Over the last couple of weeks we successfully launched a beta version of VideoMailz. Thank you for all the support and suggestions. The response was positive and helpful. Your support keeps us excited and motivated to work towards the final release.
As we analyzed the responses, we realized that VideoMailz should be redesigned from the ground up. The site will be out of service with a promise that we will launch shortly with a better and improved version of VideoMailz. We are working harder to get a new look, design, and architecture to support all the features we see for the service going forward.
Please keep checking the blog for the update.
Revamping VideoMailz !
Introducing personalized VideoMailz account
In most of the feedback we received, users expressed concerns related to using their GMail, Hotmail or Yahoo credentials on VideoMailz. We introduced this form of authentication to simplify the user experience. However, it seems like even those of you using VideoMailz through an existing webmail account have asked for a personalized VideoMailz account due to security concerns. In addition, we also realized that it would allow users with other email providers to use our service. Hence, we are working really hard to bring you personalized VideoMailz accounts.
Stay tuned for our upcoming release and further updates!
Experiencing recording / playback issues?
If you have faced video recording / playback issues lately, I’d like to apologize on behalf of the VideoMailz team. We’ve been working hard at resolving this issue. Our video server was missing an important update and our server admin failed to apply the patch. This issue was faced by users who recorded long videos.
We have fixed the issue and are working on more feature requests. Kunal will be pushing out updates tonight that will allow you to upload existing videos and mail them privately without hassle. This is a feature many of you have been waiting for and I’m excited about it!
Once again, thanks for all your feedback and suggestions!
Bypassing corporate firewall’s ;)
The corporate world has blocked access to RTMP port 1935. Our corporate users provided feedback that they couldn’t view videos from work. We have addressed this issue by bypassing corporate firewalls in these scenarios by re-routing our video stream through HTTP port 80.
RTMP Tunneling
The Video Player attempts to connect to the VideoMailz server on the default RTMP port 1935, but it fails. Then, it attempts to connect using RTMP Tunneling on port 80. Hence, it takes a bit longer to start playing the video in this scenario. We are also working on adding cues to indicate that the firewall has blocked RTMP and we are attemping a connection over HTTP.
Introducing new features!
Today, we rolled out a couple of new features. I thought I’d give a quick overview of some of them and then talk about what we are we working on next.
- First and most are the obvious design changes. We have worked on our recorder and players. Notice that little character ? Well that is an advertisement! Yea.. now all playbacks will have a quick little advertisement.
2. Then we also changed the login box and switched around some components to provide better work flow. See that little ‘remember me’ box ? Yep, now we have auto-logins.
3. Now we also have address book support. You don’t have to remember your contacts to send a video mail now. You can just use our address book widget. It lets you search, import, and select contacts from outlook, gmail, and yahoo accounts. CHECK IT OUT!
Besides these 3 major features, we have minor updates to the site.
Now, what are we working on next ?
We have couple of features in the pipeline. 
First of all, we are going to have an upload functionality. Soon, users will be able to upload existing videos and email them to anybody.
Also, we are working on a browser add-on. We are hoping that this browser will bring VideoMailz closer to your inbox. Once you open your gmail, hotmail, or yahoo compose page, you will have option to record a video right on the page! Here is the sneak peek of our prototype -
Oh yea! We are totally excited!
VideoMailz Beta – Launched!
Welcome to VideoMailz
VideoMailz beta was unofficially released to the web last month. We have been receiving a lot of constructive feedback and several feature requests. We are working very hard at improving the quality, reliability and usability of our service. We’re also getting ready to launch several improvements and new features this week (more about that later).
But first, a simple question – How does one email a video? If the first thought through your mind was an attachment to an email or a YouTube link, I highly urge you to try our service!
VideoMailz is a private video emailing service that simplifies video communication. All you need is an existing email address and a web camera. If you need recommendations on purchasing a good web camera, email us at Team@VideoMailz.com and we will help you find the right camera.
Sending a video email is just 3 simple steps
- Login with your existing email credentials with one of the following email providers (GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, Live). We highly respect your privacy and DO NOT store your username and password. Your credentials are only used to authenticate your identity with your email provider so we can prevent others from sending a video mail using your email address.
- Once you are logged in, your web cam will be automatically detected and you should see yourself on the recorder. Click on the record button to begin recording a video message. Once you are done, click stop and you can preview the message before sending or discard it if you wish to record again.
- Finally, you can enter a comma separated list of email recipients, a subject for the message and click SEND! Voila, you will have now successfully sent a Video Mail to those recipients without taking up their mailbox space. A copy of the message will be sent to you for your records.
We strongly believe in our mantra – “Effective Video Communication” and are working very hard towards attaining that goal. Please tell us what you like and what you don’t. Video Mail us at Team@VideoMailz.com – It’s only a click away. Keep checking back here for news on latest updates to our service.
Thanks for your continued support and feedback!
