Digital Fountain Customer InfoWorld 100 Winner

Digital Fountain, Inc., a leading provider of advanced standardized solutions for digital media delivery, today announced that one of their IPTV customers, Tele2, has been named a 2008 InfoWorld 100 winner for their deployment of Digital Fountain's ToughStream solution on their network. The InfoWorld 100 Awards identifies and promotes emerging technology segments that add unique value for the organizations that implement them, as well as the vendors that provide those solutions.

Digital Fountain's ToughStream is a software solution that eliminates video and audio degradation caused by packet loss, latency or out-of-order delivery. These effects are normal and prevalent conditions on all IP networks because IP is, by design, a "best effort" delivery protocol. Because it is a software-based solution, ToughStream is highly configurable, and easy to deploy on any IPTV network. An extraordinarily scalable solution, ToughStream has negligible hardware requirements while providing high QoE including fast channel change times.

"Tele2 is leading the way with creative and innovative ways to improve their next generation network's performance in order to lower operating costs and enhance their customer experience," said Charlie Oppenheimer, CEO of Digital Fountain. "We are pleased that Tele2's IPTV network has received the 2008 InfoWorld 100 award, and we are proud that our ToughStream solution was recognized as a key component of their network's ability to successfully deliver the very best IPTV service to their subscribers."

RipCode Announces Availability of On-Demand Transcoding Tool

RipCode today announced the availability of on-demand video transcoding for the holiday season's must have video-enabled phones including the Apple iPhone, T-Mobile G1, RIM BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm all of which are now available in stores.

The coupling of On-Demand Transcoding -- a game-changing video delivery technology pioneered by RipCode with the Apple iPhone, T-Mobile G1, RIM BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm is an industry first. On-Demand Transcoding enables content owners and operators to quickly and cost-effectively scale multi-media delivery by transcoding video content only when requested, while at the same time progressively downloading or streaming to end user devices. An appliance-based, infrastructure solution, RipCode extends video delivery across multiple channels, without requiring specialized handset applications or video players, and without the need to pre-transcode content for each device.

"As the holiday buying season kicks off next week, these are the phones making people's wish lists," said Brendon Mills, RipCode CEO. "As these popular video-enabled devices increasingly penetrate the market, content aggregators and operators will offer solutions that leverage the devices' video attributes and larger screen real estate to extend content and brand value to mobile customers."

An inherent feature of RipCode's On-Demand Transcoding technology is the ability to support ad insertion and integration with ad networks through an open API, enabling operators to monetize the delivery of on-demand video content. Additionally, RipCode's Client Detection Application which accurately identifies the characteristics of a variety of Internet-enabled devices and handsets -- lets operators seamlessly optimize video delivery or image re-sizing for the mobile market.

Creating High Quality Windows Media Files for Archiving on a Mac

If you need to create high quality Windows Media files on the Mac and you have Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro HD on your workstation, the process is very easy. This tutorial will show you some tricks for getting exceptional quality. This tutorial shows the process using QuickTime Pro and a DV/DVCPro video file.

Step 1. - Open a QuickTime DV/DVCPro or DV/DVCPro50 video file and choose Export from the File pull-down menu. (If you are using Final Cut Pro to export your Windows Media video file choose Export from the File Pull-down and select Using QuickTime Conversion)



Step 2. - Name your file and Choose Movie to Windows Media from the pop-up menu in the Save Exported File As dialog window.

Step 3. - Click the Options button



Step. 4 - When the dialog window opens Select the Video Tab and choose Windows Media Standard for your CODEC and One pass, variable bit rate (VBR). Set your Quality setting to 75. For frame rate select Current for the size and Current for the frame rate. When using the 1-pass VBR method the Bit Rate and Peak bit rate are disabled and ignored during encoding. Everything becomes quality based. The nice element about using the 1-pass VBR Quality feature is that it will guarantee that you get very good quality on your encoding because your are determining the quality setting to use. In this case a Quality setting of 75 works well.



Step. 5 - Click the Advanced button in the Video tab. Now, the Advanced section is the key to getting great quality using Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro HD. I want to point out two items in this section which are the Coding Method Complexity and the Input Type which is your field order. The Complexity determines how fast your video will be encoded. The best quality is achieved by using Offline Slow. For this tutorial you can use the Offline Normal Complexity setting which will provide great quality and not take as long as encoding with Offline Slow. If you want a faster encode and don't mind trading a little quality to achieve this use the Live Fast Complexity setting. For the Input type select the field order of your video. I know that the field order for my DV/DVCPro source is lower field so I have selected Interlace - Lower Field First for the Input Type. For Output Type select Progressive. For the other settings you can use 5 seconds for Key Frame Every, 5 seconds for Buffer Delay and 0 for B-frame distance and Main for your Profile.




Step 6. - Click the Audio Tab and select WMA Standard for your CODEC and under Coding Method use One Pass, constant bit rate (CBR) and 64 kbps, 44.1 kHz Stereo for your audio .

Step 7. - Click the Content Tab, Add your metadata and click OK. Save your file and you're done. Your file will now start encoding.

Flix Publisher Provides Simple Encoding Via a Web Browser

On2 Technologies provides a video compression tool called Flix Publisher for simple browser-based encoding via a web browser. Flix Publisher a is a fully customizable SDK for creating browser-based encoding and publishing solutions that allow users to encode live or file-based VP6-E and VP6-S FLV video directly on a web pages.

Using a transparent plug-in install through the browser, video is encoded on the user's desktop and uploaded to a site directly with simple drag and drop, or 'plug and stream' operation on the user's browser. The user doesn't need a large encoding infrastructure, and the user does not need to install an application or know anything about video encoding to publish to your website.

Flix Publisher contains powerful software APIs for customized web site integration; control video resolution, data rate, 1-pass/2-pass VP6 encoding, framerate, and more, and is used by leading user-generated content and "lifecasting" sites. Enterprises and media companies also use Flix Publisher for internal communications and video production work-flows.

Also, Flix Publisher has been integrated with Akamai's authentication system to allow users to set up a video website quickly and effortlessly.

Go Stream SURF Superior Tool for Live Webcasting

If you are serious about taking your webcasts to the next level or simply wanting to launch live streaming for your organization, you should know that Viewcast's Go Stream SURF is a superior tool for Live Webcasting. The portable live encoder comes from the manufacturers of the Osprey capture cards which have been the de facto standard for many building live encoders in the streaming space. Enter the Go Stream SURF live encoder, which is portable and user friendly with an easy to use push button interface and common audio and video inputs for ease of use. The Go Stream SURF, which can be accessed via the internet for set-up and use, has three buttons on the front panel that can be programmed for live encoding to specific datarates. You can program three different encoding datarates and have them all performing live streaming and the same time. The live streaming solution is qualified and very heavy duty.

So, if you need to do small or large webcasts on a regular basis in the field or in a set environment, you'll find a lot of benefit in using the Go Stream SURF. Viewcast's encoder can be used for streaming to many of the popular streaming servers such as: Adobe's Flash Streaming Server, Wowza Media Server Pro (for Flash Streaming), Windows Media Streaming Server, and Real Networks' Helix Universal Server.

If you purchase a Go Stream SURF and need assistance with set-up you can contact Derrick for Go Streaming SURF Consulting and he can walk you through the set-up and assist you in implementing your live encoder on-line. This can also be done in your production environment on-site. Call Derrick Freeman at 407-477-5837 for more details on your consulting needs.

Digital Rapids Appoints Barry Fairhurst as Vice President of Sales

Digital Rapids -- a leading developer of solutions for bringing television, video and movie content to the Internet and the latest generation of viewing devices -- today announced the appointment of Barry Fairhurst as Vice President of Sales.

Based in Digital Rapids' Markham, Ontario head office, Fairhurst will be responsible for the development, implementation and management of sales strategies and processes in support of the company's continuing strong growth and broad customer base. Fairhurst joins Digital Rapids following 13 years at Avid Canada, having managed Avid's direct and indirect sales and customer support operations.

"Digital Rapids and our solutions have earned tremendous critical and customer acclaim as leading our industry. As we continue to grow, it's essential that our sales organization and processes evolve to best address the opportunities available in the market and be responsive to our customers' dynamic needs," said Brick Eksten, President of Digital Rapids Corporation. "Barry's leadership abilities and extensive experience in all facets of sales management will be critical assets as we realize our full sales potential and enter our next phases of growth, while his background in the media and entertainment market will enable him to quickly relate to our customers' requirements and help them fulfill their objectives. We're excited to have him join our team."

"It is with great pleasure that I join a company so committed to its customers, partners and technology, and I welcome my role in taking Digital Rapids to the next level," said Fairhurst.

Digital Rapids' solutions enable organizations to transform their video and audio content into the formats required for viewing on multiple platforms and devices including the web; IPTV; mobile phones; personal media players and more. Digital Rapids solutions have been adopted by thousands of worldwide customers of all types and sizes, from leading broadcast networks, motion picture studios, telecommunications companies, online content distributors and post production facilities to corporations, government agencies, schools and churches.

Media Console Makes Life Simple for Streaming

For all those individuals in media organizations, public affairs and media departments that need to start migrating video to the web, there is an amazing tool to help you out. Internap's Media Console is amazing and makes life simple for streaming. Their tool takes the hard work out of authoring your streaming videos for the web. The only item that you have to focus on is encoding your videos. The Media Console comes as part of the package for using the Internap Content Delivery Network (CDN) to host your streaming content.

There is a nice user interface that allows you to upload your videos (you can also FTP video to the content delivery network as well). The Media Console includes pre-made Flash Media player templates, generated embed and object tags, support for live and on-demand streaming, live streaming statistics and many other features. If you are serious about moving forward with streaming content on-line, you owe it to yourself to give Internap's CDN and Media Console a try.

MTV Networks Ramps Up Live Streaming with Inlet Tool Spinnaker

Inlet Technologies, a leading provider of advanced encoding solutions for new media, announced today that MTV Networks, a division of Viacom will use the Spinnaker 7000 live streaming appliance to stream online events, such as episodic "After Shows," bonus footage and tent poles. In the past, MTVN has utilized Spinnaker for the Flash live stream of "The Hills After Show."

"Having a solid live streaming solution as part of its arsenal is important for any media company today" said Manny Parisi, of MTV Networks. "With its excellent pre-filtering abilities, easy to use Web UI and useful scheduling features, Spinnaker provides MTVN with the ability to send out great looking Flash Live Streams to its Web sites in an extremely reliable manner with tons of flexibility."

"We are proud to support MTVN's new media strategy in general and its live streaming initiative in particular," said Neal Page, Inlet Technologies CEO. "No organization is more in tune with the needs and wants of the new generation of consumers than MTVN."

On2 Extends Relationship with Skype in New Strategic Agreement

On2 Technologies, a leader in video compression solutions, today announced that it has signed a new agreement with Skype, the world's leading online communications company, to extend Skype's relationship licensing On2's video codec technology.

Millions of people every day use Skype software to communicate with others through free voice and video calls. On2's technology provides encoding, scaling, pre-processing and post-processing of video on Skype. On2 supported the launch of video on Skype in 2005 with the integration of the On2 VP7 codec with Skype 2.0 for Windows. Since that time, Skype launched High Quality Video in October 2007, calling on the On2 codec, allowing users with as little as 0.5mbps available bandwidth to enjoy full screen video calls at VGA resolution. The On2 codec is also used in the recently announced Asus AiGuru SV1 Skype Certified Videophone. The new agreement is intended to pave the way for the On2 codec to migrate along with the Skype service to a diverse array of new devices such as the AiGuru SV1 videophone.

"On2 and Skype hold the same vision for video communications and through our close cooperation we have overcome the barriers keeping video calling out of reach for many," said Matt Frost, Interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer of On2 Technologies. "In the future, you can expect to see even better video quality requiring even less bandwidth, and this will help to make video calling even more commonplace."

The superior compression performance of the On2 codec makes High Quality Skype video calls possible even over data rate connections as low as 300kbps. Among the numerous quality-enhancing innovations in On2 video codecs is Golden Frames, which enables a sharp background image to be maintained with minimal data when the subject in the foreground is continually moving. This feature is also extremely beneficial for packet-loss recovery. On2 video codecs also require far less CPU power for full duplex live video than other compression formats, enabling Skype users with older and less powerful PC systems to enjoy high quality video calls, and allowing stand-alone devices like the AiGuru SV1 videophone to be produced cost effectively, using less expensive processor technology.

"Bringing a great video calling experience to the average consumer is one of Skype's key priorities, and we see On2 as a key partner in helping us deliver this," said Manrique Brenes, Skype's Director of Business Development and Product Management for Consumer Electronics. "Using On2's codecs along with extensive software development and optimization work by engineering teams at Skype, we are able to help consumers overcome bandwidth constraints and deliver best-in-class free video calling for consumers."

BlackArrow to Enable Ad Revenue and Within Adobe Media Player

BlackArrow, the independent provider of multiplatform ad-management systems for viewer-controlled video, today announced the addition of Adobe Media Player to its expanding list of distribution platforms. BlackArrow provides video content publishers using Adobe Media Player with a centralized system for defining ad avails and managing targeted campaigns against their programming. BlackArrow's seamless advertising workflow enables content providers to broaden their syndication, while optimizing revenues from ad-supported video programming.

BlackArrow gives video networks a syndication edge by delivering advertising directly into Adobe Media Player programming, as well as other Web properties and even platforms such as dynamic video on demand (VOD). To simplify advertising operations, the BlackArrow system dynamically generates enhanced media RSS feeds that incorporate targeted ads formatted specifically for playback within Adobe Media Player. Leveraging Adobe Flash technology, Adobe Media Player supports downloaded and streamed media that scales to full-screen HD resolution.

"When it comes to user experience, Adobe has set the standard with its ubiquitous Adobe Flash platform -- and has done it again with the Adobe Media Player," said Chris Hock, senior vice president, product management at BlackArrow. "As an Adobe advertising partner, we are committed to enabling a sophisticated, engaging advertising experience for viewers -- whether they watch their favorite content inside the browser, or outside the browser with the Adobe Media Player -- while introducing new revenue opportunities for content and media publishers."

"From the outset, we've built Adobe Media Player to provide a rich, engaging consumer viewing experience, and help content providers build an advertising business around their valuable video assets," said Sumner Paine, product manager for Adobe Media Player at Adobe. "As consumers increasingly control their own viewing experience, BlackArrow makes it easier for content providers to both manage ad campaigns and incorporate Adobe Media Player into their overall video syndication strategy."

Built from the ground up for video, the BlackArrow multiplatform advertising system enables content providers to solve the challenges associated with reaching today's fragmented audiences who increasingly view video programming outside of traditional linear airtimes. The BlackArrow system works across any combination of ad types, ad-sales models, affiliate and syndication strategies, enabling its customers to more effectively generate revenue from ad-supported video content.

Wowza Media Server Pro Subscription Edition Available

Wowza Media Systems, a software company solely focused on media servers, announced the availability of Wowza Media Server Pro Subscription Edition, featuring friction-free monthly subscription licensing for its industrial-strength media server that makes it both painless and irresistibly cost-effective for any CDN, streaming service or hosting provider to offer lucrative Flash media streaming services to their customers.

Wowza Media Server Pro, recently declared the #1 media server choice by the readers of Streaming Media Magazine, now counts more than 14,000 global licensees worldwide, including a rapidly growing number of service providers such as T-Systems (Deutsche Telecom), Interoute, Avacast, SimpleCDN, StreamUK, Nacamar, Advection.NET, StreamZilla, and more.

Wowza Media Server Pro Subscription Edition offers service providers the most full-featured version of Wowza Pro and a risk-free, flexible model for managing their licensing costs according to their customers' streaming demands.

Key Benefits:

* No upfront financial commitment
* No long-term contracts
* No minimum number of server instances
* No per-GB fees -- just low fixed per-server monthly fee that declines in volume
* No cost for future software upgrades
* Flexible capacity and cost management -- add/delete servers as needed and only
pay for servers used

In a recent daily briefing, Jim Davis, Senior Analyst, Tier1 Research, wrote that Wowza's subscription model "is going to help streaming service providers and hosting companies by enabling them to keep a lid on capital expenditures." He added, "They can pass these cost savings on, enabling them to compete for customers that might not otherwise bother to buy CDN services."

Phil Koblence, VP, Operations, New York Internet, a quality leader in Data Center services, echoed that sentiment, "We chose Wowza Pro Subscription Edition because it enabled us to increase our capacity in nearly real time and offer clients the ability to host their streaming solutions without a large initial licensing fee. Additionally, this new model allows us to benefit from Wowza's superb software and efficiently roll it into our existing hosting offerings."

ViewCast Streaming Encoder Ideal Solution for Delivering PEG Programs

In the Wisconsin city of West Allis, a Niagara streaming media encoder is playing a central role in expanding the audience for public, educational, and government access (PEG) television programming. A product of ViewCast Corporation, a leading global provider of streaming hardware and software, the Niagara encoder has enabled the city to port its government access programs to AT&T's U-verse residential IPTV service, recently launched in the greater Milwaukee area.

"Thanks to ViewCast, we're able to bring our government access programs to an even broader audience via leading-edge IPTV, said Jerry Musial, video and cable coordinator for the City of West Allis. "The Niagara system was extremely easy to adopt, and its budget-conscious pricing played a big role in our choice. As a non-technical person, I really appreciated the excellent support and assistance we received from ViewCast, which enabled us to get up and running quickly and smoothly."

Musial also serves on the board of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), an association that represents the communications needs and interests of local governments and their advisors.

A city of 60,000 in Milwaukee County, and the site of the Wisconsin State Fair, West Allis offers a wide range of government access programming to its citizens. The programs are locally produced as well as supplied by state and federal agencies, and include information about state and city services, community events, and coverage of city council meetings. The ViewCast Niagara system encodes the video for transport over a T1 network to the U-verse system, which began serving the West Allis viewing area in February.

All Niagara encoders have AT&T's U-verse PEG streaming specifications programmed as a menu item, and ViewCast is one of only four providers noted in U-verse's PEG encoder information collateral. This makes ViewCast an ideal solution for municipalities that are seeking to deliver PEG content over this new, rapidly growing IPTV platform.

ViewCast President and Chief Executive Dave Stoner said: "Niagara encoders are playing a central role in expanding the audience for PEG television programming. Mr. Musial's involvement in NATOA is a testament to West Allis' leadership in the area of municipal communications, as is the city's commitment to embracing advanced new media technologies such as IPTV. We are pleased that we were able to meet West Allis' needs and look forward to continuing our successful partnership."

"Moreover, we see continuing and rising adoption of video streaming for sports and entertainment applications, as well as public access, as evidence of the growing trend toward using the Internet as a major channel for streaming all varieties of programs, information, and other content," Stoner added.

56.com Switches to On2 Video

On2 Technologies announced today that 56.com, China's leading video sharing web site, is to standardize on On2 Flix Engine as its server-side transcoding and publishing platform for all web video uploads. In a move to dramatically reduce bandwidth costs and increase video quality, 56.com will switch to On2 VP6-based Flash video to encode and publish an average of 50,000 new video streams each day. 56.com serves video to over 35 million people each month.

56.com reviewed many encoding solutions as well as other formats for Flash video. On2 Flix Engine proved the most robust and reliable through rigorous testing and provided the broad input format support needed. The decision to choose On2 VP6 as the codec for Adobe Flash video was based on many factors including encode speed, compression metrics, features, playback performance, market acceptance and licensing terms.

"We recognized that On2 VP6 and H.264 main profile are comparable in video quality, when we compared to H.264 baseline profile to On2 VP6, VP6 was consistently better, in some cases needing almost 40% less data." says Mr. Tan Yi, Technology Officer at 56.com "This is significant as we reach out to China's mobile users as there is no support for main profile H.264 in mobile phones currently. To provide the best possible quality for the web and mobile in H.264 would mean maintaining two encode files. With On2 VP6 we only need one."

Tan Yi continues: "Furthermore, On2 VP6 also provides skip-free playback on less powerful PC's, which means we can reach a much wider audience with high-quality content. It is also faster to encode, so we will need fewer servers to maintain the same volume of content."

"We are pleased that 56.com has chosen On2 VP6 video for Flash, and feel this is yet more evidence of a market trend in China towards adoption of On2 Video," said John Fargis, VP of Asia Sales at On2 Technologies "With our technology we are able to provide 56.com customers the superior quality they deserve and expect, while also saving 56.com up to 40% on their bandwidth costs."

Broadcom Chips Bring 1080p DivX Video to Digital TVs

DivX, Inc., a digital media company, announced the high-definition (HD) DivX Certification of three new digital television (DTV) system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip solutions from Broadcom Corporation.

The BCM3548, BCM3549 and BCM3556 are Broadcom's latest highly integrated single-chip DTV SoC solutions that allow TV manufacturers to offer their customers a variety of next-generation features and support including the benefit of seamlessly integrating DivX technology for full high-definition digital video at the 1080p profile.

"DivX has proven to be a major influencer in bridging the gap between digital video on the PC and consumer electronics," said Dave DiOro, Broadcom's Vice President and General Manager, Digital Television. "With the increasing demand for devices that support DivX such as digital televisions, we are pleased to continue working with DivX in developing solutions that deliver the seamless integration of high-definition video."

Digital televisions based on the latest Broadcom DTV designs give consumers the ability to play back DivX HD digital video across a variety of mediums. Video may be streamed over a wired or wireless home network or enjoyed via a range of USB connected devices, such as flash drives, portable media players (PMPs), and external hard drives.

DivX technology significantly compresses digital video without sacrificing premium visual quality and DivX Certification ensures this video can be experienced across a variety of consumer electronics devices including Blu-ray players, mobile phones, in-car media players, set-top boxes, and personal media players. This improved compression makes it easier to move and share high-quality content between devices, making the entertainment experience more enjoyable for consumers. By supporting HD DivX, the BCM3548, BCM3549 and BCM3556 products will play an important role in bringing these technology benefits to the market.

"These new chips from Broadcom provide digital television manufacturers with a premium solution for high-definition digital video," said Patrice Lagrange, Senior Vice President, Products, DivX, Inc. "We are delighted to work with Broadcom and believe these chips highlight our increasing significance within an important product category."

These DTV SoC solutions feature an advanced multi-format decoder, network connectivity, a 3D graphical user interface and unique 3D color management. The BCM3556 DTV SoC also adds compatibility for worldwide standards including digital video broadcast (DVB)-based platforms to address European and Asian markets while the BCM3548 and BCM3549 target the U.S. market.

Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure interoperability, security and visual quality. DivX Certified products enable consumers to create, play, and share high-quality video content across a range of devices and platforms.

AOL Adopts Brightcove Platform for Online Video

Brightcove Inc. and AOL announced AOL will adopt Brightcove for online video content management, publishing and video playback throughout the AOL Network. This partnership will combine AOL's video content offerings with Brightcove's market-leading online video platform. Beginning in early 2009, AOL Programming and AOL Video, http://video.aol.com, programming partners will use Brightcove to deliver video to the millions of people who visit AOL sites each day. Brightcove's integration with AOL's global advertising platform, Platform-A, will also expand opportunities for content partners to monetize video with online advertising.

"Implementing Brightcove as the video platform across the AOL Network will help us deliver a richer experience for users and more powerful publishing tools to the editors and programmers who are engaging millions of people every day on sites like AOL Video, AOL Music, Moviefone, Asylum, Lemondrop and Engadget," said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President of AOL. "Working with Brightcove will accelerate AOL's ability to bring new consumer product features and advertising capabilities to market. The partnership with Brightcove is a strong complement to AOL's strategic focus on making it easier for users to find the videos they are looking for through our network of online video properties, the AOL Video portal and video search services like Truveo.com."

Brightcove recently announced a new version of their service, Brightcove 3, which includes an enterprise edition to address the specific needs of aggregators, portals, carriers and operators. AOL Video is the first major portal to take advantage of Brightcove 3.

"AOL's adoption of Brightcove signals a shift in the market where even the largest online video publishers are using online video platforms to help drive quality, while also reducing costs," said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Brightcove. "This partnership allows AOL to shift attention away from platform software development and focus instead on core competencies such as aggregating content, creating compelling user experiences, and selling advertising. Rather than building out capabilities on their own, features like Brightcove 3's new player framework can be easily tapped to improve AOL's online video initiatives."

Today's announcement extends the relationship between the two companies, which began in 2006 when AOL became a minority stakeholder in Brightcove.