2010 Year in Review: Home Telepresence here we come

Sure, this is a review of 2010, but sometimes news stories are more about where we are going rather than what has happened already. 2010 started with quite a bang when Skype made some deals to get video calling on to home televisions. A lot of small businesses still don't have video conferencing capabilities. Most consumer probably barely use their video calling features from their desktops, laptops, or even smartphones yet. The move from desktop to TV fit with Skype's quest to be everywhere, but I am sure that although the moves were made and the foundations were built, home telepresence hasn't quite taken hold in everyone's living room just yet.

In March, Samsung released the first televisions to support Skype calls. The Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series televisions have Internet connectivity capabilities and when combined with Samsungs' FREETALK TV Camera can use Skype software to provide users with Skype video chats. Users of the new Samsung TVs can send and receive voice calls as well as video calls using the service. The software takes advantage of Skype's SILK audio codecs enabling super-wideband audio quality. TV-based users can set up new accounts with their TV remote and make long distance landline calls at Skype's low rates.

Later in the year, Cisco launched its umi product. The pricey device attaches to the home HDTV and provides Cisco's signature Telepresence experience to the home user. The company has set up mall kiosks to promote the new futuristic technology. It has "Juno" actress Ellen Page chatting with friends on it in TV commercials making the case for how neat it would be to feel like you are in the same room with your friends and family.

Umi's video quality dynamically scales based on home broadband speeds from 1080p to 480p. The service features an answering machine service where callers can leave video messages and users can set up their own custom "We aren't home right now" video messages. In addition to calling, users can make videos for easy sharing on social networks like Facebook, YouTube, and over email. Cisco's Umi service may bring enterprise power to the home, but it comes with an enterprise price. The system costs $599 to start, plus a $24.99 monthly service--and that's after you provide your own television.