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Also new as of Monday is that Polycom now fully supports Scalable Video Coding (SVC) technology, saying its users can now enjoy three times the HD multipoint capacity in their videoconferences while lowering costs and eliminating the need for SVC gateways.
SVC support will be made available to Polycom users as a software update to RealPresence, including the RealPresence Collaboration Server 7.8 (RMX), Resource Manager 7.1 and Virtualization Manager 5.1 (DMA). Polycom previously confirmed it would license its SVC implementation to the broader video industry royalty-free.
Another major Polycom announcement is RealPresence Collaboration Server 800s, Virtual Edition, a multiprotocol, software MCU that can run on industry-standard servers. The idea is that delivering virtualized video collaboration from the data center will drive down overall video infrastructure costs while also making video easier to use. Polycom plans to start on Dell servers and expand to other big industry names, Polycom's Kruger said.
Polycom's UX platform is also getting a substantial makeover, including a redesigned user interface and a patent-pending Polycom technology called SmartPairing, which can wirelessly connect mobile devices like Apple's iPad to various Polycom products, including its HDX units. Polycom users will be able to control video meetings off their iPads and also transfer video calls from tablets to other screens by swiping a finger.
Finally, Polycom is rolling out new endpoints as well: the RealPresence 300, 500 and 700 Group Series room systems, RealPresence VisualEdge systems, which are less than an inch thick and offer 1080p60 resolution, and an updated version of its RealPresence Desktop 2.0 software for Windows- and Mac-based PCs and laptops.
Polycom's top executives, including Miller, are expected to officially launch the portfolio later Monday during an analyst conference in New York.
"With this set of announcements, Polycom is tackling these adoption barriers head-on by making video conferencing easier to deploy, easier to use, and easier to scale without forcing forklift upgrades. This is the type of innovation and vision that made Polycom an early market leader in video collaboration," Ira Weinstein, senior analyst and partner with Wainhouse Research, said in a statement emailed to CRN. "Make no mistake: we are seeing Polycom 2.0."
PUBLISHED OCT. 8, 2012
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