Residential video telephony may be next big thing!

[galtgulch]

WorldGate released its third quarter revenue report today after the market closed. Revenue for the third quarter was up over 400% at $1.5 million dollars. 3000 Ojos were shipped during the third quarter to SNAP for distribution to the hearing impaired and deaf community. That many have already been shipped so far in the fourth quarter and growth of revenue is anticipated as a consequence.

There will be a CC, conference call on Monday at 8:30 AM.

The number to call is 877-874-1565 and the company ID number is 1911204.

The CC will be available on the company website, www.ojophone.com, for one week after the call.

For any of us who actually have risked any after tax money on this companies stock it will be of interest to see what effect this growth in revenue will have on the stock price and the volume of stock traded, as they say, going forward.

I expect it may require another couple of quarters before investment community realizes that this company and its product are on the rise with an even brighter future.

Sales of both the Ojo PVP 1000 and the Shadow Ojo PVP 900 are rising suggesting that friends and families of those receiving the SNAP Ojo are buying them which will add to revenue and recurring service fees.

<<<"Ojo is finally beginning to gain some real traction in the retail market now, most likely the impact of SNAP. Some deaf blogs indicate that many of the deaf that received the free Ojo Shadow from SNAP have purchased additional Ojo for family, business and friends.

The PVP-1000 Ojo sales are improving by 440 positions per day, and is currently ranked 8598 out of over 80,000 items on Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/yr2jr8

The Shadow sales are improving by 255 positions per day, and is currently ranked 4780 ou of over 80,000 items on Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/3x8tbv

galt

Edited November 10, 2007 by galtgulch

[Brant Gaede]

This piece of crap stock from this crappy company is now .2 dollars/share. If there was any value somebody would buy the whole thing for .29/share. Risk 20 cents to get 29 cents--or lose everything invested. There is also the much slighter chance somebody will take over this company and use it to pump and dump and you might get 2 dollars/share IF you sell out in time! BTW, when this thread started the stock was about 75 cents a share.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

Hi Brant,

On January 3, 2005, just before the Ojo was given the Best of Innovations in Design and Engineering Award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the stock reached $6.87. At the time there was also an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Motorola which is no longer in effect.

Admittedly looking backwards this has proved to be a pathetic investment despite the fact that they have a phenomenal product in the Ojo video telephone. Viewers might have noticed the Ojo this season on NCIS.

But looking forwards the company has growing sales and increasing revenue with a huge backlog to be fulfilled by SNAP as well as the prospect of orders from any number of telcos and or cable companies worldwide which have yet to materialize. Just one will suffice. If that happens you might regret discouraging anyone from buying here at the bottom. I do appreciate your comments and anyone even contemplating investing in this company would be cautioned to read the Prospectus available at the company website www.ojophone.com

I reiterate that my motivation for starting this thread was to make fellow Objectivists, at least those who are fortunate enough to have loved ones, to become aware of the product, the Ojo video telephone, which I use daily to "visit" friends who live at a distance.

With increasing gasoline prices the Ojo will enable many to see friends and relatives for less cost than a trip.

galt

[galtgulch]

Conference Call:

The Company has scheduled a conference call on Monday, November 12, 2007 at 8:30 AM Eastern time to discuss the status of its Ojo Video phone and third quarter and year to date financial results. The conference call telephone number is 877-874-1565. The conference ID is 1911204. A replay of the conference call will be available for one week after the call on the WorldGate website at www.wgate.com

There is also a shareholder meeting at company headquarters outside Philadelphia coming up on December 13, 2007 which I plan to attend. Last year those shareholders who attended were treated to a free video telephone.

Here is a link to an article on money central about the Worldgate third quarter revenue release:

http://tinyurl.com/2phmnx

In it there is a mention of a shipment of Ojos to Turkey. Investors eagerly await a deal with a major telco or cable company.

galt

Edited November 11, 2007 by galtgulch

[galtgulch]

http://tinyurl.com/2phmnx

In it there is a mention of a shipment of Ojos to Turkey. Investors eagerly await a deal with a major telco or cable company.

Here is an excerpt from the third Q report:

<<<"

During the past quarter the Company continued to expand its relationship with Snap!VRS, shipping over 3,000 Ojo's to Snap!VRS customers. Based upon current forecasts, we expect fourth quarter 2007 shipments to VRS customers to exceed the third quarter 2007 level, having already shipped over 3,000 units in the fourth quarter to date. The Company expects to continue to ship products well into next year to meet the current backlog of orders. Recurring network service fees associated with these shipments are expected to increase as the shipments increase and convert to usage over time.

The Company and Snap!VRS are also working in concert to develop additional Ojo features that will make the phone even more compelling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. In addition, the Company believes there is a natural customer base expansion and associated revenue opportunity through the offering of Ojo to the friends and families of the deaf and hard-of-hearing as well as to the businesses which serve and which employ the deaf and hard of hearing individuals. The Company and Snap are actively working together to build further awareness of Ojo in this community.

"The partnership with Snap!VRS has been a major cornerstone for achieving success for WorldGate. The continued shipments to VRS customers significantly contribute increased revenue and operating cash for the Company. With the added cash we plan to expand our focus in the traditional retail and service operator channels," said Hal Krisbergh, Chairman and CEO of the Company. "During the quarter we substantially reduced our operating costs. The added funding from Antonio Tomasello plus the reduction in operating costs that we have accomplished is vital to continue the rollout to Snap!VRS customers and to help demonstrate that the VRS business model can get us to profitability," continued Mr. Krisbergh.">>>

galt

[galtgulch]

There is a tracking service for sales which ranks products in such a way that the lower the sales rank the better similar to scoring in golf. The Shadow Ojo has achieved its best ranking to date. Here is the link:

http://tinyurl.com/3x8tbv

We think the increase in sales of the Shadow Ojo is thought to be a consequence of friends and family, of those who have received an Ojo from SNAP, buying Ojos.

Regarding the WGAT stock it will be interesting to see if there is any movement after the upbeat Conference Call this morning.

galt

[Brant Gaede]

Hi Brant,

On January 3, 2005, just before the Ojo was given the Best of Innovations in Design and Engineering Award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the stock reached $6.87. At the time there was also an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Motorola which is no longer in effect.

Admittedly looking backwards this has proved to be a pathetic investment despite the fact that they have a phenomenal product in the Ojo video telephone. Viewers might have noticed the Ojo this season on NCIS.

But looking forwards the company has growing sales and increasing revenue with a huge backlog to be fulfilled by SNAP as well as the prospect of orders from any number of telcos and or cable companies worldwide which have yet to materialize. Just one will suffice. If that happens you might regret discouraging anyone from buying here at the bottom. I do appreciate your comments and anyone even contemplating investing in this company would be cautioned to read the Prospectus available at the company website www.ojophone.com

I reiterate that my motivation for starting this thread was to make fellow Objectivists, at least those who are fortunate enough to have loved ones, to become aware of the product, the Ojo video telephone, which I use daily to "visit" friends who live at a distance.

With increasing gasoline prices the Ojo will enable many to see friends and relatives for less cost than a trip.

galt

I started "discouraging" anyone from buying this stock at 50 cents a share. Twice I posted how to buy this stock if one had a gambling mind to. When you started this thread I believe it was about 75 cents/share. The last time I checked (not today) it was 19 cents. If you buy 100,000 shares for 19,000 dollars and the stock goes to zero you are out 19,000 dollars.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

<<<"I reiterate that my motivation for starting this thread was to make fellow Objectivists, at least those who are fortunate enough to have loved ones, to become aware of the product, the Ojo video telephone, which I use daily to "visit" friends who live at a distance.

With increasing gasoline prices the Ojo will enable many to see friends and relatives for less cost than a trip.

galt">>>

<<<"I started "discouraging" anyone from buying this stock at 50 cents a share. Twice I posted how to buy this stock if one had a gambling mind to. When you started this thread I believe it was about 75 cents/share. The last time I checked (not today) it was 19 cents. If you buy 100,000 shares for 19,000 dollars and the stock goes to zero you are out 19,000 dollars.

--Brant">>>

I have not encouraged anyone to buy the stock. As I indicate above all I wanted to do with this thread was to enlighten fellow Objectivists about the existence of the Ojo which I believe is superior, albeit more expensive, than webcams unless you take the cost of the computer PC into account.

Admittedly I was intimidated when my Ojo arrived at the prospect of setting it up. However all I had to do was to plug in the power cord and then plug in an ethernet cable into my router and into the Ojo. It turns itself on.

This weekend I disconnected my Ojo at home and took it up to my son's place in Queens where it was a simple matter to set up. It worked perfectly as i called a friend in Rochester NY with a sharp clear picture and audio synchrony as usual.

Little networks among family and friends are being created by Ojo owners across the country and the world. We expect that there will be Ojos available in banks, post offices, airports etc as time goes on. Soon everyone will have them and the next generation will wonder that there was a time when you couldn't see whom you were speaking with on the telephone.

Please focus on the Ojo and not on the stock in the company which is struggling to improve it and market it with limited resources. Incidentally, they are working on four way conferencing with the screen split into four quadrants!

galt

Edited November 12, 2007 by galtgulch

[Brant Gaede]

Please focus on the Ojo and not on the stock in the company which is struggling to improve it and market it with limited resources. Incidentally, they are working on four way conferencing with the screen split into four quadrants!

galt

I won't do that. Neither do you as witness previous posts. It is possible to make serious money in this company's stock. Take the speculative money you are wlling to lose and go to a casino and make one near fifty-fifty bet at the craps table. If you lose that's that. If you win take half the money, buy the stock, and forget about it. This is the third time I've mentioned this. This turns a say 10% proposition into a fifty-fifty chance. This way you do the gambling all at once and don't have the psychological pressure of selling the stock too soon subsequently because of volatility in the shares.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

Please focus on the Ojo ,

galt

I won't do that

--Brant

I just came from Radio Shack where a clerk was quite helpful. I rewarded him by showing him the www.ojophone.com website of which he was unaware.

He was quite impressed with the reality of a video telephone which operates over broadband cable, produces a perfect picture with 30 frames per second and broadcast TV quality with audio synchrony, all for just less than ten dollars a month for unlimited video calls worldwide.

He kept asking, "Is this here already? Is it available now on the market?" because he had never heard of it.

Brant I have read your wise recommendation each time you have posted it. I get it. An "investment" in the stock is a long shot gamble. I know that!

I will not get personal. I just hoped that visitors to this board would or might find the Ojo to be useful to enhance their lives and their relationships with loved ones. Grandparents and parents love it to keep in touch with their children. Lovers who are apart also value it. Tech geeks who love the latest gadget love it. Deaf people and hearing impaired people love it so they can use ASL with friends or use the SNAP video relay interpreters to make calls or appointments for them. The list goes on.

galt

[galtgulch]

Just an update by the one analyst following this company MDB. Not an enticement to buy the stock. Do check out the product at www.ojophone.com where you can read testimonials and see ojosodes by owners of the Ojo. Be the first one on your block to own an Ojo. Two models.

WGAT Update: BUY, $1.50 PT

11/13/2007

MDB issued a research update today on WorldGate Communications, Inc. (WGAT.OB) reiterating its BUY recommendation and $1.50 price target.

WorldGate Communications, Inc. announced the third quarter of its current FY2007 Friday after the close of market:

*

Revenues of $1.5 million easily exceeded our $1.2 million estimate and were up 59% over last year’s quarter and up 400% sequentially.

*

The company burned a little less than $2.0 million in operating cash during the quarter due to significant reductions in expenses which will decline even further into the 4th quarter. As such the company still counts $1.6 million of cash on the books, which just might get the company to profitability without any further capital if the Snap!VRS build out continues on an accelerated pace.

*

WorldGate shipped over 3,000 Ojos to Snap!VRS during the third quarter and has already shipped more than 3,000 units to that company quarter to date—with more than half a quarter left. WorldGate expects to ship products well into FY2008 in order to meet the current backlog of orders from Snap.

Valuation: Our target price is obtained by applying a forward multiple of 25-times our estimate non-GAAP EPS of $0.06 a share for FY2008.

Risks: Current risks to our investment thesis include the company’s need of capital, accumulated deficit of $256 million over ten years and significant lack of institutional ownership in the company’s shares.

I just hoped that visitors to this board would or might find the Ojo to be useful to enhance their lives and their relationships with loved ones. Grandparents and parents love it to keep in touch with their children. Lovers who are apart also value it. Tech geeks who love the latest gadget love it. Deaf people and hearing impaired people love it so they can use ASL with friends or use the SNAP video relay interpreters to make calls or appointments for them. Businessmen who need to have face to face encounters with managers of their distant stores without incurring costs associated with travel. The list goes on.

galt

[galtgulch]

Just an update not to be misconstrued as an enticement to buy the stock. Do check out the product at www.ojophone.com where you can read testimonials and see ojosodes by owners of the Ojo. Be the first one on your block to own an Ojo. Two models.

I own the Shadow Ojo and now have generated a little network of friends who also own Ojos enabling us to see each other when we call. This morning I spoke with and saw a gentleman who is in Florida. Moments later I spoke with and saw a woman who lives in Rochester NY. Last night I spoke with and saw a fellow in New Hampshire.

I am impressed with the quality of the picture the Ojo provides. It is clear and crisp, much better than the webcams. Audio synchrony is self evident and that makes the picture that much more realistic. It is as if one opened a little window into the place where the caller is. The LCD screen is not little but a generous screen which measures 7 inches on the diagonal. The lower inch is devoted to a view of what you look like to the viewer on the other end of the line.

As I understand it from the third quarter revenue release 3000 Ojos were shipped in that quarter and as many have already been shipped so far this quarter! Also SNAP says that their backlog is growing faster than WGAT is shipping. Present order and expected order to follow will take WGAT well into next year.

The price of the stock is being pushed lower by a company, Cornell, which loaned several million dollars to WGAT some time ago and is now converting their debentures into common stock and selling it on the market. The stock closed at $0.17 on Friday.

As usual I reiterate that I do not recommend buying this stock. I cannot predict what shall become of it under the circumstances. If the Cornell debt can be repaid and revenues rise as expected than this would be a bargain. But it is not certain that a way will be found to retire the Cornell debt.

I show the full color brochure of the Ojo models to new encounters each day. Many realize that someone they know would love to have one, usually that a parent would value having the Ojo to enable them to see their grandchildren. There are innumerable uses in business and for medical practice. In time one can envision the Ojo becoming widespread. It is being shipped to those in the deaf community and to help service them it is finding its way into various businesses, airports, doctor's offices, government offices, etc.

I just wanted to inform fellow guys and gals within the Objectivist community of the existence of this gadget which won an award at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2005, Best of Innovations in Design and Engineering, and which can enhance the quality of your life and your relationships with loved ones.

The company also does own patents granted for the design and for the technology with others pending.

galt

Edited November 19, 2007 by galtgulch

[galtgulch]

Just an update not to be misconstrued as an enticement to buy the stock. Do check out the product at www.ojophone.com where you can read testimonials and see ojosodes by owners of the Ojo. Be the first one on your block to own an Ojo. Two models.

I own the Shadow Ojo and now have generated a little network of friends who also own Ojos enabling us to see each other when we call.

galt

SNAP!VRS has initiated a new program with details at the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/35pu7v

If you happen to know anyone who uses American Sign Language you might want to inform them of this opportunity.

As I understand it there may be as many as 8 million deaf and hearing impaired people within the United States. WorldGate is shipping about 6,000 Ojos a quarter and at that rate even if only one tenth of the 8 million take advantage of this it would take decades to satisfy the demand. Production and assembly is not the limiting factor. Rather SNAP wants to be sure it can meet the demand for video relay interpreter service which is expanding to meet demand.

Remember that audio books were first devised to enable blind people to access books and then it expanded to be used by everyone to use while we drive our cars to work etc. Video telephony is likewise finding a market at first for the hearing impaired and deaf community but is being discovered by others as well and in time it too will be ubiquitous.

Take heed.

galt

[galtgulch]

Just an update not to be misconstrued as an enticement to buy the stock. Do check out the product at www.ojophone.com where you can read testimonials and see ojosodes by owners of the Ojo. Be the first one on your block to own an Ojo. Two models.

I own the Shadow Ojo and now have generated a little network of friends who also own Ojos enabling us to see each other when we call.

galt

At the recent Conference Call, WorldGate CEO Hal Krisbergh informed shareholders that the company was working on a number of new features. You may recall that early adopters of the Ojo video phone awoke one day to discover that the company had downloaded a new feature, up to twenty minutes of video messaging, which had not been on the product when they bought it.

New features will be downloaded to Ojo owners. Hal was asked if there was going to be a three way calling feature. Hal told us that there would be four way calling with a screen split into four quadrants! Coming soon!

This company just keeps on accomplishing hitherto seemingly impossible things. AT&T spent almost one billion dollars over twenty years trying to devise video telephony. WorldGate has done it!

Keep in mind that SNAP is ordering and shipping Ojos from WGAT. Three thousand were shipped last quarter and an equal number were shipped in the first half of the present quarter. This could continue for years and that would barely make a dent in the demand within the 8 million deaf and hearing impaired community. Those who have received an Ojo from SNAP are, incidentally, thrilled with the Ojo.

No doubt the Ojo will become ubiquitous over the next several years. You can still be the first one on your block to own an Ojo! Don't you dare buy any stock in this company unless you have done your Due Diligence. They barely have enough money to get through the next quarter. They are in debt and the stock is likely undergoing dilution. There is even a proposal at the next shareholder's meeting to authorize a one for ten reverse stock split.

But if you can find Ojos buy them. The company is focused on selling their Ojos to SNAP because they stand to make much more money from that arrangement than from recurring revenue from retail sales.

www.ojophone.com

www.thenerds.net

www.101phones.com

Do plan to contribute to Ron Paul's campaign on December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. How can you possibly miss this opportunity or consider voting for the other statists of either party?

galt

Edited November 27, 2007 by galtgulch

[Brant Gaede]

WGAT is now 13 cents/share. A year ago it was about $1.50.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

WGAT is now 13 cents/share. A year ago it was about $1.50.

--Brant

My point remains that if you are fortunate to know and love someone who may live across the street or elsewhere on this planet, with whom you would like to speak more often then you are able because of distance between you, and would enjoy or even cherish the opportunity to actually see the other person, then the Ojo is a serious consideration.

I keep repeating that my primary reason for starting and continuing this thread is to make fellow (sic) Objectivists aware of this breakthrough in video telephony not so much for an investment in the company which created the Ojo, but because of how this Ojo might enhance your relationships with friends or loved ones who are at a distance.

Certainly there is some risk that the company will not be successful and probably would be out of business by now if it weren't for the current contract to provide Ojos to SNAP, www.snapvrs.com, which distributes the Ojo to the deaf and hearing impaired community for them to use with ASL. If and when those customers use the Ojo to make a call in which they need to use an ASL interpreter to call a hearing person, perhaps to make a doctor's appointment etc., the SNAP and WorldGate will get paid from a fund under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This video relay service VRS is growing substantially. Usage with the Ojo has yet to be demonstrated. So far the average usage of VRS services nationwide among VRS providers has been about three minutes per day. It remains to be seen if that rate is met or exceeded by SNAP Ojo users and really generates the revenue which is projected.

We know from WorldGate quarterly releases and Conference Calls that the initial SNAP order for 10,000 Ojos is being shipped and distributed. The CEO of SNAP has reported that there is a large backlog of applicants for free Ojos. As many as 3000 Ojos were shipped in the third quarter and an additional 3000 Ojos were shipped before the middle of the present fourth quarter. That suggests that at least 6000 Ojos will be shipped this quarter and that at least 9000 Ojos are distributed. They are already activated and registered with www.ojoservices when shipped. There is an expectation that another order for Ojos from SNAP will continue but that has not been reported so far.

Even with just 10000 Ojos being used, if the average of 3 minutes of SNAP interpreter use is attained per day, and maintained for a full quarter, that would yield roughly 3million minutes per quarter. We believe that WGAT will be paid about fifty cents per minute so revenue to WGAT would be 1.5 million per quarter for each 10,000 Ojos in use.

If the rate of shipment and distribution continues at 6000 per quarter there would be a total of 20000 Ojos by mid year 2008 yielding 3 Million per quarter which would cover their expenses given their current cost saving measures. 30000 Ojos by the end of the year 2008 would yield 4.5 million per quarter.

It is estimated that there are about 8 million deaf people in the USA and about 600,000 have broadband high speed internet connection. If only one in ten of them apply for an Ojo that would be 60,000 so by the end of 2009 WGAT would get revenue of 9 million dollars per quarter. That is close to one dollar per share.

However there is the little problem of debt of about 5 million owed to Cornell which helped them stay alive.

Once again I only explained what we hope is actually going on and going to happen to suggest that the company might actually see profitability and sustained growth through this SNAP contract alone. There are numerous other deals and contracts in play but substantial orders have yet to materialize from them and may not.

Once again I only say all this to bring your awareness of the Ojo to your attention. The price of the phones, there are two models, is lower at online etailers such as www.thenerds.net or www.101phones.com however WGAT is focusing on supplying SNAP because revenue is higher from those Ojos rather than those sold retail outside the SNAP deal.

So it might be hard to find Ojos online nowadays. Ebay or Amazon are other sources.

The Shadow Ojo can cost $299 or less online and the monthly fee is just $9.95 or about $110 if paid annually.

There needs to be an Ojo at each end of the cable connection and each must register with ojoservices and pay the monthly fee. Set up is very easy. Plug in the power cord then plug in ethernet cable provided into the Ojo and your router. Call www.ojoservices to register.

You can take the Ojo anywhere with you once it is registered and plug it in and it works. Use of ethernet extended cables from either Netgear or homeplug enable you to use your home's electrical system to transmit the signal so you can plug in anywhere in your house. I believe a wireless version is or will be possible.

By the way the stock closed today at 15 cents on about half the average volume. I am not recommending investment here.

There is a shareholder's meeting on December 13 th at company headquarters in Trevose outside Philadelphia. I will not be going but fellow shareholders who are friends will keep me informed of any pearls of wisdom elicited from the usually closed mouthed CEO.

galt

[Brant Gaede]

WGAT is 14 cents/share right now. Market cap is 7.3 million. Debt is superior to shareholder claims in bankruptcy. If you use this service you are foolish to pay annually. If you buy the stock you are stupid not to use limit orders, same with selling. If you want this type of thing in your home wait until the company is gone and see if the technology re-emerges elsewhere. Right now it's just a death watch for WGAT. No one wants to buy a corpse with a lien on the dowry.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I moved this from "Links" to the present forum "Tips for Everyday Living." Since there have been many posts on this thread, I left a link up in "Links." Just moving the furniture around a little.

Michael

[galtgulch]

Emergence of Video Telephony

Case Study The Emergence of Video Telephony VRS!Snap and Ojo

By Erik K. Linask

It’s not going to wipe out voice-only communications, as the Buggles might have suggested in their music video, which helped launch MTV back in August of 1981, but video communications is gaining momentum at long last and will take its rightful place in the communications space. It just took some time and a boost from IP-based technology to bring the video quality to a new level.

As with any emerging technology, it will require time for widespread adoption - unless a company has the seemingly endless marketing resources Apple displayed in advance of its iPhone launch. Though it may not be growing as quickly as some other technologies, video telephony has a place in the future of communications, of that there is no doubt - more than 90 percent of communications is non-verbal, after all.

“Video telephony is clearly the next generation in telecommunications, in terms of completing the duality of telecommunications - where you have two-way data, two-way voice, but one-way video,” says WorldGate Communications chairman and CEO Hal Krisbergh.

Indeed, WorldGate has been among the pioneers of video telephony, having created its Ojo video phone - which, if you pay attention, can be seen on the CBS weekly drama NCIS, as well as FOX’s hit series 24. Exposure in nationally-broadcast programs can only increase awareness of video phones that are able to deliver on the promise of video telephony.

The problem historically, explains Krisbergh, is that prior video endpoints failed to deliver the kind of video quality and performance to which people have become accustomed. So, as the Ojo was developed, the question then became, who would be the early adopters - every technology has a group of initial users that ultimately help launch the product on a larger scale.

As WorldGate examined potential target markets - and certainly a case can be made for the enterprise customer or the college student - a different target emerged altogether. It was an audience that was surprising, yet obvious at the same time. It was also the one user group that would clearly benefit, perhaps more than any other single group from video telephony - the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“One market was acute in its need, and that was the deaf and hard of hearing community,” said Krisbergh. “When you think about it, it’s kind of obvious, because they can’t call on a [normal] telephone, something we take as a basic form of communication.”

Indeed, the deaf community immediately makes sense as a market for video telephony solution - but that only solves part of their problem. Certainly, with video endpoints, like the Ojo, at both ends of a call, hard of hearing callers could easily communicate with their friends and family and others fluent in signing. But other calls would still present issues.

Krisbergh explained that this is, in fact, an issue that Congress wrestled with many years ago, looking to facilitate means for hard of hearing consumers to communicate with the rest of society - typically that was accomplished inefficiently with a typewriter. More recently, however, a new technology has emerged, called Video Relay Service (VRS).

VRS, in essence, employs an interpreter that connects the deaf caller with any third party, communicating through signing with the former, and with voice with the latter, effectively translating the conversation for either side.

But while WorldGate had developed the Ojo phone, it does not have the means to support a VRS service on its own. However, Aequus Technologies does. Aequus provides technologies and technology related services to people with disabilities and the deaf community, and has a series of services and businesses specifically designed for those audiences. Snap!VRS, in fact, is an Aequus company that provides VRS services for the hearing impaired, and even in the earlier days of WorldGate, before the Ojo, was looking for ways to work with WorldGate to develop a solution.

So, as Founder and CEO of Aequus Richard Schatzberg explains, once Aequus heard about the Ojo, it was a natural extension of his company’s existing projects. Using the Ojo and Snap’s VRS technology, the two companies have partnered on a major push to bring enhanced IP-based communications capabilities to the hearing impaired community in the United States - a community that, according to Schatzberg, might be as large as one million potential users. The partnership with WorldGate, says Schatzberg, “is a major step up for folks in the deaf community in terms of the technology.”

With the partnership in place, the companies tested the service for nearly nine months, and have now officially gone live with the Ojo-based service. The first Ojos began shipping into the field in mid-July of this year.

The process is fairly straightforward, with the bulk of the calls initiated by deaf customers. According to Schatzberg, a user simply has to touch the SELECT button on the phone, which places a call to the Snap!VRS service center, where it is placed into a call queue, and is subsequently answered by the next available operator. The customer then provides the interpreter (operator) with the phone number of the third party he wants to reach, and the agent places the call to that third party using Snap’s call center infrastructure. The same agent then serves as the relay facility - thus the name Video Relay Service - for the call, translating voice to sign language for the deaf customer, and sign to voice for the hearing user.

While the hearing impaired customer requires an IP connection and Ojo phone to use the service, the leg of the call placed to the third party is sent through the PSTN and requires no IP connectivity nor a video endpoint. Of course, adds Schatzberg, if both parties have video endpoints, the two parties can communicate directly, bypassing the Snap!VRS facility.

An additional benefit for the deaf users, on top of now having the means to communicate with the global community at large, is that the service is subsidized for them. Certainly, providing adequate services for the disabled has long been a concern for the government, and by providing them a communications mechanism at no cost is part of that agenda. The only requirement for the deaf individual, explains Schatzberg, is he must have broadband access at the home or office, wherever he is using the Ojo phone.

“Other than that, there is no incremental cost,” he says. “We pay for the Ojo and we provide it to the customer, and we also pay all of the network fees.”

The Federal government subsidizes the use of the VRS service, but not the hardware (i.e., Ojo), but Schatzberg says the phones aren’t expensive, and he expects that as Snap!VRS adds users, it can build additional efficiencies into the system and build on its scale. Krisbergh says there are currently about 100,000 VRS users in the United States.

He also says the new service has generated significant excitement within the hearing impaired community and, along with Schatzberg, believes offering the service to this user group can only help increase the focus on video telephony services.

“All the people that will be using the phones will all have family or friends that will also be using it,” said Krisbergh. “It can provide a fascinating nucleus for network or viral marketing and give it a real start.”

The major problem with previous attempts at bringing video telephony services to market has been the quality of service and the poor reputation video services have - if you turned to the cable news networks for live coverage from Baghdad, for instance, you certainly experienced delays, synching issues, and jerkiness. But, while most services have failed to live up the promise of IP-based video telephony, Krisbergh says, “One thing I know is we have delivered on that promise,” quoting user surveys, which his company conducts on a monthly basis, claiming none of ten users say their service exceeds expectations.

Krisbergh further explains that WorldGate essentially rejected previous work on video endpoints and services, opting instead to expend the necessary resources on optimizing screen size and limiting packet loss over the Internet. He adds that, although WorldGate is a small company, it found a niche that most of the world gave little attention to, largely because the technology wasn’t yet available.

“Everyone was so focused on VoIP that they forgot about video telephony,” he says. “My vision of video telephony goes back 20 years. I just wasn’t able to do it because the technology just wasn’t there.”

He even remarked that, once the opportunity presented itself, and WorldGate was able to successfully develop its product, he, himself, was among the most stunned. “The most important thing we did was set criteria for the quality,” he says. “I must deliver high quality - if it doesn’t I don’t want to waste my time with it. It must give a sense of being there, a sense of comfort, a sense of really talking to the person.”

With the Ojo, he believes WorldGate has achieved its goal of being able to provide full motion video with no noticeable delay. He also is not surprised that the two firms are already enjoying the fruits of their labor, because it is a segment of the population that, by nature, places tremendous value on non-verbal communication, and he expects this project will prove to be merely the tip of the iceberg, that video telephony will receive a major push from it.

WorldGate, in fact, is working with BT, New Zealand Telecom, and others on project abroad, but even in the United States, according to Schatzberg, the Snap!VRS service is beginning to reach new heights, with both government agencies and larger businesses expressing interest.

Snap Telecom is currently involved with a number of state agencies on projects, including the State of

Georgia, where it has placed Ojo phones in the state’s Regional Vocational Rehabilitation offices throughout the state, so that deaf customers can make VRS calls from those offices. In addition, the facilities have access to a VRI service, which differs from VRS in that both parties are in

the same physical location, but they use the Snap!VRS interpreter in lieu of having an outside interpreter come to the office. (VRI is not federally funded.) Schatzberg says he also has received calls from several Federal agencies that are interested in its services.

The Ojo has been designed to easily work within the confines of corporate IT infrastructures, which also makes it an ideal opportunity for businesses looking to enable members of the deaf community more easily integrate into work environments, which is a benefit to the hard of hearing community, the businesses, as well as the nation as a whole.

In fact, Snap!VRS has already been contacted by many corporations looking to deploy Ojo hardware for their deaf employees, ranging from Fortune 100 businesses in technology, pharmaceutical, and other industries, to very small consulting and service oriented companies, says Schatzberg. While he hasn’t noticed a trend in terms of the types of businesses, he adds he has been “pleasantly surprised at the number of larger companies that have looked favorably upon the technology.”

Many of these companies have diversity initiatives in place and are looking to hire an increasing number of deaf or hard of hearing employees.

The Ojo/Snap!VRS combination makes it considerably easier to accomplish that, as it creates a substantially enhanced work environment for those employees. While some of these

installations are on-offs, the company is currently looking at one installation of nearly 50 phones and another of more than a dozen.

Much of the interest is a result of a general awareness of the Ojo. Snap!VRS has a presence at many community and industry meetings and conferences focused on the deaf community. Also, as people begin to use the service at home, they increasingly become aware of its business applications as well. All of this, explains Schatzberg, has created an influx of online applications as well as calls from businesses looking for ways to better serve their hard of hearing and deaf employees.

Clearly, the consumer and business applications of the Snap!VRS service provide much needed assistance to the community it targets, providing deaf individuals with an enriched communications experience they have not previously enjoyed. But, there is an even more wide-reaching industry trend that can develop from it as well - the video call center.

While the deaf community are the early adopters, the technology can easily be extended to any business in any industry.

“It just so happens that we’re currently servicing the early adopter community, but this same infrastructure can be leveraged to provide similar services to the non-deaf population,” says Schatzberg.

The Snap!VRS call center, in fact, is no different from any other call center, other than having video phones for each agent. The network infrastructure has been specifically designed for maximum video call volume, and, according to Schatzberg, there has been no degradation of video quality at peak call volumes.

Certainly, as the video telephony industry grows, the Snap!VRS infrastructure will become a model for call centers worldwide. The benefits of such deployments will extend far beyond simply enabling face-to-face communication. Anyone that has ever had cause to call a customer service center has likely questioned the professionalism of an agent at one time or another. Undoubtedly, the addition of video communication will have a profound impact on the level of professionalism and, consequently, problem resolution.

For now, despite its growth, the service is still in its infancy. But the benefits for government, enterprise, and call center deployments - for both the deaf and the hearing communities - have the potential to produce a growth curve far steeper than Krisbergh or Schatzberg can imagine.

This is a very powerful technology that we believe will have an enormously positive impact,” concludes Schatzberg. “WorldGate has proven its ability to engineer high-level solutions, and we look forward to a very long-term and mutually beneficial relationship.”

[galtgulch]

The Snap!VRS call center, in fact, is no different from any other call center, other than having video phones for each agent. The network infrastructure has been specifically designed for maximum video call volume, and, according to Schatzberg, there has been no degradation of video quality at peak call volumes.

Certainly, as the video telephony industry grows, the Snap!VRS infrastructure will become a model for call centers worldwide. The benefits of such deployments will extend far beyond simply enabling face-to-face communication. Anyone who has ever had cause to call a customer service center has likely questioned the professionalism of an agent at one time or another. Undoubtedly, the addition of video communication will have a profound impact on the level of professionalism and, consequently, problem resolution.

For now, despite its growth, the service is still in its infancy. But the benefits for government, enterprise, and call center deployments - for both the deaf and the hearing communities - have the potential to produce a growth curve far steeper than Krisbergh or Schatzberg can imagine.

This is a very powerful technology that we believe will have an enormously positive impact,” concludes Schatzberg. “WorldGate has proven its ability to engineer high-level solutions, and we look forward to a very long-term and mutually beneficial relationship.”

Here is a link to another article on the subject of video telephony involving SNAP and the Ojo which appeared before the beginning of Ojo distribution.

http://tinyurl.com/ytdhk5

This distribution has begun with close to ten thousand Ojos shipped so far. SNAP says that they have a backlog of applicants from the deaf community, that enthusiasm for the Ojo and satisfaction with the Ojo is high, and that growth in the backlog exceeds the rate of shipping of the Ojos. Subsequent orders for the Ojo to continue the distribution are expected to be announced in the near future.

The closing stock price on Friday was sixteen cents a share on higher than normal volume. Shareholder meeting at WorldGate headquarters outside Philadelphia scheduled for December 13 and info from that meeting will be posted here.

If you are looking for a holiday gift for a loved one who lives at a distance, anywhere from across the street to halfway around the world, you might want to consider the Ojo video telephone: www.ojophone.com If you intend to make a purchase the Ojo might be less expensive at www.thenerds.net or www.101phones.com. The Ojo might be available at retailers listed at the company website www.ojophone.com under "products/ find a retailer". The retailers listed are brick and mortar stores and there is no listing of on line sellers such as the nerds and 101phones. Walmart and Circuit City have had Ojo not in their stores but searchable on their online sites.

galt

Edited December 2, 2007 by galtgulch

[galtgulch]

If you are looking for a holiday gift for a loved one who lives at a distance, anywhere from across the street to halfway around the world, you might want to consider the Ojo video telephone: www.ojophone.com If you intend to make a purchase the Ojo might be less expensive at www.thenerds.net or www.101phones.com. The Ojo might be available at retailers listed at the company website www.ojophone.com under "products/ find a retailer". The retailers listed are brick and mortar stores and there is no listing of on line sellers such as the nerds and 101phones. Walmart and Circuit City have had Ojo not in their stores but searchable on their online sites.

galt

More than $1 Billion Being Spent on Consumer Video Telephone Services, Says Insight Research

Published: Wed, 13 Jun 2007, 14:00:00 GMT

Edited by Chris Simmons

BOONTON, N.J. - June 13 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The market for residential video telephony services is expected to break the billion dollar barrier for the first time this year, as an increasing number of households as well as individual cell phone users around the world start making video phone calls. According to the study, nearly $1.1 billion will be spent on residential video telephony services worldwide in 2007, according to a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation.

Insight Research's market analysis study, entitled "Residential Video Telephony Services Market 2007-2011," notes that residential video telephony is part of a worldwide push by carriers to create new IP-enabled services for consumers.

The study notes that consumers of wireline services and mobile telecommunications services are adopting the video telephone service along with other IP-enabled services such as fixed-mobile convergence services, file sharing services, streaming services, location-based services and presence-based services.

"I believe everyone is underestimating the impact that video telephone services will have on our lives," says Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research. "This year it's a $1 billion market, but visual information is how we as a species understand our world. We are visual - not auditory - beings. My guess is that among all the IP services being rolled out worldwide, real time video phone could be the service that has the biggest impact on our daily lives," Rosenberg concluded.

http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2007-...

ENTER: the OJO!

Edited December 4, 2007 by galtgulch

[Brant Gaede]

WGAT is 13 cents at the close.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

TI says the new chip will push IP videophone system cost under $120.

"This will make videophones more attractive to service providers and consumers as the product price point falls from the $500-$700 range to the $150-$200 range."

Hal said on the last CC that the new davinci chip will substantially reduce the cost of the New Ojo's. Maybe that is what the MSO 's and Telco's are waiting for.

TI DEMONSTRATES IP VIDEOPHONES BASED ON DAVINCI� TECHNOLOGY AT CES

Next-Generation Videophones Leverage Programmable SoC Solution to Reduce Cost and Speed Time to Market

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 8, 2007) -- Fulfilling the promise of its DaVinciTM technology to accelerate the pace of innovation, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) today announced it will demonstrate next-generation Internet Protocol videophones based on the revolutionary DaVinci media devices at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 8-11, 2007. By leveraging TI's programmable system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution, software and development tools, manufacturers can reduce overall system cost through a reduced bill of materials and get to market quickly with products featuring advanced functionality, including H.264 video capability.

"TI is committed to the evolution of the videophone market and solutions based on DaVinci technology are key to achieving that goal," said Pradeep Bardia, worldwide marketing manager, videophone solutions, TI. "We look forward to helping original equipment manufacturers migrate to a single-chip solution as consumer interest is stimulated through lower prices and service providers begin to conduct trials."

The migration to DaVinci technology marks the next round of IP videophone innovation based on TI technology. Initially, manufacturers used TI's optimized TMS320DM64xTM digital media processors and standalone general purpose processors. With the DaVinci devices, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can design a single-chip solution that includes a general purpose processor and digital signal processor (DSP), video and audio codecs, an IP network stack and a robust software ecosystem. The reduced bill of materials drastically cuts system cost and design time.

"With a single-chip solution and the inclusion of next-generation peripherals, TI's DaVinci technology has helped push IP videophone system cost under the $120 mark," said Andrew Davis, managing partner, Wainhouse Research. "This will make videophones more attractive to service providers and consumers as the product price point falls from the $500-$700 range to the $150-$200 range."

Available today, the portfolio of DaVinci processors leverage TI's newest TMS320C64x+TM DSP core and consists of scalable, programmable digital signal processing SoCs, accelerators and peripherals that are optimized to match the price, performance and feature requirements for a broad spectrum of digital video end equipments. The DaVinci processor portfolio includes the TMS320DM6446 (SoC) and the TMS320DM6437 (DSP only) processors, which have both performance and on-chip peripheral features that are well tuned for applications such as IP-based desktop videophones.

http://focus.ti.com/docs/pr/pressrelease...

[Brant Gaede]

The future with this type of thing is probably with Cisco Systems which is using big screens. Investing in Cisco and maybe Corning might very well be the best long-term way to go.

--Brant

[galtgulch]

The future with this type of thing is probably with Cisco Systems which is using big screens. Investing in Cisco and maybe Corning might very well be the best long-term way to go.

--Brant

I have the impression that I have not made myself clear to you. I started this thread to enlighten folks here about the existence of the Ojo. I own one and enjoy using it. I also own an Apple iMac which has iChat and I still prefer to use the Ojo. It is easy to set up, anywhere in the house, with ethernet extender cables one to the wall outlet from the Modem or Router, the other from any other wall outlet to the Ojo. The picture and voice quality are unaffected and superb.

I live with my loved one. I talk with and see my friends who live all over the country, whom I have persuaded to buy the Ojo. Some are fellow investors so they own the Ojo as well. If you are fortunate enough to have loved ones, who unfortunately are at a distance, the Ojo is a marvelous way to stay in touch and to see them for a flat monthly rate of ten bucks for unlimited video calls over broadband cable or DSL. The Ojo also works over some Satellite systems and does work with WiMax or wireless.

My point is that although I expect the Ojo to find its customers as it is doing slowly, I think the company will hopefully manage to stay alive, expecially with the ongoing SNAP deal, until its is profitable, but I am not encouraging anyone to take a risk by investing in the stock at this point.

Cisco's video screens are large and appealing for business use and are very expensive. For many business uses the Ojo is ideal and sufficient.

The market for video telephones is coming into its own over the next few years. There will be room for different players. The Ojo will do well with a slice of the pie.

galt

Edited December 5, 2007 by galtgulch