videoconference
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MSI caught showing off VoIP video conferencing phone running Android
There are already plenty of fish in the sea when it comes to VoIP picture-frame phones, and only a few have succeeded in arousing us, but this well-guarded fella here at MSI's CeBIT booth seems to have some potential with its unusually large touchscreen. According to the label, the MS-9A31 landline-VoIP hybrid phone will support DECT, video conference call and instant messaging, all courtesy of Android. A quick glance around the phone also reveals two LAN ports, a USB port and a card reader -- the latter two presumably for stuffing multimedia files. No word on price or availability, but if MSI's prominence can win over Skype's heart then we might have a winner here (and ASUS better watch out). We gathered some shots, but there's also a video walkthrough after the break.%Gallery-87575% [Thanks, Andy]
Logitech buys SightSpeed video chat for $30 million in cash money
In these tough times there are plenty of bargains to be had for companies with liquid reserves and Logitech is taking full advantage, paying $30 million in cash for video conferencing startup SightSpeed. The company doesn't have nearly the name recognition of, say, Skype, but its software has been highly praised and sits at the core of Dell's Video Chat application. Exactly what Logitech will do with its new toy remains to be seen, but some strong integration with the QuickCam line is surely in the cards, and we wouldn't be surprised if this new relationship spawns a competitor to Creative's (also SightSpeed-infused) inPerson -- though hopefully at a price point far, far lower than that clamshell's $859.
Sony brings HD to the operating theater
We know several doctors who come home to relax in front of some HD material, and Sony (no stranger to the medical field) has a slew of new and upgraded products to make sure that they get the same high-fidelity experience at work. The ImageCore HD Digital Capture System can put both still and video images at full 1920x1080 pixel resolution onto the hospital network for anyone to view. And wouldn't you know, Sony has a new 32-inch LMD-3250 HD LCD monitor to help out with just that. Of course, collaboration is a big deal among medical specialists, and HD videoconferencing between five sites can be done with the PCS-XG80; there's even the UP-55MD/HD video printer so everyone can get a hardcopy. Sure, there are other players in the HD medical space, but this kind of product range is pretty impressive.
Four reasons to get your parents to use Leopard
I held the phone tightly in my right hand. With my left, I rubbed my dry, tired eyes. I looked at the clock in my Mac's menu bar. I had been on the phone for forty-five minutes, with no indication that I'd be hanging it up any time soon."OK," I said in a slow, deliberate tone. "Let's start from the beginning. Click on the Mail menu. A list should appear. Do you see it?"A pause. "Yes," my mother said."What do you see in that list?" I said."File ... About Mail ... Preferences ....""Good. Do you see 'Quit'?""Yes." "Excellent. Click on 'Quit' and we'll start again."Welcome to my personal hell, circa 2006. Pull up a chair. Get comfortable. We're going to be here for quite a while.
Lifesize and Radvision hook up soldiers, NFL stars via HD videoconferencing
The Navy's not the only one getting a special taste of the Super Bowl, the U.S. Army is teaming with LifeSize and Radvision to let NFL legends send real time greetings to soldiers at Fort Lewis, Washington. The video calls will use Lifesize's HD videoconferencing technology and Radvision's networking to let the stars and troops feel as though they're in the same rom , despite being many miles apart. We haven't checked our maps, but hopefully Fort Washington's got the necessary OTA coverage and/or necessary cable/satellite agreements to make sure they get the game in HD too.
LifeSize unveils low-cost HD video-conferencing solutions
The corporate videoconferencing market has taken some baby steps towards HD resolutions, but a company called LifeSize is trying to jump the rest of the pack with an array of 720p devices that sell for much lower prices than anything else we've seen. The company's basic solution, the $5,999 LifeSize Express, comes with a microphone, remote, and 720p camera, and features HDMI input and output to pipe additional content over a 1.5mbps connection. Stepping up, the LifeSize Team MP and LifeSize Room add support for more than two participants, with the $8,999 Team MP supporting 4-point single camera communications over a 2.5mbps connection and the Room bumping the specs to 6 points with two cameras and two screens each over 5mbps. Linking two MPs and a Room together in what LifeSize bundles as a turnkey telepresence solution will set you back around $40K, which sounds steep until you compare it to competing $200K SD-res systems on the market. All these are shipping now, according to the company.[Via ZDNet, thanks James]
Giraffe video conferencing robot to weird employees out
So your boss is home sick today, huh? On a business trip you say? Think twice. Thanks to HeadThere's new developments in Giraffe video conferencing robots, people can literally be in two places at once (and will look extremely creepy in one of those places). The 5-foot, 8-inch-tall Giraffe robot presents an awkward alternative to traditional video conferencing by creating an actual physical presence -- it even adjusts to a 4-foot, 5-inch height in case you interact with someone who's seated. Using special software and a webcam, the user can operate their robotic representative from a remote location: you can tilt the head, er, 14.1-inch LCD screen up and down and maneuver the robot about the office, while taking in sights and sounds with a 2.1-megapixel, 8x zoom camera and microphone. You definitely won't be shuffling through papers or sipping free coffee, however, you'd be able to chat with / micromanage your employees and coworkers thanks to a high-volume speaker placed appropriately where a mouth would be. Now word yet on availability, but we do know that one robo-doppelganger will run you somewhere between $1,800 and $3,000 (those pre-ordering will receive a discount).[Via Crave]
Skype hack enables higher resolution video calls
The majority of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's vision of the future from 2001: A Space Odyssey has not yet been realized: popping over to the moon to have a look at the most recently unearthed alien artifact is not a common practice in the late-noughties, although one technology demonstrated in a minor scene of this science fiction epic has caught on. Video calling, once the preserve of video phones owners with expensive ISDN lines, has now become a day-to-day activity thanks to cheap broadband and a multitude of platforms that have made video chatting easy and affordable. Unfortunately, due to a variety of limitations -- lack of bandwidth, slow computers, poor quality webcams -- the majority of video conferencing solutions are of the 320 x 240 / 15 fps ilk: not something we want to hear in the era of HD. For those that do have sufficient bandwidth, a fast enough computer, and a capable webcam, there's an experimental hack for Skype that allows you to increase the resolution from the ancient 320 x 240 standard up to a much more tolerable 640 x 480. The hack only works one way, so users on both ends will have to apply it in order to see each other's zits with increased clarity. If we had a way of routing live high definition video through our PC, we'd attempt to increase the resolution even further, although that would of course require the help of something we've always found it hard to acquire: friends.[Via MAKE]Read - PCRead - Mac
