Cingular to offer real-time video sharing

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. plans to launch a live, one-way video sharing service that will work during a voice call. The carrier said it plans to demonstrate the offering at the AT&T Inc. booth next week at the CES in Las Vegas.
Cingular said the service will allow a user on a voice call to use the camera on a 3G phone to initiate a live video stream. That stream can be transmitted in real time to the recipient of the call-thereby allowing the recipient to see what’s happening at the other end of the line, and the voice conversation to continue. The direction of the video feed can also be switched during the same phone call, according to Cingular.
The offering is essentially a step below true video calling, which would allow both callers to see and hear each other.
The service requires both the caller and recipient to have 3G phones that support video sharing, and both parties must be in a 3G coverage area. Cingular said that it expects to begin making the service commercially available this year.
Alcatel-Lucent is supplying the network for the demonstration, as well as the IMS platform that supports the video service. LG Electronics Co. Ltd. is supplying the phone, dubbed the CU500v.
“In the case of this technology demonstration, seeing is believing,” said Kris Rinne, senior vice president of architecture and planning for AT&T. “Consumers can get a real feel for what 3G wireless can do.”