Cisco unwraps home TelePresence

Umi will cater to the high end video chatter who scoffs at Skype

As expected, Cisco this week unveiled a home/consumer version of its TelePresence system: the umi. The $600 system lets people in their living rooms use their HDTVs and Google Video Chat to converse with friends and family in the far reaches.

Stephen Lawson of IDG New Service has our coverage here.

In addition to the equipment, umi is a $25/month cloud based service, Lawson reports. The network houses contact lists and stored video originated by users, and Verizon plans to offer it to its broadband customers earkly next year, Lawson reports.  

Users will need 1.5M upstream and downstream for 720p video, and 3.5M for 1080. Users without umi will be able to video chat through the Google video service, which appears to be Cisco's answer to Skype.

But Skype users get their service for free - after, of course, paying a monthly Internet access fee to their service provider. The Cisco umi will serve the high-end of that home videoconferencing user who would rather shell out a $600 onetime and $25 monthly recurring fee to have high-def chats in their living room on their TV screen.

To those users, Merry Christmas.

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• Cisco
• Cisco TelePresence
• home networking
• Skype