AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is killing off its Video Share service, which allowed customers with select devices with front-facing cameras to stream live video while on a voice call.
AT&T launched the service in July 2007 but it never truly took off, even though it preceded by several years similar services such as FaceTime, Skype and Fring that are now available on a number of smartphones.
"AT&T is discontinuing our Video Share service," the carrier said in a statement. "As we look ahead to the next generation of live, mobile video calling services, we're evaluating new platforms and other ways we can evolve our mobile video calling offers. We've already begun to notify subscribers directly and will work with them to adjust their monthly charges accordingly."
AT&T said that the service will be officially retired this year.
Since the launch of Vide Share, other companies have entered the video calling market. For example, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) brought its FaceTime video calling service to the iPhone 4, and also has approved third-party video-calling applications for the iPhone that work over AT&T's HSPA network.
Video streaming over mobile networks is set to take off in the next few years. According to the vendor Allto Communications, video streaming in the first half of 2010 nearly doubled from the previous six months.
For more:
- see this Phone Scoop article
- see this Engadget post
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