Videoconferencing available for $150

A $150 desktop videoconferencing solution is available from Cinecom.

CNET News staff

May 15, 1996 1:30 p.m. PT

A $150 desktop videoconferencing solution for home users and small businesses that runs over regular telephone lines, the Internet, ISDN, LANs, or WANs is now available from Cinecom.

The company has begun shipping its CineVideo/Direct point-to-point videoconferencing software for the home and small-business user.

The software allows simultaneous video and two-way audio transmission with a video delivery speed of about six frames per second on a 28.8-kbps modem or two to three frames per second with a 14.4-kbps connection.

The CineVideo/Direct client software costs $40 and runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT. A 30-day free trial version can be downloaded from the Net. If it's used with a black-and-white video camera, the software doesn't require a special video card.

A special bundle with a black-and-whitecamera and a microphone costs $150. With a color camera, microphone, and video-audio capture card to make the color camera work, the cost jumps to $700.