Did you do the tango?

Jul 16, 2011 - Ankit Fadia

A picture speaks a thousand words. But a video speaks a million. While shopping in a mall, have you ever wished there was a way to show a tee that you really like to your girlfriend asking for her opinion? Have you ever wanted to share a joyous moment with somebody special instantly via a video clip? Have you ever wanted to surprise your loved ones through a video message or a video call? Well, it is fairly easy to add video to your lives.

Tango is a free application that allows users to make video calls to friends and family members anywhere in the world right from your mobile phone for free! Currently it supports popular mobile phone platforms like Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 (soon) that are connected to the Internet through 3G, 4G and WiFi networks. It is available as a free download in the iTunes Store, Android Marketplace or you can download it from www.tango.me. Obviously your mobile phone must have a camera for the video calling to work. To all Apple fans, Tango might sound very similar to Face Time, which is the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch based video calling application. Although Face Time is fabulous, the problem with it is that it limits users to making video calls to only other Apple users. However, Tango is a little more platform independent.
Once installed, it will automatically add everybody from your Address Book to the Tango contact list, allowing you to start making your first video call in a matter of a few minutes!
The best part is that since Tango uses the data plan on your mobile phone, then assuming that you have an unlimited data plan you are not even going to be charged for any of the video and audio calls you make! Tango has been designed in such a way that it is very easy for users to switch between video and audio modes seamlessly without disconnecting the call. If you are able to convince all your friends to Tango with you (should be quite easy), then imagine you can make free phone calls with them for life and drastically reduce your monthly mobile bills.
Another fantastic rival to Tango is the popular Fring application (http://www.fring.com/) which has advanced features like Group Video Chat (if you wish to video chat with multiple people at the same time), FringOut (allows you to make video calls to even users who are not on Fring) and support for text messaging on Instant Messengers. Video calling is here to stay. Don’t be surprised if in the coming years, instead of reading this technology column in print, you might be watching me speak to you via a video call. Who knows?
The writer is a 25-year-old
ethical hacking expert, a TV show host and the author of 14 best selling books.
He can be contacted at ankit@deccanmail.com

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