Cisco, which touts itself as the worldwide leader in networking transforming how people connect, communicate and collaborate, just got a little bit bigger.
The California-based company announced today that it will be acquiring the privately-held Inlet Technologies (News - Alert) for $95 million. Inlet Technologies, which is a leading provider of Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) digital media processing platforms, was acquired to strengthen the capabilities ofCisco’s ( News 
- Alert) Videoscape TV platform, allowing service and content providers to deliver compelling video experiences to any device over any Internet Protocol (IP) network, according to Cisco.
"Service and content providers have a tremendous opportunity to deliver exciting video experiences as media consumption increases across mobile, desktop, and smart devices," said Enrique Rodriguez, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group, in a statement. "Cisco's Videoscape platform will play a key role in reinventing the TV experience, and the acquisition of Inlet will enable our customers to leverage the network as a platform to deliver innovative video experiences to consumers on any device."
The deal is expected to go into effect by the middle of 2011. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay about $95 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Inlet.
Inlet, based in Raleigh, N.C., is constantly “redefining the video experience,” according to its site.
“Through innovative solutions for media preparation that combine striking video quality with surprising simplicity and reliability, Inlet Technologies is enabling you to expand your audience and realize greater value from your content,” company officials state.
Those innovative solutions will be vital in Cisco’s Videoscape platform playing a role in “reinventing the TV experience.” Cisco Videoscape is an all-encompassing service provider solution that allows customers to bring together content from pay TV, online and on-demand sources. That can be combined with content from social media, communications and mobility to create a “truly immersive TV experience,” the company states. Inlet's advanced ABR technology, which is used in streaming multimedia over managed and unmanaged networks, adapts the quality of the video stream based on real-time network conditions.
Cisco was attracted to Inlet’s “strong team” and the fact that it understands the “complexities of delivering ABR video over IP networks to any device,” Cisco said. When the acquisition is finalized, Inlet employees will be integrated into Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group.
Inlet Technologies has been popping up in the news all over, even before the announcement of the acquisition, as last January the company was named one of Red Herring’s (News - Alert) 2010 Global 100 winners. The annual award recognizes the 100 most innovative and promising private technology companies across North America, Europe and Asia.
The award comes off a promising year for Inlet in which 2010 marked the company's seventh successive year of growth, with 2010 revenue twice the record revenue achieved in 2009.
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