Facevision releases budget Skype-certified HD Webcam
Facevision announces a new Skype-certified HD Webcam that carries a friendlier price tag than its previous version, at just around $70.
LAS VEGAS--A year ago, Facevision introduced the first Skype-certified HD Webcam, the FV TouchCam N1, that was capable of streaming high-definition video over the Internet, turning video chat into a much better experience. It was one of a few HD Webcams at the time.
For this reason, the FV TouchCam N1 was rather expensive, costing around $120 when first released (it now has a street price of about $100).
Today, the company announced and demonstrated at CES 2011 a new version of the Webcam that offers the same capability but at a significantly lower cost, the TouchCam V1 720p HD VideoCam.
According to Facevision, like its predecessor, the new V1 is a Skype-certified HD camera with a wide-angle lens and built-in hardware H.264 video encoding that can deliver 720p video over an Internet connection that has a bandwidth of 1.2Mbps or more. To put this in perspective, a typical 4G cellular connection, such as the
Facevision says that when used with the most recent version of Skype (version 5.0 or later), three or more users can hold a group video conference call with the Webcam. The device also works with regular chat clients, such as Yahoo or Windows Live. For businesses, it's also compatible with Cisco WebEx, GoToMeeting, and other online collaborative meeting applications.
The new TouchCam V1 requires a computer that runs Windows XP or later with the minimum hardware requirements of an Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent CPU, 1GB RAM, available USB 2.0 port, and an Internet connection with minimum 1.2Mbps for both downloading and uploading.
The device is slated to ship in the first quarter of the year with the suggested price of around $70. This means you can expect the street price to be even lower.