With the cold month of January upon us, the IP media server industry is warming up by releasing new products to the market. Last week, the CodecCaster 900 -- an IP media server that offers real-time transcoding of IPTV (News - Alert) streams up to full HD resolution -- made its mark on the technology world.

The new IP media server includes capabilities like powering high-performance and high-quality IP-based format conversion, video transcoding from MPEG-2 Video to AVC/H.264 for MPEG Transport Streams, and transcoding from AVC/H.264 to MPEG-2 Video, or any other combination. In addition to dramatically cutting down the amount of bandwidth needed for the highest video quality possible, according to a press release, the CodecCaster IP media server also allows for stream adaptation, such as deinterlacing, video scaling, and frame rate conversion. In addition, an audio sample rate and format conversion allows for serving set-top boxes, tablets, mobile phones, etc.

Perfect for any transcoding scenario, the CodecCaster 900 differs from the previously-available CodecCaster 800, as it offers a much higher level of performance and enables nine different streams in full SD resolution to be transcoded in real-time, requiring only one appliance. Compared to its predecessor, this IP media server needs 30 percent less power per HD stream, helping to reduce costs and save energy.

Moreover, the CodeCaster 900 can be seamlessly integrated with gateways, conditional access systems, streaming servers, and set-top boxes, allowing for any infrastructure to efficiently expand with the new addition.

Also heating up the industry during this windy cold season, TMCnet recently reported that Polkast showcased at last week’s CES (News - Alert) event how one of its solutions, a personal cloud service that securely connects a user's computers and mobile devices, could be integrated with the ZyXEL IP Media Server NSA300 series.

“Porting to connected storage devices is an important step for Polkast in advancing the personal cloud," Hong Bui, CEO of Polkast, said in a statement. "ZyXEL is an awesome partner because they share our vision, and they have a broad portfolio of networking devices for both consumers and business, with global distribution. We're thrilled to be working with them."

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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