telyHD brings Skype to your HDTV

telyHD [CES 2012] Most Smart TVs on the market now have the ability to run Skype to let you make video calls in the comfort of your living room. But what if you have a regular HDTV that isn’t “smart” and you want to Skype with it? Well you have a few options – you could hook it up to a computer or laptop, or a set top box (that supports Skype) with a webcam. While these are all plausible options, they definitely require a little skill to set up, which might be too troublesome or hard for a lot of people. Well, Skype and Tely Labs have come up with a solution to the problem called telyHD.

This Tegra 2-powered gadget does exactly what it is advertised to do, and it does it in the simplest way possible. All you have to do is plug it into your HDTV, connect it to your home internet (via WiFi or cable), set up your Skype account and you’re good to go. You can now have video calls with other Skype users via the built-in camera and microphone. In addition to enabling video calls, users can record video messages, share photographs (by plugging a USB drive or SD card into the telyHD) with each other.

Simple, easy to set up and use, and efficient – and it works on practically any TV with an HDMI port. Sounds pretty easy to mass market to me. The telyHD is available now and carries a price tag of $249.