My previous blog entry, (VoIP Videophone War), discussed Vonage's and Packet8's videophones. I mentioned Leadtek is the OEM for Packet8's videophone.

Well perfect timing - I just got some pre-release news from Leadtek that I thought I'd share...

First, at CES, Leadtek will announce the Leadtek Videophone for TV set-top boxes, Leadtek Surveillance Camera, and Leadtek Videophone for France Telecom.

Leadtek will also announce the world’s first large scale deployment of video telephony with France Telecom. The Leadtek-France Telecom IP-based videophone service utilizes QoS to achieve real-time video chat, video messaging, video streaming, and information on demand.

I find the "TV set-top box videophone" product interesting. Imagine if all the cable companies adopt set-top boxes with videocameras built-in. That may help videoconference adoption which has not taken off as much as everyone has prognosticated.

Of course, the "possibility" of the cable companies "seeing" into my living room via the embedded camera gives me the creeps. Or imagine if the set top box was hackable. Mr. Hacker: "Peek-a-boo, I see you!"

Should take voyeurism to a whole other level...