TECHNO BOB: Video Share brings conferencing to the grocery store

Video Share allows you to share live video with whomever you call – as long as their phone also is Video Share capable and they are paying for the service. You both also need to be in 3G service areas.

I could imagine families might make good use of this, showing off a newborn or other child's antics to the grandparents, for instance. On a more mundane level, perhaps if one family member was at the store trying to figure out what was really on that shopping list, a quick live video of all the possibilities might result in the correct item being selected.

I was told that only the caller can initiate the video, but that turned out not to be true. I was slow on the draw setting up on my end during a call, and I suddenly was seeing video from the person whom I called. The sharing is one way, so we couldn't see each other.

AT&T sells this as a business tool, too, boasting it will help figure out repairs, purchasing decisions and other business tasks.

AT&T has a bunch of Video Share capable phones. The cost is $4.99 a month for 25 minutes of video, or $9.99 for 60 minutes. Extra minutes costs 30 cents a minute for the cheaper plan, and 25 cents per minute for the more expensive plan. You'll be paying $60 to $120 a year just for the base pricewithout any extra minutes. The good news is only the person sending video gets billed for that share.

While I wouldn't recommend VideoShare to just anybody, I would suggest anybody who tends to drop their phone, knock it off their desk, leave it on top of their car and driving off ought to seriously consider the Rugby. It is priced at $179.99 with a two-year commitment, or $279.99 with no commitment. AT&T currently has a $50 mail-in rebate that will soften the blow of that cost. Just don't forget to mail it in.

I learned more about AT&T service through this test than perhaps I did about the Rugby. AT&T has taken a lot of heat for its service, with many people telling me they won't even consider the extremely popular iPhone because it only comes with AT&T as a carrier.

However, I've been told any service offered by one carrier in a 3G service area ought to work just as well for any other carrier. So if AT&T's service seems lacking, there's just one thing to do – call customer support. I initialy had big problems getting VideoShare to work with the Rugby. But when tech support instructed the AT&T network to automatically reload the software and drivers onto my phone, it instantly worked perfectly. Should you have to call customer support? In theory, no. But you are paying for the wireless service. So use it.
- www.northfulton.com

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