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."