European Custom Installer

System Integration for the Connected Home

Home Conferencing

Zoom for Home

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The idea allows anyone to deploy a dedicated personal collaboration device for video meetings, phone calls, and interactive whiteboarding.

DTEN ME

The first Zoom for Home device is the Zoom for Home – DTEN ME, an all-in-one personal collaboration device that will be available in USA for $599.

It was launched at InfoComm 2020 Connected (video link below).

Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone users can easily log in to the Zoom for Home – DTEN ME for one-touch video meetings, phone calls, content sharing, interactive whiteboarding, and co-annotation.

The 27-inch, all-in-one device includes 3 built-in smart cameras for video, an 8-microphone array, and an ultra-responsive touch display that can also serve as a second monitor.

Setup is simple-- it works out of the box to create an immersive and productive workspace.

Zoom for Home is also compatible with all Zoom Rooms Appliances, including hardware solutions from Neat and Poly, allowing users to select the hardware they need to create the perfect work-from-home communications experience across spaces such as living rooms.

Go Zoom for Home

Watch Zoom & DTEN at Infocomm 2020 Connected

Video Chat on the TV With Facebook's Portal TV

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Facebook goes to show the Portal video chatting device was not a one-off hardware offering as it announces the Portal TV, a means for customers to video chat using the biggest screen in the house.

Portal TV

The Portal TV looks like a miniature Microsoft Kinect, and plugs into TVs via HDMI port to allow Facebook users to make video calls using Messenger or WhatsApp. Video chats made using WhatsApp are perhaps more secure, being encrypted end-to-end, and users can disable the camera and microphone by pressing a button and sliding a cover in front of the device.

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Facebook Presents Videochatting Device

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Facebook unveils a long rumoured foray into hardware with the Portal-- a videoconferencing device consisting, essentially, of a tablet-style display, AI-powered cameras able to track users around the room, a 4-mic array and Alexa capability.

Facebook PortalThe Portal comes in two versions, regular or Portal+. The regular Portal has a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display and 10W speakers on the bottom, while the Portal+ has a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 display, 20W speakers, 4-inch woofer and a stand able to rotate from landscape to portrait mode with a touch. Both are sold by the social network as primarily a video chatting solution, even if the addition of Alexa makes them rivals to any number of similar devices already available on the market.

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TrueConf Adds 4K Video Conferencing to Nvidia Shield

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TrueConf announces the means to run 4K video conferencing on Smart TVs based on the Nvidia Shield with an application turning the games console into an Android-based conferencing endpoint.

Shield TrueConfPowered by Nvidia NVENC technology, TrueConf for Android TV pushes video at 2160p and 30fps and processes both incoming and outgoing streams using the H.264 codec. The application provides all video conferencing features, such as chatting, content sharing and video recording, with a UI adapted for gamepad or remote control.

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Beam+: Newest Telepresence Robot for Home

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Beam+

Suitable Technologies’ latest telepresence robot platform is the Beam+, and it was created to be used at home.

Beam+ is similar to the Beam Pro. Both Beams have a big camera, big screen, big speakers, user friendly software interface, and the ability to drive. Beam+ is slightly shorter than the Beam Pro. Beam+ just doesn't include the dual radios that let the Beam Pro jump seamlessly between multiple access points required in enterprises.

There are no buttons on the system: it's all controlled via the web interface, and it just sleeps on its charging dock until you log into it. With a 10-inch LCD screen (larger than some other robots), an HDR camera plus a dedicated navigation camera, and a 4r-microphone array, the Beam+ offers telepresence experience if good wifi is around.

The first thousand Beam+ units were pre-orders for just US $995 and it goes up to $1995 after that. Compared to existing telepresence robots (a Double will run you $2500 plus an iPad ($400); an Anybots QB $9700; and the Vgo about $5000). theBeam+ is a market spoiler.

Like many consumer products, the price point may be attractive to small businesses that want to try out telepresence

Go Suitable Technologies: Beam+

Logitech Intros TV Cam HD

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Logitech upgrades its earlier take on living room conferencing with the TV Cam HD-- a single device with built-in Skype hooking up your customers' HDTVs without the need for a PC.

HD TV CamIt has all processing power required to not only run Skype, but also send wide-angle 720p footage over wifi or ethernet connections. As the company says, all it needs is an available HDMI port, an internet connection and a Skype account.

Unlike the previous TV Cam model the TV Cam HD does not need a Viera Connect HDTV-- any TV with HDMI-is ideal.

"Powerful" image processors brighten images, while Carl Zeiss provides the camera optics. Four noise-cancelling microphones complete with beamforming and unidrectional technologies handle audio, and control comes through an easy-to-use remote.

Go Logitec TV Cam HD

Ultra-HD TV Standards Set by ITU

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UHDTV

Ultra-HD TV systems may be years away from homes, but ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Touré is already describing UHDTV as "an earth-shaking development in the world of television."

A new ITU-R recommendation addresses specs for both 4K and 8K.

While HDTV today has between 1 megapixel and 2 megapixels, the first level of UHDTV picture levels will have the equivalent of about 8 megapixels based on a 3840 x 2160 image system. The ITU recommendation also deals with an even higher level that has the equivalent of about 32 megapixels using a 7680 x 4320 image system.

David Wood, chairman of ITU-R Working Party 6C (WP 6C), which developed the draft new recommendation, noted in a statement that "some years will pass before we see these systems in our homes" but that the move towards a standard is "a historic moment."

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) want to add ultra-HD standards into their next generation for digital broadcasting,ATSC 3.0. The ITU standard would help them and other groups around the world begin to incorporate ultra-HD features into their standards for digital broadcasts.

Meanwhile, the ITU’s land-grab for taking control of the internet has met much resistance. OK, but that’s another story…

Watch Video on UHDTV Development