<p>Technology is enabling us to get ever closer to the ideal of casual and seamless face-to-face communication over long distances. In fits and starts we're pulling in more tools and options for communicating and getting us closer to a video-based ideal thanks to better devices and faster broadband connections.</p><p>Skype is reportedly testing video messaging options for mobile users today. The service would let people leave a video-based message for their friends. I can see a whole new variant on the "wish-you-were-here" picture messages I send that could involve panoramic views or the local soundscape (good for concerts and birdcalls, bad for when I'm in New York City).</p><p>A few weeks ago, Twitter launched Vine, to let people record 6-second videos and post them easily from their mobile, and Facebook is testing a voice messaging application that will let you leave a voice-based message for friends from Facebook. While the Facebook example isn't video-based it drives home the larger point: Our web interactions are pushing forward to mirror our real-world interactions as much as possible, which means that our bandwidth demands and our mobile devices need to keep up.</p><p>On the mobile device side, we're doing fine. Processing, cameras and microphones on smartphones are enabling us to record quality videos, voice and images. In the case of images we even have enough processing power for some editing. But on the bandwidth side, it's unclear if we're going to have the capability to share our efforts. That's why on the wireless and wireline side we need to keep adding capacity and lowering costs. Conducting a video call today sucks up a lot of bandwidth, but there are ways to reduce the impact on the network and drive down costs for consumers and the operators.</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/02/15/can-you-see-me-now-video-messaging-and-the-future-of-communication/">Keep reading...</a></p>