All Articles Tagged Videoconferencing

Julie Jacobson | 01/07 04:12 PM, 0 Comments

Cisco’s great hope for consumer electronics post-Linksys -- the Umi personal videoconferencing system – is dead. No surprise there. The system was universally praised as “nice” when it was introduced in October 2010, but generally panned as overpriced. Umi was touted as the only high-definition consumer-oriented telepresence system at the time. But do consumers even want to be seen in their PJs at 1080p? What’s more, for HD to work, both parties needed a $599 Umi box and the bandwidth to go with it. Worse, monthly fees of $10 -… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/20 07:06 AM, 25 Comments

When we first wrote about the new $999 portable touchscreen from Control4, CE Pros and consumers alike greeted the announcement with mixed reviews: Confirmation that Control4 is losing touch with what *consumers* actually want in favor of what *dealers* want. ----------------- Lets see, compare $1,000 MSRP to $700 that the customer bought at the Apple Store, you made $0 on and you still have to buy the App! I’m confused as to what is wrong with this picture, hmmm! ----------------- My Ipad is never where it is supposed to be… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/17 05:06 AM, 11 Comments

We rarely report about new touchscreens for home control these days. Ever since the iPad came out, it’s hard to find anything particularly interesting about dedicated touchscreens for the residential and commercial markets. We're big fans; it’s just hard to make them sound exciting. But AMX is introducing a real looker at Infocomm 2011: the Modero X Series. These ultra-widescreen touchpanels give us something to talk about. Like, they’re really wide. It may not be rocket science, but you can see how these beauties would be fun in the home,… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/14 07:31 AM, 1 Comment

You can’t just throw a couple of speakers in with a TV and camera and call it a videoconferencing system. The audio should match the application, just as it would for surround sound or an outdoor concert. Leon Speakers, known for being that company that customizes speakers for any type of residential environment, is now applying its custom touch to boardrooms and serious home offices with the new Horizon Interactive Series speakers. Leon has worked on telepresence projects for about 10 years but every job was a one-off. The rising… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/09 06:53 AM, 0 Comments

Ann Arbor, MI ─ Leon Speakers, leaders in the custom high-fidelity audio industry, today introduced its new HorizonTM Interactive Series of high-performance, vocally optimized audio solutions for telepresence and video conferencing systems. The Horizon Interactive Personal Unit speakers (for single displays) and Multi-Display speakers (for any number of panels) combine high fidelity sound and high definition video all in one sleek cabinet with custom-sized housings for video conferencing hardware. This combination allows the audio experience to be in perfect proximity to the video source, creating a truly immersive, world-class system.… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 02/15 05:49 AM, 17 Comments

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is building smart communities around the globe and it’s taking Control4 home automation with it. The networking giant announced a strategic investment in Control4, leading a $25 million round of funding with two additional strategic investors that have not been announced. The partnership between the companies is two-fold, with Cisco planning to deploy Control4 products in its 1) Smart+Connected Communities and 2) utility energy management projects. “It’s a new channel for Control4 and for Cisco as well,” said Paul Fulton, VP and general manager of Cisco’s Prosumer… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 01/04 08:46 AM, 0 Comments

Voice over IP is so yesterday. The next big thing in telecommunications will be videoconferencing - not just for corporate execs but for everyday folks connecting with friends, family, care givers and would-be love connections. A report by GigaOM Pro indicates that total video calls will grow from 3.2 billion in 2010 to almost 30 billion by 2015. About 10 percent of these calls will transpire through the TV set. The adoption will coincide with an increasing number of Internet-connected TVs, which is expected to grow from 21 million units… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 11/09 08:21 AM, 0 Comments

Which new technologies will change the CE pro business landscape in 2011? We’ve highlighted seven of them, and will explain what they mean for integrators during CEProLive this Thursday, Nov. 11. The day-long virtual event is free for registered pros. And the game-changers are: 1. 3D TV Stop rolling your eyes. 3D TV has only just begun, and CE pros already are complaining about it. But you complained as well during the rollout of HDTV, which was just as painful – and ultimately less exciting – than the rollout of… View this story