Posted by Derrick on May 23, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | 
ON24, Inc., the global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions, announced the launch of an open webcasting platform which enables customers to create completely custom experiences and integrate applications developed by third-party developers. This open cloud platform also enables enterprises to deliver “social webcasts” and features enhanced interactivity capabilities. The result is a more immersive end- user experience, increasing engagement and effectiveness.
“Enterprises want flexible communications and branding tools that shift control of the virtual experience to users and viewers. Social webcasting is part of this ‘have it my way’ trend,” commented Ira Weinstein, Wainhouse Research Analyst and Partner. “ON24 has developed a winning combination—a user-friendly experience within a controllable, flexible environment—that puts its new webcasting platform ahead of the curve.”
“This represents a revolutionary new direction for ON24,” said CEO Sharat Sharan. “ON24 has been in the virtual communication space for over 10 years. Our priority has always been to work closely with our customers. Based on the feedback we receive, we constantly innovate. That is what led to the development two years ago of our flagship product, the very successful ON24 Virtual Show. Now, however, enterprises are demanding webcasts that are equally dynamic, powerful and engaging.”
The market environment underlying the emerging need for an open webcasting platform which integrates social applications has resulted from the convergence of several industry trends:
• Content delivery is being recognized as the single most important part of any virtual event.
• Social networking itself is of keen interest to virtual event customers.
• As virtual events have evolved into “always-on” virtual destinations, the importance of the quality of the end-user experience has increased exponentially.
Posted by Derrick on May 17, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Highwinds, a leader in content delivery and hosted IP services, announced at Streaming Media East the availability of Infinite HD for streaming high-definition video live and on-demand over its content delivery network (CDN). Setting a new standard for delivering HD video to online audiences, Highwinds’ Infinite HD is built on technology that provides the most resilient and consistent HD streams available in the industry today, together with the features necessary to deliver advanced HD viewing experiences.
Infinite HD is the result of Highwinds’ robust, global CDN coupled with the Octoshape Infinite Edge throughput optimization technology. Unlike TCP or chunked HTTP-based protocols, Infinite HD is far less susceptible to latency and packet loss, allowing Infinite HD to have the highest probability of successful HD stream delivery to the last mile. When there is contention in the last mile or in the core, other technologies fail to deliver consistent streams and are forced to rely on bitrate adaption technologies, which require higher overhead and support lower average bitrates than Infinite HD.
Infinite HD customers gain:
▪ True High-Definition Streams of Live and On-Demand Video
▪ Consistent HD Quality Resulting in Longer Viewing Times
▪ Global Reach and Massive Scalability Regardless of Video Origin
▪ Customizable HD Viewing Experiences and Advanced HD Features
▪ Robust, Real-Time Analytics and Reporting on All HD Streams
Though the new Infinite HD platform is making its debut into the market today, Highwinds has a number of customers who are already using the platform and player technology. Infinite HD was first used to deliver last year’s PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, and it continues to power the streaming of major media, entertainment and sporting events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, which was held May 6-10, 2010. In addition to gaining early customer adoption of Infinite HD, Highwinds has also garnered industry support from its ecosystem partners, including Octoshape, whose technology is integral to Infinite HD, and Digital Rapids, who has created encoding profiles specific to Infinite HD to support broadcast-quality streaming.
“As consumer demand for ubiquitous HD video grows, we continue to see increased HD traction from traditional broadcasters and online content owners. However, HD technologies used to deliver HD video today fail to deliver a consistent experience,” said Steve Miller, president and CEO of Highwinds. “As such, we launch Infinite HD as a proven streaming innovation after having successfully delivered several high-profile live events with unprecedented quality. Additionally, Highwinds customers who stream video with Infinite HD can experience advanced viewing features including DVR, instant replay, picture-in-picture and live data feed overlays.”
Posted by Derrick on December 16, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Limelight Networks, Inc. announced that The Knot, the number-one online wedding portal, has selected the LimelightSITE whole-site delivery service for its content delivery network (CDN) needs. The Knot selected Limelight Networks after extensive testing showed the company’s network-based delivery platform would not only support the company’s continued growth, but also deliver the best online experience to any consumer device on any network connection.
LimelightSITE is designed to accelerate whole website delivery. For The Knot, LimelightSITE provides assurances of the highest quality content delivery without the cost of upgrading internal infrastructure, particularly as The Knot looks to expand in the coming months. Prior to making the switch to Limelight Networks, the team from The Knot laid out expectations for a smooth migration with no adverse effects on site visitors. Using Limelight Networks Integration Services, The Knot was able to meet those requirements.
“Limelight Networks brings customer service to a new level,” said Nic Di Iiorio, CTO of The Knot, Inc. “During our very aggressive project to deploy their services, Limelight personnel acted as a seamless extension of our best teams. The Limelight services team was well prepared to ensure a quick and successful project which resulted in a very smooth transition with no negative impact to our Brides.”
Posted by Derrick on November 30, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Brightcove has been named to this year’s EContent 100 list by EContent Magazine. Michelle Manafy, EContent’s editor-in-chief, notes that this year’s honorees “demonstrate continued leadership in the content industry, as well as those whose innovation foreshadows all that digital content has to offer.”
The one hundred companies are honored across 12 categories – classification & taxonomy, collaboration, content commerce, content creation/production/digital publishing, content delivery, content management, content security, fee-based info services, Intranets & portals, mobile content, search engines & technologies, and social media.
Brightcove was honored in the content delivery category, which includes digital delivery infrastructure and tools to help deliver news and content online. Brightcove was the only online video platform featured on this year’s list, which also includes other leading companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Adobe, Amazon and Apple.
Posted by Derrick on October 7, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Limelight Networks, Inc. introduced LimelightDELIVER XD and LimelightCONTROL XD-advanced services that take advantage of patent-pending Adaptive Intelligence in the recently introduced XD platform. These new service innovations provide Limelight Networks customers with unprecedented levels of control and performance from their content delivery service.
“With this introduction, Limelight Networks has brought true innovation to the core of the CDN market. LimelightDELIVER XD and LimelightCONTROL XD harness the power of our global network platform to make real-time decisions about delivery based on the unique characteristics of each request. Through these new services, Limelight can enable content publishers to meet the growing need for high-performance global delivery and for actionable information to tune an online business,” said David Hatfield, senior vice president, Limelight Networks, Inc.
LimelightDELIVER XD is a next-generation, high-performance delivery service that leverages the Adaptive Intelligence technologies that are part of the new XD Platform. Adaptive Intelligence enables the LimelightDELIVER XD service to provide the best possible user experience under any circumstance, by surveying last mile conditions on a request-by-request basis and then tuning origin, cache, and delivery subsystems on-the-spot. This end-to-end customized approach differs from other delivery services that focus only on identifying the server best positioned to deliver content.
“In our initial tests of LimelightDELIVER XD, we saw high-performance, consistent delivery across a variety of content types and geographies. We’re excited about the positive impact this will have on page loads, site responsiveness, our customers’ buying experience, and the overall benefits that it will bring to our online business,” said Carter Lee, vice president, technology operations, Overstock.com, Inc.
LimelightDELIVER XD offers shorter start-to-finish delivery times, provides massive scalability to handle peak loads and flash crowds, and provides more consistent performance regardless of geography, user network capacity or Internet conditions. This means customers will be able to increase conversion rates, lengthen viewing or gaming times and provide higher-quality end-user experiences for video, music, games, social media, software, and entire websites.
LimelightCONTROL is a new, advanced management and reporting suite that enables customers to exercise more control over their content delivery service. This new service suite replaces the former LimelightEXCHANGE portal and includes an upgraded user interface, enhanced reporting that includes real-time data on Internet conditions, granular control over storage utilization, and more.
The flagship service, LimelightCONTROL XD, offers advanced management applications that help to increase efficiency, reduce expenses, improve the user experience, and provide deep insight into performance of an online business. The service includes customer provisioning of services, custom control over CDN storage options, and the innovative Internet Health Monitor which provides customers with insight into potential sources of end user experience issues, collected in real-time by millions of globally distributed user agents that are part of the XD Platform.
