Quanta and ooVoo collaborate on HDTV ‘picturephone’

Taiwan-based Laptop manufacturer, Quanta Computer Inc in entering into a partnership with OoVoo, a maker of video chat software, to bring videoconferencing to HDTVs in the home.

The companies are developing a gadget which plugs into an HDTV and connects it to the Internet, acting like a picturephone.

Users can use the Quanta Video Messenger service to talk, ‘face-to-face’ with others who also have the device, and with anyone who is running OoVoo’s software on a PC.

Quanta Video Messenger should be commercially available later in 2008, at a price pitched for the consumer market. Similar services provided by companies such as Cisco, for corporate customers, can cost a prohibitive $9,000 or more.

OoVoo recently demonstrated a prototype of the device, which was hardback book sized and had connectors for a high-definition webcam and audio.

OoVoo, which has its headquarters in New York, is currently negotiating deals with US-based phone and cable companies to build the videoconferencing function into their set-top boxes.

Quanta Video Messenger uses video compression/decompression technologies to deliver HD in a multipoint environment. The technology for HD video communication uses a high- throughput H.264 codec. A minimum of just 512kbps bandwidth is required for one-way 720p video transactions at 30 fps, meaning there is no need for a dedicated lease line.