From Gigaom I see that Akamai Technologies’ servers will offer HTTP adaptive streaming to the Apple iPhone 3GS and iPod touch via the newest OS X mobile operating system version 3.0, says Akamai’s press release.
As I wrote several days ago, HTTP adaptive streaming adjusts and compensates for data rate fluctuations in streaming video — wireless or wired — to offer the best quality based on the data speed. It’s not a new technology, but it’s available now in the iPhone 3GS and will be available when the Apple’s new operating system version, Snow Leopard, is released later this year.
Akamai has established a demonstration Web site to showcase the technology (see below). Content companies providing videos for the site include the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Discovery, Fox News, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, MTV, NPR, Turner Sports and USA Today, Akamai says.
Inlet Technologies’ software is encoding the live and video on demand highlights on that “iPhone 3.0 Video Showcase” site.
Business implications
As I noted in my previous blog posting, HTTP adaptive streaming runs in the Safari browser, without requiring a specific application. That means content companies can offer video streaming without an app downloaded from iTunes and, possibly, without either Apple’s or AT&T’s approval.
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