Did Adaptive Rate Streaming Get Enough Attention during the OTT Spotlight in 2010?

As the end of 2010 draws closer, we’d like to take a few minutes to examine some of the technologies and trends that have significantly impacted the market in 2010.

You’ll notice that OTT has been a common theme throughout our blog posts this year – we have tackled issues ranging from the likelihood of traditional TV operators embracing OTT video as a service to how service providers can capitalize on advanced OTT technologies to enable new streams of business to the growing support for HTTP Live Streaming.

In addition to helping operators maximize the effectiveness of their existing bandwidth, ARS also offers many advantages over previous video delivery techniques over the Internet. For instance, it naturally supports home firewall transparency, and a wide variety of use cases — it can deliver video across a combination of wired and wireless networks, through any combination of home broadband devices and firewall devices.

In our opinion, this is extremely important because the protocols that we’ve been using for IPTV, in particular, don’t have those properties, and as a result they don’t work very well around the home. In comparison with previous video techniques used on the Internet, such as progressive download, we see both improvements in operational cost savings for the service provider and in the quality of consumer experience.

And the improvements to the quality of the consumer experience are tremendous. This is so important because user experience is perhaps the most important determinant of success for businesses that rely on video delivery. People don’t expect their video material to stop and start and for the audio to drop; they expect a very seamless, continuous experience, and they are not very forgiving of delivery issues. ARS provides that seamless experience even when conditions deteriorate sharply or if sharing of bandwidth occurs.

In partnership with Harmonic, we worked with Ben Schwarz to author a primer talking about the impact of ARS. You will find a high-level technical description that leads to the technology trade-offs of the different flavors of ARS (from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe). It is written as a guide to help operators make sound selection parameters and consider business implications based on those decisions. You can download the primer at www.verimatrix.com/HLS

We think ARS is one of the year’s most significant enabling technologies, and we’re excited to see what’s in store for 2011. What ARS advancements do you think we will see in 2011?

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-- Content submitted by Vermatrix

thePlatform Unveils New Capabilities to Support Online Video Businesses

Media companies and content owners face an expanding challenge trying to publish their video assets across multiple devices with varying rights restrictions and advertising obligations. ThePlatform, the leading white-label video publishing company, launched a suite of new features to enhance its customers' ability to enforce video business policies, monetization models, and content restrictions using the company's mpx Beta video management system.

Specifically, mpx Beta now includes new tools for creating and managing curated video feeds, integrated support for applying advertising policies, and additional capabilities to enforce viewing restrictions for TV shows, live events, movies, clips, and more. In addition, the company published a new security white paper on best- practices, including methods of securing content between storage and the CDN (content delivery network), and in various playback scenarios.

Introduced by thePlatform earlier this year, mpx Beta offers features to make managing large content libraries easier; versatile tools to enable more business models across an ever-expanding number of websites, mobile devices, and set-top-boxes; and a continuing commitment to enterprise class performance. The new enhancements to mpx Beta features include: Curated Feeds Drive More Video Views, Advanced Restrictions, Integrated Advertising Policy Management, and New Media Security White Paper.

For more information, click here.

Roundbox Completes Acquisition of Jacked Technology

Roundbox, Inc., the global leader in mobile broadcast software, today announced the acquisition of Jacked, Inc.'s technology and intellectual property. Jacked, Inc., an innovator in real-time, broadcast-synchronized data services, developed pioneering platform and companion applications, which seamlessly deliver rich, real-time Web content contextually synchronized to and complementing live broadcast television. Jacked's patent-pending technology will be integrated into the Roundbox Mobile Broadcast Suite to enable its broadcast and device customers to deliver enhanced TV viewing experiences.

The Jacked product portfolio provides viewers with a customizable "second" screen experience providing real-time access to Web-based news, local information, sporting events, and other video links and images that are available elsewhere on the Internet but previously could not be pulled together in a single screen or coordinated with currently playing television. The Jacked platform has supported interactive experiences for over 9,000 NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA football and basketball games for leading broadcasters. Additionally, the Jacked product suite also includes search technology which supports all genres of live and on-demand content.

For the full press release, click here.