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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Cisco's Telepresence Video Chat is Expected for Homes Next Week [Video Calling]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5650806/ciscos-telepresence-video-chat-is-expected-for-homes-next-week

We've been hearing for a while that Cisco was wanting to get down with Joe Blow on the street, so it's not at all surprising to hear that next week they're rumored to unveil a "cheap" home-telepresence product.

When we say cheap, we mean it won't cost much more than one of their Flip camcorders, at around $200 subsidized. AllThingsD is hearing that at a press event next Wednesday Cisco will launch the service with either Comcast or Verizon, and that the unsubsidized price might be around the $500 mark.

For years now Cisco has been demo-ing its telepresence technology, which has been available to businesses keen to video conference around the world.

There's an obvious desire for Cisco to get this technology into homes, but when Skype is already on many computers and TVs—for free—it will be a struggle to convince Mums and Dads they need to shell out a couple hundred notes for something that only really offers greater HD resolution.

Sitting in front of a TV and video-chatting sadly isn't that much of a unique angle for Cisco. [AllThingsD]

Chromium OS infiltrates iPad, makes itself comfortable

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/chromium-os-infiltrates-ipad-makes-itself-comfortable/

What is this madness we see before us? Hexxeh, he who provides your nightly Chromium builds, has dropped a small but perfectly formed bombshell by revealing that he's managed to install Google's nascent OS onto Apple's hotcake of a tablet, the iPad. He's evidenced this feat by tweeting from the liberated slate, though one of his outgoing missives includes the dire warning that he'll "dash your hopes later, there are a few catches." Well, at least that gives us a little time to fantasize about Appoogle synergies before those dream-destroying details are revealed in full.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Chromium OS infiltrates iPad, makes itself comfortable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell launching 7-inch Android tablet in 'next few weeks,' 10-incher to follow a few months later

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/dell-launching-7-inch-tablet-in-next-few-weeks-10-incher-to-f/

Good news, folks. It's looking like the tablet pool will be enriched with another 7-inch contender, running Android, within only a few weeks. The Wall Street Journal cites Dell's Greater China President Amit Midha as saying that the 7-inch slate we witnessed Michael teasing a few short days ago will be with us "very, very soon." Reiterating earlier promises of a family of tablets, Midha claims there'll be "a whole slew" of new devices emerging from Dell's labs over the next 6 to 12 months, which will include 10-inch, 4-inch and 3-inch form factors. Android is confirmed as the OS on the 7-incher, but Windows will be making an appearance somewhere along the line as well. Plenty to look forward to, then.

Dell launching 7-inch Android tablet in 'next few weeks,' 10-incher to follow a few months later originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco to announce high-def consumer telepresence device next week?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/cisco-to-announce-high-def-consumer-telepresence-device-next-wee/

Cisco is certainly no stranger to the telepresence world, offering a high-end system catering to your high-paid CEO and his high-def boardroom. However, that doesn't do Ma and Pa Internet User much good when they want to dial up their offspring and see how the grandkids are faring. This, it seems, is Cisco's next step, with the company launching an "inexpensive home telepresence product for personal use" according to All Things Digital. At a press conference scheduled one week from today, a device and service are expected to be unveiled with a cost between $200 and $500 (depending on carrier subsidies) that will enable easy high-def video calling -- something SkypeHD and others do today, but supporting devices have been slow to find success. What will this device look like? Well, Cisco Senior VP Marthin De Beer said earlier this year: "We didn't buy Flip to have it be only a video recorder." He also said: "We would absolutely love to integrate with FaceTime." That latter bit sounds a little optimistic, but high-def telepresence that's as simple to use as a Flip HD? It could be good -- or it could be another FlipShare TV.

Cisco to announce high-def consumer telepresence device next week? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ Ibis touts 2GBps High Speed Data Link, vanquishes SSD competition

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/ocz-ibis-touts-2gbps-high-speed-data-link-vanquishes-ssd-compet/

What's after ludicrous speed? If you ask OCZ, the answer is HSDL speed, which is the company's new interface idea for bypassing the bandwidth limitations of standard SATA/SAS interconnects. Using a high-quality SAS cable to hook up its new Ibis drive to a PCI Express host card, OCZ has managed to deliver a cool 2GBps of total bandwidth -- that's one gigabyte up and one gigabyte down... every second. In order to feed this massive data pipe, the company's gone and stacked four SandForce SF-1200 controllers inside the Ibis and RAIDed them together for good measure too. The upshot isn't too dramatic for desktop applications, where'll you'll see performance that's merely world-beating -- reading at 373MBps and writing at 323MBps -- but if you throw in some deeper queues and enterprise-level workloads you'll be able to squeeze out 804MBps reads and 675MBps writes. Needless to say, the Ibis scooped up many a plaudit in early reviews, and though it may be expensive at $529 for 100GB, it still seems to represent good value for those who have the workloads to saturate its High Speed Data Link.

OCZ Ibis touts 2GBps High Speed Data Link, vanquishes SSD competition originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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