Arstechnica is reporting today that RealVideo continues its death spiral, this time with C-SPAN getting rid of the streaming video format in favor of Flash and Windows Media.
Says the C-SPAN site: “Due to lack of demand for the RealVideo format, we will be retiring our links to C-SPAN live video streams in the RealVideo format effective March 1, 2010.”
The Ars reporter says the codec lives on in a few Government committees, such as the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works but the FCC finally upgraded last year to Flash, after previously broadcasting all their meetings on a server that could handle only up to 200 users and produced 240×240 resolution video.
Result for: live video stream
RIM has announced that BlackBerry phones will soon be video broadcasting machines thanks to new support from Qik.
The service will allow owners to broadcast live video from the phone’s camera directly to the Internet using a Wi-FI or 3G connection. The feature is currently available on jailbroken iPhones, Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphones as well as Java 2 Micro Edition feature phones, but BlackBerry phones were notably missing it.
Initially the Qik service will only work on BlackBerry Bold, Pearl 8120, and Pearl 8130 smartphones. Curve and Flip support is coming soon.
“We are excited to bring our lifestyle technology to the millions of BlackBerry users worldwide,” added Ramu Sunkara, CEO of Qik. “In our quest to bring mobile live video sharing to the masses, we now support the broadest range of platforms, including Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Java-enabled mass-market phones.”
The public beta will be available in a few weeks and BlackBerry owners can get it at the Qik official site.
Result for: live video stream
Sling Media has announced the availability of the HD model of its popular Slingbox media hub, dubbed Slingbox PRO-HD and has said it will retail for $300 USD.
The company says the PRO-HD will let users stream “HD content from a home television source, including over the air HD digital signals (ATSC), digital cable channels (Clear QAM), HDTV cable set-top boxes, HDTV satellite receivers, or HD DVR’s, to a laptop or desktop computer in and around the house.”
The stream can also be sent online to your laptop as long as you have SlingPlayer software installed on the system.
The new box uses a technology dubbed SlingStream 2.0 which “adaptively stream high quality television content across virtually any network connection.” The technology supposedly improves audio and video quality.
The SlingPlayer software has been updated as well and will work with XP and Vista. The software “features a live video buffer which lets you pause and rewind a live video stream. Also included is an electronic programming guide (EPG) and the incorporation of Sling Accounts, a single sign-on feature that keeps key personal Slingbox information including Finder IDs, favorite channels and programming guide information.”
