Airtime Gets Some New Features
Airtime is testing new features to make it the best video network ever. The new video posts and revamped buddy lists will enable users to share live experiences with their friends.
Airtime was launched on June 5th as the first live video network by founders Sean Parker, Shawn Fanning and Joey Liaw.
At the time the founders said Airtime was the most efficient, easy to use, browser-based video chat service between friends using their existing Facebook networks.
“The service allows you to share live experiences through content, and expand beyond your social graph to discover new people through similar interests in an environment that is collaborative, fun and safe”, they posted on the blog.
Then the founders went quiet, apparently to build some more.
Video Posts
The network is beta testing video posts. Airtime will now allow personal video recording, sharing and commenting. The feature will also allow one to search or post a YouTube video and then invite friends to comment on it.
Airtime posted,
“With the click of a button, you can record and post a video using your webcam to start a public video conversation. Grab the link to your video post and share it to Facebook or Twitter or via email and anyone can respond on Airtime with their own video. The original post and all subsequent video replies can be viewed in one screen.”
The video posts will also allow one to find friends recent posts, replies and join the conversation in a video that interests them.
Airtime has also made some changes to the buddy list. The list enables one to have a private video conversations by inviting one of their friends from either Airtime or Facebook from it.
Revamped Buddy List
Airtime says they have revamped the buddy list to make it more useful.
“First, clicking on any person in your buddy list will now display your complete call, video message, and text message history with that person, sorted chronologically.”
The team has also made it possible for one to replay to any video messages sent to them.
The buddy list has also been separated into three groups, in descending order of real-time accessibility, from top to bottom.
The Available, shows people who are online and can be called directly. The Idle are those logged in on Facebook but need a Facebook notification message to pick a user’s call and those offline on both Airtime and Facebook are listed at the bottom. The Buddy List search too has been optimized and works faster.
Though the Video and buddy list features are all under testing, the team expects them to work perfectly.
Airtime Board
Airtime in May secured a round of financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz, Accel Partners, Google Ventures, and Social + Capital. They also acquired Erly, also KPCB financed in the same month.
Then Bing Gordon from KPCB joined Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning on the Airtime board. In June Bob Pittman, Time Warner and Clear Channel CEO and founder MTV joined their board as well.
