Vidize Blog » microsoft

Next-gen Flash to support H.264 Video

admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:30:09 +0000

Stefan Richter at Flashcomgurus and a host of other Flash enthusiasts are excited by Adobe’s announcement that the next generation of Flash will support H.264 Video. This bit from Stefan:

The bottom line: a huge step forward for web video. The Flash Player will incorporate what is arguably the most versatile and most widely adopted video codec around (it’s used for much more than just web video), and it’s an open standard at that with a huge eco system of encoders and tools to boot. Let it sink in and expect some big waves from this. You will be able to test this out via progressive download (I know I will) once Flash Player Beta Update 3 hits the streets later today on labs. Both Flash Media Server and Flash Media Encoder will support the codec in upcoming versions.

I think Adobe’s moving in the right direction at least in part because of the competitive pressure from Microsoft’s Silverlight.

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, H.264, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video

Adobe, flash, FMS, H.264, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video

Flash Player Update 3

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:35:54 +0000

I’ve recently subscribed to Fabio’s blog and I’m not disappointed. Fabio’s keeping me up-to-date on all things Flash.

It looks like the Flash player just got a boost in the video deparment. Here’s the feature list (from Fabio):

Multi-threaded video decoding. The VP6 video decoding will now be performed in a separate thread if a multi-core system is detected while the main thread does rendering and post processing of the video. 1080p video decoding is now possible on dual core machines.
Full screen video decoding will leverage hardware scaling. Wonderful! why to scale a 640×480 video to 1280×1024 using the main processor when all the computer video cards today have video scaling technology? I think this is really a must for the definitive consacration of Flash Video Technology. I’ll post as soon as possible a test of this feature.
VBL in fullscreen. The player is now capable to syncronize the rendering in fullscreen to the “vertical blank” for a smooth playback of flash movies.
Automatic Mipmap for scaled videos and picture. Optimal for video thumbs
Faster Vp6 entropy decoding and improved deblocking filter.

I think some competitive pressure from Microsoft’s Silverlight is more then welcome!

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Adobe Media Player

admin — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:18:53 +0000

Just as Microsoft launches Silverlight in an attempt to compete with Adobe’s Flash, Adobe strikes back.

Adobe will be launching a desktop media player, which is called unsurprisingly, Adobe Media Player. The player will be able to play FLVs (flash video format) as well as a number of other video formats.

The player has been built on Adobe’s Apollo framework which will be available approximately at the same time as the player, i.e. in late 2007.

A lot of observers have been saying that Microsoft faces an uphill battle for marketshare with its Silverlight. I bet the hill is twice as steep when it comes to Adobe getting a foothold when it comes to desktop players.

Tags: Adobe, flash, media player, microsoft, silverlight, video

Adobe, flash, media player, microsoft, silverlight, video

Microsoft launches Silverlight

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:30:13 +0000

In an attempt to dislodge Adobe’s Flash from its dominant position, Microsoft has launched Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform plugin.

Adobe claims Flash has a 97% penetration, with the latest version (v.9) climbing to 80%+.

This from the horse’s mouth:

Based on the Microsoft .NET Framework, Silverlight enables developers and designers to use existing skills and tools: for designers, Microsoft Expression Studio, and for developers, Visual Studio.

Silverlight uses Windows Media Video (WMV) and Microsoft’s implementation of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) VC-1 video standard to deliver video files can that scale from mobile devices to full-screen high-definition displays.

Now, I’ve never seen ANYONE using Microsoft’s Expression studio for design. In addition, only a few sites are using exclusively WMV streaming despite the fact that the server is free as opposed to Flash Media Server. All in all, it’ll be a steep climb for Microsoft.

Tags: Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Adobe, flash, FMS, microsoft, silverlight, streaming, video, WMV

Youtube: Gates vs Jobs

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:02:04 +0000

Steve Jobs has been gaining popularity, mainly because arch-villain Gates is in some rough waters ever since Vista was released.

Youtube desciption: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs square off in the clean white virtual world of the iconic Mac ads.

Maybe this could become a fully-fledged show like MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch. I think next time they could get Marissa Mayer meet … Steve Ballmer. It will be all about DEVELOPERS!

Tags: apple, Bill Gates, community, media, microsoft, Steve Jobs, video

apple, Bill Gates, community, media, microsoft, Steve Jobs, video

Steve Ballmer’s Developers video

admin — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:03:13 +0000

I’ve been getting links to that video from all kinds of Linux fans. At first, I chose to ignore it, being the agnostic person that I am. But it’s too much fun and I’m already addicted to the song. If you can call it that.

Without further ado… Ladies and gentlemen, I present Steve Ballmer’s smash-hit: Developers, developers, developers!

If the video was recorded today, I would’ve thought Steve Ballmer went crazy because Bill Gates is leaving.

Tags: community, developers, media, microsoft, remix, Steve Ballmer, video

community, developers, media, microsoft, remix, Steve Ballmer, video