CDN

YouTube API enables free web hosting for all

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:40 -0400

YouTube has launched a powerful API that enables publishers to broadcast video content using their own skin and specifications direct from their own web sites--free. The co-branded API is being pitched at businesses, but also threatens the many video providers that service the custom-player market.

The no-cost service enables publishers and enterprises to effectively outsource the pain of video delivery to Google's robust video delivery infrastructure and will be a boon to firms seeking to deploy video for training and in-house comms. Externally it offers enterprises a branded player with a powerful set of recommendation and other features and potentially enormous distribution to promote and inform.

The offer of what is, in practice, free video hosting is possibly very disruptive to other professional video-hosting platforms such as Move, Brightcove and Yahoo's Maven Networks. While Google says it is not a white label exercise, in reality the co-branded API takes away both the complexity and cost of video delivery.

The API represents a major evolution for the user-generated site. It moves YouTube from a (hugely popular) destination platform to being a highly advanced video publishing infrastructure available to business and publishers alike.

New features in the API include the ability to add and edit user and video metadata as well as localized feeds for the 18 international markets YouTube supports.The new API comes as YouTube is testing HD delivery and as it promises to provide a real-time player later this year. To see the H.264 encoded clip in action compare these low- and high-quality versions of Tillman the skateboarding dog!

For more:
- YouTube Everywhere Blog
- YouTube pitches for business Article

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YouTube tests HD Article
YouTube extends to mobile Article
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New video delivery partnership

Tom Burton — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:59:10 -0400

Fresh from a $55 million VC injection, Highwinds is teaming up with Digital Rapids and Knack Networks to promote a turnkey video delivery system for media companies looking for a complete solution. The turnkey offering follows an announcement last week from Akimbo it would be offering a white label solution also to media companies looking to outsource their webcasting technology. Both deals are assuming media companies are now ready to put their video content online.

The partnership will use Highwinds' content delivery network infrastructure; Digital Rapids' media capture, encoding, transcoding, protection, streaming and delivery hardware and software; and Knack Networks' universal interface platform which enables companies to source, store, protect, monetize, manage and distribute IPTV programming across an array of channels.

Highwind recently closed a $55 million round of equity financing led by General Catalyst Partners and Alta Communications. The financing will fund the infrastructure build-out of Highwinds' RollingThunder network, including a content delivery network offering which the company said it would unveiling at this weeks IPTV World Forum.

For more:
- Highwind partners with Digital Rapids and Knack Release

Related articles:
Akimbo offers white label solution Article
Cisco and AT&T invest in Akimbo Article

Limelight awaits sentence

Tom Burton — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:40 -0500

The vultures are circling CDN player Limelight after its $45 million patent loss. These include the plaintiff itself, Akamai, according to suggestions on a number of Internet news sites over the last few days. Limelight lost its patent battle with Akamai Friday and while Limelight says it will appeal, its share price has tanked dropping 15 percent to around $4.30, a far cry from its IPO glory when shares peaked above $24 only last June.

Silicon Alley Insider is carrying a story it claims is doing the CDN rounds that Akamai made two bids for Limelight during the actual jury trial. Other players being talked up include Microsoft and telcos AT&T and Level 3. Industry guru Dan Rayburn has written a whole article speculating why Level 3 is a good fit. Pity about all that debt at a time where credit is a very dirty word.

Akamai, of course, has form having bought Speedera during a similar patent battle in 2005. A Limelight-Akamai combo however would almost certainly raise competition issues in Washington with many media operators definitely not keen to have Akamai the all-powerful player in the video-delivery space.

Also under conjecture is the technical impact of the patent decision. Akamai at its broadest is asserting its 703 patent covers any publisher that has any embedded content that is not delivered under the control of the content producer. This could include non-video content and extend to ad-networks and even web-hosting companies. On the other hand, the decision is very much focused on cached content delivered to a browser, which leaves out downloads, streaming and direct-to-a-device delivery. The ambit of the decision is sure to be part of the appeal and one Limelight licensee, Microsoft, is certain to be a key observer at the court.

For more:
Akamai wins patent dispute Article
Limelight shares plunge Article

Related articles:
Make or break for Limelight Article
AT&T late last year began talking about CDN deployments

Limelight wins early patent battle

Tom Burton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

Akamai's long-awaited patent case against Limelight Networks got underway yesterday in what could be a make or break litigation for Limelight. Limelight last week had a first-round win when the Massachusetts district court hearing the matter rejected two out of three of the patent claims. This saw Limelight's stock price jump, only to be buffeted by a downgrade from Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert. Egbert noted the court agreed to hear submissions on a final patent--the same patent Akamai had successfully stopped Cable and Wireless from using. This is Akamai's first and most successful patent and was obtained from MIT under an exclusive license.

The battle between the CDN market leader Akamai and the aggressive new player on the block, Limelight, is being keenly watched by the online video industry with many wanting Limelight to succeed so as to ensure competitive pricing. The case finally began yesterday after nearly two years of legal preparations. Limelight is also facing a patent action from Level 3.

Predictions of a price war this year have not yet materialized as demand for video content delivery continues to surge. Much of this demand is coming from traditional media companies finally making content available online. Limelight over the weekend announced Doug Lindroth had joined the board. Lindroth is a former CFO of software company, BakBone Software.

In recent weeks, there have been market rumors of a Microsoft purchase of Limelight, but analysts believe a buyout is unlikely until the patent action is resolved. Limelight floated mid-last year and reached a high of $24.33 before collapsing to around $7.

For More:
- Limelight appoints Doug Lindroth to Board Release
- Limelight wins early patent skirmish Release

Related articles:
Limelight expects results to be at high end Report
Akamai reveals its P2P solution Report