polycom

Polycom today unveiled a new videoconferencing application, RealPresence Mobile, that will run on the iPad 2 and Android tablets.

The app runs on Polycom's RealPresence platform, which runs its standard videoconferencing rooms and terminals that include larger high-definition televisions and speaker systems. The idea is to encourage even more videoconferencing use by enabling the tablets to talk with the larger videoconference rooms.

Polycom is looking to play a bigger part in the white-hot mobile space, branching out from the videoconferencing rooms and audio equipment that make up its bread-and-butter business. Its main rival, Cisco Systems, has a number of … Read more

Juniper Networks and Polycom have teamed on a joint telepresence and video-conferencing offering that's designed to serve as a counterweight to Cisco Systems and its recent acquisition of Tandberg.

In a statement Monday, Juniper and Polycom said they will optimize their platforms so service providers can offer video and telepresence cheaply. The argument: it's cheaper for enterprises to deploy telepresence as a service from their network providers instead of building out their own networks.

The deal with Juniper highlights Polycom's partnership strategy. Polycom last week announced a global reseller agreement with Siemens. Polycom also highlighted a telepresence … Read more

The current health care crisis has some experts saying that telemedicine's time has finally come.

While technology companies have been touting the use of virtual technology to allow doctors to remotely examine and monitor patients for decades, up until recently the business case for deploying these expensive systems was hard to justify. But now as lawmakers in Washington, D.C. look for ways to fix the broken health care system, technologies, such as high-definition video conferencing and telepresence, are getting a second look.

Last week, technology giant Cisco Systems and a major U.S. insurer UnitedHealth Group announced a … Read more

Microsoft's RoundTable has found a white knight.

The software maker will stop selling the Microsoft Research-developed panoramic video camera. Instead, Microsoft said this week, it will license the Webcam technology to teleconference gear maker Polycom, which will take over sales of the device.

It's unclear whether Microsoft will get a lump sum payment or receive per-unit royalties. It's also unclear how it will be compensated for the technology.

"Microsoft and Polycom are not discussing the financial terms of the deal, but profit is not the focus for Microsoft in distributing the RoundTable device," the company … Read more