Teliris, a provider of videoconferencing systems and services has introduced a touch-surface computer and electronic whiteboard for telepresence applications. The tactile device will allow participants in a web conference or online meeting seemingly “pass” documents and photographs to each other and interact more fully in the virtual meeting.

Teliris CEO, Marc Trachtenberg:

Telepresence delivers a truly immersive environment. Now, Teliris delivers the collaboration tools to fully replicate the dynamics of a face-to-face meeting. This will change the way people think about what telepresence can deliver and multiplies the value.

This tactile computer has technology to Microsoft’s new Surface computer, and can be used and displayed either vertically or horizontally. The surface can show and share presentations, documents, video and audio all simultaneously. The systems are fully built into Teliris Telepresence conference tables.

Teleris also offeres a 110 inch “TouchWall” for much larger scale meetings with multiple particpants. These 110 inch screens can also be combined to assemble very large interactive walls. Also available from Teliris is the InterAct easal, similar in size to a standard flipchart, but with full multimedia and interactive capabilities.

Citrix Systems, makers of GotoMeeting, GotoWebinar and other video conferencing services has quietly acquired high definition voice conference provider Vapps for $26.6 million in cash. The details of the acquisition were released with Citrix’s November 14th SEC filings. Vapps had been a pioneer in the field of “HD” voice conferencing services, and has partnered with Skype, Adobe, Yahoo and MSN among other services providing high quality audio conferencing.

Vapps HD conferencing is audio that is sent on the 16 KHz “wideband” codec. This is twice the standard 8 KHz that most VoIP encoding (roughly what you’d get on a PSTN call) provides. Vapps services supports up to 500 callers on the line and provides a monthly flat rate service that encourages all day, continuous use. Vapps customers reportedly use roughly half a billion minutes per year.

Citrix will likely integrate Vapps technology into it’s current suite of collaboration services. In addition to the $26.6 million in cash, Vapps also has the usual “if they meet certain goals” incentives at a not-so-usual $4.4 million price tag. According to both companies, Vapps and Citrix have been negotiating the deal for “several months.”

Vapps had been financed solely by Azure Capital Partners, who will see a 3.6 times return on it’s initial VC investment that it staked only 18 months ago. Much shorter than the duration most VCs have to wait to see any it at all a return on their investment.

Netbriefings, a webcasting and video conferencing service provider that specializes in helping businesses communicate through video, has been selected to webcast the US - China Virtual Symposium November 11-14.The event, presented by Wainhouse Research in conjunction with Drexel University and the World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network focuses on the theme “Building Virtual Global Communities.” The symposium incorporates live webcasts, short video, blogs, live presentations and a host of other forms of communication.

Wainhouse Research Analyst, Stacy Austin-Li:

We are very excited about both the quality and accessibility of the program. The broad range of technologies — from traditional videoconferencing to the open source e-learning platform Moodle and video blogging and streaming tools provided by Netbriefings – speaks more about the variety of tools available than the pursuit of any ‘wow factor.’ Each collaborative technology was selected on the basis of its ability to help create community and involve participants without presenting new barriers to access, and we welcome interested parties to drop-in any time by visiting www.global-symposium.com.

Netbriefings video messaging services will be used by presenters to provide video enabled presentations for the on-demand and online portions of the conference. In addition, participants will be invited to use Proclaim as a social networking community building tool in which they will be able to share video snippets about their experiences at the symposium.

iLinc, a leading provider of web conferencing software and online collaboration services announced that iLinc has partnered with 24×7 Learning, a Talent Lifecycle Management Company. 24×7 will provide iLincs web and video conferencing software as part of their “Learning’s Enterprise Talent Enhancement solutions” offering to customers.24×7 Learning provides technology-based solutions to corporations across vertical industries, government institutions and universities. 24×7’s continuing education initiative AVAGMAH offers recognized degree and post-graduate programs for working students. Through new iLinc partnership, 24×7 Learning will integrate web conferencing products with its enterprise learning solutions.

iLinc VP of sales, Jason Walker:

Recent studies predict enormous growth for conferencing in India. We look forward to a very successful relationship and the opportunity to have 24×7 Learning’s clients benefit from our online meeting software solutions.

Recent and significant improvements in the broadband infrastructure, an increase in travel costs, green initiatives and globalization are influencing demand for web conferencing software solutions and driving expansion collaboration technologies in India. A supporting advocate for green initiatives, iLinc’s patent-pending Green Meter tracks carbon emissions along with fuel and travel costs saved per meeting. Adopting conferencing on the web with video, and implementing eLearning initiatives will increase an organization’s Green Meter score.