PRICE £595 exc VAT from polar.uk.com
Small offices and mobile workers that want a videoconferencing (VC) solution that puts everyone in shot will love Maxhub's UC M40. This slim metal baton sports a 5-megapixel 4K camera with four lenses arranged around the top to deliver a full 360-degree panoramic field of view (FOV).
Measuring 68mm on each side and only 182mm tall, the UC M40 is one of the smallest panoramic cameras we've seen, and its 450g weight makes it highly portable. This compactness doesn't come at the cost of features, either, as the UC M40 is very well endowed.
Inside is an array of four omnidirectional mics used for active speaker tracking. You can see these in action as the upper surface has a circular blue indicator that shows where it has detected a voice.
There's much more to this camera than an all-round view, however.
In Standalone mode its smart image manipulation offers a choice of seven different visual presentations. You don't need to load any software, and you can swap between each view using the mode button located below the front lens.
This story is from the August 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Robobutlers may never happen, but robot care workers are on their way
Do you hate loading the dishwasher enough to pay someone to do it remotely? Nicole Kobie wonders about the weird future of home robots
Technical debt
Cutting corners now means more work down the road - but Steve Cassidy asks whether that's always a bad thing
Zyxel ZyWALL ATP500
Zyxel delivers tough gateway security and advanced threat protection at a very appealing price
CREATIVE WORKSTATIONS
Intel and AMD both offer compelling CPU choices for workstations, giving us ten machines with the widest variety of specifications we've seen for years
ANDROID PHONES FROM £219
As this roundup of four affordable contenders shows, there's no need to spend a fortune on a phone
Amazon Echo Pop
If you want a compact Alexa smart speaker, the Pop is now the cheapest choice - but what does it really add?
Getac X600
A powerful alternative to the Panasonic Toughbook 40, with the bonus of optional Nvidia graphics
Amazon Fire Max 11
With its 2K screen and sleek design, this is Amazon's best tablet yet-but FireOS remains a hindrance
Google Pixel Fold
The Pixel Fold delivers with a thin and durable design, a wide front display, smart software and great cameras
Welcome to the Fediverse
Have commercial social networks had their day? Darien Graham-Smith looks at the free, community-run apps that could usurp Twitter, Reddit and the Meta empire