Zoom for Home is everything you need for remote working in one bundle - but it’s got one big flaw

Video call behemoth Zoom has unveiled a hardware bundle designed to eliminate all issues associated with setting up and participating in video meetings. 

Produced in partnership with manufacturer DTEN, Zoom for Home - DTEN ME is a 27-inch touchscreen device (a cross between a monitor and a tablet) with Zoom video conferencing software pre-installed.

The device is said to simplify and enhance the Zoom experience, doing away with any complications that might arise from the use of non-standardized hardware among remote workers.

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Zoom for Home

The popularity of Zoom has skyrocketed since coronavirus lockdown measures were first introduced and the company has become a household brand, relied upon by millions of businesses to keep in touch with employees and partners during the pandemic.

However, in many cases, newly remote workers were left to establish their own remote working set-up, with many ill-equipped to work or communicate effectively from the domestic environment.

Zoom for Home seeks to eradicate that problem (at least where video conferencing is concerned) by standardizing hardware and providing remote workers with access to all the functionality they might need.

“Zoom for Home is an initiative from Zoom that allows any Zoom user to deploy a personal collaboration device for their video meetings, phone calls, interactive whiteboard annotation,” explained Jeff Smith, Head of Zoom Rooms.

“All the good stuff that you want to do on Zoom, you can do with a dedicated purpose-built device,” he added.

The device itself features a full HD multi-touch display, 3-camera array, 8 microphones, integrated speakers and runs on DTEN’s own operating system.

It also boasts a few nifty features for dampening background noise, including Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) and Automatic Gain Control (AGC), and connects up to other devices for screen sharing via “ultrasonic pairing”, similar to Bluetooth.

Zoom for Home is currently available to pre-order at $599.00, though the website does not specify precisely when the product will be shipped, nor whether it is available in regions outside the US.

It is also safe to assume the kit will not be compatible with other video conferencing services, such as Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, meaning its usefulness will be limited for anyone that relies on multiple platforms.

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Via TechCrunch

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