Friday, October 31, 2008

Microsoft and Akamai Innovate on Consumer Video Experiences Using Silverlight

Microsoft Corp., the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions, and Akamai Technologies Inc., the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced plans to enable high-definition (HD) quality experiences on PCs. Akamai will release a beta version of a new service, powered by Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Silverlight, to deliver rich Internet applications via the world's largest HTTP edge network.

Microsoft is introducing new Web server technology, called Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7.0) Smooth Streaming, that gives consumers instant start-up times and no buffering by adapting the quality of the video stream in real time based upon changing connectivity speed. This enables companies to boost brand awareness and advertising revenues by extending average viewing times. They can also benefit from unprecedented network scalability using distributed HTTP-based Web servers.

"Smooth Streaming is an evolution of proven Silverlight technology that has powered global online events," said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft. "Our objective has always been to provide a platform that enables next-generation media experiences on the Web. Together with Akamai, we will take that a step further by offering a consistently superior adaptive streaming experience on a global scale."

Akamai will be building upon this innovative technology with a new service, Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, which will be deployed across the company's globally distributed network to bring a solution with HD scale to media companies worldwide. The service is expected to be available to select Akamai customers in a beta release in early 2009. Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Silverlight will leverage IIS Smooth Streaming, which offers a simple-to-manage approach for adaptive streaming, and will be an upcoming feature of IIS7 Media Pack. IIS7 Media Pack brings media-specific features such as bit-rate throttling and playlists to Web servers. This powerful solution is enhanced by the compelling experiences and rich interactive applications enabled by the Silverlight player.

"We've seen firsthand the growing demand for HD online content among our customer base," said Tim Napoleon, chief strategist, Digital Media at Akamai. "In a broadcast model, typically the experience is consistent across 100 percent of the viewing audience. The challenge is that capabilities in the online world vary greatly for each user. Adaptive streaming allows the video to adjust to the audience, maximizing each user's experience. We believe that this technology, combined with an open video player solution that embraces existing development and ad standards, will allow us to offer the scale and reach needed to grow the business of online video."

"Users expect TV-quality video when they go online; anything less just doesn't make the grade anymore," said Will Richmond, broadband video analyst and editor/publisher of VideoNuze. "Especially in the HD era, premium video providers are recognizing that quality is king and as a result are accelerating their shift to more robust delivery infrastructure. And the payoffs are clear: higher-quality video drives longer viewing sessions, greater engagement and improved monetization opportunities."

Thursday, October 30, 2008

arenafootball2 and Network Foundation Technologies Renew Partnership


The arenafootball2 League (af2) and Network Foundation Technologies (NFT) are pleased to announce the renewal of their partnership for the 2009 season that will once again bring the action of af2 football into the homes of fans worldwide. The FREE-for-View online network called "af2TV" will showcase every game of the league's 10th anniversary season live over the Internet beginning in March.

af2TV, powered by NFT's patented online broadcasting technology, was developed and successfully implemented in 2008. NFT's unique set-up is the Internet's most efficient and successful method available for broadcasting live events. The technology makes it possible for af2 games to reach unlimited audiences in geographically diverse areas of the globe. In the inaugural season of af2TV, close to 250,000 online viewers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 40 nations from five different continents logged in to view af2 games throughout the 2008 season.

"We (af2) are very pleased to be extending our partnership with NFT," af2 President Jerry Kurz said. "Based on our overwhelming viewership numbers and positive fan feedback, the premiere season of af2TV was a tremendous success. This free network has allowed us to expose our high-quality brand of football to an audience far greater than we ever thought possible under our previous Pay-Per-View model."

With the increased demand from online viewers, NFT will continue to improve its technology for the 2009 season by rolling out a whole new version of the af2TV player with all-new features to enhance the viewing experience.

"This new version of af2TV will support a bit rate twice as high as was used last season, and as a result picture quality will be substantially improved over last season especially in full-screen mode. NFT is also in the process of adding an all new Video-On-Demand feature to enable fans to rewatch games from earlier in the season," said Dr. Mike O'Neal, Founder and Chief Scientist of NFT.

In addition to providing home and away game coverage for 450+ broadcasts, NFT also co-sponsored a highly successful midseason sweepstakes that awarded loyal online fans with a number of prizes which included autographed footballs and helmets. The "Click, Connect & View Your Way to ArenaCup9" sweepstakes also awarded an exclusive VIP trip to ArenaCup to two lucky contestants at the end of the season.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

RipCode Announces Latest Version of its Flagship Offering

RipCode, an innovator of Internet and mobile video infrastructure solutions, announced the availability of the RipCode V5 Video Transcode and Transrate Appliance, the latest addition to the company's family of new media conversion solutions. Continuing RipCode's commitment to high performance video delivery, the RipCode V5 doubles the video processing horsepower of the company's flagship appliance, the RipCode V4. Designed for processing large volumes of video files concurrently while ensuring video quality and integrity, RipCode V5 is suitable for delivering either video on-demand or live video content from a single appliance. This capability provides RipCode's customers with the flexibility to address multiple markets from one, scalable platform.

According to Vidya Nath, senior digital media analyst with Frost & Sullivan, transcoding is a critical component of the video delivery value chain. "With so many demands for extending video to new channels, there is a significant need for robust, scalable and efficient solutions like RipCode," she said. "RipCode offers a complete transcoding package that helps overcome the complexities of getting video into the right format for the right device."

The new RipCode V5 sets the standard for raw transcoding performance. Engineered for managing large amounts of simultaneous transcode or transrate transactions, the RipCode V5 performance capability is critical in the deployment of RipCode's unique On-Demand Transcoding methodology where "on-the-fly" transcoding replaces traditional batch transcoding. When coupled with RipCode's existing On-Demand Signaling Server, the RipCode V5 transforms an operator's network into a transparent peer-point for video to any screen.

Also announced is the availability of RipCode's Client Detection Application, which accurately identifies the characteristics of a variety of Internet-enabled devices and handsets that are particularly important for optimizing video delivery or image re-sizing for the mobile market. RipCode's Client Detection Application helps content owners and syndicators create an improved end-user mobile video experience. The solution also maximizes advertiser value by recognizing device attributes, including resolution, bit rate, frame rate, codec, geo-location and carrier identification pinpoints. The result provides the intelligence needed to transcode and deliver device optimized video and banner ads in compliance with the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA) specifications. The RipCode Client Detection Application is available as a complement to RipCode's On-Demand Transcoding solution or as a standalone application to augment a company's existing image or video transcoding technology.

According to Brendon Mills, RipCode CEO, RipCode's long-term strategy is about creating video content ubiquity across all IP end-points. "But beyond just moving files from one format to another with industry-leading performance, we're also dedicated to providing an overall Internet and mobile video delivery solution that adds value through applications like our Client Detection technology. We want to improve the end-user experience and increase our customers' revenue opportunities for direct-to -consumer video services."

Monday, October 27, 2008

Columbia Journalism School to Enhance Election-Night Webcast with Streambox

Streambox announced that the Columbia University Journalism School is expanding its presidential election night coverage on November 4 to include a live streaming component in addition to its radio coverage. To help facilitate the live video webcast, a number of Streambox ACT-L3 Software Encoders will be deployed to student journalists on location. The Streambox solution will provide an easy-to-use and reliable means for students to gather live reports to supplement the upcoming election webcast as well as content for New Media and TV Broadcast during the course of the academic year.

The student journalists -- all graduate students - will be involved in producing Columbia's Election Website, designed to provide hands-on experience in all newsgathering and news production disciplines including print, radio/TV broadcast, and new media/web production. Armed with up to four laptops running the Streambox ACT-L3 Software Encoder, students will be able to capture and encode live video from field locations and transport it over low-bandwidth IP connections to the Journalism School's TV control room, where it will be output to a Flash server and streamed to the Election Website. Early testing of the Streambox system using 3G WiFi express cards has yielded transmission speeds as high as 800 Kbps.

"The Streambox solution helps our students gain a broader learning experience by letting them work hands-on with the kinds of systems they'll be using in the real world," said Craig Hettich, manager of broadcast technology for the Columbia University Journalism School. "By providing an affordable and easy-to-use solution for acquiring video from the field and getting it back to the studio for broadcast, Streambox is enhancing our ability to teach cutting edge news reporting. The beauty of the system is that it enables smaller news outlets to do large-scale productions and stream them to the web with the same ease as large news organizations."

In addition to streaming live video to the Election Website, the Columbia Journalism School will use the Streambox solution to incorporate live remote coverage into its spring "Nightly News" broadcasting course. "The ability to include live newsgathering and reporting in this course will give it a whole new dimension," said Hettich.

He added, "For this ambitious project, and the kind of newsgathering our students are doing, Streambox is the only game in town. It's a big plus that the software-based encoder runs on standard-off-the-shelf laptops without the need for any hardware other than a Streambox decoder and possibly video management systems back at the studio. Also, the solution delivers broadcast video from the moment you plug it in."

"The Columbia Journalism School's commitment to give its students authentic real-life experience by using best-of-class teaching tools is one more example of why the school has such a stellar reputation," said Bob Hildeman, chairman and CEO at Streambox. "We're pleased that Columbia has selected Streambox's IP-centric newsgathering platform to play a key role in that effort."

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Digital Rapids' TouchStream Grabs Awards

Digital Rapids -- a leading developer of solutions for bringing television, video and movie content to the next generation of viewing devices -- announced that the company's new TouchStream video and audio streaming appliance has won three prestigious industry awards following its unveiling at the IBC Conference and Exhibition in September.

TouchStream was honored with a Broadcast Engineering IBC 2008 Pick Hit Award; TV Technology Europe Magazine's Superior Technology (STAR) Award; and a TVBEurope 'Best of IBC2008' Editor's Pick award.

"We're thrilled that the innovative benefits of TouchStream have been recognized with these three highly respected awards," said Wesley Thiessen, Product Manager, Digital Rapids Corporation. "These accolades are testament to TouchStream's breakthrough combination of quality, usability and transportability, which is ideal for meeting the ever-increasing demand for flexible live streaming solutions. Coming right on the heels of our IBC Innovation Award win with NBC Universal, they also further reinforce Digital Rapids' position as the leader in ingest, encoding and streaming solutions."

TouchStream appliances deliver Digital Rapids' renowned live streaming quality and reliability as a fully self-contained, easy-to-deploy appliance. Leveraging the most intuitive of human interfaces -- touch -- TouchStream appliances offer unparalleled ease of use. Streamlined software controls are accessed through a touch-screen interface with integrated live video monitoring and VU meters for audio validation, eliminating the need for laptops, keyboards, mice and separate monitors.

The Broadcast Engineering Pick Hit awards are the industry's longest-running new product technology awards, with a 24-year history. The judges are readers of Broadcast Engineering World Edition magazine and working professionals in the broadcast, post and network and satellite industries who remain anonymous throughout the judging process to protect the integrity of the awards. Winning products are judged to have a positive impact on the intended user's everyday work, and to offer substantial improvement over previous technology at a price within the reach of the intended users.

The TV Technology Europe STAR Award (Superior Technology Award Recipient) is designed to celebrate and showcase the preeminent technological innovations available to the broadcast industry. TV Technology Europe's editor reviewed a variety of products, examined the technical applications and their overall contribution to the industry, and then chose 25 winners. STAR awards are given to products that help a user save money or accomplish a task in an easier way.

The 'Best of IBC2008' Editor's Pick awards are chosen by the combined editorial teams behind TVBEurope magazine and the official show publication, The IBC Daily. The editors searched IBC for the most innovative new products that demonstrated the potential to make or save money for end users -- not just clever technology for technology's sake.

TouchStream appliances will be available through Digital Rapids and our their worldwide network of authorized resellers and systems integrators.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Warner Bros. Licenses Content for DivX Devices


DivX, Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced an agreement that will enable online retailers to offer Warner Bros. titles in the high-quality DivX standard definition format in October 2008 and high definition format in September 2009 for playback on DivX Certified consumer electronics devices.

The wide-ranging agreement covers all titles available for digital distribution in the Warner Bros. catalogue including current and back-catalogue major motion pictures and television programs. All titles offered in the DivX format are compatible with a variety of DivX Certified devices from major consumer electronics brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles and more. The agreement allows retailers who sign additional agreements with DivX and Warner Bros. to offer Warner titles in the DivX digital media format.

"Using the DivX secure format is in keeping with our overall digital distribution strategy," said Jim Wuthrich, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "The visual quality, security and widespread interoperability of the DivX format offers an excellent means for consumers to enjoy Warner Bros.' content whenever and wherever they desire."

"Warner Bros. offers an extremely compelling catalogue of premium, high-quality content enjoyed by consumers all over the world," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "We're very excited to work together to offer consumers premium content on any DivX device, from the PC to the living room and on the go."

For more information about DivX, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about Warner Bros. Entertainment visit www.warnerbros.com.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Streaming and Compression Consulting Services

Available Services:

  • Go Stream SURF Set-up and Training
  • QuickTime Streaming Server Set-up
  • Windows Media Streaming Server Set-up
  • Wowza Media Server Pro Set-up (For Flash Streaming)
  • FTP Server Set-up
  • Video Encoding to Windows Media, QuickTime, Real Media, MPEG-4, Flash, and H.264 formats
  • Web Authoring of Streaming Content
  • Video Portal Set-up
  • Streaming Tools Set-up and Training
  • Set-up of In-house Streaming Operation
  • Set-up of Video and Audio Encoding Workstations
  • Live Streaming Channels Set-up
  • 24/7 On-demand Channels Set-up
  • Evaluation of Compression Tools
  • Creation of Streaming Statistics Reports
  • Video and Audio Podcasting Set-up
  • Compression Tools Recommendations for Encoding on Mac and PC Platforms
  • Assistance with RFPs for Streaming

Call Video Streaming and Compression Specialist Derrick Freeman at 407.477.5837 for more information about consulting on the above items. You can also contact him by E-mail at derrick217@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Wowza Surpasses 10,000 Global Licensees

Wowza Media Systems, an emerging leader in streaming media server software, announced that their award-winning Wowza Media Server Pro has surpassed the 10,000 global licensees mark in just 18 months since its launch. The key to Wowza's success: its unmatched combination of performance, innovation, price and support.

Among its 10,000+ licensees, Wowza counts such well-known brands as Sun Microsystems, Macy's, Astral Media, RAI and Mogulus, and numerous service providers, including Interoute, Nacamar and T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, the business customer brand of telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom.

"We are truly amazed," said David Stubenvoll, CEO & Co-Founder, Wowza Media Systems. "In even our most optimistic projections we never predicted that our product acceptance rate would be so rapid. Nor did we foresee such a broad and deep affection for what we have done."

Record of Innovation

Launched in February 2007, Wowza Media Server Pro has revolutionized online media by introducing unique capabilities, as well as radically changing the economics of Flash streaming. With Wowza, live and on-demand video and audio, video recording and interactive Flash streaming, is now a reality for a broad range of customers.

Following its strong market entry, Wowza has boosted its competitive edge by continuous innovation with such exclusive features as support for live H.264/HE-AAC RTSP/RTP and MPEG-TS encoders and SHOUTcast-to-Flash streaming for live Web radio broadcasts.

In particular, service providers find Wowza Media Server Pro innovative server software very appealing:

"Wowza became our choice not only because its Wowza Pro server is an outstanding product, but also because Wowza provides exceptional support," commented Oliver Stache, Technology & Innovation Manager, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH. "Wowza's customer focus and the innovative capabilities of its Flash server enable us to build very scalable streaming infrastructure that addresses the diverse needs of our customers."

"Wowza is the only flexible Flash solution that scales to our requirements," added Steinar Torsvik, FastHost, Norway's largest hosting company, while Stef van der Ziel, CEO of StreamZilla, a leading European CDN, was more analytical: "In our research for alternatives to the overly expensive Adobe FMS, we found that Wowza offered better performance and stability at a much better price point. Since then, we have expanded our market position dramatically. In the past six months, we delivered over a billion streams to a global audience, all due, in large part, to our relationship with Wowza."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Derrick Freeman's Articles

Here's a list of articles written by Video Streaming and Compression Specialist, Derrick Freeman:


Studio Monthly Magazine

Create Linked Flash Videos, for Streaming and Download, with Sorenson Squeeze

Pre-process for Compression with Squared 5 MPEG Streamclip

Other video streaming and compression articles, tutorials and write-ups can be found at GeniusDV.com

Saturday, October 18, 2008

On2 Technologies Announces New HD Hardware Encoder IP

On2 Technologies, the leader in video compression solutions, announced the availability of the Hantro 7280 encoder Register Transfer Level (RTL) design. Supporting MPEG-4, H.263 and H.264 video, along with 16MP JPEG, the encoder is targeted for chipsets intended for devices with very low-power requirements such as: portable video cameras, mobile phones, remote security cameras, laptops and webcams. With a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 at 30 fps, the Hantro 7280 introduces a new level of performance and functionality.

Following the Hantro 6280, which was licensed by more than 15 leading chip manufacturers, the encoder brings further speed improvements to achieve resolutions up to 1280x1024 at 30 fps. Easily encoding full 720p H.264 at 30 fps in only 180 MHz clock frequency, the 7280 brings ultra-high performance to 65 nm and 90 nm low-power chipsets. Placing a CPU load of less than 1MHz, the Hantro 7280 allows even an entry level ARM9-based chipset to encode real-time HD H.264 video with plenty of headroom to spare. The new encoder also incorporates proprietary image stabilization technology which reduces the effects of camera shake prior to encoding resulting in higher quality video with better compression.

Optimized for rapid integration with ARM, MIPS and other embedded CPU and DSP cores, the Hantro 7280 marries high performance with ultra low-power and efficient silicon utilization. Silicon area can be further optimized for unique applications by selecting only the formats and screen resolutions required with area reduced to as small as 0.19 square millimeters per 139,000 gates. Additional area savings can be gained in a full codec solution by sharing internal memories with the Hantro 8190 multi-format decoder.

"For portable devices, battery-life is a critical success factor and manufacturers seek to optimize in every aspect." says Eero Kaikkonen, Chief Marketing Officer at On2. "The 7280 requires only 12 mW to encode VGA H.264 in real-time. Although in practice it is not possible, theoretically an ARM 11 would require as much as 500mW to achieve the same performance."

The Hantro 7280 is available now for licensing from On2. The product comes complete with RTL source code for VHDL or Verilog, an RTL test bench and test data, ANSI C driver source code and complete technical documentation.

Friday, October 17, 2008

New Streambox Solution for File-based Video Over IP

Streambox Inc. announced the release of its innovative solution for file-based video management and acquisition. The solution, which is part of Streambox's platform for video over IP, comprises three products, each serving unique roles in the broadcast work flow. The Streambox Store and Forward Client, the Streambox Store and Forward Server, and the Streambox Media Station work together to provide greater control and management of field-generated video as it is edited and uploaded to the broadcast studio for multi-format play-out. The solution enables control room operators to better manage hundreds of video files as these are uploaded to the Store and Forward Server by field reporters or citizen reporters for on-demand or scheduled play-out via an easy-to-use web interface. The integrated web interface provides metadata information such as reporter name, file name, and location as well as a thumbnail clip preview of video file uploads and a list of active connections. The control room operator is also able to search video uploads based on metadata. The solution simplifies and streamlines the broadcast work flow from video file upload to video management and play-out.

The file-based solution is well-suited for a variety of applications such as IP-based newsgathering, streaming to the Web, and live and on-demand webcasting. The solution supports play-out of raw ACT-L3 files, QuickTime-wrapped ACT-L3 files, and other standard video formats.

The Store and Forward Client enables users such as field reporters and citizen reporters to upload video files to the Store and Forward Server. Field reporters will typically upload video via UDP while citizen reporters will use HTTP for file upload. After the video file has been edited using any QuickTime-compatible NLE application, field reporters connect to the Store and Forward Server and log in to the web application. Reporters are able to optimize UDP uploads by selecting a pre-defined connection profile. Following user authentication, the Server immediately enables reporters to begin video file upload. If the network connection is lost during upload, the Store and Forward Client automatically resumes the file upload once the network connection is reestablished.

The Store and Forward Server enables broadcasters to better manage and monitor field-edited files as they are uploaded by e.g. field reporters, remote bureaus, and citizen reporters. Capable of receiving hundreds of simultaneous video file uploads from multiple users, the Server maintains a complete list of active connections established through the Store and Forward Client software. The Server's web interface facilitates a thumbnail clip preview of video file uploads. It also provides searchable metadata information such as reporter name, file name, location, and date and time stamps. The Server can be customized to provide rule-based transcoding and scripting for multi-format play-out through the Media Station.

The Streambox Media Station supplies direct output for both live and file-based SDI and composite video. It works in concert with the Store and Forward Server to provide superior control and prioritization for the video play-out schedule. Once the producers or editors have selected the desired video files or clips, the operator creates playlists and schedules those lists for playout through the Media Station's web-based interface. The Media Station can be switched to decoder mode for live play-out.

"Streambox's versatile platform for file-based video over IP enables broadcasters and other users to enhance their video management capabilities from beginning to end while gaining superior control of the video play-out process," said Bob Hildeman, chairman and CEO of Streambox. "We believe this flexible solution will simplify broadcast operations and help our customers distribute high quality video for broadcast and broadband faster and more efficiently than ever before."

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Orban Announces Opticodec 1010 Version 3

Circuit Research Labs, Inc., parent company of CRL Systems, Inc. dba Orban/CRL, announced that Orban PC Products, the leading supplier of MP4/AAC & HE-AAC enterprise audio streaming and file encoders, introduced Version 3 of its 1010 Opticodec-PC Streaming Encoder. Version 3 fully supports the Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), the protocol that Adobe Flash Media Server 3 uses to stream data, audio and video live over the Internet, as well as ICY SHOUTcast, Icecast2, and standards-based RTSP/RTP MPEG-4/3GPP protocols.

"With Adobe Flash Media Server now streaming the full MP4 family of codecs including AAC and HE-AAC (aacPlus), we're able to deliver the highest quality consumer audio over the Internet via the Adobe Flash Player to the widest possible audience," said Greg Ogonowski, Vice President of New Product Development for Orban/CRL. "The Adobe Flash Player is installed on over 98% of all Internet-connected desktops, including Mac and Linux platforms.

With support for Flash Media Server 3, Opticodec-PC now supports every major streaming server platform except Windows Media Server, so Opticodec-PC can stream to more players than any other modern codec." These players include Winamp, Windows Media Player with the Orban AAC/HE-AAC Plugin, Adobe Flash Player, Apple QuickTime, Real Networks RealPlayer, VLC, and many hardware devices, such as Roku SoundBridge and Terratec Noxon2.

When developing Version 3, Orban worked closely with Adobe to help ensure full, reliable support of the RTMP protocol. Orban, in conjunction with major CDN's, already has clients lined up to take advantage of the new support for RTMP and the ubiquity of the Adobe Flash Player.

"We are pleased that Orban has added RTMP support to stream audio via Adobe Flash Media Server," said Laurel Reitman, senior product manager for Flash Media Solutions at Adobe. "With Orban's powerful encoders and the ubiquity of Adobe Flash technology, including Adobe Flash Player, broadcasters can inform and entertain audiences by delivering professional-quality audio over the Internet."

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

dicas to develop H.264 HD encoder for Cell B.E.

dicas, the German MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 specialist, has just started to develop an HD encoder for Cell processor platforms in collaboration with IBM. The objective of the technological co-operation is to bring together one of the most powerful video codecs, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, with one of the most powerful currently available microprocessors, the Cell B.E. chip, for professional broadcast applications.

Initially designed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM for the extreme processing demands of the PlayStation3, the Cell chip has rapidly gained in importance for a large number of further graphic-intensive applications. "Its revolutionary architecture makes the Cell chip a great deal for video encoding" says Philipp Kraetzer, managing director at dicas. Due to eight independent processing cores the Cell is claimed to be more than 10 times faster than any current PC processor. "It's a very interesting challenge to divide the H.264 encoding algorithms across the Cell's processing cores", Kraetzer continues

"Utilizing the Cell's mighty processing power makes broadcast-quality HD encoding and even 1080p in real-time possible" says Klaas Schuur, co-founder of dicas. "dicas has gained considerable expertise in porting the H.264 codec to various platforms. The combination of Cell and H.264 is a convincing answer to the requirements of broadcasters and IPTV content providers in the age of HDTV."

The launch of the HD encoder for Cell is scheduled for the second quarter of 2009.

Friday, October 10, 2008

SEB Group Selects Akamai to Improve Performance

Akamai Technologies, Inc., the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced that France-based SEB, a global leader in manufacturing small household appliances, has selected the company to help accelerate the performance of its corporate website designed for Internet users in South Korea. Some of the well-known brands produced by SEB include: Krups, Rowenta, Tefal and Lagostina.

The SEB Group selected Akamai to solve the latency issues the company was experiencing with its South Korea corporate website. SEB realized that in order to support its multi-brand portfolio and sales in Asia, it needed to improve the performance of its South Korean-based website in terms of speed and reliability. In 2008, the company asked Akamai to provide a solution to solve these latency issues.

"Identifying the challenges that SEB faced when trying to get their website in South Korea to perform to a desired standard, Akamai and its global network were well-suited to provide SEB a solution for enhancing the performance, scalability, and accessibility of their origin website without burdening their existing infrastructure," said Henri d'Oriola, regional sales manager at Akamai. "Within four months after leveraging Akamai's services, SEB found the response times for its website in South Korea had improved by 60 percent -- result which helped to bolster their global brand in Asia."

"We are delighted that the Akamai solutions are able to help us effectively address our website performance issues," said Bruno Cailleux, the SEB Group's Internet project manager. "Akamai allows us to avoid network outages, which we identified as a frequent issue in South Korea, and helps us scale up the range and performance of our corporate websites in the Asia region. Akamai has enabled us to boost our website's service quality and ensure fast access to content in a country (South Korea), where Internet access speed has been a high-priority concern for us."

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

RealNetworks Files Suit Against Hollywood Studios

Digital entertainment services company RealNetworks and its subsidiary, RealNetworks Home Entertainment, Inc., issued the following statement:

"In response to threats made by the major movie studios, RealNetworks this morning plans to file an action for a declaratory judgment against DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney Enterprises, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., NBC Universal, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and Viacom, Inc., in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit asks the court to rule that RealNetworks Home Entertainment, Inc.'s RealDVD software, made available to consumers today at www.realdvd.com, fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association's license agreement.

"RealDVD allows consumers to securely store, manage and play their DVDs on their computers. It does not enable users to distribute copies of their DVDs. RealDVD not only maintains the DVD's native CSS encryption intact, it also adds another layer of digital rights management encryption that effectively locks the DVD copy to the owner's computer to ensure that the content can not be improperly copied or shared. RealDVD provides consumers with a great solution for the playback and management of their DVD collections while adding security that is more robust than CSS.

"RealNetworks took this legal action to protect consumers' ability to exercise their fair-use rights for their purchased DVDs. The DVD CCA, which represents numerous parties including all of the major studios, previously sued another company over the same issues. The trial court ruled against the DVD CCA and allowed the distribution of a product similar to RealDVD. (See DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc., Santa Clara Superior Court Case No. 1-04-CV031829, available online at http://www.kaleidescape.com/company/pr/PR-20070329-DVDCCA.php. Having lost the case once, the major studios are now trying to get a different result by going to a different court.

"We are disappointed that the movie industry is following in the footsteps of the music industry and trying to shut down advances in technology rather than embracing changes that provide consumers with more value and flexibility for their purchases."

"For nearly 15 years RealNetworks has created innovative products that are fully legal, great for consumers, and respectful of the legitimate interests of content creators and rights holders. RealDVD follows in that tradition. We expect to successfully defend our right to make RealDVD available to consumers and consumers' rights to use it."

Monday, October 6, 2008

Wowza Media Server Pro Preferred Over Adobe Flash Media Server

Wowza Media Server Pro, the innovative media streaming server software for Flash by Wowza Media Systems, has claimed the #1 position in the Server Hardware/Software category of Streaming Media Magazine's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards, a win that cements its reputation as the preferred solution for Flash streaming over Adobe Flash Media Server (FMS).

Wowza Media Server Pro also finished a close second in the Streaming Radio Solution category, singled out by the readers for its unique SHOUTcast-to-Flash streaming capability. Live365 was the winner, and Liquid Compass, a Wowza licensee and provider of live and on-demand stream hosting and web services to some of the largest media companies in the world, including Entercom, Bonneville, Clear Channel, ABC Radio, and NBC/Gannett, was a category runner-up.

The formal announcement was made by Streaming Media Magazine's editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen at a special ceremony held September 24, 2008 as part of Streaming Media West, the streaming industry's annual Silicon Valley gathering.

"Just as they've been able to challenge Adobe in the Flash server space, said Schumacher-Rasmussen, Wowza is making waves in Internet radio, even if it's behind-the-scenes. And, judging from the crowd's reaction at the awards reception, they're clearly winning over new fans for their SHOUTcast-to-Flash offering."

"Empowering so many companies in so many different industries to stream Flash with Wowza Pro is a huge reward in itself." said David Stubenvoll, CEO and Co-Founder, Wowza Media Systems. "Being selected as the first choice by the readers of Streaming Media Magazine, ahead of industry giants Adobe and Microsoft, is a huge honor. We are very grateful to the readers of Streaming Media Magazine."

Launched in February 2007, Wowza Media Server Pro has become the streaming media server solution of choice for more than 10,000 licensees globally, including such well-known customers as Sun Microsystems, Macy's Interoute, Nacamar, RAINet, Astral Media, and T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, the business customer brand of telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom. Among the reasons cited for the Wowza Pro rapid and enthusiastic adoption are its unmatched combination of performance, innovation, price, and functionality.

The winners of Streaming Media Magazine's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards are showcased in a special digital-only feature on www.streamingmedia.com, and will be profiled in the October/November issue of Streaming Media Magazine.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Nero Enables True Multimedia Mobility with Nero Move it

Nero, creators of liquid media technology, has solved one of the most common problems facing consumers today -- too many devices and too many types of digital content in a range of file formats that are simply not compatible. With the introduction of Nero Move it, even the most non-technical consumer can quickly and easily convert music, videos, and photos from one file format to another for use across a broad range of portable devices. Nero is empowering users to take control of their music, photo and video libraries and is making liquid content distribution, anytime, anywhere and on any compatible portable device and online community a reality.

Previously, consumers were forced to either use proprietary software provided by device manufacturers or to endure slow downloads of un-trusted, Web-based software to convert the format of their videos and music for use on different gadgets. With Nero Move it, all a user needs to do is plug their portable device into their PC and select the output. Nero Move it instantly recognizes the device and with a few clicks of the mouse, files are quickly and intuitively converted into the desired format for easy transfer between PCs, digital cameras, mobile phones, game devices and online communities such as My Nero, YouTube and MySpace.

"Nero Move it is the most efficient way for users to collect, organize, convert and synchronize, and publish music, photos or video files from multiple sources," stated Jurgen Kurz, senior vice president, Business Line PC and Consumer Electronics, Nero AG. "We understand that consumers want to be able to take their multimedia content with them on-the-go. Compatibility for all mobile formats is built into the product for automatic, intuitive transcoding of files to the best profile without hassle, even when transferring directly from one device to another."

Nero Move it automatically syncs with the world's most popular portable devices, allowing for the transfer of one file to multiple devices simultaneously. Offline transcoding allows for the preparation and staging of content when the device is not plugged in. This ensures that when users are ready to synchronize devices, that the converted content can be quickly shared.

Nero Move it is currently available at participating retailers worldwide at suggested retail price of $49.99 USD and online at www.nero.com.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Adobe and dicas enable H.264 live streaming via Adobe Flash technology

dicas, the German MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 specialist, announced it is working in collaboration with Adobe Systems to deliver high-performance video encoding technology supporting MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 live streaming with the latest version of Adobe Flash Media Server software.

"With new support for delivering high-quality live streaming, dicas is enabling users to experience events live on the Web via the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player software, the world's most pervasive software installed on 98 percent of Internet connected desktops," said Sebastian Moeritz, CEO at dicas. "With our expertise and the power of Adobe Flash technology, we are opening new opportunities to bring exciting live online viewing experiences to broad audiences worldwide."

In spring 2008, dicas launched the video coding software development kit, mpegableDS Flash, a set of DirectShow filters converting video content into formats compatible with Adobe Flash technology. At the forthcoming IBC 2008, dicas introduced a new plug-in for Adobe Flash Media Server that works with dicas' well-established hardware encoders dicas2010 (SD) and dicas2030 (HD).

"We are pleased to work with dicas, a developer with open-standards expertise specializing in the H.264 codec," said Laurel Reitman, senior product manager, Flash Media Solutions at Adobe. " With the ubiquity of Adobe Flash Player software for viewing live streaming events online, plus the advancement of the H.264 codec to play back high-definition video on a PC or Mac, dicas will help bring live HD online experiences to viewers that meet the high quality standards Adobe customers are accustomed to."

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Envivio to Enable Higher Definition Mobile TV


Envivio Inc., the leading technology provider of IP video convergence encoding solutions from mobile to HD, today announced that the performance of its award-winning 4Caster M2 mobile TV encoder is to be enhanced significantly with the addition of Extreme Compression. As the global market-leading encoding platform for Mobile TV, the 25 percent increase in performance made possible using Extreme Compression on the 4Caster M2 will have a profound impact on the quality of mobile broadcast and 3G mobile streaming services around the world. Operators with both new and existing H.264 based Mobile TV deployments which use the 4Caster M2 will be able to provide subscribers with a dramatically enriched quality of experience.

Envivio's Extreme Compression supports numerous advanced features for H.264 Baseline profile encoding. New spatio-temporal adaptive rate control and an enhanced rate distortion optimization algorithm deliver significant performance improvements at the low bit rates used for Mobile TV. A new text and edge detection feature automatically applies compression specific to the text and graphics to make them more legible on smaller screens. Current testing indicates that Extreme Compression will provide additional performance improvements of up to 25% on the 4Caster M2 Mobile TV encoder at the bit rates typically used to deliver DVB-H and 3G or 3.5G mobile streaming services. This will allow Mobile TV operators to provide efficient delivery of high quality, full motion video playback which is supported by the latest mobile devices. Operators can also take advantage of the more efficient use of their available bandwidth to increase the number of live channels on mobile broadcast networks.

"Our in-house codec development team has worked incredibly hard to improve upon the already outstanding performance of the M2 encoder and we are very excited about the results," said Eric Rosier, Vice President of Engineering at Envivio. "By liaising closely with the world's mobile handset vendors and the network operators we have as customers, Envivio has been able to develop an even more efficient mobile TV compression implementation that delivers a truly stunning end user experience on mobile devices that have been designed specifically for multimedia playback."

Envivio's ultra-flexible compression architecture will allow current users of the 4Caster M2 encoder to add the new Extreme Compression capability simply by loading new software code. New software code can be uploaded to 4Caster M2 encoders individually using the built-in web server management interface, or in groups using Envivio's 4Manager NMS, allowing performance to be improved significantly while minimizing the impact on operational services. Extreme Compression will be available on the next software release of the 4Caster M2 encoder and on a future release of the 4Caster C4 encoder's Mobile TV configurations.