Digium releases the TCE400B PCI Express card for use with voice applications based on the open source Asterisk telephony platform. The new card provides hardware-based voice compression and decompression (codec) capabilities to shift transcoding from software to hardware. Using the TCE400B in place of a software-only solution places fewer demands on servers and frees up Asterisk to more efficiently process calls and to provide functionality for phone systems such as call recording, conference calling and interactive voice response.

IPEVO announces that 18 USO centers across the Pacific Region will deploy its S0-10 Skype Desktop Phone and S0-20 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype devices. Using Skype and the IPEVO phones, more than 890,000 troops and their families that use the centers each year will now have a free communications link back home, without the need for a computer to make calls.

Polycom announces the Polycom VVX 1500 C business media phone has been certified for use with Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1 and 7.0 by tekVizion, an independent third-party lab. The VVX 1500 C, which is the model certified for interoperability with Cisco UCM, combines a personal video conferencing system with a fully featured VoIP telephone with Polycom HD Voice and an open API for integration with key business applications.

Polycom and MetaSwitch are teaming to deliver the Polycom VVX 1500 Business Media Phone to MetaSwitch customers worldwide. MetaSwitch offers its customers the full line of Polycom SoundPoint IP desk phones and recently added the VVX 1500 to its product portfolio. With the addition of the VVX 1500, MetaSwitch is bringing to market its first-ever visual communication solution, augmenting the HD Voice capabilities of the Polycom phones.

The VVX 1500 is the only business media phone to combine a personal video conferencing system with a fully featured VoIP telephone with Polycom HD Voice, an intuitive color touch-screen interface, and an open API and a microbrowser for real-time delivery of personalized Web content as well as integration with key business applications.

Grandstream Networks introduced a plug-and-play IP multimedia telephone that allows free peer-to-peer video telephony as well as Web browsing and social networking applications. The new GXV3140 IP multimedia phone uses Grandstream’s preconfigured peer-to-peer technology to make Grandstream’s GXV3140 IP multimedia phone is preconfigured to make online video calls instantly when a user plugs the device into a broadband router.

The device features a 1.3-megapixel tilting CMOS camera with privacy shutter, a 4.3-inch 480- by 272-pixel color LCD screen, dual Ethernet ports, SD and USB ports, a stereo headset jack, TV-out, stereo audio-out and a full duplex speakerphone.

snom introduces the snom MeetingPoint a SIP-based conference phone for the North American enterprise and small and medium-sized business markets at VoiceCon Orlando 2009. Designed for both medium to large size meeting rooms, the snom MeetingPoint features Konftel’s OmniSound 2.0 audio conferencing technology with advanced noise suppression and high fidelity wideband audio and offers a host of powerful conferencing capabilities. Featuring snom’s fourth generation SIP technology, the snom MeetingPoint provides enterprise and SMBs businesses with the same advanced SIP calling features and broad compatibility with standards-based IP PBX, hosted VoIP and unified communications solutions as snom’s 820 and 3XX series desktop VoIP phones

IP5280 Communications announce the launch and immediate service availability of the Polycom VVX 1500 business media phone. The new device is the first of its kind and redefines desktop communications by combining a personal video conferencing system with high definition call quality and the ability to integrate with key business applications. The VVX 1500 seamlessly integrates IP telephony and user-level application functionality with an intuitive color LCD touch-screen interface that brings the long-overdue experience of interactive video to the desktop of businesses.

Konftel will start delivering IP conference phones to the German company snom. On the CeBIT Show a week ago, snom launched its snom MeetingPoint - a SIP-based conference phone as the first result of the partnership which began in July 2008.

VoIP phones from snom are recognised for their generous range of peripheral applications that make business communication easier. The technical solution adopted in the phones enables a wide area of use while their flexibility makes it possible to integrate them in virtually all SIP-based environments.

Zoom Technologies is now shipping the X6v, which combines a feature set that establishes a new benchmark for DSL gateways. The X6v integrates an ADSL 2/2+ modem, 802.11g/b wireless router with firewall security, a four-port switch, and a VoIP telephone adapter into a single product. The product has built-in QoS to assure that voice quality is maintained. The X6v also has user-friendly QoS menus that enable a user to easily set the bandwidth dedicated to the 4 Ethernet LAN ports and the wireless LAN channel.

TANDBERG is now shipping its E20 video IP phone, making scalable, DVD-quality video on every desktop a reality. Designed to replace the standard office phone, the E20 provides a superior quality video experience combined with CD quality audio to enable face-to-face collaboration from any desk.

According to a recent study by the International Association of Business Communicators, direct, face-to-face communication practices are the most valuable for building employee engagement and increasing productivity. Yet the expanding global and remote workforce makes in-person communications challenging and expensive. With the E20, organizations can affordably connect all employees face-to-face from their desks, no matter where they are located, enabling instant knowledge sharing and collaboration to drive innovation and productivity.

Polycom redefines desktop communications with the introduction of its first business media phone, the Polycom VVX 1500. The VVX 1500 is the first device of its kind -- a business media phone that combines a personal video conferencing system with a fully featured VoIP telephone with Polycom HD Voice and an open application programming interface and microbrowser for real-time delivery of personalized Web content as well as integration with key business applications. All of these features are seamlessly integrated with an intuitive color touch-screen interface to enhance personal productivity, simplify multimedia communications, improve team collaboration, and reduce travel costs.

snom's VoIP phone portfolio has achieved the highest "green" standard in a recent test against VoIP handset competitors. snom's SIP based phones received top marks for being the most energy efficient in head-to-head testing against six other VoIP competitors in a recent lab study conducted by the Research Group for Telecommunication Networks at the Frankfurt Main University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Plantronics introduced the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Stereo Headset for PC-based communications and multimedia. The .Audio 655 is the industry's first headset to take full advantage of the crystal clear audio quality of calls in the all-new version of Skype for Windows.

The .Audio 655 is the first headset certified to work with Skype's new SILK speech codec, which was introduced earlier this year. This new audio codec delivers exceptionally clear conversations and achieves wideband audio quality (16kHz) using 50 percent less network bandwidth than previously required. Moreover, it introduces a new standard for speech quality -- super wideband audio (24kHz) -- which delivers crystal clear, richer and warmer sound to those using a compatible headset and a high quality broadband connection. Skype's bandwidth manager interacts with the codec to adjust quickly to fluctuating bandwidth conditions to produce the most reliable sound.

snom integrated its SIP-based phone portfolio with the leading IP PBX system developer AYC Telecom. After rigorous testing and evaluation, snom's 3xx series VoIP phones received full certification by AYC Telecom as interoperable and deployable with its IP PBX IPcts System. With the partnership, snom VoIP telephones will be the handset offered by AYC Telecom with its IP PBX IPcts System in the United States market.

Households across the nation can now experience for themselves the most talked-about new consumer electronics device on the market, the Verizon Hub. The Verizon Hub is an intuitive device that puts a communications command center in the home that bridges wireline and wireless connectivity and runs on any broadband connection -- whether supplied by Verizon FiOS Internet or DSL or any other high-speed service provider.