Cisco Systems used the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show to unveil Videoscape, as its answer to Google TV and other solutions.
At the show CEO John Chambers showed off Videoscape, which helps consumers search for, access and manage Internet video, cable television, video conferencing and other features.
Chambers said Videoscape would help consumers watch any of their subscribed TV content from any device, including TVs, tablet computers and smartphones.
He said the service is designed to answer the question: “As video really starts to explode, how in the world are we going to share it in a convenient and simple way, much like the Internet.”
Videoscape comprises a media gateway, IP set-top box and software components.
Content and application tabs live on the right. Users may also tweet on Twitter or share information on Facebook about content they are watching.
Chambers made a short video with a Cisco Flip video recorder and played it back on a TV via the Videoscape media gateway, which processes voice, data and video content.
Chambers also placed a video call to his cousin in West Virgina, and was able to port content from Videoscape to watch on a smartphone via the IP set-top box.
“We think the future is going to be about reinventing the TV,” Chambers said, emphasising consistency of service quality across any device.
Unlike Google TV, Roku, Boxee and others of its ilk, Videoscape won’t be sold directly to consumers.
Instead, the solution will be sold to cable operators to distribute to their consumers. In the US, this could give service providers a measure of control over the content they serve to customers. So far, Cisco has only confirmed that Australia’s Telstra is on board for the product.
Cisco hasn’t announced pricing or an availability date, but when the product is completed, it will work with the company’s Umi consumer-teleconferencing product.
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And this is why I automatically don't like Videoscape. At least with Google TV the control is in the hands of the users, for the most part. As a DISH Network customer and employee I have been using the Logitech Revue/Google TV platform for a few months now and cannot imagine going back to a time when my DISH programming and the entire web did not converge into one seamless interface.