Microsoft Roundtable review

One of the 'cooler' pieces of technology to come out of Microsoft Research and make its way into the Unified Communications group is something called Microsoft Roundtable,  which I have spoken about before.

It's quite difficult to explain what Microsoft Roundtable does and how it works without playing one,  even I had trouble talking to people about it until I had access to a few. 

Well it looks like the guys over in Redmond have sent a Roundtable to Tom at TMC who has put together a neat little summary and review of what Microsoft Roundtable is,  including a short flash demo and some pictures.

I am glad to say he was pleased with the device, his only complaint is that the panoramic view doesn't work with any other software except Livemeeting or OCS.  He concluded by saying....

"All in all, I was pretty impressed with the Microsoft RoundTable. With its panoramic view and active speaker video switching functionality, you almost feel as though you are there in the conference room. I do wish the panoramic USB camera device worked in other applications besides LM 2007 and OCS 2007, but at least the active speaker video works. Although not released for general availability, the Microsoft RoundTable is expected to retail for around $3,000 putting this in the category of high-end videoconferencing systems. However, with fuel costs and other travel expenses, a high-quality, high-end videoconferencing system can pay for itself very quickly."

Any of you looking to buy one of these when they come out?