Akamai Launches HD Network

Akamai Technologies, a company that powers video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced the Akamai HD Network.

Akamai stated that its HD Network is a next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale.

Akamai said that its HD Network is the only solution that supports live and on-demand HD streaming with a highly-personalized and interactive online experience that matches and complements HD television.

The Akamai HD Network is designed as one comprehensive HD network reaching multiple playback environments and devices, including Flash, Silverlight, and the iPhone. Leveraging the global breadth and scale of Akamai's globally-distributed EdgePlatform of more than 50,000 servers, the Akamai HD Network enables content providers to deliver more HD content than previously possible - due to its wide-scale distribution in 70 countries and increased throughputs in more than 900 networks.

The Akamai HD Network is a streaming platform that the company said leverages the following functionalities:

- Adaptive Bitrate Streaming - Network and player streaming process that is designed to enable uninterrupted playback at HD bitrates that seamlessly adjusts to fluctuations in available bandwidth to provide the best quality possible for each user

- Instant Response - Immediate response to viewer interactions with the video player, including sub-second time-shifting (such as pause, rewind, seek and play commands) video startup times, and seamless stream switching

- HD Video Player - Open, standards-based video player for faster time to market

- HD Player Authentication - Authenticates player for all three environments ensuring only authorized players access content

"Seeing is believing," said Paul Sagan, President and CEO, Akamai. "With the Akamai HD Network, we are revolutionizing the way content traverses the Internet with a new approach to bringing an HDTV-like experience online. We're entering a different online world, where many content owners and publishers need to deliver HD-quality video to a much wider online audience, with a higher level of interactivity for consumers. Delivering 'web-quality' content to 'web-sized' audiences is one thing, but delivering HD-quality content to broadcast-scale audiences is another."

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