PictureTel to Spinoff Its Streaming Media Division, StarLight

PictureTel Corporation:(Directory Listing)

At an industry conference in Washington D.C., PictureTel (http://www.picturetel.com) said it was in the process of spinning off its StarLight division into its own company.

Videoconferencing company PictureTel acquired StarLight, makers of MPEG streaming systems for enterprise customers, in July 1998. Since then it has used its technology to create a new streaming media product called eVideo, which manages and controls streaming media systems.

Now, PictureTel is letting it go, most likely to leverage its streaming media products into one group.

StarLight will keep its own streaming MPEG system, StarCast/StarLive, as well as the eVideo system. The new StarLight will also include a yet-to-be released product that will integrate streaming, videoconferencing and voice over IP (among other things) in one offering for ISPs and other video providers.

eVideo helps developers manage their streaming media networks and works with both Real and Microsoft servers as well as its own MPEG system.eVideo's main application is a distribution mechanism for recording videoconferencing sessions and for hosting live presentations.

Details of the spin-off, including when it would be completed, were not known at press time.