Net.Head Humor: The Day The Routers Died
This is too funny. Many thanks to Evan Kirstel at Sonus for the link.
Celebrating Five Years Of The VoIP Users Conference on ZipDX
Next week will mark five years of using ZipDX. In that time we have used ZipDX to host 318 VUC calls, each and every one in HDVoice. My earliest experience with HDVoice arose from being asked to review the new…
VUC #472: Vaddio’s Huddlestation
While it’s true that I live in Texas where football is elevated in status beyond almost everything else, in this case the “huddle” is not about football. Vaddio is a manufacturer of audio & video conference hardware based in Minnetonka, MN. Best known for their range of PTZ cameras, they have a diverse product offering that addresses media applications from broadcast to places of worship and corporate meeting spaces.
This coming Friday, January 17th, Vaddio will be joining the VUC to introduce us to their new Huddlestation. The Huddlestation is a new product that aims to address the needs of smaller meeting rooms for video conference capability, while also tapping into the BYOD trend. It’s essentially a USB-attached camera+sound bar+microphone module for use with a HDTV. You may recall that I have mentioned it once before.
DoorBot Selected as One of Wired’s 10 Best Gadgets of CES 2014
It seems that the Wired Gadget Lab has selected DoorBot as one of it’s 10 Best Gadgets of CES. That’s certainly nice for Edison Jr. As someone who has pounded the pavement at similarly vast trade shows, I certainly know…
Jeff Rodman on Getting Great Audio in a Video Call
Last week it came to my attention that Jeff Rodman, co-founder and currently Chief Evangelist of Polycom, has penned a blog post/article for Wired Innovation Insights. It’s called, “Getting Great Audio in a Video Call” and it’s well worth your time. Jeff certainly knows a thing or two about great audio.
There’s very little point to a video call with bad audio. Audio is the foundation of the entire exercise. Jeff offers seven points that highlight the major considerations. The list reads like a market requirements document for some of the fine Polycom gear that I’ve had the pleasure of using in recent years.
6. Use Spatial Sound Only When it Makes Sense
His point number six is the first time that I’ve ever seen him offer commentary about the “spatial” aspect of conference audio. Most video conference schemes support stereo audio, but I’ve yet to experience any specific spatial tricks used in video calls.
New Gear: M-Audio BX5 D2 Powered Audio Monitors
A long while ago I described my experience comparing some low-end powered audio monitors for use around the home and office. We have had a mix of things in use since then, although in every case there’s a Logitech Squeezebox feeding a pair of powered monitors.
In the post-holiday exhale I’ve taken an opportunity to add a pair of M-Audio BX5 D2 5″ Active 2-Way Studio Monitor Speakers
I’ve had a pair of the earlier BX-5a’s for some time. Over time I’ve come to appreciate them above almost everything else on-site. Thus the decision to buy the updated version was very easy to make.