Wireless, Video High On Interop Hit List

Executives from Google, XenSource, Microsoft and IBM are scheduled to deliver keynote addresses over the next few days, while over 200 vendors demonstrate their latest and greatest technology on the exhibit floor of the conference, which is produced by CMP Technology, the parent company of CMP Channel.

On the Wi-Fi front, Polycom is teaming with Ekahau to bring location-based services to Polycom's SpectraLink 8000 Series wireless phones. Using the Polycom phones and the Ekahau Positioning Engine server software, enterprises can track the location of the wireless handsets and the employees using them. For example, the solution would enable easy location of a salesperson on a retail floor or a medical specialist within a hospital over any 802.11n network, Polycom said.

Start-up Agito Networks, which came out of stealth mode last week, will be on hand for the first public exhibition of its fixed-mobile conference technology, which aims to tie Wi-Fi and cellular calling together. The vendor's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router, which is coming to market through the channel, uses RF-based, location-aware wireless technology to bring cellular calls onto the enterprise WLAN when users are in range of the corporate Wi-Fi network and vice versa. It also integrates with the enterprise IP-PBX to bring enterprise call management features to the mobile handset.

Videoconferencing start-up LifeSize Communications is rolling out three new additions to its high-definition line. With the launch of LifeSize Express, LifeSize Team MP and LifeSize Conference, the vendor aims to offer affordable HD video. LifeSize Express, an HD point-to-point videoconferencing system, is priced under $6,000. With LifeSize Team MP, priced starting at $8,999, users can view up to four callers at once, and LifeSize Conference, priced under $40,000 provides the infrastructure systems integrators need to build telepresence videoconferencing rooms that compete against similar offerings from Cisco Systems and Polycom, which launched new telepresence wares last week.

Riverbed is introducing version 4.1 of its Riverbed Optimization System as well as Steelhead 6120, a new model in its WAN optimization appliance family. The new release provides application-specific optimization for large-scale data transfers as well as enhanced disaster recovery capabilities. It also adds encryption for data stored on disk in its Steelhead appliances. The new Steelhead 6120 was built for transfers between data centers, with the raw capacity of seven terabytes and a data store that is over three terabytes.

SonicWall, meanwhile, will be showing off its recently introduced NSA (Network Security Appliance) E-Series multi-core processor firewalls, which deliver file and content-based threat prevention at Gigabit speed. The appliances combine real-time deep packet inspection firewall capabilities withy intrusion prevention and protection, anti-virus, anti-spyware and content filtering.