Prepping for the day when live sports and on-demand entertainment will flow over the Net, RealNetworks and At Home will sync up their networking technologies to more effectively stream media over broadband networks.
"Compared to TV, it won't be as good, but the experience is going to be captivating enough that a whole new set of applications can built around it," said Martin Dunsmuir, general manager of emerging technologies for RealNetworks.
"It will be about the level of quality that you have with the best videogames," he added.
The companies said Friday they will marry Internet service provider At Home's cable modem infrastructure with RealNetworks' G2 streaming platform. The combination promises improved quality of online video, multi-channel stereo, and animation.
The system is currently in alpha testing and will be available by the end of the year, according to Dunsmuir.
Alan Ramadan, CEO of Quokka Sports, which broadcasts live sporting events over the Net, said there are currently three bandwidth platforms in play – 28.8 to 56k, 300k to 1 megabyte, and 1 megabyte plus. But in reality, he said, we're only entering only the second of these stages.
"This is not going to be TV quality, you need 1.5 megs and above to get that. It will enable the mid-band, which is the next stage of adoption, in the 300k to 1 megabyte range."
Real Networks was the first company dedicated to streaming content over the Internet. The company has maintained its lead by upgrading its software platform to include new networking protocols and distribution methods. At Home also uses technologies within its network to speed up the delivery of bandwidth-intensive data.
For instance, the At Home supports video caching, which improves the accessibility of media clips by storing copies on servers that are geographically closer to end users.
