ūmi from Cisco - Forget about the video phone, why not try home teleconferencing on your huge HDTV?

You've probably seen the series of commercial for ūmi telepresence featuring Ellen Page. In one, she's trying to learn how to play the spoons.  In another, she's engaging in a tea party.  The one I like the best is when she tries to "telepresently" converse with her friend, Steve.   From what I can tell from the commercials and the Cisco website, I think that the ūmi is a much better option than the video phones that have been brought to market over the past two years!

If you want to be telepresent, and if you have $599.00, you can add a ūmi to your cart while visiting the CISCO ūmi telepresence website. With free shipping and a 30-day return policy, why not try it? If your friends and relatives have a laptop and Google Chat, you can still use your ūmi  with them.  (My hunch is that the experience is much better if both parties have a ūmi.)

It might cost a bit more than $599.00 to get your ūmi up and running. First of all, you'll need to have an HDTV with an HDMI input port, with a resolution of 1080p, or 720p. You also need to have a top-tier broadband connection to the Internet if you have a 1080p HDTV, which requires a minimum of 3.5 Mbps upload/download speed. If you have a 720p HDTV, you'll need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upload and download speed.

FYI: I connect to the Internet from my computer on the second floor of my home via a wireless router, located on the first floor. My upload speed is just 0.965 Mbps, which is not fast enough for the ūmi. My download speed is 8.991 Mbps, which is more than I need. I checked Time Warner Cable and found out that they now offer Wideband, with download speeds up to 50 Mbps, with upload speed up to 5 Mbps.  If I really, really want a ūmi, I'll have to solve this problem with Time Warner/Roadrunner.

The following video has a short discussion of TV UI and usability testing- they tossed a bag of rice at the TV to simulate a cat jumping at the screen....

In the Lab: The Innovators Behind Cisco ūmi


Below are a couple of videos about the ūmi from Cisco's YouTube site:





RELATED
Wikipedia's definition of telepresence:
"Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location."
Cisco Broadband Speed Test
Cisco Blog
How is your network running?
Brenna Karr, Cisco Blog 12/17/10
Previous post:  Like Neil Steinberg once said, "Dude, Where's My Video Phone?"
Dude, Where's My Video Phone?
Neil Steinberg, Forbes, 10/15/07

Like Neil Steinberg once said, "Dude, Where's My Video Phone?"

When I was a little girl, I was into science fiction, and one of the things I always wanted was my very own video phone. Long after I grew up, along came broadband Internet. I was disappointed. Skype was not exactly what I hoped for, and the newest "innovations", apparently designed to counter the decline in land-line phones, do not match my sci-fi dreams.

The following article provides a history about the video phone, and some insight about why this concept was never adopted by the masses:

"Dude, Where's My Video Phone" Neil Steinberg, 10/15/07, Forbes

Below are a few examples of the current state of affairs regarding the world of video phones:

i2eye, from D-Link, is a videophone that looks like it would be easy to use for a grandparent who doesn't have a computer.

The thing is, most grandparents of young babies are probably in their 50's, or maybe in their early 60's. According to study by Scarborough Research, conducted in 2006-07, about 74% of adults 55 years and older own a computer. All a grandparent needs to do is download something like Skype, plug in a $40.00 webcam, and things are good to go.



The ASUS Eee Videophone uses Skype. (For the uninitiated, Skype is available for free and is adequate for my video phone needs.) The following demonstration video provides information about the ways it can be used and how users interact with the interface. Please excuse the rather boring music looping in the background of the demo.



The ACN Videophone was recently featured on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. Below is a videoclip of the phone in action, along with it's advanced features that allow you to project audio and video to a larger screen.



I found the promo video for the ACN video phone, featuring Donald Trump, a bit amusing. Apparently the ACN video phone is distributed through multi-level marketing.



If you are a Verizon subscriber, you probably have heard of the "Hub". Verizon came out with the VerizonHub a couple of months ago, and I was hoping to get my hands on one before writing a review. When I learned that it had a touch-screen interface, but did not provide direct access to the web, I was not in a hurry. My dream version of the "hub" would have this feature.

For more information, you can "interact" with a simulation of the phone online: "Get a Feel for the Verizon Hub"

Detailed information about the Verizon Hub can be found on the product's home page: Welcome to the Home Phone Reinvented

Here is something I found that was a bit puzzling:

The above pictures are of the Amstrad videophone, which I think debuted in 2004. The touchscreen offers a variety of options. This phone looks like it was designed by a committee that decided to incorporate ALL the ideas that were brainstormed by the team. There is the traditional phone button interface, a set of qwerty buttons that mimic what you would find on a text-messaging teen's cell phone, and a slide-out qwerty keyboard for the elders and others who have pudgier fingers. Of course, you can always use the touch screen interface!