Bandwidth Archives - Page 6 of 6

Netflix Makes Super HD and 3D Options Available to All Users

By Valerie Savran
September 30, 2013

Netflix is starting to provide all of its subscribers with access to Super HD and 3D content. The company announced that it is no longer obligatory for a subscriber to have Open Connect to access higher bitrate HD streams, as well as 3D titles. Netflix may face challenges convincing ISPs to adapt Open Connect; issues related to peering and local content caching are not completely resolved. Netflix also plans to unveil Ultra HD, with four times the screen resolution of HD, in 2014. Continue reading Netflix Makes Super HD and 3D Options Available to All Users

How Netflix Decides on Building or Buying for Infrastructure

By Chris Castaneda
September 20, 2013

Netflix is building its own customized server boxes to deal with the massive volume of streaming content to millions of users. But the company is also considering new “off the shelf” technologies that could be less costly and more efficient. Netflix is working with hardware companies such as Western Digital to develop new technologies and design methods to improve performance and deal with the massive data traffic that Netflix experiences. Continue reading How Netflix Decides on Building or Buying for Infrastructure

New Thunderbolt 2 from Intel Doubles Bandwidth, Targets 4K

By Rob Scott
June 5, 2013

Formerly known by its codename “Falcon Ridge,” the next generation of Intel’s Thunderbolt interface will officially be known as “Thunderbolt 2.” The Thunderbolt technology has become one of the standard ports for Apple computers, but has experienced slower adoption with PCs. Intel is hoping that the mainstream adoption of 4K video technologies will help drive interest in the next iteration of its high-bandwidth Thunderbolt bus. Continue reading New Thunderbolt 2 from Intel Doubles Bandwidth, Targets 4K

Sony Pictures Turns to eyeIO Video Compression for 4K Player

By Rob Scott
June 3, 2013

Eye IO, LLC (eyeIO) announced on Friday that its Ultra HD compression encoding technology has been licensed by Sony Pictures to help the studio offer content on Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs in the home. Owners of Sony 4K TVs will be able to access a number of movies via Sony’s 4K media player, which will launch this summer. The eyeIO technology processes, compresses and encodes 4K source files into a format that requires less bandwidth. Continue reading Sony Pictures Turns to eyeIO Video Compression for 4K Player

Cisco Says Online Video to Outpace Social Networks by 2017

By Rob Scott
May 30, 2013

According to Cisco’s new Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast, online video is growing faster than any other type of consumer service, and within four years online video services will be more popular than social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The report predicts that by 2017 there will be 3.6 billion global Internet users and 19 billion global networked devices. Additionally, the average broadband speed will increase by a factor of 3.5 to 39 Mbps. Continue reading Cisco Says Online Video to Outpace Social Networks by 2017

The Pirate Bay Moves Out of Sweden Under Legal Threat

By emeadows
March 6, 2013

The Pirate Bay, which has been using bandwidth provided to the site by Sweden’s Pirate Party, is no longer in Sweden, according to Torrent Freak. Following threats of legal action from a local anti-piracy group Rights Alliance in its home country, the pirating site packed up and left last week, handing over responsibilities to pirate parties in Norway and Spain. Continue reading The Pirate Bay Moves Out of Sweden Under Legal Threat

Mobile Video Calling Creates New Frontier as Technologies Improve

By Karla Robinson
December 11, 2012

“As the cameras and screens of smartphones and tablets improve, and as wireless networks offer higher bandwidth, more companies are getting into the business of enabling mobile video calls,” reports The New York Times, noting that the rise has been so quick that analysts have yet to compile numbers.
In 2011, Microsoft acquired video calling service Skype. Similarly, Apple developed its own FaceTime feature to sell the iPad and in September expanded the service beyond just Wi-Fi to cellular networks.
Google’s free video calling service Hangouts on its social network Google Plus allows up to ten people to video conference, and it features more than 200 apps. Just last week, Yahoo purchased its own video chat service OnTheAir. Tango Mobile is yet another video calling service, which has attracted 80 million active users and sees 200,000 join daily, according to CTO and co-founder Eric Setton.
Microsoft has incorporated Skype into its Windows 8 mobile phones, allowing people to receive calls even when the app isn’t running. Google is interested in “making money on the applications, but in learning more about them so it can sell more ads by getting people to use [Hangouts],” notes the article.
“Don’t expect video calling to improve productivity. Tango uses the same technology that enables video calls to sell games that people can play simultaneously,” the article states. “Google says some jokey applications on Hangouts, like a feature that can put a mustache over each caller, seem to encourage people to talk longer.”
“Tango’s average video call used to last six minutes, Mr. Setton said, but when the company started adding other applications to go with the videos, like games and designs that float over people, the average call length rose to 12 minutes.”