With the new year comes a new crop of announcements from network optimization players. Here's a quick roundup of recent product launches, market forecasts and partnership announcements helping shape the industry.

* Stampede makes satellite connection
Satellite networks can provide the most remote of the mobile population with Web access, and a new deal between Stampede Technologies (which specializes in client-side acceleration) and iDirect Technologies is aimed at bringing acceleration capabilities to that same crowd. Stampede inked an agreement with iDirect to offer Stampede's application acceleration products to satellite service providers to improve response times and reduce bandwidth utilization across their networks. (iDirect designs and develops satellite-based broadband communications technology.) “Satellite networks are increasingly used to support critical business applications that place heavy bandwidth demands on IP networks,” said Ajit Vanniamparampil, iDirect’s product manager, in a statement. “With space segment becoming scare and expensive, our customers need to maximize their bandwidth efficiencies and improve application response times.”

* IDC sees big growth for WAN application delivery market
Research firm IDC released its worldwide market forecast for the WAN application delivery market (measured by manufacturing revenue) and analyzed key trends behind the market’s strong growth. According to Tracy Corbo, a senior analyst for network and service management at IDC, “the WAN application delivery market is growing as it becomes a must-have for network managers. The ability to provide cost savings as well as provide enhanced application performance will drive revenue to $1.1 billion by 2012.” To purchase IDC’s WAN application delivery forecast, check out the firm’s Web site. 

* Packeteer teams up with Cavium
Packeteer announced plans to use Cavium Networks’ Octeon multicore MIPS64 processors in its WAN application delivery products. The semiconductor maker’s high-throughput processing technology will let Packeteer increase the performance of its compression, encryption and processing offloading technologies -- and enable its products to reach network traffic throughput speeds of up to 20Gbps, Packeteer said. The first release Packeteer plans as part of the collaboration with Cavium is its forthcoming “Turbo” product architecture, which is designed to boost the capacity of Packeteer's existing high-end PacketShaper 10000 product. (Stay tuned for more news about Turbo.)

Ann Bednarz is associate news editor at Network World.