Company works with Microsoft Corp. to build tools to enable rapid development of Silverlight-based video players
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading global service provider for accelerating content and applications online, today announced support for Microsoft Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering a next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web. Akamai also announced that it has collaborated with Microsoft to develop the Akamai Media Player Framework for Silverlight. Akamai and Microsoft have worked together over the past two quarters to create development code that serves as a foundation for developing custom Silverlight-based media players.
As a Silverlight Early Adopter and a Preferred Streaming Partner, Akamai is committed to expanding the market and reach for rich interactive experiences through Silverlight. Akamai has a long standing relationship with Microsoft and has delivered the largest Windows Media streaming events to date, including coverage of the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament and the 2007 Live Earth concert event.
“Among our customer base, we are seeing tremendous interest in the Silverlight technology as a means to improve cross-platform reach and enable rich, powerful video experiences,” said Bill Wheaton, vice president of Digital Media, Akamai. “We are excited to provide our customers with a set of tools that will make it easier for them to leverage this new, cutting-edge technology for their online business models.”
Media Player Framework for Silverlight
Akamai and Microsoft have collaborated on a developer toolkit that will simplify the task of creating Silverlight-based video player applications for the delivery of Windows Media content. The goal of the Akamai Media Player Framework for Silverlight is to provide a foundation from which customers can quickly implement a world-class solution for monetizing their content, while providing users with a consistent, high-quality experience through Akamai’s rich media management, delivery and syndication solutions.
The Akamai Media Player Framework provides a code library that supports industry standards such as Yahoo! Media RSS 2.0, as well as Akamai-based workflows. As a result, customers will be able to dramatically reduce the time it takes to create Silverlight video players so they can focus on the more creative aspects of their applications. The technology is currently in beta and is being made available to Akamai customers using Windows Media streaming.
About Akamai
Akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and applications online. Thousands of organizations have formed trusted relationships with Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web solutions of tomorrow. Akamai is "The Trusted Choice for Online Business." For more information, visit www.akamai.com.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by unauthorized users or others, failure to have available sufficient transmission capacity, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, changes in technology used by Microsoft or Akamai and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.