Microsoft aims for a high def web with Silverlight

Rob Updegrove (GHoosdum) Microsoft has introduced Silverlight, a product that allows

April 16, 2007 10:31 AM ET in News, , ,

Microsoft has announced a new technology that allows high-definition video to be streamed over the web. Called Silverlight, this technology is aimed at the same market served by Adobe Flash and Apple’s Quicktime.

Flash is undoubtedly the current king of video streaming via the web, being the technological basis of both YouTube and Google Video. However, one key thing that Silverlight can provide that Flash can’t is high-def content. Silverlight also promises rich interactive application (RIA) delivery, much like Flash or Flex.

Unlike Microsoft’s own proprietary and insecure ActiveX control technology, Silverlight is both cross-platform and cross-browser. The plugin-based technology works on both Mac and PC, using Firefox, Safari, and of course MSIE.

Among others, Netflix has signed on as a supporter for Silverlight. Is high-def streaming of movies through Silverlight on your Netflix account in your future?

More information about Silverlight and Microsoft’s content vision can be found in the Microsoft press release.

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7 Comments:

  1. Leonardo
    16 Apr '07, 6:55 pm

    I no longer believe any report, advert, or specification with the terms "HD" or "High Definition" in it. Everything from coffee makers to AM radio stations has suddenly become 'HD.' It's like "Web 2.0" - whatever you want it to be.

    OK, rant over. I'll read the article now.

  2. Leonardo
    16 Apr '07, 7:04 pm
    broad partner ecosystem...entire range of solutions...Microsoft provides the business systems and IT infrastructure that media and entertainment companies need...Improving the Content Experience...continually enriching the consumer experience...value in its customer and partner relationships to enhance core Microsoft technologies

    I'm so excited I think I'll have to leave work early today! Sorry, but in between the PR-buzzword-babble there's just not much in the press release. Amazing - the pay those slick PR people earn for their propaganda.

    This is no slam on you GHoosdum. Half the purpose of posting news here is to start discussion. Well, it worked. Every quarter some big enterprise comes out with a plan that will shake modern communications and entertainment to its foundations. I'm still waiting.

  3. Lincoln
    16 Apr '07, 7:34 pm

    Another media player? Yay hooray!

  4. GHoosdum
    17 Apr '07, 10:39 am

    I tried to pull the most interesting actual content out of the article and leave the PR bull out of it. I wasn't interested in the MS media vision so much as the technical details of Silverlight. I was particularly curious about the mention of Netflix signing on with the technology.

    Silverlight isn't so much a video player as it is a system of delivery for the HD content; the plugin will allow both video playback and RIA interactivity, much like the Flash plugin does, only with an MS stamp on it instead.

    Of course, there's little doubt that DRM will be built right in...

  5. Lincoln
    17 Apr '07, 12:08 pm

    I don't mean to be beating up on MS, but I consistently feel like their mantra is "try to break into markets after someone else has already created them and hope we can crush them with out resources."

  6. Thrax
    17 Apr '07, 1:24 pm

    To this I say: zzzz.

  7. GHoosdum
    17 Apr '07, 1:31 pm
    Quoting Thrax

    To this I say: zzzz.

    Be careful what you say, you're giving Microsoft fuel for a marketing campaign:
    "What's all the buzz about? Silverlight!"

Troll-free since 2003 ®