Video Conferencing Software enables real-time collaboration.September 30, 2009 -
Supporting up to 4 users over standard business network, HP SkyRoom allows sharing of any type of application supported on PC or workstation. Video engine lets all users see presenter's display and each other through multiway videoconferencing session, while image engine allows display of 2D/3D graphics and full motion video on 2D graphics systems. Presenter's system monitors and updates only changes in screen appearance, then compresses and encrypts data before sending.
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Original Press release
Hewlett-Packard Co. (Corporate Headquarters)
3000 Hanover St.
Palo Alto, CA, 94304-1185
USA
HP Introduces SkyRoom: Powerful and Affordable Videoconferencing for Businesses
Pioneering collaboration software leapfrogs freeware offerings, enables
instant face-to-face meetings with full desktop sharing
PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 22, 2009 - HP today established a new category in videoconferencing with the introduction of HP SkyRoom - affordable, high-definition
video conferencing software(1) that offers live, real-time collaboration for instant face-to-face meetings with no subscription fees.
HP SkyRoom is based on breakthrough video and image communication technology
developed in HP Labs, the company's central research arm. Elements of this technology
were used by NASA's Mars rovers to transfer high-resolution images back to Earth. HP
SkyRoom is the only videoconferencing tool to offer real-time collaboration for up to four people over a standard business network for $149 - less than the cost of round-trip airfare from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Until now, companies have had few options for videoconferencing - expensive
enterprise telepresence systems or Internet freeware tools that strip out the subtleties of human interactions and don't allow for the sharing of rich media content such as video and computer-aided design manipulation.
HP SkyRoom will be included as a standard feature - at no cost - on select HP business
desktop and mobile workstations and for free for a trial period on many upcoming HP
premium business PCs and notebooks. HP SkyRoom can be used on workstations or PCs
from Dell, Lenovo or Sun that meet minimum technology requirements. Companies now
have the power to change the economics of travel and reduce their carbon footprint
while preserving the value of personal human interaction.
"Finally, video meetings with genuine eye contact and natural human interaction are as
easy as starting an instant messaging connection," said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, Workstations, HP. "It takes business productivity and collaboration to a completely new level when we can connect people around the world in a day via HP SkyRoom and let them get home to family dinner and bedtime stories - without the wear and tear of travel."
With HP SkyRoom, users can share any type of application supported on their PC or
workstation, including office documents, streaming video and interactive 3-D
applications:
Digital content and engineering teams can collaborate on sophisticated design
concepts, allowing tremendous flexibility and performance for sharing content and
visually rich human conversations.
Production houses can preview animation clips to dispersed teams for live, instant
feedback.
Financial teams spread across the world can run live models for discussion and
collaboration.
Using HP SkyRoom is as easy as beginning an instant message conversation. Users
simply click a contact to connect, which quickly initiates a live SkyRoom session. Another click shares the desktop or rich media content, and participants are instantly
collaborating. During an HP SkyRoom session, information is transferred at a rate four
times faster than the blink of an eye.(2)
HP SkyRoom is the culmination of three years of research to design video and image
compression algorithms by HP Labs into a customer-centric implementation by the HP
Workstation team, which designs professional-quality solutions in collaboration with
industry-leading brands around the globe.
The breakthrough innovation behind HP SkyRoom comes from the combination of highdefinition, multiuser videoconferencing and a sophisticated capability to share display information more securely than with actual transfer of data and processing functions. HP SkyRoom's video engine enables all participants to see the presenter's display and each other through a multiway videoconferencing session. The video engine is multithreaded to take advantage of the power of today's multiprocessor and multicore
processing technologies.
HP SkyRoom's image engine gives remote users a view of the host presenter's desktop
and its applications as if they were using a local machine. It enables the display of 2-D and 3-D graphics, full-motion video and multidisplay on a system that only has a 2-D graphics card.
The HP SkyRoom software on the presenter's system monitors and updates only changes
in screen appearance - not the entire display - then compresses and encrypts the
information before sending it to the participants, where it is decrypted, decompressed
and updated. In this way, network traffic is greatly reduced, latency and bandwidth
requirements are reduced, and the need for dedicated networking hardware is
eliminated.
Minimum requirements for HP SkyRoom
To run HP SkyRoom on any vendor PC, minimum requirements are Intel® Core 2(TM) Duo
2.33-GHz or equivalent processor with 2 GB RAM, a webcam and Microsoft
Windows® XP or Vista®. Minimum network requirement is a broadband network with a
minimum transfer rate of 400kb/second. HP SkyRoom must run over a corporate VPN to
connect to systems outside the local firewall.
Pricing and availability(3)
HP SkyRoom is available worldwide preinstalled at no cost on the HP Z800, Z600,
Z400 and xw4600 workstations. Select premium business PCs and notebooks due out
from HP in the coming months will include a 90-day trial of HP SkyRoom, which will be
available for purchase thereafter. Customers using current HP workstations, desktops,
notebooks or non-HP systems can purchase HP SkyRoom for $149 at
www.hp.com/go/hpskyroom.
For an optimal quality experience that beta testers have said makes their own
environment fall away as they feel present and immersed in the conversation, HP
recommends users also purchase the HP SkyRoom Standard Accessory Kit for $119,
which includes a high-resolution webcam and headphones. HP also offers a kit with
speakers as an alternative to the headset.
More information is available at www.hp.com/go/hpskyroom.
About HP
HP, the world's largest technology company, simplifies the technology experience for
consumers and businesses with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing,
software, services and IT infrastructure. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is
available at http://www.hp.com/.
(1) High-definition content required to view HD images.
(2) Performance dependent on network latency and image frame content.
(3) Estimated U.S. street prices. Actual prices may vary.
Intel and Intel Core are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows XP and Windows Vista are
U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
© 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
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