Streaming Video Server for Palm Released by Firepad

Firepad (www.firepad.com) announced that it has released FireProducer, a streaming video server for the PalmOS. Firepad states that it has constructed a complete solution for streaming to the PalmOS with the combination of Fire Viewer, its integrated minibrowser, document viewer and media player for Palm handhelds, and FireProducer.

Depending on a Palm user's Internet connection speed, Firepad's software can display color video at up to 25 frames per second. For users within the United States, though, the highest connection speed available for Palm devices is 19.6 Kbps delivered over CDPD networks from service providers such as Go America and Omnisky. These companies also sell the modem cards necessary to connect.

According to Firepad, FireProducer is able to stream live video or existing video files over any type of TCP/IP network connection, analog or digital, wireless or wired. FireProducer is available for desktops and as an enterprise grade server system.

Vingage Corp. has previously announced a partnership with Firepad to integrate FireProducer into its transencoding Vingage Video Server. EncodeThis! and Loudeye have partnered with Firepad to provide video encoding services for the proprietary FireViewer format.

Firepad states that its software can run on today's Palm and Handspring handhelds without requiring hardware accelerations or plug-in modules. Due to Palm's goal of providing the lightest weight organizational devices, many PalmOS devices are sold without enhanced audio speakers, however, a plug-in module such as the HandSpring Springboard is required to provide a headphone jack.

Firepad was cited in a November 2000 report by premier technology research firm WIT Soundview, as the company to have written applications that help "neutralize the multimedia gap between Palm and Pocket PC.''