The Asus-branded Chromebox for meetings videoconferencing solution is now on sale in Australia for $1450.
Google allows you to hold face-to-face meetings over its Hangouts service through the Chromebox for meetings setup, made up of a Chromebox, a camera, a remote and speakers.
Check out our buying guide for online video conferencing technology
The Asus Chromebox itself packs an Intel Core-i7 CPU and sports HDMI, VGA and DisplayPort connections for hooking it up to an external TV or monitor, alongside four USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet connection.
The full-HD webcam has a Carl Zeiss lens with autofocus and low-light correction, while the speaker unit houses an in-built omni-directional microphone.
Chromeboxed and appy
Chromebox for meetings is fully integrated with Google Apps, and meetings are set up as Google Calendar appointments so that it can be joined by other Chromebox for meetings users, or by logging into Google's Hangouts app.
All up, 15 participants (as long as they have a Gmail address) can join the meetings, while a management console allows for participants to removed or added, and meetings to be held privately.
Like Hangouts, whoever is speaking is automatically takes up the full screen, while other participants appear as thumbnails in the bottom right-hand corner.
The Chromebox for meetings will cost $1450 in Australia. It is unknown at this stage if hardware and telephone support will be available in Australia as it is in the US, but after 12-months of included support, it will likely attract a yearly renewal fee.
Also, if your business has rooms that have traditional video conferencing systems can also be connected to the Chromebox for meetings using third-party tools from Vidyo and Uberconference.
