Vidyo enhances videoconferencing with touch-screen software

VidyoDesktop Executive costs £16 per device per year

Vidyo has added touch-screen and high-definition (HD) capabilities to its videoconferencing range, which it claims will benefit home workers and executives.

VidyoDesktop Executive will sell for $25 (£16) per device per year, offering significant cost savings for businesses and remote workers, according to the firm.

"With this software we believe users can now get desktop videoconferencing for under $1,000 [£645] simply by adding our software to a device from companies like HP, Acer and Sony, instead of buying a dedicated unit that could cost 10 times as much," said Marty Hollander, marketing vice president at Vidyo.

"Video is growing in demand all the time, and the addition of touch-screen technology makes it very straightforward to host or join conferences from the office or home and talk to people on the other end in HD quality images."

Hollander added that the software can run on Mac and Windows PCs, as well as external webcams attached to the device.

The technology uses the H.264 Scalable Video Coding compression standard to encode and decode video, and reduce data packet loss to host video at 1080p and 30 frames per second.

The touch-screen capabilities also mean that users can run applications such as Microsoft Paint and draw directly onto the screen to share information. The software can also allow users to share window views for programs such as Excel and PowerPoint.

Hollander believes that VidyoDesktop Executive could be highly disruptive in the market given its low cost.

"With software like this we're showing that you don't need dedicated rooms or devices for videoconferencing. You can simply run it on your existing PC and still get a high-quality video experience," he said.

Several companies in the unified communications (UC) space are looking to broaden their videoconferencing technologies.

Cisco unveiled its Intercompany Media Engine last month, which it said would allow UC tools to be used for external video communications, and Polycom said in February that it will offer products that use half the bandwidth previously required.