I have a secret game I play in public. Whenever someone near me answers his or her cell phone, I predict how many sentences will pass before the inevitable, “Where are you?” comes up. It’s usually the first, second or third out of the person’s mouth: “Hello? Hey, what’s up? Where are you?”
The “Where are you?” question is so commonplace that it’s the advertising calling card for Sprint-Nextel’s Boost Mobile phone service: “Where you at?”
Such a query would have been practically unthinkable in the days before mobile phones.
Unless you received a call from a pay phone, a conversation would have gone something like this:
“Hello? Hey, what’s up? Where are you? In the living room? Yeah, me too.” Weren’t we all?
Now, AT&T is trying to make the question completely passe. With the wireless carrier’s 2-month-old Video Share service, you can show them where you’re at.
It’s a simple idea: The camera on the Video Share phone beams your smiling mug to your best friend or mom while you yak away on speakerphone. The caller on the other end sees your smiling mug or anything else you direct your camera at. It’s only a one-way video stream, though; you can see Mom, or Mom can see you, but you won’t see Mom while she sees you.
It took me a moment to get clear on that topic when I tried out the Samsung a717 Video Share phone with a co-worker who also had a Video Share phone. She dialed my cell, then with a couple of quick keypad presses, invited my phone to receive a video transmission. My phone rang, with a message on the bottom of the screen: “Video Share message from XXX-XXXX. Do you accept?” After hitting OK, I got a screenful of my colleague’s lovely face. It was a neat sensation, seeing the person I was talking to. But I didn’t recognize her surroundings:
“Where are you?” I finally had to ask.
In private, you don’t care that you have to hold your phone 9 inches away from your face so that the camera can get a good look at you. In public, though, you’ll look like a dork. And because you’re using speakerphone, you’ll be tempted to talk loudly — also not good for your public persona.
If you’re using Video Share in private or if you’re into Public Displays of Affectation, then Video Share beats the pants off a simple phone call.
The video data streaming through AT&T’s 3G network was clear enough — just an occasional hiccup, but no complete blackouts and no discernible delay. Of course, we were calling each other from within the same building.
The service works the same over longer distances, too.
I could imagine calling my mother-in-law and holding the phone in front of my new daughter, so Grandma could see the little one. While my mother-in-law might use Video Share, I couldn’t see her buying a computer, broadband service and a Web cam so she could get the same experience.
More tech-aware people might just record video with their camera phones and e-mail it to their grandmothers, or they might settle on sending a simple camera phone snapshot. But Video Share adds the immediacy that recorded images can’t — though if you wanted to record yourself on video and send it as a Video Share call, you can do that too.
To get started, AT&T subscribers can buy one of four Video Share-capable phones (ranging from $100 to $180 with two-year contract) and a $5-a-month plan that includes 25 minutes of video (additional video minutes cost 30 cents each). The person who sends the call pays for the call.
Sending video and voice simultaneously gives a phone battery a real workout, so the Samsung model we tried would not make or receive a Video Share phone call if it were low on energy.
I can see why you might limit calls to 25 minutes a month, though AT&T offers a $10-a-month Video Share plan that includes 60 minutes of video use, with additional minutes costing 25 cents each. Again, the person who sends the call pays for the call. A pay-as-you-go option costs nothing each month, but each video call is 35 cents a minute.
Video Share is available in most major cities and works on phones that offer other cool features too, namely the ability to hold and play your music.
As my family grows, I’ll consider replacing our phones with Video Share models. And that’s where I am.
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egwinn@tribune.com
