Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Polycom Australia has introduced high definition telepresence technology that it claims enables people working at a distance to communicate as if they were all in the same room.
Polycom suggests that the technology will be valuable to a wide range of industries, including education, healthcare/medicine, judicial, financial services and government. "Walking into an RPX HD telepresence room is like being instantly transported to another location - the experience and collaboration capabilities are second to none," said Robert Hagerty, chairman and CEO at Polycom.
Polycom announced the technology last November shortly after Cisco, which is making a big push into video, announced its Telepresence solution saying that "Just as the jet engine opened up the world to business and personal experience, so will Cisco TelePresence open up the world to natural communications that have an immediacy and effectiveness never before possible at distance."
The Polycom technology is claimed to "provide an immersive collaboration experience unlike any other with unique features, including full 2.4 metres or 4.87 metres HD cinematic views, Siren 22kHz StereoSurround high definition sound, and EyeConnect technology that puts the camera at eye level for more natural face-to-face interaction."
The RPX HD family of solutions comes in six variations accommodating four to 28 people. Each room is symmetrically designed and offers "immersive collaboration where everyone can be seen and heard."
Polycom claims a number of advantages over competing telepresence solutions. "While other telepresence solutions feature multiple 16:9 displays that appear as letterbox 'windows' into another room, Polycom solutions feature large, integrated, and contoured video walls (eight feet or 16 feet wide) with seamless transitions. These walls deliver full cinematic views of the other room with up to a 48:9 continuous image which span the screens in true 720p HD resolution (up to 3840 x 720 at 30fps)."
Another feature claimed to be unique to the Polycom RPX HD is the ability to send and receive all types of multimedia content in high resolution, as well as simultaneously sending both that content and video of the people in the room. Content is shared through personal content monitors integrated into the tables in the room, which allow each participant to view and share computer content with other participants in the meeting.
The technology does not come cheap. Complete room solution pricing starts at $A369,000 ex GST.
David Bass
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