Here is a sneak peak of the Eyeball Messenger v1.0 currently in beta, built using the yet to be released Eyeball Messenger SDK. Now with federated IM accounts including MSN, AOL, Yahoo and Google plus support for open standards = SIP (VoIP, Video) and XMPP (IM and Presence).

I can’t tell you how pumped I am already, I am now using this instead of 5 other applications = 4 messengers plus our SIP softphone, now I get them all in one app.

The SIP softphone / dial pad is really cool, accessed by clicking on the purple phone button, it works pretty slick. I can use it to call via my Buddy List (as long as they are using SIP) or I can call a SIP URI / real phone number via my SIP / VoIP network. Video calls also use SIP and it’s very easy to use, highlight your buddy and in one click you’re in business.

I have had a huge amount of input on this design so it’s not suprising that I think it’s a HOT app, I might be little biased If you are interested in getting in on the beta send an email to the beta program manager = rsc AT eyeball.com, he tells me that he is still looking for a few good beta testers who have access to various SIP and XMPP networks.

More on Eyeball…

As part of my new Blog Series on The Future of IM I recently had an interview with Sean Egan of GAIM. He had some very interesting things to say about Voice and VoIP Interop with Google Talk. Here’s a small piece of the conversation…

Me: Hey Sean, what’s new in the land of GAIM
Sean: So we’ve got Gaim 2.0.0 coming up soon.
Sean: It fixes every problem anyone’s ever had with Gaim, ever!
Me: whoa, those are some big words
Me: what else does it do?
Me: new GUI by chance?
Sean: Well, not entirely changed, of course. But some hugely major improvements.
Me: ok, an example of hugely major would be?
Sean: So, maybe the two biggest complaints about the Gaim UI are the stupid “I’m Away” window and the Disconnected/Connecting windows. Those are all gone.
Me: ah yes, much better
Sean: We slashed a ton of preferences.
Me: k, more user friendly… good good
Sean: So that dialog is no longer an navigable mess and Gaim just does the Right Thing all the time.
Me: sounds good, and what about Voice calling interop?
Me: Heard you were working on that
Sean: It’ll do Google Talk.
Me: nice
Me: so have you incorporated GIPS into GAIM ?
Me: or is the Voice processing in GAIM the same as it was before
Sean: There was no voice processing in Gaim before.
Me: ahh, ok
Me: right
Sean: But, we obviously can’t use GIPS.
Sean: I’m using a free alternative

Sean also touched on SIMPLE vs. XMPP and told me that he thought one standard was enough and really did not see the reason for two. I know that some of the SIMPLE advocates out there might disagree but for the near term I think Sean may be on to something.

I will be taking some video of the P2P-SIP ADHOC BOF on Friday and I am hoping to corner some of the SIP gurus to talk about SIMPLE and XMPP strategies and how they may differ. Stay tuned for that one!

Holy VoIP! We have had an incredible response here to my posting announcing the Eyeball IM Beta. It looks like we are in for a great program.

Very soon we will be uploading our very first Beta version of the Eyeball Instant Messenger with VoIP, Video and Presence using SIP and XMPP to the Beta forum. If you have not already signed up for the beta you can do so by including the following info in an email to rsc AT eyeball.com:

[Name]
[Phone]
[Primary email]
[Organization]
[Position]
[IM id’s]

[Background – 250 words maximum]

I myself am looking forward to this software. I use 4 different IM services and although I like GAIM it’s still not enough. I use SIP-based VoIP networks and XMPP-based IM networks as well so GAIM is not quite there yet. The fact that I will have less apps running on my desktop makes me very happy.

The voice and video quality on this prelim beta is quite good. I am very sure that this initial app will change dramatically, not only in appearance, from the near term to our expected launch later this year.

If you have already sent in your info you will be receiving an email shortly providing you with further instructions.

Tags: XMPP Presence IM VOIP SIP Softphone