THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 1, 1996 TAG: 9512290241
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tech Track: Gadgets and Gizmos for the Next Century
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
SAY YOU'RE IN SRI Lanka and your beloved is in Seattle. How can you glimpse the face of one you hold dear?
Maybe you need to shell out some bills for what electronics firm Casio is calling the ``Image Tel'' videophone. The company is hawking the device, due for an unveiling later this week at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, as the first true plug-and-play videophone.
According to spokesman Gary Van Zandt, Image Tel will transmit images over regular phone lines, without the need for special, high-speed communications hookups. Simply connect the device to a regular phone and to a television or a computer monitor, and make your call.
A built-in camera and microphone provide full-screen, color images, together with simultaneous audio transmission. One catch, though: This won't be the kind of continuous-motion video you see on regular television.
Viewers will see a standard, full-frame image every 3.5 seconds, or a high resolution image every 30 seconds. Up to four low-resolution images can be shown at a time.
That's why, for the moment, Image Tel will be marketed to security firms and those interested in round-the-clock monitoring of industrial sites or retail businesses. Also, ordinary consumers will likely balk at a base price of $2,500 per unit - especially when considering that, for two-way seeing, the person you're contacting must be similarly equipped with the Casio gear.
But sometimes gadgets like this end up sparking development of successors that far outstrip the original model. Consider that 20 years ago, the personal computer was a hobbyist's curiosity with no discernible appeal to regular folks.
Casio says the videophone can transmit images from a camcorder or digital camera. Pictures stored in the device's internal memory can also be put on paper when the Image Tel is connected to a digital printer.
The Image Tel will be available only through a network of 25 national distributors. For more information, call Casio headquarters in Torrance, Calif., at (310) 618-9910. MEMO: ``Tech Track'' will appear every Monday in the Daily Break. Readers
with ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599, or via e-mail at
schultz(AT)infi.net ILLUSTRATION: Casio photo
The "Image Tel" videophone will be unveiled tthis week in Las Vegas.
by CNB