Can we still call it a TV?
As said in the Panasonic commercial, “Can we still call it a TV?” The answer is no.
The old broadcast TV has literally transformed into an interactive communication device, allowing you to make widescreen video calls from the comfort of your living room.
Panasonic and Samsung TVs with Skype have been shipping since early Spring this year, and I can’t be more pleased.
The feedback so far is very positive. We believe using Skype on a TV changes the video calling experience dramatically – it’s fun, accessible and more lifelike. Two-way video calls from a TV are not only free, but it also doesn’t matter if you are calling someone else who is using Skype on a PC, TV or mobile phone.
In 2009, we surveyed a sample of 2,450 Skype users, and 48% of them said they would be more likely to conduct video calls using a TV. So, we’re glad we’ve been able to address this, and would like to invite more of you to be able to experience it for yourself.
We’ve updated our web page to highlight all of the available Skype on your TV options and some new TV webcams too.
And, that’s not all. Thanks to the availability of SkypeKit, our SDK for developers and partners, the innovation on TVs doesn’t stop here. We continue talking to a variety of TV and set-top box manufacturers who also share our goal of bringing video calls to large screens. So stay tuned, we hope to have more exciting news on this front coming soon.
Hi,
Loving the concept, but When is the next release for Panasonic VT20? This is beta and tends to show it… .besides no Mac support also finding that outbound calling does not get video inbound, and no clear documentation ( though may need to be pointed in right direction) on what local networking needs e.g. uPnP or needing to use port and what the fw needs set up for this. Really looking forward to when this is a reliable consistent product.