Pittsburg, Penn. – Realizing as few in the industry do not or are not
willing to admit – that a basically non-real-time Internet is a poor way to
deliver love streaming of audio and video content - Penthera Technologies has
developed a technique that takes an end run around the problem.
Using
a technique it calls “tricklecasting,” Penthera has developed a software
platform that can be retrofitted onto many existing and future mobile devices
that will allow error-free delivery of MP3 files, podcasts, video clips,
full-length TV shows and movies to phones, PDAs and laptops.
Penthera's platform, called Mediacast, allows mobile TV broadcasters to shift
from "live streaming of TV and radio" to "broadcasting media files" to client
devices.
Mediacast allows mobile operators to "tricklecast" files to devices for storage
and later playback. With client software installed on portable devices,
consumers could access and play back virtually any type of media.
The
company’s CTO Adam Berger, said the software requires no additional bandwidth or
investment in network infrastructure, making the current channel escalation race
among mobile TV technologies irrelevant.
Citing
the proliferation of digital video recorders, the company believes that much of
what is viewed on TV is increasingly recorded and not real time delivery,
Penthera's software also provides DVR capabilities that allow users to record
and save programs to a device—even while watching another program—for later
viewing.
The
tricklecast method, the company believes makes it unnecessary to guarantee real
time delivery of broadcast files, which are often lost or interrupted on
error-prone mobile networks
The
key to the tricklecast method is the use of erasure coding technology from
Digital Fountain, which it combine with its own Raptor algorithm that fills in
lost data packets inadvertently introduced into media during content
broadcasting.
The
company said the software will allow operators to begin delivering files within
the next three to six months. The company is also working on an application
framework it will offer to developers within the same time frame.
To learn more, go to
www.panthera.com or
www.digitalfountain.com.
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