Creative gets personal with InPerson

Juniper Foo | Jan 10, 2008

CES 2008 in Las Vegas would not be complete without stopping over at the Creative Labs booth, since we'd come all the way from Asia to attend the consumer electronics fair. Not surprisingly, the Singapore-based company was announcing new products first in the US as has been its wont. Due out at the end of the month will be a little device for video-conferencing called InPerson.

Looking like a cross between a PDA and a UMPC (194 x 150.5 x 48mm), this lightweight 27oz (765g without battery) gadget will allow users wirelessly or via Ethernet to conduct long-distance video chitchat conveniently.

Here's the rub. While it's a very portable solution that we can see home users employ, particularly where a family member is stationed abroad, it's aimed mostly at corporates and will be distributed via resellers, not retail stores. Here's the other rub. If you do plan to get one, it's liable to cost you US$699.95. Ouch. Considering that this gizmo has a very singular purpose and UMPCS like the ASUS Eee PC costs less and can multitask. That said, there's an SD card slot so you can use this expensive gadget as a photo frame when not in use.

The good news is the person on the other end doesn't have to get an InPerson to hook up with you fortunately. Any good old PC or notebook with a Webcam attached should do the trick.

Specs-wise, the InPerson conferencing unit offers a VGA-resolution Webcam and supports H.264-compressed video streaming onto a 7-inch widescreen LCD screen displaying 16.7 million colors. It certainly looked sharp u close. If you can't get enough of the other party's mug, you can hook this up to your TV's 32-inch screen or more. Power is supplied either via mains or rechargeale Lithium-ion batteries. According to the rep at the booth, this is good for 2 hours of video chat or 5 hours on standby.

Filed under: PC & Peripherals
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