Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog : Silverlight

Microsoft announces new Smooth Streaming customers, plans to release IIS Media Services 3.0

grantkd — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:09:00 GMT

This morning, in advance of the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam on September 11 – 15, Microsoft made a series of announcements about Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming. Today’s announcements, which will be highlighted in the Microsoft booth at IBC, include:

· Plans to release Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services 3.0, enabling delivery of true HD, Live Smooth Streaming video to Silverlight-based media players.

· Plans for new and existing customers - including Canal+, France 24, NBCSports, Sat 1, ProSieben and TV 2 - to adopt Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming for various online broadcast purposes.

· An early preview of new media-specific features planned for Silverlight 4.

· The release of its IIS Smooth Streaming Transport Protocol and Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) specification under the Microsoft Community Promise, helping to ensure openness and industry interoperability.

Additionally, key partners including Level 3 Communications LLC, Two Four Digital, Envivio Inc. and iStreamPlanet Co., who have helped Microsoft deliver some of the world’s premier sporting and entertainment events such as Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the IAAF Athletics World Championships, will accompany Microsoft in their booth at IBC to demonstrate the capabilities of their IIS Smooth Streaming solutions.

To find out more about today’s announcements, please visit the Silverlight and Expression Virtual Pressroom to view the press release or visit http://www.iis.net/media to learn more about IIS Media Services and IIS Smooth Streaming.

Silverlight Team Blog

mdingle — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:37:00 GMT

The Silverlight team recently launched a blog: http://team.silverlight.net! With the release of Silverlight 3 beta and the Expression Web and Blend 3 previews in March at MIX ’09, this year is shaping up to be a busy one. The blog serves as a one-stop shop to help you stay up to date on Silverlight and Expression Studio-related news, big and small. It’s updated regularly by the Silverlight and Expression Studio teams who welcome comments, questions and feedback to keep up a dialogue with the community.

Stop by the Silverlight Blog regularly and subscribe via RSS feed to instantly receive updates!

For more information on Silverlight please visit the Silverlight Virtual Pressroom, and for more information on Expression Studio please visit the Expression Community Website.

Microsoft releases IIS Smooth Streaming, announces industry momentum at NAB

grantkd — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Today, at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas, NV, Microsoft took another step in furthering its vision to offer superior online media experiences to consumers around the world. This morning, Microsoft announced:

The release of Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS) Smooth Streaming for powering high quality, true HD (1080p) online media experiences, and demonstrated end-to-end delivery of live streams via Akamai's AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight.
Industry-leading media customers including HSN, NBCOlympics.com, RAI, TV 2 and CTV announced their plans to adopt IIS Smooth Streaming.
Broad industry support for IIS Smooth Streaming solutions from key Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), encoding product vendors, and Digital Rights Management (DRM) Application Service Providers.

IIS Smooth Streaming delivers dynamic HD video to viewers around the world with minimal buffering and fast start-up times, creating a nearly stutter-free online media experience. Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming have been used to power some of the most-watched online media events in recent months, including the 2008 Democratic National Convention and CBSSports.com’s presentation of the 2009 NCAA March Madness Men’s Basketball Tournament. Additionally, NBCOlympics.com showed their continued support of Silverlight at MIX’09 by announcing it will utilize IIS Smooth Streaming to broadcast live and on-demand HD coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

You can learn more about today’s news, by visiting Microsoft Silverlight Virtual Pressroom. You can also reference this white paper for more information on IIS Smooth Streaming.

Microsoft Web Technologies Unveiled at MIX09 Help Businesses Deliver Return on Experience

mdingle — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Today at MIX09, Microsoft announced a set of platform investments to help companies more efficiently and affordably engage with their customers through a rich, interactive presence on the Web. This includes the release of Silverlight 3 Beta, Expression Blend 3 Preview, and continued progress in the cloud with updates to the Azure Services Platform. The company also pointed to strong momentum in platform adoption and demonstrated solutions from key partners including Netflix, Bondi Digital Publishing, StackOverflow.com and KEXP.

For more information about today’s news, please visit the Virtual Press Room and Visitmix.com.

Microsoft Silverlight and Akamai Innovate To Bring HD Video Experiences Online

grantkd — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:02:00 GMT

Only two weeks after the release of Silverlight 2, Microsoft is working to up the ante once again for online streaming video. Today at Digital Hollywood in LA, Microsoft introduced a new service called Internet Information Services (IIS 7.0) Smooth Streaming. Smooth Streaming adapts online video streams to each user's changing connectivity speed, which cuts down start-up times and eliminates buffering, creating a more dynamic and enjoyable Web media experience.

In addition, Microsoft is furthering its commitment to bring the ultimate media experience to the Web by working with Akamai Technologies to provide Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight. Powered by Windows Server 2008 and Silverlight, and enabled by IIS 7.0 Smooth Streaming, Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming is a high-definition adaptive streaming content delivery service, allowing viewers to experience HD video on their PCs like never before.

To find out more about Silverlight and Akamai's announcement at Digital Hollywood, please visit the Microsoft Silverlight Virtual Pressroom to view the press release at: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/silverlight/default.mspx.

Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie Announces the Release of Silverlight 2

grantkd — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Just over one year ago Silverlight debuted to the world - today, one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight. Building on this fast-paced, historical success, Microsoft is releasing Silverlight 2, and the developments and innovations - as well as Silverlight adoption by companies like CBS College Sports, Blockbuster and more - are all further evidence that Silverlight is the industry’s choice for the creation and delivery of dynamic applications and interactive Web media.

What’s new? Silverlight 2 continues to exceed industry standards by re-affirming its commitment to openness and standards through supporting a new open-source Eclipse project. Created by France-based IT solutions provider Soyatec, the project is designed to integrate advanced Silverlight development capabilities into the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE), further increasing interoperability and allowing more choice and flexibility for delivering audio and video via the Web across different platforms and operating systems. Additionally, Silverlight 2 is chalk-full of great new features that will enable developers and designers to create even more stunning Web experiences for their customers.

To find out more about Silverlight 2, Eclipse open-source and Silverlight’s latest customers, please visit the Silverlight Virtual Press Room.

Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie Previews Silverlight News at IBC

grantkd — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:33:00 GMT

Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s successful collaboration with Move Networks to provide live, Silverlight-powered coverage of the Democratic National Committee Convention, neither company is showing signs of slowing down. Move Networks has already announced plans to build on the Microsoft media platform, and together, the two companies are hard at work on delivering the best user experience and delivery platform for media companies.

So what’s next for Microsoft Silverlight? Microsoft will be highlighting some of its latest Silverlight customer wins – including European customers France Television, iTV, L'EquipeTV, MSN UK, NRK, RTL, SBS, Setanta, and TF1 – this week at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) Conference in Amsterdam. The company will also be previewing H.264 support in Silverlight at the show, which means content owners will have even more choice and flexibility for delivering audio and video via the Web, broadcast and devices.

To find out more about the latest Silverlight customers and Microsoft’s plans at IBC, read a full Q&A with Microsoft Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie here.

Microsoft Unlocks the Power of the Web for Connected Customer Experiences

grantkd — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Today at MIX08, Microsoft’s Web designer and developer conference, Microsoft demonstrated the power of its platform to enable delivery of richer, more interactive customer experiences on the Web. Backed by major customers and partners including AOL LLC, Aston Martin, Cirque De Soleil, DoubleClick Inc., Hard Rock, Move Networks Inc. and NBCOlympics.com on MSN, Microsoft unveiled the next generation of its Web technologies with beta releases of Internet Explorer 8, Silverlight 2 and Expression Studio 2. Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division, and Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of the Internet Explorer team, shared the news during Wednesday’s keynote address.

Specifically Microsoft announced the following:

· Internet Explorer 8 beta 1: Microsoft unveiled for the first time Internet Explorer 8, showcasing Internet Explorer’s commitment to developers. Internet Explorer 8 offers an unprecedented level of interoperability and tools enabling developers to be more productive while delivering innovative experiences for end users on the Web. Internet Explorer 8 beta 1 for developers, released today, provides the most extensive support for Internet standards of any Microsoft browser and reduces the amount of time required to bring new experiences online.

· Silverlight 2 Beta: Silverlight 2 supports managed code, includes the core of the CLR and adds over two dozen user interface controls (such as button, check box, date controls, gridview and layout) that are designed to be used right out of the box, or to be tweaked with styles. If you need full control over the look and feel, the appearance of any control can be fully determined by templates and control behavior can be modified by hooking events, or ultimately by creating custom controls.

· Expression Studio 2 Beta: Expression Studio 2 works seamlessly with Visual Studio to enable better designer and developer collaboration. New features include PHP support in Expression Web, and support for Silverlight in Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Media Encoder and Expression Design.

· SQL Server Data Services (SSDS): Microsoft announced a preview of SSDS, a building block service designed for developers and businesses that need scalable, easily programmable and cost-effective data storage with robust database query capabilities. MIX08 attendees will be able to register for an invitation-only beta of Microsoft SSDS.

These latest updates are available for immediate download:

· Silverlight 2 Beta: http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

· Internet Explorer 8 Beta: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx

· Expression Studio 2 Beta: http://www.microsoft.com/expression/

For more information, please see the press release located at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/mix/default.mspx. Be sure to also check out http://www.visitmix.com/ for keynote videos, partner and customer videos and demos, and event color commentary.

Nokia to Bring Microsoft Silverlight Powered Experiences to Millions of Mobile Users

grantkd — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Nokia today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on Symbian OS, the world’s leading smartphone software, as well as for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices. It will also extend opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and reliable way.

Click here for the full press release: http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1197788

Miniclip Releases New Online Game Using Microsoft Silverlight

grantkd — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:15:00 GMT

Miniclip, the Internet’s largest online games website, with 43 million game players, released a new Miniclip online game using Microsoft Silverlight last week. Miniclip and Microsoft are working together to produce and distribute a new online game called ‘Zombomatic,' which will be the first large scale release of an online game using the Silverlight technology. Miniclip games are playable anywhere, anytime there’s an Internet connection. They can play cross-browser and cross-platform, making them a natural fit to take advantage of the cross-browser, cross-platform capabilities of Silverlight.

NBC Universal to use Microsoft Silverlight for online 2008 Summer Olympic coverage

grantkd — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:05:00 GMT

During his keynote at CES in Las Vegas on January 6^th, Bill Gates announced that NBC Universal has chosen to partner with Microsoft to make “NBCOlympics.com on MSN” the official online home of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. NBCOlympics.com on MSN will provide online users with exclusive access to an unprecedented offering of over 3,000 hours of live and on-demand video content built on Silverlight 2.0. The combination of the MSN audience reach and the Microsoft Silverlight technology will allow NBC to deliver Olympics content to a broad U.S internet audience - all through an immersive and interactive video experience that will redefine how sports fans consume content online. For more from Microsoft at the 2008 International CES and to watch the keynote, please visit www.microsoft.com/ces

The ecosystem around Microsoft Silverlight continues to grow!

Brittany M. — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:00:00 GMT

The NBA is rolling out a new Silverlight experience to provide fans with a richer online experience as they enter the 2007-2008 season. NBA.com will feature a full-screen NBA photo gallery, offer video highlights and deliver additional interactive applications throughout the site using Silverlight. By using Silverlight, the NBA will be able to better access its extensive digital video library, seamlessly integrate the video experience into the site, and provide fans with access to more online video features. Silverlight will also be utilized on www.WNBA.com and www.NBADevelopmentLeague.com.

To view the press release from this announcement, please click here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/dec07/12-10NBASilverlightPR.mspx

Microsoft Delivers Silverlight 1.0, Extends Support to Linux

grantkd — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:32:00 GMT

On September 4, Microsoft released to the Web (RTW) Silverlight™ 1.0, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering richer user experiences on the Web.

In addition, Microsoft will work with Novell Inc. to deliver Silverlight support for Linux, called Moonlight, and based on the project started on mono-project.com. Silverlight significantly reduces development and deployment costs and provides enhanced Web audio and video streaming and playback using industry-leading Windows Media® Technologies. Microsoft unveiled new Silverlight customer experiences on “Entertainment Tonight,” HSN and World Wrestling Entertainment, and also launched the Silverlight Partner Initiative, a program designed to foster collaboration among solution providers, content delivery networks, tools vendors and design agencies.

For more information, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/silverlight/default.mspx.