As tipped by SmartHouse Cisco has finally revealed a HD video conferencing system for the home. Called Umi the device has a 1080p camera module, remote, and a separate set-top box.
According to Cisco Australia souces the device which delivers full 1080p video calls with 720p/30 recording, with a fallback to 720p / 480p if bandwidth is constrainedwill be launched in Australia.
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The camera has a glass lens with an optical zoom, autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance, as well as motorized pan, tilt, and zoom. According to the US press release the device can be purchased for US $599 on top of that consumers are being asked to pay $24.99 monthly or $275 annually.
At this stage it is expected that the device will be sold by communication carriers with Telstra tipped to sell the service in 2011.
Cisco executives said Umi will be part of larger market trend driven by Internet video chat tablets with built in video conference camera’s and video conference Smartphones.
“There is a new market transition that is just starting that will be the most significant of them all,” said Cisco Senior Vice President Marthin De Beer. “It will be about the pervasive use of video by everyone, everywhere on every device.”
Cisco also said it has partnered with Google to connect Umi with Google’s Web videoconferencing system, allowing users to conduct calls between Cisco’s device and laptops with an attached webcam.
Cisco said Umi is scheduled to be available for preorder in the USA next week.
