Zoom, whose user base exploded with the onset of COVID-19, is expanding into hardware. The company has announced a new touchscreen device designed to help with remote work. The appliance, called Zoom For Home — DTEN ME, will cost $599 and will ship in August.
The DTEN ME is a 27-inch touchscreen device with three smart webcams and eight noise-reducing microphones built in, and it comes preloaded with the Zoom software. Zoom isn’t actually building the hardware; the product comes from DTEN, a San Jose-based company that makes videoconferencing appliances.
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The DTEN appears to have a pretty simple interface that provides quick access to Zoom’s various features, including meetings, whiteboards, and contacts. It also syncs with your calendar and displays your upcoming meetings in a menu. (You can tap one to jump in.) If you need to share your screen, you can link the DTEN to your phone or laptop via “ultrasonic pairing,” according to TechCrunch.
While $599 may seem like a steep price to pay for a Zoom-calling device when you can already Zoom from a phone or computer, the idea seems to be that it’s an easy way for newly remote employees to jump right into Zoom without having to deal with installing the software or setting up any complex equipment.
The DTEN is the first device certified with Zoom for Home, a category of hardware and software products that Zoom says is optimized for home offices. Zoom told TechCrunch that it will launch with more partners in the future, including the Neat Bar and the Poly Studio X Series.