Russia’s CDNvideo Partners with Wowza to Launch Video Delivery Services

Posted by Derrick on August 2, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | Be the First to Comment

Wowza Media Systems, the media server software company, announced that it has partnered with CDNvideo, a Moscow, Russia based content delivery services provider (CDN) that has deployed Wowza Media Server 2 platform to immediately offer a complete suite of video streaming services. The Wowza-based services include live streaming, as well as video-on-demand delivery of content such as movie trailers and full length movies to mobile and desktop users.

Wowza Media Servers are deployed in CDNvideo-owned points of presence spanning Russia, Ukraine and Western Europe, delivering services for small-to-medium size businesses and large enterprises with packages starting at 300 Rubles (app. €9 Euro). CDNvideo’s services benefit content owners with its high performance and the flexibility to monetize video via multiple self-administered channels, including paid SMS messages and embedded video advertisements.

“Our CDN was built with a goal of delivering a three-screen, secure, high-quality video experience, and as importantly, to offer economically attractive pricing to our clients” said Yaroslav Gorodetsky, Chief Executive Officer of CDNvideo. “Deploying Wowza technology enables us to accomplish these goals.”

Wowza Media Server, the unified media server, enables simultaneous streaming to any screen — the desktop, mobile and the living room — delivered to popular players and devices, including Flash, Silverlight, Apple iPhone/iPod, Android, Blackberry, IPTV set-tops and more

“Wowza Media Server has become the premier media server choice for service providers,” commented Alex Dobrushin, Chief Marketing Officer at Wowza. “Wowza-powered cross-platform services are in high demand and we are excited to bring its benefits to customers in Russia, CIS and beyond trough our partnership with CDNvideo.”

Network Foundation Technologies and Cisco Provide Online Broadcast of the NFL 7-on-7 National Tournament

Posted by Derrick on August 1, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | Be the First to Comment

The 2010 NFL High School Player Development (HSPD) 7-on-7 National Tournament was held in Tampa, Florida on July 10th and 11th. The HSPD aims to develop productive members of society, helping high school students improve both their fundamental football skills and life skills. Network Foundation Technologies, LLC (‘NiFTy’) and Cisco Systems, Inc. partnered together to provide live online broadcast coverage of the tournament.

Jerry Horowitz, NFL Director Youth Tackle Football, stated, “NiFTyTV along with Cisco Systems have provided a great opportunity for our National 7-on-7 Tournament participants to relive their experience through its On-Demand features. It is also a great way for family and friends in all the participant’s respective cities to be able to see the tournament games both live and On-Demand.”

Top high school players from across the nation, representing twenty-two NFL teams, competed over the course of two-days. First day competition was used to determine bracket seeding. A double-elimination tournament was held on the second day, ending with two conference semi finals—the AFC and NFC—and a Super Bowl championship match between the local Florida teams, the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“We were very excited to work with NiftyTV to broadcast the event for the NFL HSPD 7on7 Tournament,” said Daryl Thomas, Regional Director for the HSPD. “NiFTY’s technology and support made it possible for parents, teammates, college scouts and fans to see some of the nation’s top high school football players worldwide; this was truly a historical moment for the HSPD 7on7 Tournament.”

Video On Demand replays of select games from the two-day tournament, including the Conference Finals and Super Bowl, are now available for viewing online. To download the 7-on-7 player, visit www.NiFTyTV.com/7on7 and click on the “Download Now” button.

ViewCast Niagara Streaming Media Encoders and Adobe Flash Media Server Power HarperCollins’ New Digital Conference Center

Posted by Derrick on July 30, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | Be the First to Comment

ViewCast Corporation, a developer of industry-leading solutions for the transformation, management and delivery of digital media over enterprise, broadband, and mobile networks, announced that venerable book and digital content publisher HarperCollins has selected advanced streaming media solutions from ViewCast and Adobe Systems Incorporated to power the company’s live streaming and video on demand (VOD) media programming. With ViewCast Niagara streaming media encoders and Adobe Flash Media Server software at the heart of HarperCollins’ new digital conference center, the company is equipped with a feature-rich, easy to use streaming media platform for real-time and pre-recorded corporate communication and events.

Constructed at HarperCollins’ corporate headquarters in New York, the company’s new digital conference center was designed to facilitate live and on-demand broadcasting of executive addresses, guest speaker presentations, company meetings and corporate training programs to company employees. To ensure optimal streaming performance, reliability and manageability, HarperCollins implemented ViewCast Niagara streaming media encoders – including the Niagara 2120 and a Niagara GoStream SURF – networked to two servers running Adobe Flash Media Server software.

“HarperCollins is at the forefront of leveraging online video to improve business communications and collaboration between their employees and stakeholders across the enterprise,” said Scott Wellwood, director of business development for Rich Media at Adobe. “It’s exciting to see the combination of the Adobe Flash Platform and ViewCast Niagara encoders, bringing cutting-edge technology that meets critical business needs. With the leading Web design and development platform, Adobe helps partners create expressive applications, content, and video that runs consistently across operating systems and devices, and reaches more than 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops in the Enterprise.”

“HarperCollins’ innovative implementation of ViewCast Niagara encoders and Adobe Flash Media Server underscores the value and operational agility that streaming media can bring to any business, and reaffirms the strength of ViewCast’s technology integration with the Adobe Flash Platform,” said ViewCast president and CEO Dave Stoner. “For corporate communication applications, emails and memos can never match the immediacy and impact enabled via online video streaming. Even for a centuries-old company born of the printing press, digital media has the power to transform the scope and effectiveness of key business initiatives.”

“With ViewCast, we were assured proven, professional-grade streaming media systems that were easy to deploy and intuitive to use, complemented with excellent service and support,” said Steve Leiterstein, Senior Director, Desktop Services, HarperCollins. “The Adobe Flash Platform provides a rich, bandwidth-optimized viewing experience across all of our supported operating systems.”

Wowza Media Server Provides Multi-bitrate Video On Demand Streaming for iPhone

Posted by Derrick on July 28, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | Be the First to Comment

Wowza Media Server 2 Provides Multi-bitrate Video On Demand Streaming for iPhone.  This is just another item that can be added to this streaming server’s repertoire.  Whether iPhone users are using Edge or 3G the appropriate datarate streaming video can be delivered to the end users.  In addition, the switch between various datarates, if needed, happens very smoothly.  Today, many content providers are really pushing for some type of dynamic streaming or multi-bitrate option, which is a great thing.  There’s also an increased desire to delivery video to the iPhone. With the Apple iPhone being the ‘Killer App’, providing better experiences to this device will benefit many media outlets and content providers targeting streaming video for mobile devices

Qumu Selects Spinnaker Live Streaming Appliance

Posted by Derrick on June 12, 2010 under Video Streaming and Compression | Be the First to Comment

Inlet Technologies, the leader in innovative solutions for digital media preparation, announced today that Qumu, Inc., a proven innovator in streaming media solutions for the enterprise, has integrated control and management of Inlet’s SpinnakerTM into Qumu’s Video Control Center 5.3. As a result, video webcast producers and IT departments can now control Spinnaker real-time video streaming appliances directly from the Qumu Video Control Center.

The Qumu Video Control Center (VCC) 5.3 is the most recent upgrade to its comprehensive enterprise video management solution. The Video Control Center simplifies the enterprise video webcast process, and centralizes content creation, management and distribution. The central control enables organizations to produce and deliver scalable live events, video on-demand (VOD), and control for all video applications, content and resources. VCC 5.3 integrates industry-leading enhancements, including encoders, editing tools, streaming servers, Content Delivery Networks, portals, and video conferencing systems.

Qumu chose Inlet Technologies’ Spinnaker to give organizations greater flexibility and more options for real-time programming.  Spinnaker is Inlet Technologies’ family of award-winning streaming appliances for live video and audio delivery applications, and provides exceptional quality and professional, reliable results in an affordable, simple solution. Spinnaker provides multiple formats in one box, and can prepare content for delivery to a wide audience through the latest platforms, devices, and screens. In addition to standard formats, Spinnaker has built-in support for adaptive bitrate streaming, including iPhoneTM and iPadTM streaming, Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming, and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming. Spinnaker also supports streaming to a wide range of feature phones and smartphones.

“According to industry researchers, Gartner and IDC, Fortune 1000 organizations want to expand their use and delivery of streaming video throughout their organizations, in order to continue to reduce costs, engage audiences and increase revenues. These organizations demand cutting-edge technology that will allow them to reliably and seamlessly stream live events” said Scott Safe, Qumu, Inc. vice president of product strategy and marketing. “Now the Qumu Video Control Center with Inlet Spinnaker real-time appliances gives enterprise webcast producers the power to effortlessly control and deliver video through multiple platforms across the enterprise or around the world.”

“Inlet Technologies is pleased to work with Qumu to give enterprises the ability to easily stream professional quality live events,” said Don Bossi, CEO, Inlet Technologies. “Together, Inlet and Qumu can provide flexibility and reliability to companies looking to create compelling real-time content.”