Tandberg Puts Telepresence On Desktops

The benefits of telepresence with its high fidelity audio, crisp video, and the feeling of face-to-face meeting is being offered on desktops by Tandberg, which announced a desktop telepresence solution Thursday.

Called the EX90, the touchscreen solution is targeted at home office, SMB, and general business office use.

The EX90 links in full 1080p30 resolution to standards-based video or telepresence systems with Tandberg inTouch. The company said finger glides on the screen interface enable users to make video calls, share content, and access other features of the system.

"The EX90 enables executives to engage with customers, experts, and employees as if they were sitting across the desk," said Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen in a statement. "This highly versatile system is built for the executive experience -- with a sleekly designed large HD display for natural interaction."

EX90 users may add a second monitor to their desktop systems to share data on the second screen while the face-to-face personal telepresence is resident on the main screen. An individual user can add three additional EX90 participants to a telepresence call. When not on a telepresence session, users can use their PCs as normal PC monitors.

EX90 users may also add cameras and other multimedia devices and peripherals to the system. The EX90 has a built-in PrecisionHD Camera that tilts 90 degrees, enabling users to share sketches, blueprints, X-rays, and other documents.

Tandberg said the system is immediately available for $9,900.

Tandberg recently accepted an acquisition offer of $3.4 billion by Cisco. The U.S. Justice Department has been reviewing the proposed acquisition, which Cisco has said it expects will close soon.