Smooth Streaming to XBox and Beyond
Last month, Microsoft announced the new TV platform for XBox and a long list of content providers that will be bringing their TV and premium content onto XBox. For more detailed information, please check the press release here and here.
As someone from the IIS Media Services team where Smooth Streaming technology was born, I’m proud to announce that the majority of Xbox Live content providers are using Smooth Streaming as their video streaming technology. Also all content partners who are delivering protected premium Smooth Streaming video are using PlayReady DRM for their content protection. Our team not only provided Smooth Streaming server platform (IIS Media Services) but also delivered Smooth Streaming Client SDK to our partners to build their XBox applications upon. Combining the power of XBox platform with the wealth of TV and premium content is going to be a huge win for both consumers and content providers.
After a few years of evolution, Smooth Streaming now goes far beyond the initial scope of Silverlight online streaming. Today you can use Smooth Streaming to reach a variety of different kinds of clients/devices including browsers with Silverlight, XBox, Windows Phone, Apple iOS devices (iPhone/iPad), Windows 8 (in developer preview as of now) and TVs/STBs(Set-top Boxes). For example, Comcast’s popular Xfinity TV app for iPad/iPhone has been running on top of the Smooth Streaming iOS SDK and delivers TV content using Smooth Streaming technology (link). We also provide Smooth Streaming Client Porting Kit which can be used to easily integrate Smooth Streaming functionalities into many kinds of devices including TVs and STBs.
Smooth Streaming is right at the center of this new wave of revolution for TV and premium video delivery. The journey has just begun.