There are three ways of getting audio and video files (which are usually very large) to the end user:

1. Download - Download the entire file over the Internet, save it to the user’s machine, and then play it from the hard disk. Requires users to sit through a download that can take quite a bit of time for average broadband home connections. I’ve seen many people get impatient for “blind” downloaded media content and abandon the download altogether. Downloading digital media is not a good experience for the audience.  Read more... (260 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Telestream announced an agreement by which Microsoft will now distribute Windows Media® Components for QuickTime. Powered by Telestream’s Flip4Mac technology, the Windows Media components enable Mac OS X users to play Windows Media video and audio directly within the familiar QuickTime Player. The components are now available as a free-of-charge download from Microsoft’s website at:

Download Windows Media Player for Mac (Flip4Mac)

The new product allows Quicktime Player to play Windows Media. From the Microsoft website:

With Windows Media® Components for QuickTime, by Flip4Mac™, you can play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in QuickTime Player and view Windows Media content on the Internet using a Web browser.

Supported Audio Codecs:

Q: Was is rebuffering?
A: Given the complexity of the Internet, it’s not unusual for short-lived problems to crop on somewhere in the system. Try connecting again in a minute or two. If your problem mysteriously disappears and never returns, great. If it recurs, especially if you can reproduce it consistently, it’s worth hunting down and solving.

Q: Is your internet connection sufficient?
A: If you’re trying to connect to the uncompressed stream, you’ll need a pretty fast connection (DSL, cable modem, dual ISDN, full T-1, LAN, etc) and even then the stream quality will depend on how busy the network is. If you have a modem, sorry, you’re not well-connected enough to hear the uncompressed stream; give the others a try. If you have a slow modem (14.4 or older), you may very well have trouble getting those too.  Read more... (1400 words, estimated 5:36 mins reading time)

In 2006 there was a marked upswing in the use of video podcasting as a method of distributing multimedia content including audio and video . Video podcasting have been used by a cross-section of traditional and non-traditional media, from major TV networks, cable, and public television stations to software companies, movie studios, and intriguing upstarts like AskaANinja.com, Happy Tree Friends, and Channel Frederator.

Podcasting allows anyone to distribute free or paid media to the content hungry masses. With a few simple technology tools and a PC or Mac, you too can create a video podcast in 3 easy steps.

Tom Keller had a problem. His Bluegrass on Broad Street program had just reached a milestone, streaming the last night of a summer music series on the Web with both audio and video, and the audience response—both physical and virtual—had been better than expected.

But his plans to expand beyond the local area and its crowds of thousands to introduce his hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee—and his hot dog shop where the whole series started—came to an abrupt halt when faced with the minimum costs presented by the streaming service providers contacted in the wake of his initial success.

The demand for streaming media players such as Windows Media and Quicktime has long represented the front lines for companies engaged in the codec wars. Since the results of most side-by-side video and media comparisons are subjective and qualitative at best, Microsoft, Apple, Real, Macromedia, and DivX have touted how many times their respective media players have been downloaded to convince content providers that using their codecs will offer the biggest potential streaming media audience. On the surface, this logic makes sense, but the reality is much more complicated than what you might expect.

Crucial to this discussion is that the format makes no difference if you don’t know who your audience is, what they want to see, how they want to see it, and how your business model works for delivering those things to viewers. Knowing your customer is the most important aspect of any business, especially when you are delivering content via streaming or downloading. If you don’t know your audience, you have bigger problems to worry about than which format(s) to choose.

With that in mind, let’s look at some differences between Flash and Windows Media and the strengths and weaknesses of each format. For starters, it’s impossible to compare one format to another unless you are comparing them in specific verticals. Adoption rates and usage vary greatly among the enterprise, media/entertainment, broadcast, education, and government markets, as well as among geographic regions.  Read more... (1584 words, estimated 6:20 mins reading time)