What is next and now in terms of streaming video? The Adobe Media Player looked really neat when it arrived, playing up CSI episodes full screen even over here in Norway. But now it seems to be a bit quiet on that side of the aisle.
Several companies are working on changing the underlying logic, much like bittorrent did for distirbution of files. Here are some notes and thoughts on tow of them - BitGravity and Move Networks.
Bitgravity caught my notice due to a nifty "multiview" experiment one of their people put up, and I think it was CC who tweeted it.
They got a bit of funding back in august (2.5m)- and uses a flash interface making them at home on most computers;
"challenged conventional methods for delivering content" - "automatically detects end-user bandwidth quality ... adjusts the stream’s bitrate to optimize it for the user" - sure sounds nice and comfortable.
Move on the other hand got their hands on quite a bit of funding this spring (46m), they have a solid roster og clients ( ABC, FOX, ESPN, the CW, and Discovery.) - but have been based around a dedicated player.
However, there was talk of the solution becoming a part of Silverlight (v2 most likely?) - and MS also put up some cash. But little readily available info on what has happened since march. A good sign that they are doing a solid job, or another case of times moving on?
With MS partnering with Akamai; "Smooth Streaming (SmoothHD.com) from our partner Akamai. Smooth Streaming will be available in a public beta in Q1 2009. " - and that ties into the Open Player initiative.
...and the sun, oh the sun...
