Video Chat for the BlackBerry Playbook Announced

Features:

  • One-Click video and voice over Wi-Fi calls
  • Incoming Call notification
  • Powerful In-Call functions
  • Friends List

This app should be available  May 3rd, pushed  to all PlayBook users over the air. The app will also be available on BlackBerry App World.

 

BlackBerry PlayBook Video Chat

The Video Chat application enables video and voice over Wi-Fi calling between BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in peer-to-peer or enterprise environments using your BlackBerry® ID profile. Here are some of the features I’m really excited about:

    One-Click Calls – With just one click you can make a call from your Video Chat contact list, log of recent calls or simply by entering the BlackBerry ID email address of the person you want to call.
    Incoming Call Notifications – You will receive a notification pop-up when a new video call comes in, allowing you to accept the call as either a video or voice call, or decline the call. For those quiet moments — such as when you’re watching a movie, playing a game or listening to music — you will also have the ability to simply set the “Do Not Disturb” option and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will automatically ignore all incoming calls.
    Powerful In-Call Functions – By using the picture-in-picture function you can easily preview what your camera is seeing prior to placing the call to see the video feed you will be sending. You can also easily switch cameras from front to rear so your friends can see what you see, and for private moments you can mute/unmute audio or make or take calls using voice only.
    Friends List – BlackBerry PlayBook Video Chat comes complete with a Friends List for maintaining your contacts. A friendly name and a picture can easily be added to a contact to personalize the entry and a Call Log makes it simple to keep track of who called, as well as when and what calls were missed. Friends are added using their BlackBerry ID profile.
    Video Chat Multitasking – Thanks to the power of the BlackBerry Tablet OS and its true multitasking capabilities, video and voice over Wi-Fi chats can continue running in the background while you interact with other applications.
    HDMI Video Chat – In addition to chatting using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s high-resolution screen, Video Chat supports HDMI output when in ‘Mirror Mode’, allowing you to output what is on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s screen to a larger HD television or monitor.