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VDOnet Expands VDOnet dials into broadband-net business By Junko Yoshida, EE Times Cambridge, Mass. -- In a bid to expand its products into the intranet and broadband-network markets, VDOnet Corp. has unveiled the next-generation VDOPhone. Called VDOPhone 3.0, the product promises improved resolution and higher frame rates. VDOnet, a developer of bandwidth-scalable video codecs for IP-based POTS networks, also introduced what it labeled one of the first tool kits to allow application developers to integrate one-way and two-way video applications, as well as a directory service, into bandwidth-scalable video applications over the Internet. VDOnet is not alone in shipping software-based video products aimed squarely at the IP-based network. However, most of its competitors offer products that focus either on one-way streaming video or on two-way videoconferencing, noted Steve Chambers, vice president of marketing. By bringing all three components--VDOLive, VDOPhone and the directory-service feature--into its new software developers' kit, or SDK, VDOnet thinks "independent software developers can build premium video services," Chambers said. Examples include call centers for customer support or online sites for travel agencies. After logging on to the intranet or Internet, the e caller could view a video clip on the installation of particular products or a clip on a vacation spot. If the customer needed to ask specific questions, VDOPhone would let him or her dial in to a live customer-support person or a travel agent to discuss details. Basic components of the SDK are VDOnet's proprietary bandwidth-scalable video codec and the H.324 and T.120 standards for connectivity and data sharing over regular phone lines. It is also said to supports H.323, which allows interoperability between videophones from different manufacturers. Chambers pointed out that VDOPhone 3.0 is designed for scalability, so it will be able to support superior resolution and higher frame rates when broader bandwidth becomes available on the intranet or on the broadband cable network. Both the VDOPhone 3.0 and the SDK are optimized for Intel Corp.'s MMX-based Pentium and Microsoft Corp.'s DirectDraw, he added. VDOnet said it is developing video products capable of scaling even further for increased throughput on the two-way broadband cable network. They will provide built-in support that will be specifically customized for a particular cable operator's unique head-end infrastructure. The company plans to introduce them in the third quarter . VDOPhone Internet 3.0 is available now for $59. VDOPhone Professional 3.0, which includes both H.324 and Internet connectivity, costs $79. (Next article.)
[This article comes from EE Times in a joint cooperative effort with the Motley Fool. For more articles like it, please look at Fool's Gold every weekend or simply go to the Fool's Gold Mine and page through our back issues, which all have clever and cool EE Times articles in them.]
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