Entries tagged with drm - Channel 10

Silverlight 2 Beta 2 is out!

benwaggoner — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:39:00 GMT

After months of hard work, Silverlight 2 Beta 2 and its SDK are now available for download!

The best overall description of what's in it is in this post from Scott Guthrie.

Media Features in Silverlight 2 Beta 2

Of course, my focus is on the media features. New to Beta 2 is:

Hooks to enable adaptive streaming

Beta2 adds client support for "adaptive streaming" - which enables managed code to be able to pull in media files and streams from arbitrary URLs, and then reassemble them and pass them off to the video and audio decoders. This can enable a whole lot of different ways to address how to make media available, including supporting seamless streaming switching between content encoded at different bitrates. And since this is all running inside managed code, a CDN or content provider can tune the heuristics used to get the optimal content from the optimum server.

While the API is in place, we don't have any full end-to-end demos for how this works at the moment; you'll be seeing a variety of ways to use this technology down the road. Since our API is so flexible, I imagine customers and partners will find all kinds of fun things to do with it.

Content Protection

Beta2 includes client sideWindows Media DRM 10 and PlayReady DRM support. Both work cross browser and cross platform. Note that WMDRM10 will require a PlayReady license server (available in the coming weeks); existing content will work with Silverlight, but with the new license server.

Server Side Playlists

Beta2 adds improved support for server side playlists on Windows Media Services (previous releases only supported client-side playlists). That's still a feature in development (we are still a beta), so if you have server-side playlists that aren't working as you expect, it'd be great if you could put a link in comments, or email them directly to me so we can see what's going on. Note that web playlists from the IIS 7.0 Media Pack have always been fully supported.

Quality and Performance improvements

While there's no API change here, Beta 2 includes a variety of improvements to both performance and quality (particularly scaling quality) during media playback. Full-screen playback in particular is improved.

Windows Media Audio 10 Professional

And don't forget that Silverlight 2 adds support for the WMA 10 Pro codec. This isn't changed from Beta 1, but it's a big improvement compared to the stock WMA in Silverlight 1. WMA 10 Pro in the 32-96 Kbps range is what we call the "LBR" or Low Bit Rate mode, which is up to 2x as efficient as classic WMA. Audio is quite understandable at 32 Kbps, danceable at 48, an flawless at 64-96. Expression Encoder 2 supports the new modes, and Windows Media Player 11 can play them back as well.

For Silverlight 2-only projects, WMA 10 Pro is the codec of choice for any kind of bandwidth constrained content. And, of course, it's supported in Expression Encoder 2.

Also, note that, like WMA, WMA 10 Pro also supports 2-pass VBR encoding, which can help quality further when doing progressive download. 48 Kbps average 96 Kbps peak can sound pretty great.

I'll try to get up some A/B comparison demos in the next few days.

NAB Silverlight News - new partners and Silverlight DRM

benwaggoner — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:43:00 GMT

NAB was a blast, as always. We had a great turnout at the booth and at our sessions relating to Silverlight, and the Compressionist Party was delightful as ever. My voice is still shot, though...

We had a couple of big announcements around Silverlight I wanted to mention here.

First, we announced New Support for Silverlight by Content Companies Worldwide

We're working with a ton of companies on content deals, but these five stand out for the reach of customers they're going to expose to Silverlight:

MSG Interactive is using Silverlight as a platform to deliver live on-demand digital content to Madison Square Garden's huge community of sports and entertainment fans.
Tencent, China’s largest Internet portal, with more than 300 million unique viewers, announced it is developing a series of Silverlight-based next-generation Internet services and media experiences.
Abertis Telecom will use Silverlight as the platform for a new video content delivery channel going live this spring, providing end users with convenient access to dozens of channels of Spanish-language TV content within a Web-based application.
Terra Networks is using Silverlight as the platform for the new HD channel on Terra TV, its online video and TV platform with service in 18 countries in Latin America and United States reaching millions of subscribers around the world.
Yahoo! JAPAN, the most trafficked Web site in Japan, plans to roll out video distribution and Internet services that use Silverlight as the application platform.

Second we also announced Silverlight DRM, Powered by PlayReady, our DRM solution. The press release above still has the most public details now. Some of the high points include:

It will work in Silverlight 2 for both Mac and Windows
It is compatible with both the current Windows Media DRM 10 and the new PlayReady DRM
Details will be up at www.microsoft.com/silverlight/ soon.

TTNetMuzik.com It's here, listen to it...

nuric — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:52:00 GMT

TTNet, the largest ISP of Turkey with 99.1% ADSL subscriber market share, launched its Music download and stream service with 80.000 Turkish songs. The service, offering Windows DRM’d songs and only in WMA format in cooperation with MU-YAP and also powered by MOSS 2007. Songwriters will receive a commission fee from every downloaded piece of art. Subscribers with the cheapest package will be able to download only 10 songs in a month while upper packages offer the right for 500 songs. Only in first day, before even announced, 23.000 songs were downloaded from the service. You, too, can search (using MOSS Search), find and listen to your favorite songs. Log on to the service using your TTMail account and start using it now: www.ttnetmuzik.com

25 milhões de MP3s gratuitos para baixar - legalmente

Galileu — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:46:00 GMT

O serviço se chama Qtrax e será lançado hoje. Com participação e "benção" da Sony BMG, Universal, EMI, e Warner (as principais detentoras das músicas de hoje), a idéia é fornecer downloads gratuitos para usuários em troca de propagandas. Os artistas seriam compensados pelo número de downloads, compartilhamento e número de vezes que as músicas são tocadas. Portanto, sim, os arquivos contém algum tipo de DRM, parecido com o do Zune. No momento iPod fica fora por não ser compatível com o DRM sendo utilizado. Aparentemente, o Qtrax vai utilizar a rede Gnutella para distribuir os MP3s. Essa iniciativa pode ter um grande impacto, e estão surgindo notícias (aqui e aqui) de que não está tudo 100% certo para o Qtrax ir ao ar. Estou curioso para saber o resultado dessa experiência, e vocês?

E para quem não estava sabendo, a Amazon anunciou que estará levando sua loja de MP3s sem DRM para mercados internacionais ainda em 2008.

Conheça os novos Zunes

Galileu — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:04:00 GMT

A Microsoft revelou hoje para um grupo de jornalistas e bloggers os detalhes sobre os novos Zunes. As grandes novidades estão nos novos modelos - um de 4GB, um de 8GB e um de 80GB - e nas novas funcionalidades que estes modelos, tanto como o modelo original de 30GB, terão a partir de novembro. Além do hardware, o software e a loja online também serão atualizadas.

No lado de hardware, temos dois novos Zunes de memória flash com capacidade para 4GB e 8GB. Eles serão chamados de Zune 4 e Zune 8, respectivamente. Estes modelos terão o novo botão de comando sensível ao toque chamado Zune Pad, virão nas cores rosa, verde, preto e vermelho, terão uma tela de 1,8 polegadas e dimensões de 41,4 mm x 91,5 mm x 8,5 mm. Preço sugerido será US$ 150 pelo Zune 4 e US$ 200 pelo Zune 8. Segue a imagem do Zune 4 e 8:

Já o Zune 80 é um modelo de disco rígido com capacidade para 80GB. Conta com o Zune Pad para navegação, virá só em preto inicialmente, terá uma tela de 3,2 polegadas e dimensões de 61,1 mm x 108,2 mm x 12,9 mm, tem preço sugerido de US$ 250. Segue a imagem do Zune 80:

O Zune original passa a ser chamado de Zune 30, com preço sugerido de US$ 199. A boa notícia para proprietários desse modelo é que ele receberá todas as funcionalidades dos modelos novos através de uma atualização. As funcionalidades incluem:
- Nova interface gráfica nos tocadores
- Suporte nativo para h.264 e MPEG-4
- Sincronização via WiFi com seu computador
- Suporte para podcasts
- Compartilhamento de diversas mídias, não só músicas
- Sincronização automática com o Windows Media Center (isso permite que você leve suas gravações de TV no Zune)

Veja a família inteira do Zune:

O software para o Zune foi totalmente redesenhado. O Zune Marketplace, a loja que reside dentro do software, agora conta com um catálogo de 3 milhões de músicas, sendo mais de 1 milhão sem DRM (proteção de direitos autorais) e adiciona vídeo clipes de músicas e também podcasts. A opção de assinatura mensal continua, onde por US$ 15 o usuário tem acesso à biblioteca inteira de músicas do Zune Marketplace.

No lado social, haverá um site dedicado a uma comunidade de fãs de música. Cada usuário terá um Zune Card, semelhante ao Gamercard do Xbox, que é um cartão de suas preferências musicais para compartilhar com os outros. Cada usuário poderá ouvir trechos de 30 segundos das músicas que os demais estão ouvindo, a qual é mostrada no Zune Card. Os Zune Cards também ajudarão a gerar tabelas de popularidade de músicas, artistas, álbuns, etc. Veja a cara do novo software:

Todas as novidades estão previstas para chegar em novembro. Não há previsão para a chegada do Zune no Brasil. Fiquem antenados aqui para maiores informações.

Part 3 of the Halstead York interview is up - history, economics, and DRM

benwaggoner — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:45:00 GMT

The third and last part of my interview with Halstead York is now up.

It covers our days in the bleeding edge of CD-ROM multimedia, how the economics of production is opening up filmmaking to a whole new kind of carreer, and DRM.

One thing I should expand on a little more on a big reason why URGE is better than iTunes - subscriptions. With URGE, I can download or stream as much music as I want to for a single flat rate ($120/year). So instead of having to gamble on whether or not I want to risk buying a new CD, I can just grab whatever I'm mildly curious about, with no economic punishment for sampling something that's not to my taste. And really, is there any other way for a 36 year old father of three to get obsessed with cheeky brits like Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys? Or get reconnected with Nomeansno (URGE is playing me "Rag N' Bones" right no)?

The important point here is that this is a business model that would NOT work without DRM. If there wasn't DRM, I'd be looking at having to pay $1.29 per track for non-DRM'ed content, and only from a few providers. And with that, I'd simply wind up listening to lot less music I like, and probably paying more for it at the same time.

Anyway, Here's the interview.

And yes, we really paid more than $1000/GB for our first RAID. And $5000 for a capture card that only did S-Video and 8-bit audio.

Steve Jobs suggests a solution to the DRM music equation

Jesse — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:47:00 GMT

At the Mix n' Mash event in Redmond last year, Bill Gates acknowledged the problems with the DRM employed with digital music, and that there is no easy solution. Now in a rare release that has been described by our trusted tipster as the, "best blog platform ever..." Steve Jobs has published his Thoughts on Music. The ten minute read addresses the current state of digital music across the entire market and respectfully considers all the players. While we expect people to critique his argument along the same stale lines (can't we all just get along?), the more important issue that Steve raises is about how two-faced the music companies are: "In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves." We're certainly pleased to have first Bill and now Steve, both people who hold considerable sway over this issue, helping the market understand where they should really focus their displeasure.