'Net Features : content delivery

DIRECT Delivery from Digital Content Platform

Michael Garrity — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:30:00 GMT

Content delivery solution developer Solid State Networks has made available its DIRECT 3 digital delivery application platform.

DIRECT 3 is a technology designed for app developers, content publishers and e-commerce providers to deliver digital products and services online. It was created with rapid development top-of-mind, and features a native client to incorporate the necessary functionality for most delivery applications. It also offers support for extensive customization using standard Web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

The platform supports various use cases for digital distribution to both consumers and enterprise users, and it has already been employed by some major names in digital content. Video game development company BioWare is already using DIRECT 3 for game deliver and updates, while Adobe has used the platform to deliver its Flash Player and Reader software programs. Other notable users include Hasbro and DigitalRiver.

DIRECT 3 includes native clients for Windows and Mac operating systems, publishing workflow tools and a reporting system. Additional capabilities required by digital delivery applications include versioning, differencing, updating, advanced proxy support, real-time delivery logistics, dynamic payload assembly and secure integration with a publisher’s back-end system or third-party service.

New services for DIRECT 3, as well as support for other operating systems, will be announced later this year.

Sell Content on Scribd

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:02:00 GMT

Social publishing and document sharing site Scribd is now testing an e-book store.

The company will be providing an 80-20% revenue split (favoring the publisher unlike Amazon's revenue model which takes 70%) and there are no monthly membership fees. Content publishers are able to make changes in real-time and receive sales data immediately. There are some built-in marketing tools, enabling publishers to share previews of items for sale. The Scribd store also ensure mobile-platform distribution, as the system will make sure content is available for mobile devices and e-reader devices like the Kindle.

Perhaps the most interesting feature is the ability for publishers to opt to sell rights-managed documents. Publishers will be able to set their preferenes to allow those purchasing content to download the PDF, view on Scribd, download the PDF with DRM or download an ePub with DRM. After setting the preference, Scribd will also help ensure that there will be no unauthorized downloading of documents from the Scribd site through its Copyright Management System (CMS).

Additionally, Scribd is also preparing to launch an iPhone application for the Scribd store that is very much like the Kindle for iPhone app.

Content Delivery Network & CDN Providers in Focus

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:35:00 GMT

If you're not satisfied with the performance of your website (or how much you're paying for data transfer) perhaps it's time to look into content delivery networks.

Do you really need a content delivery network?
A CDN, or content delivery network, is a system of computers networked together across the Internet that cooperate to deliver content to end users, most often for the purpose of improving performance, scalability and cost efficiency. There's never a need to buy extra servers, for example.

There are many high quality content delivery networks available. Some noteworthy vendors (outside of Amazon Web Services) include Abacast, Akamai, CDNetworks, Cotendo, Edgecast, Highwinds, Mirror Image, Peer 1, VeloCix, Voxel, and Vusion.

Another content delivery network is TinyCDN, launched today. By the looks of it, this could be a CDN to consider if you're in the market. The software as a service (SaaS) leverages Amazon Web Services to make the benefits of content delivery more economical. TinyCDN seems to want to bring the benefits of CDNs to a larger group, and they may have done it. With a starter package of $9.95 (and a free trial) for 500 megabytes of storage and 10 gigabytes of transfer, it will surely gain some traction with small and medium size website owners.

"Data is not so different from people in that it has multiple ways to traverse the world. It can crawl slowly through crowded phone lines, bounce its way around the world through hundreds of servers, or it can hop onto a Content Distribution Network and reach its destination in no time at all," said John Curtis, CEO of TinyCDN. "But CDNs can be complicated, expensive and hard to use. We created TinyCDN to alleviate these challenges and bring the benefits of using a CDN to everyday users of the Internet."