Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) has decided to slash the price of its ūmi (pronounced YOU-me) high-definition video conferencing system designed for consumers--just months after it was released. As I wrote then, the Cisco ūmi includes a set-top box, a high-definition camera and a remote control, and is priced at $599 with a monthly service fee of $24.99. Observers have argued that the price of the Cisco ūmi is too steep for home users, especially in view of free or low-cost alternatives on the market.

Well, Cisco this week announced that it will be reducing the price of the ūmi to $499, while the monthly service fee will now be set to a much lower $9.95 a month for unlimited calling. In addition, the company says it is working to release a lower-end ūmi 720 with a resolution of 1280 x 720; versus the 1080p of the original ūmi product. Priced at just $399, the ūmi 720 should be an easier sell given its stipulated upload bandwidth of just 1.5mbps, compared with 3.5mbps required for the 1080p version.

In addition, a new software product called ūmi Connect for PCs (and Macs) is also slated to extend the umi experience to the desktop. Both the ūmi 720 and ūmi Connect should be available by summer, with the latter available as a free download. In a blog entry on the company's official blog, Senior Vice President Marthin De Beer of the Emerging Technologies Group wrote that "thousands of people have chosen the technology," though no exact figures were disclosed.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at WSJ Blogs
- check out this article at InformationWeek
- check out this article at CNET News

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