Creative's inPerson video conferencing clam gets official

We broke this one to the world in December, confirmed it from the floor of CES on Saturday, and now, Creative confirms what we already knew. We're talking about the Creative inPerson Video Conferencing device of course. Priced at $700, the portable video conferencing device promises that "you can join a board meeting in Geneva, a one-on-one in Africa, and your child's birthday party in California while you're stuck in the airport in Australia" all in the same day. Some day as no launch date was announced. We're not going to run back through all the details again. Hit that read link if you need a review of the details.

[Fitz @ Mar 31st 2008 5:12PM]

I have bought two of these devices for test and here are my findings: WARNING! I am a techno neophyte and am in no way qualified to provide useful information relating to anything electronic.

In-Person quick Review:

1. Screen is difficult to view from any angle other than straight on, which means multiple people can't easily view at the same time.

2. Most people I asked to test want no part of being viewed remotely.

3. No Matter what button you press on the device you end up with a display that says "Setting up user account, Please wait..." The device will be frozen at this screen for 4 minutes before returning the error "Server Unreachable". You can click OK at this point and you have two options, Network or Setup. If you click on "Network" you can select Ethernet or wi-fi. If you select Ethernet, you can select automatic or manual. Regardless of what you select from here, there is no way to input a proxy server setting. That means this device is useless in most if not all corporate environments. Yes I could setup some reservations in our multiple DHCP servers to allocate a special IP to these devices and then create a firewall rule to allow these devices to bypass the proxy servers but what about every other corporate site the user visits? Now it gets even more irritating, if you click "Back" to get back out of the network settings page it will again try to connect to the mother ship and be frozen for 4 minutes. The screen says "This may take a few minutes". I always thought a "few" meant 3, but I guess it means 4 minutes.

4. You can use the wifi mode but be aware that the device can't connect to anything wifi that has a username login menu and it can't connect to one of those wifi networks where you have to click ok to accept usage policies. I think that means it won't work in most hotels or corporate wifi networks either...or just about any wifi network other than a home network.

5. When you connect the battery on the bottom, the device is even more bulky as the battery protrudes another 3/4" x 1" x 6" from the outside of the unit.

6. If you are frustrated with pressing the Network button and waiting 4 minutes to get into the screen and another 4 minutes to get out of the screen you can press the "Setup" button instead ... oops another 4 minutes frozen while it says "Setting up user account, Please wait..." Eventually the Setup screens gets an error and thus does not even allow you to view any setup settings because it can't connect outbound past the firewall.

7. You could use your notebook and Skype for a solution that actually works and does not require the user on the other end to have some proprietary hardware.

8. It takes 5 hours to charge 1.5 hours use, this means that you will need to take the power pack with you. Hence the illusion of no cords is not realistic.


9. I contracted Creative tech support to see if I could get this working with a proxy server and here's what they said:
"In summary, you need to open the following ports."
permit tcp any eq 80
permit udp any eq 123
permit udp any eq 3478
permit udp any eq 8743
permit udp any range 5060 5062 permit udp any range 9000 9005 permit udp any range 23000 23003 permit udp range 23000 23003 any range 60000 65535 permit tcp range 23000 23003 any range 60000 65535

...oops with all those ports to open I don't suppose it would work with a Proxy server anyway.

Summation:
This device is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen...wait...no there was that Britney Spears come back thing where she was dancing like Al Gore on Valium, but this device is a close second to that.

In generous fairness, this device could be useful at home. That way you could talk to and see a friend while conducting your business meetings from your home to their ... wait ... I mean um...give me a minute to think about this...

[Joe @ Jan 7th 2008 2:35PM]

At last, something marketed to the common folk. We're always involved with European board meetings and we have long ago abandoned "conversation" with "one-on-one" since it sounds more important, at least to our African friends. And we just love taking Australian vacations while during our kids' birthdays.

Also, all of these other people also spent $700 on this thing, and they're pretty much all in the same time zone.

All we need now is a stock ticker and some remote integration with our 22" laptops, which we accidentally left on the space station. AGAIN.

[Joe @ Jan 7th 2008 2:38PM]

Hmm... change that second "with" to "in favor of," and delete "during." I'm firing one of my assistants due to the terrible errors in my previous comment.

[Onetruebill @ Jan 7th 2008 3:15PM]

I am ordering one right now...
What Board meeting will I be joining? How much do board members get paid?
I am looking at this as an investment.

[Flashpoint @ Jan 7th 2008 2:35PM]

I remember when I was 10 years old AT&T had a video conferencing phone for just $1000 on display in the store where my mom took me to pay the phone bill.

Many years later, Motorola was talking big about the Motorola V3x which had a video conference phone camera.

Still later we get laptops with built in webcams and for the most part, I regularly never use the webcam for IM/chat because you can only use it with one person at a time (unless your in a room) and #2, some people feel weird about allowing people to see them through their computer.

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2008 8:04PM]

and now that you're 11, it is only $700. My how technology works.

[Can @ Jan 7th 2008 2:52PM]

What protocol will it use?
Over 3G or what?

[whatishalo? @ Jan 7th 2008 2:47PM]

"you can join a board meeting in Geneva, a one-on-one in Africa, and your child's birthday party in California while you're stuck in the airport in Australia"


What if I don't do business or know anyone in anyone of these countries? I guess it won't do me any good then...

[Eric @ Jan 7th 2008 2:51PM]

..And why would I want this when any laptop could do the job?

[rey_rodriguez @ Jan 7th 2008 3:34PM]

What the hell is Creative thinking? They should stick to developing an iPod touch competitor.

[Adam @ Jan 7th 2008 3:52PM]

Haven't we learned yet...This device will work better than your laptop because it is designed specifically for video conferencing. If this works as advertised, professional grade video conferencing, it beats the pants off of the $20k setup my company has. $700 is truly a bargain.

[Stasguy @ Jan 7th 2008 4:37PM]

what do they have against australia?

[DeafLEGO @ Jan 7th 2008 5:11PM]

Deaf people could use this!

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2008 8:04PM]

WHAT?

[DeafLEGO @ Jan 7th 2008 8:06PM]

I SAID DEAF PEOPLE COULD USE THIS!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!?!?!

[PenaltyKillah @ Jan 7th 2008 11:50PM]

Yick... while they're at it, Creative should make a portable ATM.


Yeah, seeing that there's not a keyboard there... but a keypad...


And maybe a portable DVD player.


Mini-laptop? A Sony Mylo competitor?


Or why not an update to the ridiculously termagant ZEN Vision W?

[Mike V. Brandofino @ Jan 15th 2008 3:40PM]

check out www.glowpoint.com

[Mike V. Brandofino @ Jan 15th 2008 3:39PM]

check out www.glowpoint.com