By COLlive reporter
Can messaging be made even more personable?
The answer might be yes if you try Glide, the new mobile app that allows you to live video chat with friends without the need to -and wait time of- uploading and downloading the video file.
Available for iPhone and Android devices, the free app broadcasts the video message as it is being recorded and can be watched in real-time (and for later viewing as well).
Its inventors are calling it “the world’s first instant video messenger” and “a revolutionary new way to stay in touch that combines the expressiveness of live video with the spontaneity of messaging.”
“It’s incredibly simply to use,” wrote Nick Bolton of the New York Times. Jordan Crook of TechCrunch wrote that despite the tough market, “the fact that Glide lets you choose between real-time and on-demand consumption of video could be a boon for the company.”
The app originates from Israel and among its stake holders are Orey Gilliam, former CEO of the once popular chat programs ICQ and AOL IM, and Philippe Schwartz, founder and former CEO of ooVoo.
“I was bothered by how difficult it was to communicate with friends and family through video,” says Jonathan Caras, who founded the company together with Ari Roisman and Adam Korbl.
Caras, Glide’s Chief Technical Officer, is a former resident of Crown Heights and alumn of Chabad yeshivos Hadar Hatorah in Crown Heights and Tiferes Bachurim in Morristown, NJ.
As a teenager in Columbia, MD, Caras began learning about Judaism with his local Shliach, Rabbi Hillel Baron. He went on to spend several years in various yeshivas and received certification as a sofer stam (scribe of religious articles).
His many trips to Israel nurtured his intense love for the holy land and after getting married, he and his wife made Aliyah. While living in Jerusalem, he studied computer programming at the Jerusalem College of Technology.
After several years of running an app design company, Caras began to develop the idea for a new kind of video communication.
“Video calls are hard to arrange because all the participants need to align their schedules, while texting is so convenient,” explains Caras who lives in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Mordechai with his wife and two children.
The Glide team are frequently featured in tech blogs and video interviews wearing yarmulkas, tzitzis, and for Caras, a full beard.
Look for the free app on iPhone and Android devices. For more info, visit glide.me
If you are now using what’s app you should try Glide. Glide is easy and so much better!
what a kiddush hashem and kiddush lubawitch. Its nice to see lubawitchers finaly cranking up the market………….
Thanks for publishing this great article. It is such an honor to get to make a kiddish Hashem by making a great product and getting to do it in Israel. If you have any other questions about the app feel free to be in touch caras@glide.me
Our bochurim need to learn tech skills.
Jonathan’s mom is Joanne Caras, creator of the Holocaust Survivor Cookbook, who has given speeches at Chabad Houses all over the world. His brother is a Chabad Rabbi and his sister is a doctor. That’s quite a family!
We are so proud of our son. He has created a revolutionary new product while keeping true to his Religious convictions. Joanne and Harvey Caras
You make us proud!! Hatzlacha Rabba Umuflaga.
from all of us at Chabad
who said it’s a “look” maybe, just maybe, that’s who he really is?
your beard and chassidishe commitment and pride will take you far…
Hashem is your partner!!
I love the chasidisher look. U should have many brochos, inckuding much nachas
Way go to! Great idea, helps keep in touch with shluchim all over the world in real time!
That’s incredible. You will go all the way
keep it up man
much hatzlacha
i wish you much success, what a gr8 idea may u have all the brachos thats needed to take this project and scale it to the max.
intrested of taking in investors?
Wow looks pretty cool but more important then the actual product is the fact that “Yes we can” B & H isn’t a 1 time wonder. Being Chasidish even at the highest level’s of the corporate worlds is possible…
Way to go Yonatan! I love glide, use it every single day.
He has a nice big beard. Keep it real man.