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Advertising, the Super Bowl and Ray Lewis' Greatest ...
Does anybody realize there's a football (American football, depending upon where you're reading) game being played in between advertisements this Sunday? Perhaps it's the bitter Patriots fan in me talking, but for many, the Super Bowl is more about the ads than the game itself. And why not? It's huge business. The New York Times reported that the average cost for a 30-second spot during this year's game is between
Live Video Streaming that Can Handle Traffic Spikes ...
This is the first installment in a series of posts that discuss various challenges of online video and how Akamai's Sola Media Solutions can be used to address those challenges.Live video streaming has become an increasingly important part of the web content universe, as a variety of businesses and organizations attempt to capture 'share of eyeball' and deliver richer, more HDTV-like experiences. From breaking news, to live sports, to video
CES 2013: What We're Watching
Every New Year brings with it scores of traditions, from resolutions, fireworks and champagne toasts to the Times Square ball, "Auld Lang Syne" and midnight smooches. Perhaps not quite as time honored or widely anticipated, this time of year also heralds prognostications of what the big stories and technologies coming out of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be. At Akamai, where so much of what we do touches
The Hyperconnected Holidays
Once again, we're full swing into the holidays and already beyond the biggest shopping days of the year. Like last year, we should ask ourselves what this means in terms of so many more connected devices coming online that were given as gifts during the holiday season. When these devices are removed from their packaging and connected, everyone involved in the ecosystem needs to be prepared to support the consumer.In
New Video Quality Study Examines Causes of Viewer Be ...
Online video viewers are willing to wait two seconds for a file to load before they start abandoning the content for something else. This is according to a new study of online video stream quality that analyzed an unprecedented 23 million views from 6.7 million unique viewers across the Akamai network.The study, "Video Stream Quality Impacts Viewer Behavior: Inferring Causality using Quasi-Experimental Designs," takes a scientific look at how changes
Akamai Rocks with Global Citizen Festival
While last month's Global Citizen Festival drew more than 60,000 people to the Great Lawn in New York City's Central Park, Akamai helped bring the live concert to a massive online audience around the world by delivering the video stream over our Sola Sphere media platform. The Festival was streamed live around the globe in HD quality by Premiere Festival Sponsor, Vividas. The event, which was organized by the Global
The Simplicity Mantra at IBC
Online video was clearly "top of mind" at this year's IBC, and it was fascinating to hear from a variety of companies across the broadcast spectrum and learn more about their video delivery, monitoring, and monetization needs.If I could put my finger on one major topic I heard over and over again at this year's IBC Conference, it's simplicity. Companies want simplicity across the board - whatever it takes to
The Sun Rises on Sola Media Solutions
Just in time for the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), Akamai earlier today introduced Sola Media Solutions. A comprehensive set of cloud based, integrated services, Sola Media is designed to meet the increasing audience demand for content that is available when and where viewers want it, on a wide variety of devices, and with the highest quality possible. Put simply, Sola Media is all about giving our customers an easy and
Part 2: Fat Client Game Streaming or Cloud Gaming
Last week, I touched on Cloud Gaming and one approach, Thin Client Game Streaming. Today, I'd like to delve into Fat Client Game Streaming. Fat Client Game Streaming is another popular method of game streaming that overcomes the challenges of reducing the time to play. Businesses like The Happy Cloud, Spoon, and BitRaider have been early implementers of this approach. This method takes an existing game and essentially creates a