Finally used the Gmail Video Chat!

Though this video feature is not a new one in Gmail, in fact if I remember it correctly it is almost one and a half two years old. But this is the first time I have used the feature. Though it is not the first time I am using a video chat. I have used it a several times on Skype. I used to use it regularly to chat almost for three years a couple of years back (amazingly during the times when we did not have the fast broadband internet, and also during the times when laptops were not very common, to use Skype one had to install a webcam, and yes it was not easy). Though for the past few months or almost a year I have been using Skype in office for client calls. In fact it was my client to insist on having the status meeting on Skype rather than over a phone call. With all this all what I want to say is that I am neither new to video chatting nor is this feature new in Gmail, so why I am suddenly writing about this now.

Well this is because this is the first time I have used this feature on Gmail, and to honest I am very much impressed. I liked the overall performance, especially because it does not add any load on the internet, since it only uses the Gmail (I meant no extra load for video is applied on the internet service). Also, one does not need to create a separate account; download and install separate software, also always log onto the software every time. Since Gmail is one of the most popular mailing applications, it is easier to find friends over here rather than on Skype or any other application.

Now coming onto the technical perspective. I agree that the video quality is not as good as the one of Skype, but it is not bad either. It is good enough for a single person to talk. Also as I have written earlier the performance (I mean the voice quality, the audio quality) is very good, comparable to Skype, or I can say even better. So overall I would rate this feature as a good one, and also recommend others to use this, especially the ones who have not used Skype so far and want to use the video chatting facility.

I now feel why is it that I have not used this feature for such a long time. This is maybe because I have not used the video chat feature for personal use for almost two years now. But I wish I could have used this earlier as well. But as they say “Better late than never”.

In the end again I would recommend others to use this feature of Gmail, as it is really good, or I can say more than good, it is really more comfortable.

EPIC – The New Indian Browser!

This is a new browser that is launched especially for the Indians. I am not sure if it is made by an Indian, but it is very likely that this will be the case. (In fact it is being developed by Hidden Reflex, I just got a comment on this post from their founder, Alok). What I have seen of it so far is that it is possibly made on the Mozilla Firefox. But I must say, it is still very much different and very much unique. I really liked the browser very much, and for Indians it will be special as now we will not have to go to any site to type our content in Hindi language. This browser by default provides a sidebar where one can type the content in Hindi language.

Some of its features are really amazing. First of all, by default, its look, which is simple, easy to install and load, and then its default skin, is black in color. It gives the Blackle look, or I can say it looks to follow the Blackle concept, and I must say it definitely will be very useful, more than that of Blackle. Since Blackle is a site, a search engine while Epic is a browser, it should be able to save a lot of energy hours. Also it seems to be very light weighted, much less than even Google Chrome, which is again very useful.

It is got a toolbar in the left pane, which covers almost all the common shortcuts. It contains icon of the entire common shortcuts used by us ranging from facebook, to twitter, to gmail, to travel sites, to videos, to jobs sites. It has got it all. But one thing that is unique here (apart from the Hindi language typing I already have written about) is that it has a text writer. This is a very effective writer as one can write the content is a normal text format as well as in html format. It provides default tags that are used in HTML. So one just needs to select them from the drop down lists, and make use of them. There is no problem of typing the tags anymore. Also these files can be saved in the text as well as HTML format, which helps to directly save a file in html format. First of all no browser provides such a good application (at least I have not come across any). Also one can type the content in the writer in as many as 17 languages, which includes 11 Indian languages, a functionality that no other text writer provides (again, at least I have not come across any). The Epic Writer provides all the features and functionality that a user would require to create a basic HTML file. This writer opens as a new tab in the browser, increasing the functionality of the browser, though most of the options from that left toolbar open as sidebar which is again very helpful as that means one can do multitasking for example chatting and also working or doing other things at the same time. So this helps in reducing the effort, now one does not need to open two instances of a browser.

In the other icons it has got a India icon, which displays the current Indian news from various sources. It has got a videos icon, which will display all the bookmarked videos in YouTube. Then it has got a To Do, My computer, and Timer icons which will be helpful in managing the personal schedules and other data. Then it has got different icons for various networking sites such as facebook, twitter, orkut, Gmail, and yahoo. Then it has also got an icon for Google maps. Then it has icons for job sites, travel sites, and game sites, which will display various travel sites links, various job sites links, and various game sites links respectively. Then as other browsers it has got icons for bookmarks, history, downloads, add-ons and also for Epic applications. And as I had written earlier all theses features open in a sidebar, thus enabling the user to perform the tasks more efficiently. Though multitasking is not really recommended, but it will definitely help if a person wants to chats oe other two networking sites open at the same time.

Two features i did not mention above were Backup and Collections. Backup is again very useful, as the browser directly connects to the backup software thus enabling a much more efficient way of handling data. Similarly, My Computer icon helps, connect to the system thus making the task of uploading files or saving files a lot more easier and a lot more convenient. The Collections icon displays the data from the system again. All these functionalities use the system. The “Collections” again helps in a more easy maneuverability of the most frequently used data. Also in addition to these it provides an antivirus icon, which will take the data again from the system, thereby providing better protection. Also it provides direct and easy to scan options. This makes a work so easy as one does not need to open his antivirus software again and agian to scan files. These functioanlities are simple but special because not many browsers provide these (again, at least I have not come across any). 

These are the many features that Epic provides, apart from this it is very easy to use. I have been using it for three days now, I can say it has been fun playing with this browser. Especially for that fact that this browser has almost everything a user needs in a normal surfing time.

This browser can be downloaded from this site. It is very easy to download and install the file. I do recommend using this, especially to those who write a lot of HTML content or even to the bloggers.

Also do write to me here if you found this information interesting, and also found the Epic browser easy and good to use. Though I have just written about the facts that I have used in the last few days. Maybe I am wrong at sometime, or maybe technically incorrect. So do write in to me with your suggestions. Also if you have some additional information about Epic, I will add it here on the blog.