Vivo Software, Inc. today announced immediate availability of VivoActive 1.0, the first serverless, on-demand streaming media (video and audio) solution for the World Wide Web that enables low-bandwidth video transmission over dial-up modems. VivoActive 1.0 is comprised of the VivoActive Producer and the VivoActive Player. VivoActive Producer enables Webmasters to easily produce and integrate streams-based video into their Web sites. VivoActive Player is a Web browser plug-in that enables users to view the video from any VivoActivated Web site.

By using the HTTP protocol, the VivoActive software family makes video a natural component of the Web environment. This contrasts with other approaches to video on the Web, which treat video as an adjunct or add-on requiring additional hardware or special modifications to established Internet/Intranet infrastructures. VivoActive Producer and Player software eliminates the need for dedicated video server hardware and conserves network bandwidth, enabling faster, more widely accessible on-demand video over the Web.

"VivoActive Producer is a powerful video publishing tool that makes the Web a viable medium for vast amounts of archival and newly created video content," said Dr. Staffan Ericsson, chairman and co-founder of Vivo Software. "Vivo provides the key that unlocks the Web's potential for applications including on-line education and training, advertising, corporate communications and entertainment. VivoActive technology eliminates many barriers to wide-spread deployment and use of Web-based streaming media, which should open up a range of exciting new Web publishing applications and business opportunities."

VivoActive technology differs from other Web video solutions in several key ways:

-- it requires no dedicated video server hardware, so there's no incremental infrastructure cost for Web site operators

-- it uses Vivo's patented compression algorithms, which creates highly compressed video signals (ratios of greater than 200:1) to maximize precious network bandwidth

-- it uses HTTP, so video transport is treated like any other common Web data type, enabling video to pass securely through firewalls and wherever standard Web traffic goes

-- it works with established, popular Web video formats, such as QuickTime/AVI files, making VivoActive software complementary to existing video resources

The VivoActive Producer can be ordered directly from Vivo; it is priced at $495 per copy. Evaluation software may be downloaded from Vivo's Web site. Windows 95 NT versions are available immediately; a PowerMac version will be available next month. Vivo recognizes the importance of supporting both PCs and Macs with VivoActive technology, because while PCs dominate the end-user marketplace, Macs are the overwhelming platform of choice for Web site developers and video production professionals.

An early user of VivoActive technology is Fine Line Features , which currently is promoting the new Robert Altman film, "Kansas City," on its VivoActivated Web site. "We couldn't have incorporated streaming video into our site without VivoActive technology," said Liz Manne, executive vice president, marketing at Fine Line Features. "Traffic to our site increased more than four fold after adding video streaming, bringing a great deal of additional exposure to both our films and our efforts on the Web."

Another early VivoActive user is CNET: The Computer Network. CNET has VivoActivated the companion Web site to its new weekly television program, TV.COM, which looks at the people and technologies that are defining the digital age.

Download VivoPlayer (for Netscape 2 or higher .)

 

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