HP demos SkyRoom collaboration software in Asia

Damian Koh | May 28, 2009

HP Z800 Workstation

BEIJING, China--HP has unveiled a new software that aims to bridge geographical differences by enabling users to communicate and share content at an affordable cost. Dubbed SkyRoom, the telepresence technology was demonstrated on a Z-series Workstation for the first time in Asia at HP's Touch the Future Now event in Beijing.

The demo showed four people engaged in a real-time 3D application, but the audio streaming was noticeably choppy. When asked, HP remained coy about the technical requirements of SkyRoom (which appears to be rather CPU-intensive), though it said that the software will work on any Z-series Workstation.

From left: The entry-level Z600, midrange Z400 and the premium Z800 Workstations.

The Z-series Workstations come in three flavors, beginning with the entry-level Z400, followed by the midrange Z600 and rounding off with the high-end Z800. All three models are equipped with Intel Xeon processors based on the Nehalem architecture. The Z800, based on a modular setup as you can see in the picture, supports up to 7.5TB of storage capacity and dual Nvidia FX5800 graphics cards. It also features a WattSaver energy power management software and an optimized thermal dynamic cooling system.