Sure, it's frumpy, overpriced and rather pointless for anyone who owns a computer with a webcam and knows how to use it, but ASUS and Skype are after the grandma / grandpa / computerphobic set with this here AiGuru SV1 videophone, and aren't doing horrible job of it. The screen is great, the icons are ginormous, and operation couldn't be much simpler. Unfortunately, the video quality is pretty inexcusable for a dedicated box like this: the VGA image is crap, and the framerate is totally weak -- it could've been a problem with the network we were on, but it looked like a straight-up wired router to us. What gives, ASUS?

Tandberg looks to get a piece of the desktop videoconferencing market with its E20 desk phone. The company promises DVD-quality video (at 448P) in a fast, secure, and relatively affordable -- at least when compared to its massive telepresence systems -- package. The E20 is compatible with most IP phone and video services and also includes a 20kHz speaker phone, and -- perhaps most importantly -- a 10.6-inch widescreen LCD display with WXGA resolution. As far as speed, it's listed with SIP up to 1152 kbps. Priced at $1,499, Tandberg argues a couple of these are a lot cheaper than a business-class ticket for that meeting in Europe. Expect to see availability in early 2009.

[Via InformationWeek]

Nokia's always coming up with some new harebrained scheme for cramming a gargantuan camera lens into one of its new phones -- trust us, if the Finnish phone giant could accomplish this task by breaking into Fort Knox or compromising your precious bodily fluids, it would. The latest effort by Nokia comes in the form of a patent that might point the way to an upcoming video phone, possibly the N85, which could give current compact shooters a run for their money. Current thinking on that device is that it'll be a video-oriented successor to the N96, with a WQVGA screen and a 5 (or maybe even 8) megapixel camera. It's mostly conjecture at this point, but we hope Nokia accomplishes it with a thinner device than we're looking at in this patent.

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.

For last week's installment of Movie Gadget Friday, we featured a two-part look at 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, in honor of the late great Arthur C. Clarke. This week we fast forward a few more years to 2021 in the "cyberpunk" world of Johnny Mnemonic. The gadgets are as hilariously lame as the lines, which likely led this 1995 film to its mixed reviews, and Keanu to his later role as Neo. From fax machines to Zip Disk-like passports, we can only hope the future of technology doesn't look this grim.

Wet-wired brain implant and memory doubler
Shoved into the back of his skull and wet-wired to his brain, Johnny comes equipped with a shockingly small 80GB chunk of memory capable of smugging data between international borders. An input for a standard headphone jack is located at the back of his head and serves as the only port for uploads -- which are pretty painful. New data can be accepted from seemingly any source connecting to the input, however, MiniDiscs appear to be smugglers' preference thanks to their easy ability to be burned once an upload is complete. (This is key when expecting a mob with machine guns to show up at any minute.) Thankfully, individually-wrapped memory doublers can help boost implant storage capacity for double the data smuggling -- we hope it uses lossless compression. Unfortunately, instead of receiving an error for exceeding capacity, anyone with an overloaded brain implant risks certain death within a couple days by the resulting synaptic seepage. More after the break.

Tough luck Creative, good news Type A consumers. The FCC just outed Creative's unannounced, inPerson wireless video conferencing solution. Not only that, but they've loosed the user manual, external photos, and even splayed the device wide to reveal a VGA camera, built-in dual microphones, and TI DaVinci graphics chip. Here's what they've got coming: 802.11b/g WiFi and Ethernet, 76-degree wide-angle lens with "excellent low light performance," H.264 video with SIP support, rechargeable/removable Li-ion battery, remote control, headphone jack for privacy, and TV-out to view callers on a larger display. The battery can be charged in 5-hours for a 2-hour run when using the built-in, 7-inch, 16.7 million color LCD at 50% brightness. That lifespan increases to about 5 hours when sending the display to the TV. It's also fully integrated with SightSpeed accounts. As such, it features automatic SightSpeed account login, speed dials, call history and contact list management as you'd expect. So is this the device / service mashup that will finally bring ubiquitous distribution of the dedicated video phone promised since the '50s? No. Of course, even the first generation brown Zune can garner buyer hysteria when the price is right. So go ahead Creative, tell us, how much and when?

Japan's NTT has expanded its videophone service with the introduction of its latest "Flet's Phone", the VP2000. The device -- an update to this model we saw way back in 2004 -- features a 12.1-inch, XGA touchscreen which will allow users to access email, browse the web, get weather and news, write memos, and obviously make voice and video calls. The phone utilizes the Japanese teleco's ADSL service, has a built-in webcam, and includes a USB port as well as RGB and RCA outputs. Additionally, if you happen to be over 60 and really excited about getting one of these puppies in your kitchen, the company is offering a discount for seniors, knocking down the regular price of ¥62,790 (about $513) to ¥57,540 ($470).

[Via Akihabara News]

Just in case you were losing faith in WorldGate's ability to build back steam behind the trusty Ojo, we've got some positive news. The Ojo Shadow video phone will soon be loosed on the US market through a slightly unorthodox venue, as the Home Shopping Network snags the exclusive first launch privileges. The device is slated to make its television debut to American consumers at 8:00AM EST on HSN (set your alarms, folks), but for those of us who aren't down with waiting, a set of two is available right now from the company's webstore for $499.90. Users can expect a 854 x 480 resolution display, up to 20 minutes of video messaging, photo-based caller ID, and automatic white balance and backlight compensation, but we still say a webcam-based video chat would be much kinder to your wallet.

Well, it's 2007, how're we all doing on this whole "videophones are the future" thing? Not so hot apparently, but luckily computers have filled the void with built-in webcams and bandwidth aplenty. However, just in case you wanted to kick it old-style futuristic, the UK's BT is launching two new videophone models of the standalone variety: the imaginatively named Videophone 1000 and Videophone 2000. Nothing much innovative about these two, but BT sounds like it's making videoconferencing about as easy as it could be, so at least that's nice of them. The phone uses a BT Broadband Talk account, plugs into your router and existing broadband internet, includes automatic upgrades and a built-in address book, and will cost you 10p (about 20 cents) per minute to use. That last part seems a bit off, given the numerous free options for videoconferencing over the internet, but we suppose it won't look too out of place on an existing BT Broadband Talk VoIP bill, and phones also work for normal calls to non-video customers. The Videophone 1000 model will run you £149.99 (about $293 US), while the Videophone 2000 adds in WiFi and costs £199.99 (about $391 US). Both phones are available now.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Ojo was showing off its latest device -- a travel version of the Ojo Video Phone -- and we had a chance to catch it in action. This was a prototype, but they do plan to have it to market by the middle of the year. The device is compatible with other Ojo Video phones like the Shadow and will retail for around $275, which is considerably cheaper than the Shadow. Aside from the smaller form factor and portability of the device, it is designed to be able to deal with poor connections at hotels and hotspots.

More pictures after the jump.

At CES this week WorldGate Communications, a former partner of Motorola, unveiled its third Ojo video phone which they're calling the Travel Ojo. Unsurprisingly, they're pitching this model as a travel device -- the clue's in the name -- by packaging it up in a luggage friendly flip-phone style case. WorldGate has also announced a partnership with British Telecom, so the Travel Ojo could potentially be the first Ojo device to make the trip abroad. Current Ojo devices are priced somewhere between $300-400, so an exchange rate conversion would suggest a price of somewhere between £150-200. However, as our UK readers will no doubt attest, direct currency conversions tend not to fly when it comes to pricing UK gadgets, so expect to see some sort of premium over the US price. Either that, or we might see some sort of subsidized deal with a BT Broadband package. A geek can dream, can't he?

[Via ShinyShiny]