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Live from Madison Square Garden RealVideo a reality

RealVideo a reality

Wednesday
February 26, 1997
Technology

Net revolution will be televised

Progressive Networks' wildly popular RealAudio software greatly enhanced sound and music offerings on the Net. Here was something that enabled your average Web content creator to place large sound files online via Progressive's RealAudio server. No more horrendous download times. No more grappling with file extensions and formats. Progressive hit paydirt.

Now, amid much hype, Progressive has unveiled the visual equivalent of RealAudio -- RealVideo 1.0. The company hopes to capture another emerging market with this application that, like VDOnet's VDOLive, brings streaming video to the desktop.

"Two years ago, Progressive Networks pioneered audio on the Web when it introduced RealAudio," says Rob Glaser, Progressive's chairman and CEO. "Our RealAudio experience shows us that the market rewards excellence. This means delivering great technology, great content, and broad industry support."

Similar to RealAudio, RealVideo streams data into a window, which then begins playing the content while simultaneously downloading the remaining content. This approach dramatically cuts download times. Since most people access the Net through a 28.8 bps modem or less, Progressive's offering is a significant step toward bringing more technically-advanced content to the average user's computer screen.

Will the success of RealAudio translate into similar market acceptance for RealVideo? Possibly. But RealVideo has some catching up to do. The giant in the video streaming field, VDOnet, offers a more advanced product that, unlike RealVideo, automatically adjusts to the connection time of the user, saving Web developers from having to create separate versions of the video file.

With the marketing clout of Progressive Networks and the market acceptance of VDOLive, the battle for video standards on the Net is going to be bloody. And, yes, it will be televised.

-- Steven Horn

Image credit: © 1997 Progressive Networks, Inc., VDOnet Corporation

Live from Madison Square Garden RealVideo a reality


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