SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel said next week it plans to take the videoconferencing industry by storm when chairman and CEO Andy Grove takes the wraps off a new conference room video system based on its new Pentium II processor that works on IP-based LANs as well as over ISDN<Picture> networks.
The new TeamStation release will be among the first based on the new H.323 standard, which is designed for videoconferencing over LAN<Picture>s. It will be unveiled on Monday in New York at Intel's Visual Computing Day.
Also next week, White Pine Software, the Nashua, N.H., developer of Cu-SeeMe videoconferencing software, will release a server that supports data, multimedia multicasting and conferencing, according to company officials. Based on the H.323 standard, it will interoperate with Intel's product. It will also work with products that are expected to be delivered by several other vendors, including market leader PictureTel.
Intel's new turnkey system will cost approximately $7,500 and will come equipped with camera, monitor, ISDN board and its ProShare data conferencing software.
In releasing this product, Intel will beat traditional PC manufacturers to the punch, a sore source of contention. "They are all really [ticked] off," said Elliot Gold, editor of Telespan, an industry newsletter on teleconferencing.
Gold said there will be demand for the new Intel systems, which have traditionally been more expensive than the desktop systems. "Intel's business case is good," he said. "It turns out 50 percent of their sales of desktop units were going into conference rooms, but they didn't have enough power for conference room communications."
But Intel won't have a monopoly on the market. Start-up company ViaVideo, consisting of former MCI and Vtel developers, is planning to ship a similar unit. A company official said it is targeting a price point well below $10,000.
The models, unlike desktop systems, are targeted at small conference rooms and are designed to be plug-and-play products. They will use Microsoft's NetMeeting as the user interface.
Intel would not comment. |
