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Panthera develops ticklecast method of mobile TV delivery

By Hank Brineen
iApplianceWeb
(02/19/07, 2:54 AM GMT)

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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