The networking-giant Cisco has made a strange move recently in their announcement that they will be offering technologically elegant telepresence devices to the home consumer. This seems a little odd to me because don’t we essentially already have that for anyone who happens to own a computer with a built in webcam or a cell phone with a forward-facing camera.

Cisco seems to be angling to provide a sort of SciFi video-telephone system that uses a television set with a set-top camera to facilitate calls. It also touts itself as running with HD, no-frills out-of-the-box setup, and distinct elements of ease of use. The HD and call quality are designed to directly compete against services such as Skype which also offer a sort of telepresence with handheld devices and computer webcams.

There’s a lot of speculation right now on the end cost of the device but it looks like it could go as low as $200 (which would be heavily subsidized by Cisco) and several sources believe that it will run around $500. It looks like if Cisco wants to beak into the home networking environment the cheaper version will be much more enticing to consumers.

Right off of Cisco’s page on the upcoming product:

With Cisco TelePresence:

• Scheduling is easy-no IT support required
• Launching a meeting is as simple as making a phone call.
• In-room controls are intuitive – collaboration applications are plug and play
• Participants can meet in many rooms at once-up to 48 locations in one meeting
• Users can easily bring in collaboration applications like Cisco WebEx Meeting Center
• Existing SD or HD videoconferencing systems can be easily integrated.

No sign currently if the devices requires a broadband Internet connection—I am guessing it probably does not—because most families who already have one probably have a computer and the ability to purchase (and use) a webcam with it. Also, anyone with an iPad and a wireless connection or a cellular hotspot can already mimic telepresence to such a degree that there’s no huge need for a set-top device.

The biggest selling point of these devices doesn’t really look like family-to-family communications, but employee-home-to-office communication as Cisco is looking to permit compatibility between their enterprise level product and this one. Unless they also enable the ability to jump in on Skype and other video teleconference networks this will also be rather locked in and just sitting atop the television.

The product looks interesting, but for home consumers this will probably be just a fad.

All that said, this is an absolutely gorgeous product, watching a video of a demo shows that it really ties together the technology, produces a clear and beautiful picture with no distortion or lag, and excellent call quality. Handles greater than two camera conversations by displaying a small version at the bottom and switching to the current speaker automatically.