alert setup on eyejot.com. Excellent example of viral networking/marketing. As the Gabmail rep explained, they didn't have $30-$50K to show at CES. I posted mention of Gabmail on my blog as well. Doug C., www.dougcaldwell.net

[mados123]

Seems redundant .

Rather than adding another piece of software, just use what you already have. If you have a webcam, it comes with software to email your captured video. If Outlook or Outlook Express is you default email, no problem sending video via email and webcam software. Maybe this could be useful for those who use webmail and do not have seamless integration with attachments (such as Yahoo, etc.).

[fitfinny]

Another Video Email Provider

Check out Springdoo.com, they have a great interface and provide some good functionality for embedding video into your website, blog, myspace, etc.

[dkhurd]

Excellent Reveiw- Thanks!

I've been looking for a simple to use video email. Eyejot just went on my list of things to try. Thanks for your helpful commments! Karen Hurd www.coolbiz4u.net

[ortonom]

I have been using http://www.jiveSYSTEMS.com. It's more for business users though and it's not a free service, but I get tracking, coaching and other stuff.

[ortonom]

Has anyone heard of http://www.jivesystems.com? They offer 60mins per video with unlimited storage and bandwidth.

[mkuehne1720]

Have you heard of a new technology, GinkoMedia? It's a real "do it yourself" approach to creating and delivering rich or multi-media messaging. Combine video, images, text and more to easily construct a message. Messages can be launched from email, newsletters, and web sites. Viewed messages are tracked and statistics reported with nice analytics. It isn't free but it's pretty reasonable.

[mkuehne1720]

www.ginkomedia.com