Enhanced CU-SeeMe

Enhanced CU-SeeMe -- Enhanced CU-SeeMe is the commercial release of the freeware standard CU-SeeMe client released from Cornell University. White Pine Software has taken the original release and added some solid features to it, including an appealing interface, full-color videoconferencing (24-bit true color and 4-bit greyscale), audio and chat capabilities, and white board communications. You can also participate in 'Live over the Internet' conferences, broadcasts, or chat conferences with Enhanced CU-SeeMe. Enhanced CU-SeeMe works well as a web browser helper application, automatically launching itself directly from web pages whenever needed. Additional features include advanced security and compression, Caller ID, easy installation, a phonebook pre-configured with several reflector sites, and selectable audio compression algorithms. Unfortunately, as with the standard client, Enhanced CU-SeeMe is a luxury that many dial-up connectors will have to pass up -- attempting to connect at any rate less than 28.8 Kbps will get you nowhere fast, or even slow -- only audio telephony is recommended for users with 14.4 Kbps and lower connections. While the current reality for many users is less than amazing, for those with fast connections, Enhanced CU-SeeMe definitely delivers when it comes to high-quality color videoconferencing. And when used with the Connectrix black and white VideoCam (about $99), Enhanced CU-SeeMe is an inexpensive and efficient tool for both sending and receiving video feeds. The low cost of this high-tech combo has many users racing to put themselves on the 'net in full-video glory. It is gratifying to see so many users, especially corporate users, wildly interested in all that the 'net can offer, but it remains disappointing that most users have to be left out of the fun. Overall, very slow transfer rates make this application interesting, if not entirely useful for most users. But for those with speed to spare, Enhanced CU-SeeMe is bound to be a must-have video app. Pros: 24-bit true color and 4-bit greyscale videoconferencing over the 'net, send and receive video Cons: For many users, data transfer is too slow for continual use New: Many bug fixes Version Reviewed: 2.0.2 Beta 2 Date of Review: 6/23/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud Date Entered 7/7/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud