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KickApps Extends App Studio to Support HTML5
Social software provider KickApps is announcing this morning that its App Studio will now support HTML5, in addition to Flash.
App Studio is a drag-and-drop authoring tool for creating customized video players. With App Studio, users can select from a range of pre-integrated plug-ins from
KickApps' partners. KickApps CEO Alex Blum explained to me yesterday that users will now be able to author once in App Studio and have end-user devices playback in whichever video format they detect is appropriate (e.g. Flash when viewing online or HTML5 when viewing on an iPad or iPhone).
Categories: Technology
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VINDICO Gets MRC Accredited
VINDICO, the recently created video ad server division of BBE, is announcing this morning that it has been accredited by the Media Ratings Council (MRC). For those not familiar, the MRC is an independent industry association that
works to ensure audience measurement is valid, reliable and effective. VINDICO believes it is the first demand-side video ad server to be accredited by MRC (there may others, I'm not sure; I know that FreeWheel was accredited about 6 months ago).
Matt Timothy, VINDICO's president, told me yesterday that the accreditation is a big step forward for both the company, and the online video ad industry. Matt explained that with online video advertising still relatively early-stage, there's been a "Wild West" dynamic with different ad servers and measurement approaches. That friction constrains advertiser spending in the new medium. MRC gives VINDICO new credibility with the agencies and advertisers it serves that the audience data it shares is up to MRC's stringent standards.
With the rise of online video advertising, Matt also sees 2 trends developing: the shift from estimated ad measurement (common in TV advertising) to actual ad measurement and agencies/advertisers taking control of the actual ad delivery process (which in TV advertising is handled by the TV networks and stations). VINDICO is betting on both of these trends; it targets agencies and advertisers with its ad-server technology. Matt pointed to recent wins with VivaKi and Universal McCann as evidence that its approach is working.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Advertising, Technology
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Move Networks Lays Off Entire Staff
Move Networks has laid off its entire staff today, with only CFO Jamie Harper remaining, I've learned. Move, which had raised approximately $70 million to date was once a high-flyer in the online video space, powering ABC, Fox and other premium content sites' video.
However, as I've written, with advances in adaptive bit rate streaming from competitors and plunging delivery pricing from CDNs, Move shifted away from
this market to instead become a white-label solution for companies looking to deliver multichannel lineups exclusively through broadband infrastructure. This followed its acquisition of Inuk Networks.
Move was apparently trying to raise another $30 million but this didn't come to fruition. Move is the third big crater in the online video space, following Joost and Veoh. I've left a voice mail for Jamie Harper and am also digging around for additional details.
Update: Move has posted a press release which says the company "intends to retain a financial advisor to assist the Company in evaluating strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the Company." The release also confirms that Roxanne Austin, CEO and President has stepped down, and says that Marcus Liassides will be elevated to President. More updates as they happen.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Technology
Topics: Move Networks
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thePlatform Unveils Support for Numerous Over-the-Top Devices
thePlatform is announcing this morning that it has integrated with numerous "over-the-top" consumer electronics devices, enabling its content customers
to more easily deliver online video to them. Devices cited are boxee, Roku, TiVo, Vudu (which includes connected TVs and Blu-ray players from LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Toshiba and Vizio), DivX devices, Syabas (popbox), FlingoTV and others to come (including Google TV when ready). I caught up with Marty Roberts, thePlatform's VP of Sales and Marketing yesterday to learn more.
Marty explained the impetus was thePlatform's content customers telling the company they want to generate more video views and have easy access to the range of OTT devices coming to market. While conceding that the universe of all these devices combined is still probably in the low single-digit millions, thePlatform and its content customers are betting on future growth. The move is significant as it underscores the mindshare that direct access to TVs via broadband and connected devices has gained in the content community.
Categories: Devices, Technology
Topics: Boxee, DivX, FlingoTV, Google TV, LG, Mitsubishi, Roku, Samsung, Syabas, thePlatform, TiVo, Toshiba and Vizio, VUDU
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RoxioNow Expands Retail Strategy, Licenses Platform to Sears
This morning video technology company Sonic Solutions is announcing that Sears (which also owns K-Mart), will be the latest company to license its RoxioNow platform, a customizable white-label electronic sell-through (EST) and VOD rental service delivering a large library of premium new release
studio content through a variety of connected devices. The deal shows momentum for the fledgling platform that has within the past year signed Blockbuster, Best Buy, and Boxee, while amassing a library of over 30,000 download to own and 5,000 new release studio titles.
Mark Ely, EVP of Strategy at Sonic Solutions, whom I spoke with yesterday, is excited to have another retailer on board. He believes retail stores with RoxioNow will help speed up the consumer transition to the digital medium through promotions and education. Brick and mortar stores definitely have an advantage, as it is where many consumers still go to learn about new technology before they purchase. On top of that, it gives retailers a chance to bundle in download offers as an incentive to purchase new Internet connected devices giving consumers a free taste of the platform.
Categories: Devices, Downloads, Technology
Topics: RoxioNow, Sears, Sonic Solutions
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Brightcove Extends Platform to Serve Android Mobile Devices
Brightcove is announcing this morning that it has extended its platform to serve Android mobile devices, the latest sign of momentum behind Google's
mobile operating system. The new functionality includes an SDK for Android and new mobile templates for Flash Player 10.1, which together cover the spectrum of video viewed in apps and in browsers. Brightcove's president David Mendels provided further insight in a briefing last week.
What Brightcove is now doing for Android mirrors what the company did for the iPhone last November in the Brightcove 4 launch. Resources included in the Android solution are pre-built components for playback, content discovery, and connections into the Brightcove Media API. Next on the Android support roadmap are easy sharing to social media sites, improved navigation and discovery. For Flash 10.1, Brightcove has created a set of templates that will adapt to mobile devices and their playback context. These include right-sized player controls and a UI for smaller mobile screens. Flash 10.1 is now available for Android devices running Android 2.2 ("Froyo") and is also supported on BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, Symbian and others.
Categories: Mobile Video, Technology
Topics: Android, Brightcove, iPhone
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How to Navigate the Video Format Battlefield
Today I'm pleased to offer a guest post from Jeff Malkin, president of Encoding.com. With all the recent news around video codecs, formats and corporate battles, the world is getting increasingly complicated for content providers looking to benefit from the shift to online video. Encoding.com is in the middle of this action and today Jeff cuts through the noise and provides some recommendations for success.
How to Navigate the Video Format Battlefield
by Jeff Malkin
For content publishers and consumers, there is chaos in the video ecosystem, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. No doubt you've been reading about HTML5 vs. Flash vs. Silverlight (and recently, WebM), Apple vs. Adobe, H.264 vs. VP8, iPhone vs. Android, Do-it-Yourself vs. OVP.
Whether serving tens or thousands of videos, maximizing viewership with reasonably high-quality videos across web and mobile devices is the new imperative. With so many permutations of video codecs, formats, containers and features, it's confusing to design a video workflow that's cost-effective, flexible to change with the evolving formats and scalable to meet your growth requirements. With this post, I offer a couple of recommendations to help simplify the array of options currently available.
Case in point: Just when it appeared that H.264 was emerging as the video codec leader, primarily because of YouTube support and strong backing by Apple on its devices, Google went and threw an open-sourced VP8 codec into the ring via the recently announced WebM project, a new video format launched by Google with support from other leading industry players such as Mozilla, Opera Software, Brightcove and Encoding.com.
While both H.264 and VP8 are good quality codecs, only VP8 is currently royalty-free and therefore has a great opportunity to emerge as the new leader within the next year or two. However, for web distribution today, we recommend encoding your videos using the H.264 video codec in an .mp4 container. This is a high-quality output format already supported by Flash, and the leading HTML5 browsers including Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer v9.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Apple, Encoding.com, Flash, HTML5, Silverlight, WebM
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Kylo TV Browser Can Now be Tweaked to Watch Hulu
Hillcrest Labs, maker of the Kylo browser, which lets users browse the Internet on their TVs, is announcing the Kylo 0.7 beta release this morning. The new release includes updates allowing advanced users to change the
browser's user agent string in order to view Hulu. Just two months ago, when Kylo was introduced, Hulu very quickly blocked access, just as it had when boxee tried delivering Hulu to TVs. The new workaround represents another step in the cat-and-mouse game that Kylo is playing with Hulu.
In the press release, Dan Simkins, Hillcrest's CEO and founder said, "It remains our position that Kylo is simply a Web browser based on open-source Mozilla code, like Firefox. We fully respect the rights of content owners and aggregators, and as such, we do no deep link, re-index, divert users past ads, or overlay different user interfaces on video players. However, we believe consumers should be able to use the Kylo browser to visit any site on the Web on the display screen of their choice. Our hope is that a respectful dialog with Hulu will encourage them to consider changing their policies."
To my knowledge Hulu hasn't ever publicly addressed this situation and I'm guessing it's won't this time either. It is extremely likely that Hulu will once again block Kylo, as it seeks to enforce its computer-only viewing model. As I wrote last week in "5 Reasons Google TV Looks Like a Winner," this insistence is really backing Hulu into a corner marginalizing the site for users who just want to watch whenever, wherever they'd like.
Aside from the Hulu tweak, Hillcrest is also announcing new features including a Windows Media Center plug-in, auto-hide control bar, improved zoom, keyboard hiding, multi-screen support for Mac, printing and updated links. Hillcrest is also putting its Loop pointer on half-price sale of $49 through June 11th. The Loop lets you easily navigate Kylo.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Aggregators, Technology
Topics: Hillcrest Labs, Hulu, Kylo
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Epix is Striving for "Lights-Out" Video Work Flows with Signiant
Signiant, which positions itself as a provider of "content supply chain management" software, is announcing this morning that Epix, the new premium cable channel, is using its software to deliver and manage video across multi-platform outlets. Epix's VP of Operations Thomas Carpenter, whom I spoke to yesterday, described his goal in working with Signiant as trying to create a "lights-out" work flow that handles content from procurement to delivery with minimal human involvement.
As Thomas explained, Epix's work flow is particularly challenging because the channel is trying to blend online, linear and on-demand distribution right from launch. This contrasts with typical situations where the linear channel and its work flows are first solidified, and then online, on-demand and other distribution is layered on later. With Epix's approach, Thomas said it's been a necessity to automate work flows as much as possible to drive maximum efficiencies.
Categories: Cable Networks, Technology
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #62 - May 21, 2010
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 62nd edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for May 21, 2010.
In today's podcast Daisy and I share chat about what else - Google TV. Listen in to learn more, and also see other posts on the site for further analysis and information.
Click here to listen to the podcast (14 minutes, 25 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Podcasts, Technology
Topics: Google, Google TV, Podcast
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Google TV Unites Web and TV in One Experience
Colin Dixon, senior partner at industry research firm The Diffusion Group, which is a VideoNuze partner, has been attending the Google I/O developer's conference. Following his analysis of the WebM project yesterday, today he offer commentary on Google TV which was unveiled today. Back in late March I had posted on Google TV, based on some back-channel info I had received. I'll have more commentary as well.
Google TV Unites Web and TV in One Experience
by Colin Dixon
This morning, at Google I/O in San Francisco, Google announced a comprehensive push to bring the Internet to TV, an effort dubbed "Google TV." Working with initial partners Intel, Sony, and Logitech, Google is assembling an open ecosystem to deliver web content and applications directly to the TV. As well, rather than ignore traditional TV content, the effort seeks to integrate the Internet and TV into a single seamless experience.
Intel's CE4100 Atom-based SoC will serve as the processor engine for the service. The CE4100 is optimized for TV applications with sophisticated video handling and a 3D graphics engine built in. It also inherits the Atom processor's frugal power consumption capabilities and small footprint. The software stack that will run on the CE4100 is from Google. Android has been ported and optimized for the processor along with Google's Chrome browser. Since Android is the core operating system, many of the applications that have already been written for smartphones should run with little or no modification. Of course, the Android marketplace will also be available to add other applications to the experience.
Categories: Devices, Technology
Topics: Best Buy, DISH, Google, Google TV, Intel, Logitech, Sony
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Google Reignites Codec Wars by Freeing VP8
Google is in the midst of its I/O developer's conference and Colin Dixon, senior partner at industry research firm The Diffusion Group, which is a VideoNuze partner, is attending. Today and tomorrow he's providing dispatches and analysis of the events.
Google Reignites Codec Wars by Freeing VP8
by Colin Dixon
At the Google developer's conference, Google I/O, on Wednesday the company announced that the ON2 VP8 codec has been open-sourced. The video codec is being united with the Vorbis audio codec under the WebM effort. VP8 is available under a completely royalty-free license.
Support for WebM is being built into browsers such as Chrome, Opera and Mozilla. This means that a video provided in the format does not need a separate player; it will play natively in the browser. In addition, Google
promised it would be supported in Chrome OS, Google's open source project to turn the browser into the computer operating system. Also, YouTube will fully support the format. Kevin Lynch, CTO of Adobe, also announced full support for the codec in Flash. This is important as Flash is the dominant video delivery mechanism on the Internet.
The ON2 codec was one of the earliest of the new advanced codecs. As the most efficient codec of its time, it allowed companies such as Move networks to provide adaptive streaming on the Internet at HD quality. Early adopters of the codec were companies such as Fox.com and ABC.com. Google purchased On2 for $120M in 2009.
The release of VP8 to the open community without a license fee is an important development. Google has the muscle to guarantee wide use and acceptance of the codec. YouTube serves 13 times more video content than any other site in the US. As well, the 70M users of the Chrome browser will also have support for the codec built in. With Flash support it is safe to assume that pretty much every PC will have support for VP8 before the year is out. For content developers, VP8 is a safe option to guarantee that content will play on a wide array of PCs and netbooks.
Less clear is the value of the codec to non-PC devices. Certainly we can expect full support in Android phones. But support at the TV is far less clear. Devices such as game consoles and set-top boxes are not going to support the codec anytime soon. Major SoC providers such as Intel and Broadcom do not provide built-in support for it, although Intel can support it in software. Until chip vendors support it, getting an STB or TV that can play video in the format is still years away. Perhaps we will hear more about that from Google Thursday (as has been widely rumored.) So, VP8 as a solution for multi-screen delivery is still not viable.
This leaves content providers with a problem. There still isn't a single codec that is supported on TV, PC and mobile. Perhaps the closest to this is MPEG4 H.264. However, H.264 is fatally flawed. Although today you can use the codec without incurring a royalty fee that could all change on December 31, 2015. MPEG LA, which controls the H.264 license terms, has only said that it would allow free streaming using the codec through 2015. What happens after that is anyone's guess. With uncertainty like this H.264 is unlikely to become the universal standard.
In the short term, if your video distribution plans are limited to PCs and Android phones VP8 could be the smart choice. For multi-screen delivery, content providers will have to continue to provide their content in several formats for some time to come. Apple, which is heavily backing the H.264 format should give this some serious thought!
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Technology
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New Clicker.tv Raises the Bar on Online Video Navigation
Want to see what navigation will look like in the online video era? Then head over to Clicker.tv, which unveiled its new look today at the Google I/O conference. I hesitate to call Clicker.tv a "web site" because 15 years into the Internet age the term has a "point-click-scroll" connotation to it. Conversely, when you arrive at the new Clicker.tv you realize you can now set your mouse aside as you won't be needing it. The whole site can be navigated with your Up/Down/Side arrow, Enter and Backspace keys. Clicker's CEO Jim Lanzone gave me a sneak peek last week and pointed out its key differentiators.
Jim proudly pointed out that while it will feel like you've downloaded a plug-in or an app because of the richness and responsiveness of the site, in fact you haven't; this is the power of HTML5. What you see displayed are four columns. At the left is a tools bar with simple icons prompting search, browse, playlists plus links to display TV shows, web-only shows or movies. In default mode the next 3 columns show "headliners," trending shows and trending episodes. You can rearrange these views via the icons, browsing or setting up playlists.
If for example you see a large thumbnail for "The Hills," when you click on it all the recent episodes are exposed, which you can scroll through with just your arrow keys until finding the one you want and selecting it with the Enter key. Or if you select the movie "The Hurt Locker" Clicker will show you that it's available for download on Amazon and iTunes. If it had been available on Netflix too, you would have been exposed to that option and been able to seamlessly connect and watch at Netflix if you had previously linked your account to Clicker (same way as Netflix works with other devices).
Something else you'll notice is that there's no search bar. So how do you search for a TV show or movie? You simply start typing and your letters appear on screen. It's pretty cool. But in a nod to how different navigation on Clicker is, it offers a handy overlay screen when visiting so you know how to get around.
As Jim put it, Clicker also begins merging the browser and the app worlds (for more on what Google thinks about this idea see, this good post on TechCrunch), and moves the paradigm away from having set-top boxes in order to do robust navigation. Clicker's big opportunity comes as convergence takes off. It's 10-foot UI makes it a natural to be included in various connected devices that are looking to bridge broadband to the TV even as smaller scale version could work really well on mobile devices. In addition, as Jim pointed out, because this is HTML, social and other features can be added easily. The destination is still in beta and it's still pretty early days for Clicker's business model, but Jim sees two opportunities: bounties from aggregators it sends users to and apps that would be created and uphold. Playing around with Clicker you can't help thinking how far the web has now advanced.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Technology, Video Search
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Kyte is Bullish on Android; Releases New SDK and App Framework
Further expanding its mobile offering, Kyte announced this morning both an SDK and an "App Framework" for the Android OS. The SDK eliminates a lot of the complexity for developers to do custom implementations of Kyte-powered video and interactivity for their Android apps. The "App Framework" provides
a template with pre-built modules (e.g. video playback, UGC video integration, commenting and chat, location-based events, Twitter and RSS readers) so new Android apps can be quickly built and released.
Kyte's COO Gannon Hall told me yesterday that both are comparable to the previously-released iPhone and BlackBerry SDK and Mobile App Frameworks. Examples of how the templatized iPhone App Framework have recently been used include UMG's Lady Gaga app and MTV's "Hope for Haiti" digital telethon app, which Gannon said was built in record time.
Gannon said the Android moves are further validation of Kyte's positioning as a "360 degree solution," helping companies easily deliver video to consumers everywhere they want. He sees continued fragmentation across operating systems, devices and formats as some of the tectonic "Apple/Google/Adobe/fill-in-the-blank" battles sort themselves out.
Gannon explained that even as Kyte has been expanding its social and set-top box functionality recently, it has seen the most growth in mobile. He's particularly bullish on Android, calling out last week's NPD research that Android was the #2 selling smartphone OS in Q1 '10, behind BlackBerry, but ahead of the iPhone. He also compared Android in certain ways to Windows, much like Will has as well, but added that because Android is open source, it allows developers to enhance and improve it - a big distinction from Windows. Note - the buzz around Android and video will grow much louder later today as Google and partners Intel and Sony announce their "SmartTV" initiative, built on the Android platform.
Regardless of the underlying technology, consumers just want video wherever they are. That's why, as these technologies segment and codecs continue to compete for dominance, OVPs that offer solutions to help content creators navigate through the myriad of technologies and cost-effectively deliver robust apps will have the competitive advantage.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Mobile Video, Technology
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Silverlight Team Offers 4 In-Depth Case Studies on 2010 Winter Olympics Online
A heads-up that the Silverlight team has just posted 4 great case studies detailing different aspects of their international media partners' experiences delivering the 2010 Winter Olympics online. The partners are CTV (Canada), NBC (US), NRK (Norway) and France Televisions (France). All were using Microsoft's Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming.
The case studies dig into 4 topics: online viewing times, effective ad monetization, broadcast reach and quality experience. I've only had an opportunity to skim each of the 4 case studies, but they are packed with in-depth information and details that I have not seen before. For those interested in learning more about how a high-profile live event like this was executed and some of the key performance metrics, this is super valuable info.
Categories: International, Sports, Technology
Topics: CTV, France Televisions, Microsoft, NBC, NRK, Olympics, Silverlight
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Brightcove, FreeWheel to Launch HTML5 Video Ad Solution
Building on the momentum around HTML5 and all things iPad-related, online video platform Brightcove and video ad management firm FreeWheel are announcing plans today to launch an HTML5 video ad solution this summer. The companies are already partners and share many mutual customers; the new solution means that customers using both platforms will be able to insert ads on HTML5 compatible devices like iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches when it is available. The move is a positive step for content providers who have rolled out iPad apps but not necessarily with monetization included.
Earlier this year Brightcove unveiled its "Brightcove Experience for HTML5" which auto-detects HTML5 devices, in turn delivering compatible content. Now with the FreeWheel piece, in-stream video ads will be delivered as well. No doubt, as Apple and other non-Flash devices continue to proliferate additional HTML5-focused platform/ad solutions will follow.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Advertising, Devices, Technology
Topics: Brightcove, FreeWheel, HTML5
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Adobe Launches Flash Access 2.0 and HTTP Dynamic Streaming, Partners with KickApps for OSMF Player Development
Adobe is taking the wraps off a new content protection solution today dubbed Flash Access 2.0, as well as introducing new HTTP dynamic streaming. In addition, Adobe and KickApps are partnering to introduce OSMF App Studio, which allows drag-and-drop Flash media experiences (OSMF is Adobe's Open Source Media Framework, a collection of components to improve video playback experiences).
As Ashley Still, Adobe's Group Product Manager for Flash Media Distribution explained to me last week, Flash Access 2.0 enables flexible business models for premium content. The move underscores the desire by content providers to move beyond purely ad-supported online video delivery to hybrid or solely paid approaches. Flash Access 2.0 succeeds Flash Media Rights Management Server. It also supports output protection, so that video viewed on multiple screens is also protected. Ashley noted that Flash Access 2.0 has been approved by the DECE, Hollywood's main security consortium.
With HTTP dynamic streaming, Adobe is stepping outside of Flash Media Server-only delivery to capitalize on CDNs' large existing networks of HTTP servers. It includes live and on-demand delivery including adaptive bit rate and network DVR playback. I asked what this means for FMS revenues, and Ashley maintained that the move may change the revenue mix from CDNs, but that any slack will likely be picked up by Flash Access 2.0; in addition, Adobe doesn't see things changing much for enterprises using FMS.
Last but not least, as KickApps' CEO Alex Blum told me last week, its new partnership with Adobe means that non-technical staff will now be able to create Flash media experiences without writing any code. The OSMF App Studio is a co-branded interface that give users the ability to drag and drop pre-integrated 3rd party functionality like analytics, ad networks, delivery while also customizing the look and feel of their players. I saw the full App Studio demo recently at NATPE and it was impressive. Adobe's decision to standardize exclusively on KickApps App Studio gives the company broad new distribution though Adobe.com and a solid partnership win. According to Alex, it is also the first productization of OSMF.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Technology
Topics: Adobe, Flash Access 2.0, KickApps, OSMF
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New Version of Sorenson 360 Launches to Target Enterprises
Sorenson Media is announcing this morning the next version of its Sorenson 360 online video platform, one year following the initial version's release. As Sorenson CEO Peter Csathy, told me last week, the company is going after enterprises, aiming to compete head-on with Brightcove and other online video platforms.
New in this version are a faster, more responsive interface, improved video management, unlimited data rates with RTMP, intelligent embedding that updates embed codes across 3rd party sites, more flexibility and customization of video players, and automated SEO tools, among others. No surprise given Sorenson's video encoding roots, the company also views 360 as more integrated with the video ingest process and is trying to build on its pre-existing customer relationships.
Sorenson is positioning the new version primarily for non-media enterprises such as education, government and certain verticals, while also targeting SMBs with a new $99/mo tier. With Sorenson's and other OVPs' advances, the OVP space is showing no signs of slowing innovation or competitiveness.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Technology
Topics: Sorenson Media
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ActiveVideo Lights Up 2 Dozen Interactive Channels for Cablevision
Cablevision, the 5th largest cable operator in the US and dominant provider in the NYC metro area, and ActiveVideo Networks, provider of "CloudTV" interactive solutions are announcing this morning that Cablevision is now delivering over 2 dozen interactive channels to its entire digital video subscriber base. The offerings include hyper-local sports and news, advertising showcases and "Quick View" mosaic navigational channels. Plans are to roll out additional channels.
For those not familiar with ActiveVideo Networks, its focus is enabling video service providers to bridge web-based content, including video, directly to the TV. ActiveVideo provides a content developer's kit (CDK) set of set of
standards-based tools (Javascript, XHTML/DHTML) so customers can develop web-based content and deliver it to a digital set-top box as an MPEG stream. The CDK allows much faster development cycles plus lots of flexibility. As the name implies, content is delivered from the cloud, with a thin client in the digital set-top box.
All of this is important because as convergence devices (e.g. game consoles, TiVo, Roku, Blu-ray devices, boxee, etc.) consumers' expectations are growing that they'll be able to get web content on their TVs. That's turning up the heat on service providers to make the TV experience more interactive and engaging. Whereas "TV Everywhere" initiatives are about bringing TV content online, convergence efforts are about bringing web content to the TV, complete with interactivity and constant updates. Games are another important application and just last week ActiveVideo acquired TAG Networks, a gaming platform that will allow service providers to deliver casual games through their set-top boxes.
I've seen various ActiveVideo implementations and they are remarkably web-like and responsive. The interface is similar to what you experience online. And using your remote control you're able to quickly navigate around. I expect that as the pressure mounts on incumbent service providers to deliver more web-like content to TVs, but with minimal client or network upgrades, the addition of CloudTV services will make more and more sense.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
(Note - ActiveVideo Networks is a VideoNuze sponsor)Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: ActiveVideo Networks, Cablevision
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Magnify.net Now Powering 70K Sites; Launches Partner Program
Magnify.net is announcing this morning that 70K publishing, e-commerce and community sites are now using the company's platform to power their video
"curation" initiatives. Magnify has been on the front end of this trend, allowing its clients to pull video from around the web and mix it up with their own original video. By doing so Magnify's customers are able to add relevant video to their sites in a cost effective way while serving their customers with a broader set of "curated" content.
Among Magnify's customers include New York Magazine, Rodale's Bicycling.com and Dennis Publishing's The Week. Added to the roster today is Penton Media's EngineeringTV.com which is augmenting videos with additional technical information, pricing and availability for products viewed. Magnify is also announcing this morning a partner network initiative including companies like Akamai, Synaptic Digital, Amazon S3 and others.Categories: Technology
Topics: Magnify.net
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