Posted by Derrick on March 22, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | 
DivX, Inc., a leading digital media company, today announced that the latest version of the Company’s flagship video software package, DivX Plus Software, is available as a free download for Windows 7, Vista and XP on the Company’s website at www.divx.com/software/divx-plus.
The completely redesigned DivX Plus Software offers users an uncluttered and easy-to-use interface for the playback of DivX video on the desktop and in the browser, including DivX Plus HD video, which supports up to 1080p HD H.264-based videos in the popular MKV file format.
The DivX Plus software package is comprised of four individual products: the DivX Plus Player, the DivX Plus Web Player, the DivX Plus Codec Pack, and the DivX Plus Converter. The DivX Plus Player includes the all-new DivX To Go feature, which makes it easy to transfer videos from the computer to any of the 250 million DivX devices that have shipped worldwide from major brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray players, digital televisions, gaming consoles and mobile phones.
“DivX Plus software represents a major step forward in our mission to create a seamless, high-quality media experience that empowers consumers to enjoy the content they care about not just on the computer but on any device in their lifestyle,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “Our new software connects the content that millions of users watch on their PCs to the millions of DivX devices all over the world, offering a bridge between the Internet and the living room.”
Key features of the DivX Plus software package include:
- Easy video transfer to DivX Certified devices–DivX To Go ensures that any video file played in the DivX Plus Player can also be played in any one of the 250 million DivX devices shipped into the global market. DivX To Go is an intuitive, step-by-step wizard for transferring videos from the DivX Plus Player to DivX Certified devices, such as DVD players, DTVs and the PlayStation(R) 3.
- Broad Playback Support–The DivX Plus Player and DivX Plus Web Player offer high-quality video playback of a wide variety of formats, including the latest versions of DivX and DivX Plus codecs and new components for playback of DivX Plus HD video in the MKV/H.264 format on Windows 7. The DivX Plus Codec Pack also provides an enhanced DivX playback experience through third-party players such as Windows Media Player and media extenders.
- Stunning HD Video in Your Browser–The new DivX Plus Web Player offers high performance DivX and DivX Plus HD web video streaming with surround sound and subtitles through standard HTTP servers and JavaScript programming as a plug-in for Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.
- MKV Streaming to Gaming Consoles–DivX Plus Software streams HD content in the MKV format to the PlayStation(R) 3 or Xbox 360 with the new DivX Plus Codec Pack, which enables Windows 7 to play MKV files.
- High Quality Video Conversion–The DivX Plus Converter was completely redesigned and is now offered free of charge for conversion of 1080p HD content to DivX Plus HD, which is based on the MKV file container and H.264 codec.
“DivX Plus Software makes the HD video experience intuitive to users with all levels of expertise,” said Guto Araujo, Vice President and General Manager, Software and Services, DivX, Inc. “To the experienced user, it offers a range of streaming, converting, and web video publishing tools. Through uncluttered and easy-to-use playback screens, the software also lets all users simply enjoy full screen DivX Plus HD videos even on lower powered computers such as netbooks.”
Posted by Derrick on September 30, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Akamai Technologies, Inc., the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced the Akamai HD Network, its next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale. The Akamai HD Network is the only solution that supports live and on-demand HD streaming with a highly-personalized and interactive online experience that matches and complements HD television.
As a first-of-its-kind streaming platform, the Akamai HD Network is designed as one, comprehensive HD network reaching multiple playback environments and devices, including Flash, Silverlight, and the iPhone. Leveraging the global breadth and scale of Akamai’s globally-distributed EdgePlatform of more than 50,000 servers, the Akamai HD Network enables content providers to deliver more HD content than previously possible – due to its wide-scale distribution in 70 countries and increased throughputs in more than 900 networks.
The Akamai HD Network is a streaming platform that leverages the following functionalities: Adaptive Bitrate Streaming – Unique network and player streaming process that is designed to enable uninterrupted playback at HD bitrates that seamlessly adjusts to fluctuations in available bandwidth to provide the best quality possible for each user; Instant Response – Immediate response to viewer interactions with the video player, including sub-second time-shifting (such as pause, rewind, seek and play commands) video startup times, and seamless stream switching; HD Video Player – Open, standards-based video player for faster time to market; HD Player Authentication – Authenticates player for all three environments ensuring only authorized players access content.
“Seeing is believing,” said Paul Sagan, President and CEO, Akamai. “With the Akamai HD Network, we are revolutionizing the way content traverses the Internet with a new approach to bringing an HDTV-like experience online. We’re entering a different online world, where many content owners and publishers need to deliver HD-quality video to a much wider online audience, with a higher level of interactivity for consumers. Delivering ‘web-quality’ content to ‘web-sized’ audiences is one thing, but delivering HD-quality content to broadcast-scale audiences is another.”
Akamai has helped pioneer the delivery of HD content online, having worked with leading entertainment, sports, and news businesses. Two key trends have made it necessary to now evolve how streaming media is delivered on the Internet. First, online audiences have grown to broadcast scale. Second, those viewers are demanding higher quality content. Studies show that when higher quality video content is offered, viewer engagement time increases. Supporting this level of traffic requires a global network that can manage millions of simultaneous users streaming very high bitrate content. The Akamai HD Network was designed for large-scale broadcasters and film distributors looking to increase audience engagement and to expand revenues by complementing traditional mediums, such as TV and DVD, with the Internet.
The Akamai HD Network offers adaptive bitrate streaming capabilities across playback formats that are specifically optimized to work with Akamai’s HD EdgePlatform for the fastest and most consistent video bitrate switching – enabling an instant and uninterrupted viewing experience for consumers even at the highest bitrates. Leveraging Akamai’s entire HTTP footprint, video over Akamai’s HD Network is delivered from servers closer to audiences around the world. As a result, Akamai can more tightly control the amount of time the player needs to buffer before switching streams. The shorter the buffer, the faster the stream can adapt and respond to changing end-user conditions. The result is intended to create a seamless HD quality video experience – with little to no buffering.
“We are excited to see Akamai’s commitment to HTTP adaptive streaming as the future of online video delivery, as we have worked closely over the past year to build a robust end-to-end media delivery platform with IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight,” said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp. “Together, we’ve proven that these true HD experiences can dramatically increase online viewing times for broadcasters. In addition, Microsoft’s ability to deliver live and on-demand protected streams with Smooth Streaming and Silverlight, along with enhanced interactive experiences, such as multiple camera angles, alternate language tracks and in-stream data feeds, have raised the bar for online delivery using HTTP.”
“Adobe works closely with Akamai to optimize Flash Media delivery on Akamai’s network for the benefit of our mutual customers,” said Jim Guerard, Vice-President and General Manager, Dynamic Media at Adobe. “We’re pleased that customers who already leverage the Flash Platform as the number one video format online will now enjoy increased scalability and quality gains as a result of utilizing Akamai’s vast edge infrastructure via HTTP video streaming.”
