Computer conferencing

Remember ooVoo, that iChat-like video conferencing and chat tool we took a look at back in June? Today they"ve launched a new version that has got a handful of useful, powerful tools that make it a viable alternative for small workgroups using conference calls and screen-sharing applications, such as WebEx. First up is a new recording feature that lets users tape video chats with other participants. Since the video and audio are being recorded to the hard drive, the only time limit is how much free space the computer has. In testing, I managed to get a nearly 15 minute, four-way video conversation down to 95 MB file. The application took about 10 minutes to convert my conversation into workable FLV file that was at a full 1MB/S quality. ***

SAP Ventures will announce tomorrow that it is investing in meeting software start-up WebEx, and the company plans to incorporate WebEx technology into business portal mySAP.com. Representatives from WebEx said SAP Ventures--the venture arm of German business software maker SAP AG--has invested between $1 million and $5 million in WebEx. WebEx is also expected to announce tomorrow a $26 million Series D round of funding from investors including SAP, Yahoo and Tibco. The deal comes as the market for business-to-business services ramps up. It also follows speculation that SAP faces slowing revenues because of its weakened online strategy. Shares in SAP fell sharply today after a roadshow in the United States pointed to waning enthusiasm for its Web business. Through the proposed partnership, mySAP. ***

Intel said that it has taken an equity stake in HotOffice Technologies, a maker of Net-based collaboration software. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. HotOffice sells HotOffice Virtual Office Service, an Internet-based email, conferencing, document sharing, and Net telephony product for building virtual offices. (Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network. ***