KludgeHack

Microsoft RoundTable - Videoconference on Steroids…

Microsoft RoundTable (previous RingCam) is a “new”, and very cool, videoconference system powered by 5 built-in cameras featuring a 360º panoramic view.

Tom Keating from TMCnet made a recent review of the system. He made some tests with Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 online version (beta) and Skype.

I recommend you take a look, its a pretty complex system that provides interesting results. I certainly was impressed, specially with the active speaker video switching functionality.

Although not released for general availability, the Microsoft RoundTable is expected to retail for around $3,000 putting this in the category of high-end videoconferencing systems. However, with fuel costs and other travel expenses, a high-quality, high-end videoconferencing system can pay for itself very quickly.