Adobe announced its Flash Media Server 3 family of products on Tuesday, adding new features to its growing ecosystem of interactive and linear media tools.
As Flash continues to be a highly popular format for the Web-based video explosion, the company is promoting Server 3 as providing “a more efficient instant-on video experience virtually anytime, anywhere.”
That ubiquity includes delivering to a wide variety of desktop and mobile devices, and the ability for Flash-based products to “work consistently across multiple browsers and operating systems.”
Streaming and Interactive Servers
The new offering has two components — the Flash Media Streaming Server 3, which is used for live and on-demand video streaming, and the Flash Media Interactive Server 3, for social media applications as well as “customized scalable video streaming services.”
The company said new features include almost twice as many streams per server, support for higher-quality H.264 video and HE-AAC audio, upgrades for delivering copy-protected content, and better live video support.
With Streaming Server 3, both prerecorded and live video streaming can be sent to mobile devices that have Flash Lite 3, and there are no license restrictions on bandwidth or the total number of connections. Interactive Server 3 combines the capabilities of Flash Media Server 2, Professional, Edge, and Origin Editions.
Streaming Server 3 can stream to Adobe AIR, which is the cross-platform runtime that enables rich Internet applications to run on the desktop. In early 2008, Adobe is expected to release Adobe Media Player, which will be built on AIR. The company said that the Media Player will enable “high quality broadcast television both online and offline” in a customizable experience.
Competing with Microsoft
The positioning of this updated product family highlights Adobe’s strategies as it tries to expand on its Flash empire. Broadcast-quality video, sent to any current-generation device, has emerged as one…