Posted by Derrick on October 28, 2010 under Industry News | 
Highwinds, a leader in content delivery, network and IP services, announced that its StrikeTracker console was selected as the winner in the Reporting and Analytics category of the 2010 Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Awards. This year’s winners of the influential annual awards for the European online video industry were announced yesterday at a reception during Streaming Media Europe in London.
“The finalists in the 2010 Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Awards are a real who’s-who of the online media industry, both in terms of established players and up-and-comers,” said Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, editor of Streaming Media Magazine. “What’s most significant about these awards is that they’re the only ones voted on by the people who actually use these technologies and services every day. The fact that more than 3,400 voters cast more than 12,700 votes — meaning that, on average, each voter cast a vote in three or four categories — is a testament to the impact that these companies and their products have had on the lives and work of their customers.”
Highwinds was also announced as a finalist in the best Delivery Network category.
This is not the first time that Highwinds’ StrikeTracker has received recognition from Streaming Media. In 2009, the magazine selected the content management and reporting console as one of the top ten innovations in video streaming.
On Nov. 2, Streaming Media will announce the winners of the Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Awards (non-European edition) at Streaming Media West in Los Angeles. Highwinds was nominated in four categories for those awards:
1. Best Streaming Innovation 2010
2. Best Online Video Company 2010 – Technology
3. Global CDN
4. Reporting and Analytics Solution
Posted by Derrick on July 13, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Highwinds, a leader in content delivery, network and IP services, announced that it has acquired Internet infrastructure service provider BandCon, based in Costa Mesa, Calif. The BandCon Content Delivery System is a natural fit with Highwinds’ multiplatform IP service offerings, including its content delivery network (CDN). The acquisition validates Highwinds’ success as a profitable and rapidly growing global provider of content delivery and network services.
“We are pleased to be able to leverage our balance sheet strength and financial success to make an acquisition of this magnitude,” said Steve Miller, chairman and CEO of Highwinds. “Over the past decade, BandCon has earned a great deal of industry respect. I continue to be impressed by the BandCon team, their experience and their dedication to customer service.”
The BandCon Content Delivery System is a set of Internet infrastructure and delivery products which complements Highwinds’ content delivery, network and IP services portfolio. As a result of this acquisition, BandCon and Highwinds customers now have access to an international network with 2 terabits per second of edge capacity and more than 70 POPs (points of presence) worldwide. The combined company now offers a full range of services including:
▪ Content Delivery Services
▪ Hosted IP Services and Software
▪ IP Transit and Transport Services
▪ Content Storage and Protection Services
▪ Colocation and Peering Solutions
“The acquisition of BandCon is highly accretive and significantly boosts the scale of Highwinds’ content delivery, network and IP services business,” said Steve Liddell, recently appointed president of Highwinds Content Delivery and Network Services.
Both companies are privately held and thus the terms of the deal will not be disclosed. BandCon founder and CEO Ari Benowitz will stay on as chief revenue officer of Highwinds and report to Steve Liddell.
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 April 24, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Highwinds, a content, network and hosted IP services business, announced that the National Association of Broadcasters selected its content delivery network (CDN) for the second consecutive year to deliver video from the annual NAB Show. Video highlights from the 2010 NAB Show, that took place from April 10-15 in Las Vegas, were delivered to online audiences over Highwinds’ CDN during and after the event through the NAB Show web site at www.nabshow.com.
Highwinds worked closely with the National Association of Broadcasters and Digital Rapids, who provided onsite transcoding technology again this year. Video of the event, including daily highlights, studio segments, and attendee and exhibitor interviews, were made available for on-demand distribution to worldwide audiences over Highwinds’ CDN. NAB offered more online video coverage than it had in previous years, with new event footage and segments.
Highwinds owns and operates the fastest growing CDN on the planet, delivering live and on-demand video from some of the world’s largest broadcasters to global audiences over its high-performance RollingThunder network. Customers gain intuitive self-provisioning features and superior content command and control with Highwinds’ StrikeTracker console and open APIs, enabling the immediate propagation and streaming of all video uploaded to Highwinds’ network.
Posted by Derrick on December 6, 2009 under Video Streaming and Compression |
Carpathia Hosting, the leading provider of enterprise managed hosting services for businesses and government agencies, announced it has partnered with Highwinds Network Group, a multiplatform IP services and content distribution provider, to deliver Tier 1 content delivery network (CDN) services for Carpathia’s managed, compliant and cloud customers.
Carpathia Hosting currently provides hosting and managed services to some of the largest content providers on the Internet. By adding Highwinds’ CDN services to its already comprehensive managed service portfolio, Carpathia Hosting will provide additional solutions aimed at the global distribution of content — including streaming live or on-demand video, as well as distribution of large files. For customers using Carpathia’s InstantOn™ storage cloud service, Highwinds’ CDN services will enable efficient delivery of massive files in the cloud directly over the CDN.
“Carpathia has fully integrated Highwinds’ CDN into our managed, compliant and cloud services portfolio, providing customers with some unique ways to take advantage of pairing dynamic content delivery with dynamic computing environments,” said Jon Greaves, CTO of Carpathia Hosting. “Our federal customers can now also take advantage of the CDN for secure delivery of content meeting the needs of their agencies.”
Through the availability of Highwinds’ CDN services, Carpathia Hosting also announced a new Carpathia Hosting CDN Optimization Service. Designed for content providers, as well as companies and federal agencies pushing significant volumes of larger files, the Optimization Service ensures websites are architected for optimal CDN performance and management. The service includes a detailed assessment of the customer’s website and historic data from the website activity to determine the optimal CDN configuration. Additionally, it includes recommendations to take advantage of CDN technology in the best way possible.
“As the Internet continues to experience significant growth in live and on-demand video and large file distribution, it’s an opportune time for a well-recognized company like Carpathia Hosting to expand its core capabilities and support their customers’ evolving delivery needs with top-tier CDN services,” said Steve Miller, President and CEO of Highwinds. “Our engineering teams have collaborated to create a best-of-breed solution that fully integrates Carpathia’s managed hosting and storage cloud services with the Highwinds CDN. The global, next-generation infrastructure of our CDN, which was built to ensure the rapid and reliable delivery of all types of media and downloadable content, makes Highwinds the ideal CDN partner to support Carpathia’s wide customer base.”
