CES 2010: Panasonic adds Skype to 2010 Viera TVs
5 Jan 2010
Make Skype calls on your Viera
Panasonic has announced that its new 2010 Viera CAST TVs, to be launched at this week's CES in Las Vegas and on sale in the Spring, will allow voice and video calls to be made over the Skype network.
Skype on your Viera will use an accessory camera/microphone unit to be offered as an option by Panasonic.
It will allow free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls, low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles, the ability to receive calls via an online Skype number and Skype voicemail.
The camera will be capable of delivering 720p video, subject to internet bandwidth, and has a microphone specially designed to give clear speech from 'couch distance'.
Comments
Also I'd love to see the 720p video work in the UK, most of us just don't have the bandwidth.
Yes, but if the accessory costs �200 it's basically an extremely costly gimmick. I'd certainly rather spend 2 minutes plugging a VGA cable in, they have to get the price point right.
No pricing details have yet been given, but the whole point is that you don't need to set up the PC to do it - you can just use the living-room TV.
I'm wondering how much the accessory will cost though? Needs to be placed at the right price-point for this to take off, considering you could knock something similar up with a webcam, mic headset and PC