Announcing the 2010 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards Finalists

Maybe it's something in the water. Maybe Streaming Media West's move from San Jose to Los Angeles has people more excited than usual about the event. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because 2010 saw more attention placed on online video than ever before.

But whatever the reason, the numbers in this year's Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards blew away all previous editions. More than 7,000 voters cast more than 58,000 votes, which means each one cast their vote in an average of 8 of our 22 categories. By comparison, last year's awards drew just over 2,000 voters and a just over 5,000 votes.

We'll be announcing the winners at a reception during Streaming Media West, sponsored by Internap, Digital Rapids, ViewCast, Wowza and AEG Digital Media. The presentation will also be webcast live by Sonic Foundry Mediasite.

But as a little bit of a teaser, here are the finalist-the top three vote-getters in each category, listed alphabetically. Congratulations to all the finalists, and thanks to everyone who voted.

Best Streaming Innovation
Akamai, HTTP Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
Long Tail Video, JW Player
Haivision, VF iControl

Best Online Video Company, Content
ABC
Netflix
Vimeo

Best Online Video Company, Technology
Adobe
Kaltura
Origin Digital

Encoding Software under $1000
Adobe Media Encoder CS5
Microsoft Expression Encoder 4
Sorenson Squeeze 6

Encoding Software over $1000
Digital Rapids Transcode Manager
Harmonic Rhozet Universal Media Transcoding Solutions
Telestream Episode Engine

Enterprise Video Platform
Accordent Technologies Enterprise Video Management Platform
Haivision Furnace
ViewCast VMp

Hardware Encoder (HD)
Digital Rapids StreamZHD
Haivision Makito
ViewCast Niagara 7500

Hardware Encoder (SD)
Digital Rapids StreamZ DRC-Stream
Inlet Technologies Spinnaker
Optibase MGW/5100/1100/1000

Global CDN
Akamai
Level 3 Communications
Limelight

Live Streaming Platform
Livestream
Justin.TV
Ustream

Mobile Video Platform
Encoding.com
Ooyala Backlot
Qik

Online Video Platform under $50 per month
Bits on the Run

Vimeo
YouTube

Online Video Platform, Premium
Brightcove
Kaltura
Ooyala

Over-the-Top Video Solution
Juniper Networks Media Flow Controller
Sezmi Personalized TV Service
Tvinci Media Hub

Portable Live Encoding Appliance
Digital Rapids TouchStream
NewTek TriCaster
Sonic Foundry Mediasite ML

Regional (North American) Delivery Network
Internap
PowerStream
Streaming Media Hosting

Reporting and Analytics Solution
Akamai Media Analytics
Ooyala Backlot
TubeMogul InPlay

Search and Indexing Platform
Digitalsmiths VideoSense 3.0
Gotuit Video Metadata Management System
Optibase FITIS

Server Hardware/Software
Adobe Flash Media Server3.5
Microsoft IIS7 Smooth Streaming
Wowza Media Server 2

Video Advertising Network
Brightroll
Tremor Media
YuMe

Video Advertising Management Platform
FreeWheel Monetization Rights Management
TubeMogul PlayTime
YuMe ACE

Webcasting/Presentation Solution
Accordent Technologies Capture Station
Sonic Foundry Mediasite
Telestream Wirecast