'Net Features : encoding.com

Video Encoding Solution for Roku Developers

Linc Wonham — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:00:00 GMT

One of the Web's largest video encoding services has announced that it is making it significantly easier for developers to create video channels for the leading streaming platform Roku.

Because Roku is an open platform, anyone can create a content channel for the Roku Channel Store. Using the Roku SDK, developers can create anything from a basic free VOD channel to a full-subscription movie service. Now, the process for creating a video channel is even easier with five pre-tested presets provided by Encoding.com to output Roku-compatible video: an HTTP live streaming (adaptive bitrate), and four MP4 outputs in HD and SD formats at: 800, 1200, 1800 or 2700 kbps.

All five Roku presets adhere to Roku’s specific encoding guidelines. Preparing videos for Roku is streamlined by using one of the five Roku presets on Encoding.com. Developers simply choose a preset and set a destination location for output files. Output files can be sent to any location.

“Encoding.com’s pre-tested presets provide Roku developers with unmatched speed and scalability,” says Jim Funk, vice president of business development at Roku. “And, with Encoding.com’s cloud-based video transcoding service, it’s now easier than ever to create a video channel for the Roku Channel Store.”

Roku now features more than 300 entertainment channels including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Pandora and Angry Birds. Recently launched channels include Disney.com, AOL HD and FoxNews.com.

Encoding.com Makes New Announcements

Allison Howen — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 02:00:00 GMT

Encoding.com, a video encoding service provider, has recently announced the launch of Vid.ly Pro, the commercial version of Vid.ly.com as well as a partnership with Wowza Media systems, a media server software company.

Vid.ly Pro

This new solution provides content publishers with a powerful and simple platform for serving video to every user on any browser or mobile device.

"I know how challenging it is today for video content developers to deliver cross-platform video," says Christian Heilmann, HTML5 evangelist for Mozilla. "Vid.ly is an elegant solution to this problem and makes it easy for any business to publish videos."

Publishers simply upload source videos, which Vid.ly converts into a variety of formats and bitrates appropriate for all popular desktops and mobile devices. Then Vid.ly gives a short URL and embed code for easy publishing. When visitors click on the URL, Vid.ly delivers the appropriate format based on the visitor’s browser or device.

Some of the professional features that Vid.ly Pro includes are custom output formats with adjustable bitrates, Adaptive bitrate streaming for Apple iOS devices and unlimited source video file size.

Pricing for Vid.ly is based on the number of videos, storage and streaming that is used, but a free trial is also available.

Wowza Media Systems

The partnership between Wowza and Encoding.com provides Wowza customers with custom Encoding.com presets that simplify the preparation and transcoding of videos into the best formats for adjustable bitrate delivery by the Wowza Media Server.

"Wowza has done an amazing job simplifying the very complex process of streaming video to the plethora of devices and platforms,” says Jeff Malkin, President of Encoding.com. “This partnership expands that notion by leveraging Encoding.com’s custom Wowza transcoding presets, so Wowza customers can remove yet another complicated component in their video workflow.”

Wowza Media Server supports live and VOD adaptive bitrate streaming, however by utilizing Encoding.com’s cloud-based encoding solution, Wowza customers can take advantage of new presets to produce other common adaptive bitrate files from a variety of source file formats.

Free Video Encoding for Developers

Linc Wonham — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

As part of the launch of its new website, video encoding service Encoding.com is also significantly expanding its Developer Program.

Developers in the video encoding sector now have access to a free, unlimited monthly encoding plan that includes 1GB of video processing, greatly improved API documentation and a refreshed and revamped Knowledge Base, including solutions to the most common errors and tips to generate the highest quality output. Encoding.com’s new plan provides 1GB of encoding bandwidth each month. The free plan gives developers an ongoing, no-cost test environment to build video applications using the Encoding.com API.

Encoding.com’s refreshed website not only includes better organized API documentation, but also provides the XML code for the most common workflow tasks so developers can seamlessly integrate cloud-based transcoding services directly into their applications. In addition to the much-improved Knowledge Base, which now includes best practices from Encoding.com’s experts, Encoding.com now employs dedicated technical support resources specific to helping developers create the most efficient code.

Developers can visit the new site, learn more about the program or go right to the sign-up page.

First Universal Video URL Service Launched in Private Beta

Linc Wonham — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:36:00 GMT

The world’s largest video encoding service provider has announced a private beta launch of the first Universal Video URL service, called Vid.ly. The free beta program from Encoding.com includes encoding, storage and delivery, and is now available to the first 1,000 qualified users.

Vid.ly strives to simplify the preparation and delivery of video to all mobile devices and browsers, thus solving the biggest challenge facing publishers of online video. Users only need to publish a short URL provided by Vid.ly for each source video and the service will deliver the optimized video.

The growing number of devices and a lack of standardization across platforms is complicating the video ecosystem for content publishers. With Vid.ly, all videos are pre-transcoded to all popular Web and mobile formats so that when an end-user requests a video, Vid.ly detects the device and serves the correct and optimized video.

Publishers can embed the HTML5 code provided by Vid.ly directly into their Web pages or Flash players, or can share the provided short URL via SMS, Facebook, Twitter or other social media outlets. Visit the Vid.ly website to view a 90-second video that showcases the video content producer’s problem and the new solution from Encoding.com.