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Microsoft's Silverlight to deliver NCAA March Madness on Demand in HD
Fantastic news, cube dwellers -- you can finally put that office T1 to use this year, as CBSSports.com has inked an agreement with Microsoft that will enable it to provide a 1.5 megabits per second stream of March Madness. In other words, you'll be able to watch the 64 most deserved teams scrap it out online in HD for that all important National Championship. Employers, hear this: just go ahead and give your folks a few days off. It's not like they'll be even remotely productive with MMoD coming at 'em in high-def.[Via ZatzNotFunny]
Microsoft releases first iPhone application, Seadragon
After some rumblings this past March, Microsoft has now officially joined the iPhone development community with Seadragon Mobile, a free app that lets you "infinite zoom" gigapixel-sized images. Although Seadragon is available as a Silverlight application on the desktop, Microsoft isn't bringing Silverlight to the iPhone, so don't get your hopes up. We're itching to see if the company has any more apps in the pipeline -- we'll wish for an Office editor, but expect a Minesweeper variant.[Thanks, Mikkel]
Beyond TV 4.9 officially released, packs in placeshifting, h.264, ClearQAM for $99
Dumping the beta tag, Snapstream's officially rolled out the placeshifting, Clear QAM-compatible singing and dancing Beyond TV 4.9, rolling previously optional $29.99 h.264 and DVD burning plugins into the standard package, upping the pricetag for new users from $69 to $99 (upgraders who never bought the plugins and don't want them can still hop in for the old price). If watching place shifted TV via web browser isn't interesting enough by itself, Snapstream threw in beta support for the Hauppage HD-PVR, new Web admin features and more. Enough to convince you to upgrade, or dive into the build it yourself DVR market for the first time?[Via eHomeUpgrade]
Netflix Streaming officially comes to the Mac
Update: As the commenters have noted -- this service is currently only available for US customers. I truly apologize for my US-centric slant.Last month, Netflix finally started to roll out its Watch Instantly service to Mac users. You needed to opt-in to use the feature, but it was available for those who wanted to access it. Today, Watch Instantly is available for Mac users without having to opt-in -- as long as you meet the minimum system requirements (Intel Mac running OS X 10.4.8 or higher, and at least one GB of RAM).Watch Instantly is a great way to catch up on a movie, TV show or documentary without having to wait for the movie to come in the mail. You don't get the extra features or super surround sound, but it's fast, the quality is good and it is free to use. If you have a Netflix Unlimited plan, you can watch as many movies a month as you want. If you have a limited plan, the number of films you can stream is also limited.You can access Watch Instantly from the tab on the main Netflix page and browse through the selection of movies and TV shows. You still need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, if you don't already have it installed. Watch Instantly works in Firefox 2 or higher and Safari 3 and up. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Netflix CPO gets technical about encoding for streaming
Go on, confess. If you're reading this now, chances are you have at least a passing interest in learning how all of this glorious streaming content actually gets to your TV set / computer while still managing to look at least halfway decent. If you're willing to be honest with yourself, there's a lot in the read link that you'll love. Without going too in-depth here (wouldn't want to scare anyone off, you know?), Netflix's Chief Product Officer covers the basics of first- and second-generation encoding as well as how it handles the wonderful high-def encodes that are used to deliver Watch Instantly content to the Xbox 360. Oh, and now that the New Xbox Experience is live, you can chime in below and let us know if all that hard work that's being done behind the scenes is paying dividends on your HDTV.[Via CNET]
Netflix opens 'Watch Instantly' to Mac owners who opt-in
Mac owners who have been waiting for Netflix to open up the 'Watch Instantly' option just got a little something to light up their day -- the service is now available to the public; or at least members of the public who opt in via a web form. It's all based on Microsoft's Silverlight, so you'll need to download and install the plugin for your web browser, but please mind the six device limit if you've got a small cadre of 'Watch Instantly' devices in use. So if you can live with the fact that Microsoft tech is the lynchpin to your Mac streaming enjoyment, hustle on over and sign yourselves up for that non-HD, but ample selection of streaming content.
Microsoft's Silverlight to get adaptive streaming boost from Akamai
Microsoft is hoping to spread the HD to more than its Xbox 360, and has partnered up with Akamai to demo its latest combination of technologies that will send 720p content smoothly over the internet. A beta release of the Silverlight player plus Akamai's AdaptiveEdge Streaming will debut in early 2009, but the aim is as old as the hills -- deliver smooth (or at least, smoothly degrading) HD video to internet viewers with standard web servers, as opposed to dedicated video streaming servers. The videos will stream at 720p and maintain a 24fps minimum, eating up 2 - 6 Mbps in the process, all the while adapting the transmission based on the quality of the connection. Curious? There's a demo link in the source below, so get some post-Olympics use out of that Silverlight plugin you installed this summer!
Netflix finally brings 'Watch Instantly' to Macs via Silverlight
In a move that seemed like it would never, ever, ever happen, Netflix has finally managed to bring its streaming video technology (and decent library) to Macs everywhere, thanks to Microsoft's Flash-esque also-ran, Silverlight. It seems that the software will allow the rental house to safely DRM its content where ever it goes via Redmond's Play Ready, thus leaping the hurdle that has kept some 12,000 movies and TV shows off of non-PC systems. Netflix claims that the new implementation in Silverlight provides "breakthrough navigation for fast-forward and rewind," though fails to indicate exactly when this is all being rolled out (we assume immediately). Unfortunately for super-duper late adopters, the software will only work with Intel-based Macs, so if you've been holding onto a G3 for dear life, here's one more reason to finally can it, along with your Xbox 360 HD DVD player, Von Dutch trucker cap, and gas-guzzling Escalade. Full PR after the break.
Microsoft says Silverlight on iPhone unlikely, G1 more likely
We all know it'll be a frigid day in Hades before Apple lets Silverlight into the iPhone, but for obvious reasons, things may pan out differently for the G1. According to Microsoft's Scott Guthrie, the outfit is still very interested in getting its Flash competitor onto Apple's darling, but as he so rightly points out, "at the end of the day, Apple ultimately controls what software runs on the iPhone." Speaking about Android, he noted that the "Google phone [you mean G1, Scott?] is slightly different," continuing on to say that it's "more of an open platform, [and] that is something we're going to continue to look at." In other words, don't get your hopes up too high that Silverlight will be making its Android debut in the very near future, but you can probably bet Microsoft will have an easier time dealing with Google than with Apple.[Via FierceWireless]
BeyondTV 4.9 Beta adds placeshifting to the DIY DVR formula
Windows Media Center alternative BeyondTV is actually taking advantage of Microsoft's Silverlight technology for its latest feature, placeshifting recorded TV, Slingbox-style. Download Squad mentions the 4.9 beta release allows users to log in remotely via a webpage, view a list of stored programs, and select them for real-time transcoding and streaming. That's not all BeyondTV's added since we last checked in on version 4.3 -- real-time ShowSqueeze, the aforementioned Web Admin access and more make this worth a look. BeyondTV is $70, but there's a free trial if you've just got to start slinging HDTV around the neighborhood, or the world, right now.[Via Download Squad]
Ready to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
There's no doubt about it, no matter what the air quality -- or the political climate -- is like, these will be the best Olympics ever to watch from home (maybe 2012, eh Oscar?) With every moment captured in high definition and available right away, viewers will have their choice of sports to watch at all times, on a number of different platforms. Whether you're new to HD -- and are absolutely sure your HDTV is set up properly -- in the last four years or still have nightmares punctuated by "We've got chips...and salsa" (we've formed a support group for the survivors of 2004) we'll do our part to make sure you're equipped to get the most possible out of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Is your DirectX up to date?
Did you wake up this morning, anxious about something you could not describe? Some nagging worry you couldn't shake? A little paranoia? Have you looked at your computer and felt it was wanting something from you? And you just didn't know what?It's the new update to DirectX 9.0c. That's what your computer has been wanting, assuming it runs Windows versions later than Windows 98 and earlier than Windows Vista. This latest version contains all the bug fixes and performance enhancements they've ever published, so if you want to make sure your graphics engine is at its best, fire up Internet Explorer and head on over to the DirectX download page. You'll have to validate your copy of Windows is genuine, and if you're lucky, you may be invited into an exclusive beta just for visiting the page. Microsoft is revamping their website to use their new Silverlight technology (an alternative to Flash for Windows and OS/X computers), and you may be invited to give Silverlight a test drive.[Via Pumping Irony]
Banjo Kazooie gets feature-light homepage
Well, we just got tricked into downloading Silverlight. That's about all the information we were able to glean from a recently-launched teaser site for the upcoming Xbox 360 version of Banjo Kazooie. Once you download Silverlight, all you get is a spinning puzzle piece, a picture of a bear and the knowledge that you just helped Microsoft propagate their Flash competitor. Ilovebees, it is not.For your surfing pleasure, we've posted the entirety of the site's content above, though we hope that will soon be replaced by pictures, videos and other information from the game, no matter how we may feel about the concept.
Microsoft announces Silverlight 1.0 for Mobile
Ironically, Nokia was totally on the ball in announcing that Microsoft's Silverlight rich internet development platform would be coming to its own devices -- but naturally, there are plans in the works to bring it to Windows Mobile, too. Silverlight 1.0 for Mobile (as it's being called) will be available to developers in the second quarter of the year, putting it roughly on the same timeline that Nokia has settled on for the S60 version of the browser plugin. Unfortunately, the first version will only support Silverlight 1.0, despite the fact that 2.0 has already been released for PCs; then again, Flash Lite has historically been at odds with Flash proper, so we suppose it's business as usual.[Via the::unwired and Windows For Devices]
Microsoft bites bullet, licenses Adobe's Flash Lite for Windows Mobile
Microsoft is expected to shore-up its much maligned Internet Explorer Mobile browser this morning by announcing new Flash Lite support. We have no idea when the new plug-in technology (including Reader LE for PDFs) might make it into Windows Mobile. Nevertheless, with the far superior Skyfire and Opera Mobile 9.5 mobile browsers already supporting Flash Lite, and Microsoft's own competing Silverlight not expected to go mobile until the end of the year, it can't be long now can it?
Internet video provider Swarmcast partners up with Silverlight
Whether you're so burned out by the format war that you've sworn off physical media entirely or you want the instant gratification that only internet distribution can provide, you've probably heard about Swarmcast before. The company has great plans for HD internet video delivery and has shown some "proof of concept" with its Autobahn HD player for Flash. This week at Microsoft's web-centric MIX08 conference, Swarmcast announced that it is also partnering with Microsoft's Silverlight. Only time will tell if Silverlight's cross-platform reach will be enough to make it serious competition for Flash, but Microsoft's platform is gaining momentum.
Ballmer answers iPhone SDK questions, revisits Monkey Boy dance
It's always interesting to hear execs chime in on the competition following big announcements. So it's no surprise to hear that Steve Ballmer was peppered with questions about the iPhone during yesterday's Mix '08 event with Guy Kawasaki. When asked about Silverlight -- Microsoft's attempt at usurping Adobe's Flash -- on the Flash-less iPhone, Ballmer said, "Silverlight for the iPhone is of course interesting," adding, "I can't say there's been extensive discussion with Guy's old boss." He also wondered aloud about Apple possibly digging too deeply into developers pockets with its 30% share of application revenue. Ballmer said, "it's a good business if you can make it." A jab at Jobs' claim that Apple doesn't plan to make any money off the App Store. The highlight though came with Ballmer's compliance to recreate his Monkey Boy Dance for Web Developers. Bill, we're going to miss you.[Thanks, Bryant] Read -- Q&A on iPhone Read -- Monkey Boy dance, take 2
Nokia bringing Microsoft's Silverlight to its smart and dumbphones alike
Adobe's Flash -- Silverlight's sworn enemy -- is already well-entrenched on a number of devices (including Nokia's) in its Lite incarnation, so it'll be interesting to see just how far Microsoft can really take this beyond its own Windows Mobile territory. Nabbing Nokia is certainly a big win to that end, and even crazier, Nokia has announced that it'll be bringing Silverlight not just to S60 devices, but also to its extremely capable Series 40 dumbphone platform and to Maemo. S60 development is already well underway with an early cut to be shown off at MIX08 this week and developer tools in the pipe for later this year; timelines Series 40 and internet tablet versions, meanwhile, will be "confirmed later."
Netflix bringing streaming rentals to Macs, game console next?
Recent announcements on iTunes rentals certainly caused a stir amongst the neglected Mac-masses, but it looks like the online rental game is about to get a little more cutthroat for fanboys and fangirls everywhere. According to a new report (and backed up by an earlier blog post), streaming content for Netflix subscribers is headed to Mac screens in 2008 -- if everyone has their way. During the company's Q4 earnings call this week, the snail-mail service hinted that this would be the year that streaming rentals would come to Mac users due to the advent of DRM options that play nice with Apple's gear (namely, Microsoft's Silverlight technology). Combine this with news that the company plans to offer all-you-can-eat online rentals for $8.99 a month, its intentions to bring a STB to market with LG, and a possible game console partnership -- well, it all adds up to stiff competition for Apple and other challengers, despite what they say.[Via Mac Rumors]Read - Netflix: Mac Streaming Coming This YearRead - Instant watching on Mac, Firefox, and more
Page through Halo 3's game manual online
In an effort to kill two marketing birds with one stone, Microsoft posted the Halo 3 game manual online yesterday using their brand new (Flash and Java killing) Silverlight app. This of course means you can page through the game manual from the comforts of your computer a few days before you get the real thing in your mitts, but truth be told we opted to not look through this online version. We like holding our game manuals and paging through them when launch day comes, it's sort of like a side surprise ... a ritual of sorts. Oh, like we said, Microsoft is promoting their new Silverlight flash-esque web app, so you'll only be able to view the Halo 3 game manual once you install the Silverlight plugin into a compatible internet browser. Yes, it sucks, but the hoops are worth jumping if you need your Halo 3 manual viewing. Commence Silverlight install ... now![Thanks, rTwelve]
