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Stream Anywhere – Mydeo’s solution for live video to mobile devices

October 12, 2012 by Danny

EDIT: Stream Anywhere has been upgraded, click here for details.

Consuming digital media has changed drastically over the past few years. It seems now everyone carries a Smart Phone in their pocket or an iPad in their bag. Mobile internet means people can access their favourite websites from anywhere and at any time. If you’re unable to cater for these consumers, you could be losing a sizable chunk of your audience and it doesn’t take a genius to tell you what that could mean for your business.

HTML5 and the <video> tag, gives us a relatively easy way to reach these mobile consumers for your on-demand video content – but what about live video? Flash is still supported by older Android devices but as people upgrade their handsets and more people update their software to the latest OS, you’re going to be losing more and more consumers as support for their newer devices is inevitably dropped.

Not to worry though because Mydeo have again teamed up with Limelight Networks to bring you Stream Anywhere. The Stream Anywhere solution utilises HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) which was included as part of the latest Flash Media Server (FMS) update. HLS has swiftly become the standard for live streaming to mobile devices as it was implemented by Apple for their highly successful iOS software.

One of the great features of Stream Anywhere is that the transcoding is all handled on the fly, within the cloud. This means you don’t have to install any software locally and the encoder doesn’t need access to extreme levels of processing power. This makes the whole process of publishing live video to mobiles much more convenient.

Benefits of the Stream Anywhere solution include:

  • Automatically deliver to multiple mobile devices without preencoding content.
  • Reach new audiences (such as iPhone and iPad) without having to make any changes to existing RTMP streams.
  • Leverage the global scale and reach of the Limelight HTTP Edge to deliver to HLS supported devices.
  • A cloud-based service! No need to worry about software or hardware installation and maintenance.

For more information on pricing or on how Mydeo can help you and your business reach mobile devices – Live and On-demand. Get in touch by phone: +44 208 540 2300 or by email: m3@mydeo.com.

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FMS Video Delivery – brought to you by Mydeo and Limelight Networks

September 3, 2012 by Danny

Even with the introduction of HTML5, Flash streaming is still one of the most widely used formats for delivering video over the internet – especially for live events. Here at Mydeo, we still receive many requests for Flash live and on-demand services.  The following article by Limelight Networks explains some of the options available to you when using FMS to deliver your video content:

Flash Media Server 3.5

Customers of Flash streaming services now have more options for broadcast-quality video delivery on the Internet. With support for Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5, Limelight Stream enables dynamic streaming, DVR functionality within a live stream, and enhanced H.264 video and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio. 

Dynamic Streaming

For an optimum viewing experience, the quality of the video file you deliver needs to match your end user’s available bandwidth. The trouble is, their bandwidth may suddenly drop, perhaps because other users in the house or community start consuming more bandwidth on a shared pipe. Your viewer is left watching (or trying to watch) a high-bit-rate video on a connection that’s too slow to handle the stream, resulting in stutters, stops, and a less-than-positive experience.

Dynamic streaming addresses this common scenario by switching seamlessly to a higher- or lower-quality stream based on available bandwidth — without ever disrupting the flow of video or audio. (Of course, this means you need to have encoded and uploaded the same content as multiple independent files at different bit-rates.)

Although Flash Media Server 3.5 provides the ability to switch files, it’s the Flash client that actually requests the change. The user’s Flash player (version 10 required) monitors current bandwidth and CPU load. If the video buffer is filling up too rapidly or the CPU is nearing pre-defined utilization levels, the Flash client can simply ask the server to switch to a different file.

Dynamic streaming is available for live and on-demand Flash content and supports both .flv and H.264 files types.

Live DVR

Give your viewers the freedom to walk away from a live event without worrying about missing out on the action. Flash Media Server 3.5 supports live DVR, enabling end users to return to portions of live streaming events, even if their Internet connection choked and missed a crucial moment. With Live DVR, you can create streaming video solutions that include instant-replay, catch-up, or seek functionality.

Even with all these interactive features, there’s no transfer of your content to the user’s system. As with all streaming services, Flash Media Server 3.5 caches the live DVR at your discretion.

At Mydeo we offer a whole host of Flash delivery solutions including those mentioned above – We also offer instant set up with no installation fees. If you’re interested in Mydeo’s Flash services or any of our other many CDN solutions, please do not hesitate to get in contact – Email: danny@mydeo.com, Phone: +44 208 540 2300.

You can also find us at: www.mydeo.com

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Customer Origin – reduce your CDN storage costs and keep source control of your content

July 5, 2012 by Danny

Customer Origin is the best way to have complete control over your content but at the same time, utilise the power of a global CDN like Limelight Networks.

What is a CDN?

As you probably already know, a CDN is a collection of servers strategically placed across the globe. When a file that’s being handled by a CDN is requested, a copy of that file is cached to the closest POP to the end user. This means that when another user requests the same file from a similar location, the file is now being served locally. This can do wonders for performance as well as taking critical load off of your own servers. Mydeo utilise the Limelight Networks CDN to provide our customer with global content delivery and site acceleration solutions.

What is Customer Origin?

Customer Origin is an alternative to storing your files straight on the CDN. Basically, Limelight Networks will pull your content directly from your servers eliminating the hassle of uploading and maintaining your content in a second location. This will save you time and money because you won’t be charged for storage space.

When would you use it?

Customer Origin is a great solution when you have tons of content already stored on your own server. Manually moving all your content over onto another storage solution will take valuable man hours which can be costly.  Control over HTTP headers is essential to those who want to specify caching policies and how their content behaves. If a file is uploaded to the CDN, there’s no way to control HTTP headers which makes practices such as browser caching impossible. Customer Origin means that, because your content is stored with you, you can determine its behaviour on the network.

How to get set up

To set up Customer Origin, all we would need from you is the address or IP of where your content is being stored. If your content is usually being served in this manner: http://myServer.com/folder/myFile.txt, the CDN will be able to use http://myServer.com/ as the source address. Our network will accept: top level domains, sub domains and specific directories such as: http://myServer.com/folder/. As long as the files you want to deliver over the CDN are accessible from the source you provide, the CDN will be able to handle and cache your content.

Once the source address has been configured and set up on the network. You will be given a Publishing URL. In most cases you can specify what this is so most of our customers follow this format: http://cdn.myCompany.com/. To use the network for content delivery you use the Publishing URL which maps directly to the source address. Going back to my source address example: http://myServer.com/, you would be able to call the same example file using this format: http://cdn.myCompany.com/folder/myFile.txt.

Content Freshness

The final point that needs to be raised is regarding content freshness. If the file is changed on the origin, will the cached ‘older’ copies of the file (that have been stored on the edge) continue to be delivered?

By setting the Time-To-Live (TTL) header on your content, you’re telling the network how often it needs to check back with the origin to see if the file has been removed or modified. In most cases this is set somewhere between 24 – 72 hours because making too many freshness checks could have an effect on performance. If there’s a particular case where a file or a whole range of files needs to be removed from the network quickly, we can make a purge request. Purging will remove all traces of that file or collection of files from the edge and force all new requests to be called from the origin, resetting the caching process.

I hope this has given you a better understanding of how we set up Customer Origin and how the network handles your content. If you ever have any questions regarding Customer Origin or other CDN solutions, you can get hold of us by email: m3@mydeo.com or by phone: 0208 540 2300, we are always happy to help. Pricing can also be found here on our website.

Many thanks

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Why not YouTube?

February 13, 2012 by Danny

This is a common question asked by many customers who are trying to establish the value in using a CDN service.

 

YouTube is often the first place you’d think of for sharing personal videos.  So if it’s good at distributing video, why not use it for your business website? I’m going to share a few of my thoughts with you here on why I wouldn’t recommend it for your business content:

 

  • A slick looking website has a big influence on how your customers perceive your business. Having promotional or corporate videos hosted via YouTube might be regarded as a ‘cheap option’ by your potential customers, which could reflect poorly on your business.
  • A YouTube video on your website will slow down your page loading times by up to 50%. Hosting your rich media content with Mydeo on the other hand can make your site up to 30% faster.
  • Keeping your customers engaged on your website is critical. But by embedding a YouTube hosted video on your pages there is a very high chance your customers will click through to YouTube.com, one of the stickiest sites in the world. Once there they are unlikely to return.
  • If you upload a video to YouTube, you automatically grant YouTube distribution rights to that video, across all media channels.
  • After watching a YouTube video, the player automatically recommends other videos within the same category. This could ultimately lead your customers to your competitors.
  • You get what you pay for. YouTube is free, so if you have questions or problems, you’re on your own.
  • Mydeo can accelerate delivery of all your files – not just video.

 

Mydeo allows small businesses to benefit from the speed, robustness and scalability of a world leading CDN, Limelight Networks, at a fraction of the cost of buying direct. This means your website is faster and your customers are happier.

 

Don’t just take our word for it, try it yourself at www.mydeo.com.

 

Thanks for reading. :)

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Reach, optimised mobile delivery by Limelight and now Mydeo!

January 12, 2012 by Danny

Reach is a great new service offered by Mydeo for optimised mobile delivery, Live and On-Demand. Below is all the information you need to know about this fantastic new solution.

Extend the reach of your video content to the growing
universe of mobile devices.

Publish once. Distribute everywhere. With LimelightREACH,™ you can grow the audience for your media content—reaching consumers wherever they happen to be, on whatever device they’re using, and in the right format for the device.

All devices are not created equal

As mobile video consumption surges, it’s no simple proposition to deliver content that works across an ever-expanding array of handsets and IP-capable gadgets. Now you can rise to the challenge—with LimelightREACH, an intelligence layer that optimizes media delivery for today’s mobile devices. This innovative solution combines video adaptation, device detection, and optimized delivery—so you don’t need worry about the technical details of reaching a mobile audience. A single Universal URL streamlines publishing for instant user access from any browser, any application.

You stay in control

LimelightREACH integrates mobile delivery intelligence with your existing workflow, so there’s no need to change the way you run your operation. You define how your content will be presented to consumers—and you can use the same hosting, publishing, and reporting infrastructure you already have in place. Thanks to an open architecture, LimelightREACH works with the leading CDNs used by media companies and integrates with popular advertising platforms, including LimelightADS,™ the new ad insertion service from Limelight Networks.®


With LimelightREACH, the business of publishing video to mobile audiences is easier than you think. The presentation of your content —whether on your mobile site or mobile application—remains under your control using one convenient URL for any piece of content.

LimelightREACH key features


Device targeting.

Limelight Networks maintains profile information for all the major smartphones, as well as the standard mass-market cell phones in use today. That means we’re on top of details like screen size, codecs, and encoding parameters—so you don’t need worry about the specific capabilities of every new device on the market.

One source file.

Publish your high-resolution source file and leave the rest to us. LimelightREACH supports on-demand video in a variety of container formats (MPEG2, MPEG4, MOV), video codecs (H.264, MPEG4 AVC, QuickTime), and audio codecs (AMR, AAC)—then adapts your media based on the profile settings for targeted devices.

Universal URL.

Your job is to present your content to mobile consumers and innovate on your mobile application or site. LimelightREACH makes that easy by giving you a single URL that works for any device. When a user requests your content, LimelightREACH detects the device and pulls the right version of your media, delivering it using the aprropriate scheme (HTTP or RSTP).

Media-grade CDN.

For scalable delivery, LimelightREACH leverages LimelightDELIVER,™ LimelightSTREAM,™ and other leading CDN platforms—giving you the confidence that any amount of content can be delivered reliably anywhere in the world.

Reporting and analytics.

Detailed reports on historical data, most requested programs, user behavior and consumption metrics, and geographic traffic give you valuable information about your mobile audience and your business. LimelightREACH also supports popular external measurement systems, such as Omniture.

Conclusion

So concluding this, we offer the best solution for mobile delivery on the CDN market. If you’re interested in Reach or any of our other CDN services, please feel free to contact us by phone on: +44 208 540 2300 and by email: m3@mydeo.com.


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Mydeo is hiring!

September 12, 2011 by carymarsh

C# Web Application Developer

Mydeo is an award-winning web-based software company that provides small and medium-sized enterprises with a seamless way of accelerating their web content. Through Mydeo’s custom-built, self-service portal, Mydeo Media Manager, businesses can instantly upload their site content, including videos, images, and downloads for immediate delivery over a global CDN. Businesses can leverage the power of the high speed CDN to deliver whole sites, rich media like Flash®, streaming or progressive video, or to support campaigns with high peaks and performance requirements – all at a fraction of the price it would cost to buy from a CDN directly. Built on Microsoft’s new Windows Azure platform, the service offers infinitely scalable processing power, providing customers with data on each and every file, right down to the hour of day.

Mydeo are now looking to recruit a web application developer to work on our exciting new cloud-based media platform. You will possess strong .NET C# experience, along with a working knowledge of SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008. Additionally, you will be able to comfortably work with and maintain Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers, running IIS 6 and 7. Experience working with (or a sound knowledge of) the Windows Azure platform is desirable, but a broad understanding of the challenges of developing for cloud platforms is required. Candidates must be competent front-end and back-end developers, with a firm understanding of web principles, including API design, Javascript, CSS and support for a range of clients. Strong communication skills, together with a logical approach to problem solving are essential.

As a key member of our small team, there will be very good opportunities to progress within the business. Remuneration package will be based on experience and share options will be available to the right candidates.

Location: UK – Wimbledon, London SW19 (District line, SouthWest Trains, ThamesLink) or remote based.

To apply please send you CV, together with a covering letter outlining your salary expectations to cm@mydeo.com.

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Getting started with Live Flash Streaming

December 16, 2010 by Danny

This article will walk you through the process of downloading, installing and configuring all the software required to start broadcasting to a Flash Push Live Stream with Mydeo.

If you don’t have a trial account already, open a 15-day free trial account now by heading to http://www.mydeo.com. Once you’ve opened your account, you can trial our “on-demand” CDN services immediately, but for a live trial you’ll need to request one by giving us a call or dropping us an email from your registered account email address.

If you have your welcome letter, containing all your credentials, then you’re all set to proceed to Step #1:

1. Download and install the software

Once you’ve got your Flash Live service login details from Mydeo, you’ll want to make sure you’ve downloaded the following:

  • Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder (PC or Mac versions available) – it’s free!
  • Limelight Networks Access Adapter – if you are using a PC, there are currently three versions of Flash Media Live Encoder and you need to install the correct Access Adapter in order for your Live Stream to work. Click on the version you’re running to download the correct Access Adapter: (3.0) (3.1) (3.2).
  • If you are using a Mac, you can download the Access Adapter here - All Access Adapters are free.

Install Flash Media Live Encoder on your computer first, followed by the Limelight Networks Access Adapter (do not launch Flash Media Encoder before you’ve installed the adapter).

2. Configure Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder (FMLE)

Go ahead and fire up your copy of FMLE.

Referring to the screen shot below, you can configure your copy of FMLE with the correct settings for your account (the coloured boxes on our diagrams represent sections you need to change in order to set up your encoder properly. Refer to the guidance notes underneath the screen shot to determine what you need to do).

Your ‘welcome email’ will contain two very important URLs that you now need: the private FMS publishing URL, and the public RTMP streaming URL.

Click to enlarge

Key:

  • From the RED box, choose the camera you want to use to broadcast. If you’re only broadcasting audio, you can de-select the “Video” check box.
  • In the GREEN box, you need to type the FMS URL. This is the private publishing URL that you connect your encoder to.

These URLs are CAsE SenSItIvE… You must type them exactly as we’ve given them to you, else they won’t work.

  • Finally, in the PURPLE box, you can give this stream a name. It must be all one word, and it is case-sensitive. We advise customers to give their stream names a meaningful name, for example, “camera1″ or “shop_cam”.

3. Start publishing

You’re now ready to start publishing. To begin, click the green START button at the bottom of the FMLE window:

You’ll then see the Limelight Networks Access Adapter pop up and ask you to enter a username and password:

Click to enlarge

Type in the username and password we sent you in your welcome email, then click OK.

That’s it, you’re all set to start streaming using the Mydeo and Limelight Networks!

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