Wowza Unifies Media Streaming, Sets Performance Record, Slashes Costs with Production Launch

By | December 17, 2009

Wowza Unifies Media Streaming, Sets Performance Record, Slashes Costs with Production Launch of Wowza Media Server 2 for Flash, iPhone and Beyond
Wowza Media Systems®, the media server software company, today announced the public availability of Wowza Media Server® 2. Tested by more than 1,500 customers worldwide, Wowza Media Server 2 is already in full production deployment with more than 300 users and is now available to any organization with video streaming needs

Evergreen, Colo., December 17, 2009
Wowza Media Systems®, the media server software company, today announced the public availability of Wowza Media Server® 2. Tested by more than 1,500 customers worldwide, Wowza Media Server 2 is already in full production deployment with more than 300 users and is now available to any organization with video streaming needs.

First in the industry to offer the ability to simultaneously stream to the desktop, mobile devices and IPTV player clients, including Adobe's Flash® player, Apple's iPhone®/iPod® touch, Microsoft's Silverlight® and others, Wowza Media Server 2 establishes a new product category: Unified Media Server.

Already declared the Best Streaming Innovation of 2009 by the reader's of Streaming Media Magazine, Wowza Media Server 2 is changing the way the business of online video is conducted by setting a new benchmark for media servers in functionality, performance, flexibility, and overall value – economic and operational. Some of the defining features of Wowza Media Server 2 include:
• Unified workflow streaming -Wowza Media Server 2 slashes capital and operational costs by enabling simultaneous streaming to multiple clients from a single standard H.264 live encoder or file, eliminating the need for separate client-specific encoders and media servers.
• Broad multi-client support – Wowza Media Server 2 is the only software on the market to natively implement simultaneous streaming support for Adobe® RTMP protocol suite, Apple® HTTP Streaming, Microsoft® Smooth Streaming, RTSP/RTP delivery for Apple QuickTime™, mobile and other clients as well as MPEG-TS for IPTV set-top delivery.
• Up to 10Gbps per-server performance – Wowza Media Server 2 is the first media software to reach this performance benchmark for streaming live and on-demand video using off-the-shelf server hardware. The highly multi-threaded 64-bit architecture lets users take full advantage of the latest hardware, such as Sun Microsystems' 16-thread Intel® Nehalem® based x4270 server.
• Cross-platform deployment – Wowza Media Server 2 can be deployed in minutes on any OS, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris and Unix freeing users from client-specific server OS dependence. For example, Wowza Media Server 2 gives companies the ability to stream Microsoft Silverlight without deploying Windows Server OS.
• Double capacity at the same price – Wowza continues its value leadership by doubling the Wowza Media Server 2 allowable per-license capacity to 16 CPU cores while keeping the price the same as its Flash-only predecessor, Wowza Media Server Pro. At only $995 list price per server for full multi-protocol, multi-client capabilities it is nearly 90 percent cheaper to deploy than the single-protocol Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server (FMIS).

“The demand for online video continues unabated with double-digit year-to-year growth forecasted through 2012,” noted Paul Palumbo, research director at AccuStream Research. “Streaming media encompasses a multi-platform production and distribution chain of value, building on the desktop, though now expanding to include mobile devices and IP-enabled TVs. Content producers and network operators recognize the need for scale, both economically and operationally, and unifying media infrastructure is an ROI imperative.”

This realization is driving strong demand for Wowza Media Server 2 from a broad range of customers. Mirror Image Internet, a global CDN that has already upgraded to Wowza Media Server 2, was able to add iPhone streaming capability to its portfolio of services at virtually zero incremental cost. Other companies including Livestream, one of the largest live streaming platforms, is now offering customers simultaneous Flash and iPhone reach without having to make any investment or impose changes to how they encode content.

Broadcasters like Spain's LaSexta, “can't think of television streaming without Wowza going forward.” Academic institutions like University of New South Wales consider “the multi-client reach and flexibility” of the Wowza server to be “an essential technology component underpinning any online media strategy.”

“Media delivery is about consumers viewing content the way they want to view it. The platforms can't be locked to proprietary clients, protocols or software residing on devices,” said David Stubenvoll, CEO and Co-founder, Wowza Media Systems. “At Wowza, we're are mindful of that and strive to create products that enable content to be delivered to wherever customers are, in the most cost-effective fashion. We don't have any bias toward specific technologies and are not driven by any agenda to sell anything other than the best media server software.”

Availability and Pricing
Wowza Media Server 2 is available immediately for download and purchase at http://www.wowzamedia.com/store. It is offered as a friction-free Software Subscription Edition at $65/month or less per server instance or as a Perpetual Edition license at $995 list price. Upgrade is free for Wowza Pro Unlimited and Unlimited with MPEG-TS Edition licenses purchased after April 8, 2009, and is $249 per license for licenses purchased prior to that date. All Wowza Subscription and Amazon EC2 Edition licensees receive a free upgrade.

About Wowza Media Systems
Wowza Media Systems is the media server software company that provides an industrial strength infrastructure for live video, video-on-demand, live recording and video chat. Wowza has a singular focus on delivering high performance media server software to service providers, media properties, enterprises, and other organizations serious about delivering video to any digital screen – computer, mobile phone, home TV. Wowza's media server software has been deployed by more than 30,000 global licensees in entertainment, social media, advertising, enterprise, education, government, and Internet commerce. Wowza Media Systems is privately-held with headquarters in Evergreen, Colorado. For more information, visit https://www.wowza.com.

Wowza, Wowza Media Systems, Wowza Media Server and related logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Wowza Media Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.