CES: Cisco readying home telepresence trials in US

Cisco this week said it will trial a home telepresence service in the United States this spring with Verizon, and in France later this year with France Telecom.

Cisco made this and other announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas CES preview podcast: trends for 2010

Home telepresence uses a consumer's existing HDTV and broadband connection to deliver video communication. Citing data form IDC, Cisco says that in 2010 there will be 32 million U.S. households with the required broadband connection to support a high-quality home telepresence experience.

Cisco says its business TelePresence products and services are the company's fastest-growing emerging technology. Cisco is in the process of acquiring videoconferencing leader Tandberg in an effort to fill out the mid-range and low-end of its videoconferencing and telepresence offerings.

Cisco also announced at CES that it is providing a "medianet" -- a media-aware IP-based video network infrastructure -- to NBC during the network's coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, Feb. 12-28. Cisco says its video infrastructure will enable real-time editing by NBC personnel in Vancouver, New York and Las Vegas, and will allow for the transfer of gigabyte-sized files of content between locations and then delivered to three screens: TV, PC and smartphone.Cisco also disclosed new customers, features and professional service options for its Eos entertainment operating system. Travel Channel, All Access Today and The Eleven Seven Music Group/Tenth Street Entertainment are new customers deploying Eos.

New Eos features include Facebook Connect integration to facilitate audience acquisition; additional customization tools to enable rapid scaling of site launches; site migration tools to transition existing communities to Eos; and member group management capabilities to enhance engagement and monetization.

Cisco also unveiled an Eos partner ecosystem program for the hosted "software as a service" platform. Eos enables media and entertainment companies to create, manage and monetize social entertainment experiences built around branded content, Cisco says.

At CES, Cisco said it has shipped more than 200 million consumer devices, and that more than 1 million videos from its Flip pocket videocam product were uploaded through FlipShare software in December 2009. These uploads represent 3 million minutes of Flip videos viewed, which is equivalent to more than six years of continuous video streaming, representing an increase of 395% from December the year before, Cisco says.

Cisco acquired Pure Digital, the maker of Flip, last spring.

This story, "CES: Cisco readying home telepresence trials," was originally published at NetworkWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in Convergence at Network World.

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