Wired @ Home

You never thought it was Microsoft and Adobe competing for customers. PC vs Mac is now old and Microsoft needs to pick on somebody else which happens to be another heavyweight and they are butting heads in Adobe's territory. Adobe Flash has long been the choice for websites when playing videos. Now Microsoft comes onto the scene with Silverlight, a movie streamer for high quality videos. FOX, Netflix, and MLB.com are among the big companies prepping to use Silverlight for there heavy-video services. You can already download a release candidate at PC World. With no buffering delays, at least on MLB, Silverlight is poised to make a huge splash when it's finally released and should move and shake platforms for many websites. Netflix and FOX Movies are using similar movie players that are interactive with DVD clone controls and use Silverlight with very clear and great quality picture. Check out a trailer at Silverlight.
A no-name site called Skinkers, a London based technology group that's has a beta of a peer to peer live video streaming platform by the name of LiveStation where the basis of it is...Silverlight. The great thing about this service is that it cuts down the buffer time on online video and since it's P2P it cuts bandwidth. LiveStation opens in a new window outside of your browser which makes it easier to surf and you are able to switch stations like live TV. Adobe is coming back at Microsoft with it's own version of Windows Media Player with Adobe Media Player which will be available for download by the end of this year. It will let you play flash movies outside your browser and manage a library of your favourites much like iTunes. It was developed using Apollo, an application that lets web developers build media rich internet software. Adobe Media Player features full screen playback, a favourites utility that will automatically download new episodes of your favourite podcasts or TV shows, and a one click viewer rating. Adobe and Microsoft should each challenge the other making for healthy competition and a much easier and better life for the consumer. Note:If you have a LiveStation invitation, please contact me as that would be much appreciated.