Akamai Simplifies iOS Streaming
Akamai is making it easier to stream video the iPhone, thanks to new capabilities that let content owners use their existing H.264 and MPEG4 files to serve iOS devices adaptive HTTP streams, saving them a second encoding step.
Prior to this, customers needed to output their H.264 and MPEG4 content twice, creating a second file in the MPEG TS format for playback on iOS devices. But thanks to changes at Akamai, customer only need to encode once. Akamai can take the H.264 and MPEG4 files and put a wrapper around them that lets them play on iOS devices. The underlying video isn't touched. This saves customers not only from the second encode, but from having to store and manage those extra files.
Akamai is also giving customers two frameworks which they can use to create players for iOS devices, one for browser-based video and one for apps. Akamai's developers have pre-built the core components so that customers can skin them to create a branded, customized player.
"Our focus is to ensure each viewer gets the highest quality experience possible leveraging the Akamai HD Network, while making it easier for customers to reach these growing platforms with more of their content. We accomplish this through Akamai's 'in the network' packaging. In a nutshell, companies provide Akamai with standard H.264 and MPEG4 video on demand content, and we deliver it to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It's that simple," says Rich Kennelly, vice president of media at Akamai.
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