Microsoft, already taking on Sony, Apple, Google, Yahoo! and Oracle just opened a new front in Web video, with Livestation. The company already has the Soapbox platform for video sharing and viewing online, but now it is taking on Joost with LiveStation, a product born out of a partnership with Skinker, who in turn used technology out of Cambridge. To clarify, it’s not in fact MSFT who is taking on anyone, it’s the team at Skinker, who has, as minority shareholder, MSFT.
Here is a demo:
Video: LiveStation Demo
I think live video is definitely something that has a lot of value for news organizations, sporting events etc., the idea to use P2P to stream live footage is intuitive, since after all you can use P2P technology to make phone calls (Skype, basically).
Of course, I think live video is still a bit off in terms of concept vs. reality, since non-live video watching is still something of a challenge, but indeed if anyone can solve that challenge, then they might in fact have a “everything-killer” in their hands.
Subscribe:
July 6th, 2007 at 9:43 am
[…] from Microsoft Research”. Ars Technica states “Microsoft announces Joost killer”. HipMojo added a new product to Microsoft’s Live offering. Among a handful of others and it still […]
July 6th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I got to check out LiveStation today. Here’s my review. As always, it will come down to content.