TechCOW - The Geek Within

Networking giant Cisco has sent 550 pink slips this weekend to employees of FLIP Video, the most popular hand held video camera in the US. I own a couple of these and I am also shocked about this decision by John Chambers and his men but this is apparently the only thing they can do in this situation. The Flip hasn't been selling well in the US Market since a lot of competitors also ventured into the same gadget. The price difference is huge with Flip pegged at under 200 dollars and the profit from it wasn't as it was expected to be. Though I have been a huge Flip Ultra user these past few years, I thought they were stable and can provide after sales support. They didn't concentrate on providing so and the technical issues of each unit were piling up. The forum was their only channel and things like these can't be manually fixed. They usually throw it out if it is broken. Not a good investment even for a cheap camera.

As for where those employees will go, no one knows but since it did perform poorly this year I hope their decision to move the UMI into enterprise would bear something good. A lot of UMI users already know how expensive the unit is and with that bundled with Verizon or whatnot for connections it'll be hard to recuperate from the losses the already incurred. If money from this project would not increase this year. UMI might be the next one to say goodbye.

In the meantime.. here's John Chambers calling ducks inside the office... LOL

Cisco gave in and announced a new version of it's consumer grade UMI teleconference device. It was supposed to only cater to high end individuals but with dwindling sales and a great competitor by the name of LOGITECH the immediately released a 720p version, got their rates lower and made it work on lower bandwidth requirements. This has startled the network gurus of PC world and Engadget these past few days and they were all praises. Imagine how this would end up on people's living room in the next few years. The promos for partner Internet connection giants were also tempting prompting a great response from consumers in the US. They also had this service work across platforms such as their business grade teleconference services and Google.


People who have sampled this UMI technology just saw their favorite NBA superstars and did you see their reaction? Yeah it was like the person they were talking to was in the same room. This is the actual selling point of the UMI system and if they can deliver this pretty soon with no glitches it would earn the much needed money they invested in it making every Cisco shareholder happy.... your thoughts?!

It looks like CISCO came out with the latest thing to hit the SOHO market and the called it UMI (pronounced as YOU + ME) which is intended for teleconferencing and reuniting families in their own home. This probably was intended for high end consumers but if all the connections would be upgraded as specified in their specs (which calls for 3.5MBPS) it would be a huge opportunity to see people in HD quality video. Using the TV as a medium in this case was smart and people can send and receive video calls like what we do with web conference technologies. It definitely would be great for home use but the not quite so good news is you have to shell out $599 plus $25 per month in order to get one by November. It is so special since most of them have thought they'll wait for talks between CISCO and SKYPE in the beginning; but since John Chambers announced its release this week... it looks like this promising technology will be at homes in the coming months. I expect this to be a little cheaper just like any console or device that depreciates once more people have it. Tie ups from Verizon FIOS customers and Geek Squad will also make this easier to handle if they customers need help (for tech support).

As for rumors that CISCO buying out SKYPE in this particular field, that maybe still in the works because this technology wouldn't be too far behind to be enjoyed by ordinary people at home. The best thing about it is that SKYPE is free. SKYPE just got their software revved up making the video clearer and the software lighter for the ordinary PC/laptop to handle.

This package includes a camera, TV set-top box and a remote control. You guys in the US better order now at http://umi.cisco.com. I have it on my Christmas wish list now! =)