BIOS: Technology Means Business

D-Link has today announced a wireless version of its i2eye VideoPhone. The Wireless i2eye VideoPhone (DVC-1100) is designed to turn a regular TV into a broadband videophone, allowing you to conduct videoconferences over IP. You will, of course, also need a broadband wireless router (802.11b/g), which will likely be attached to your PC, and an NTSC or PAL TV that has an RCA video jack.

D-Link is the first company to introduce a wireless broadband videophone. This wireless version of the company's existing product is also supposed to be even easier to set up and install using the supplied infrared remote control, according to D-Link, and its built-in setup wizard includes a site survey tool for automatically connecting to an existing wireless network.

Compliant with both 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networking technologies, the Wireless i2eye VideoPhone also offers SSID filtering and 64-,128- and 256-bit WEP encryption to help ensure the integrity of wireless transmissions. It features an adjustable tilt and focus camera lens and video compression technology to help it stream video at up to 30fps. The device also supports full-duplex audio so that you can speak with family, friends or colleagues using the device's built-in microphone and your TV's speakers.

Based on the ITU H.323 protocol for video streaming over the Internet, the Wireless i2eye VideoPhone lets you connect to other devices based on the same protocol, including Web-based videoconferencing applications such as Microsoft's NetMeeting. The product's address book allows you to store up to 50 IP addresses or registered i2eye ID numbers for quick dialling.

You can set the device to display video calls in either picture-in-picture or full-screen mode. Various privacy controls can also be set, such as allowing callers to hear but not see the receivers, allowing callers to see but not hear receivers, and the ability to reject incoming calls altogether. When an inbound call is detected by the Wireless i2eye VideoPhone, the incoming caller's information is displayed on screen while either the integrated ringer sounds or a connected phone rings. You can then accept or reject the call, which is displayed either in full screen or picture-in-picture so you don't miss your favourite TV show.

Links:
Wireless i2eye VideoPhone Web site