2008-12-02 20:15:02 -

www.inlettechnologies.com - Inlet Technologies, the leader in advanced encoding solutions for new media, announced today that Netherlands-based Cross Media Ventures is employing its SpinnakerTM encoding solution to stream a variety of live events, including the 2008 Wimbledon tennis championships and A1GP Motor Races held in the Netherlands, as well as a classical music concert in Amsterdam.

Cross Media recently produced and managed ten live streams from the Wimbledon tennis championships over the Netherlands" NET5 station Web site using the Microsoft Silverlight platform. In addition, viewers can watch the Wimbledon matches on-demand through the NET5 portal.
"One of the key criteria we used when selecting Inlet"s Spinnaker was its ability to encode the highest quality live streams with exceptional color representation," said Raymond Garnier, Managing Director of Cross Media Ventures. "There are certain nuances with regards to game play and live sports action that make it especially important to maintain the best quality stream for our viewers."
The sports industry is one of the fastest growing segments for streaming live content on the Web. A recent study by Screen Digest suggests that sports will be the biggest driver of online video consumption in years to come. Online sports video streams/downloads served in the US market are projected to increase from 5.2 billion in 2007 to 10.8 billion by 2012. A StrategyOne study sponsored by Motorola revealed that nearly half of Europe is currently watching TV on the Internet.
Cross Media also streamed a November concert with pianist Jorge Luis Prast at Amsterdam"s Concertgebouw. "We only considered Spinnaker for this particular application due to its exceptional quality," said Garnier. "Europeans are passionate about music, so the sound as well as the picture must be superior."
"Online video users seek out content that speaks to their passions and demand a level of quality that matches their enthusiasm," said Neal Page, CEO, Inlet Technologies. "Inlet is pleased to work with Cross Media Ventures to bring excellence to live streaming video."
The Spinnaker family of advanced, live encoding solutions enables content providers to reach new audiences through new media networks. Spinnaker delivers the bandwidth performance and unique features necessary to provide a true broadcast experience over any IP network. Spinnaker"s powerful encoding engine makes it an ideal solution for streaming live sporting events to the Internet. For more information on this product, please refer to www.inlethd.com/encoding/20/18/Spinnaker.
About Cross Media Ventures
Cross Media Ventures is a specialist in Streaming Media. In addition to technical implementation and a owner of a 150Gbps CDN, CMV also manages entire projects from concept to realization. CMV is the reincarnation of Garnier Streaming Media and, with that, has acquired years and years of experience in the field of Streaming Media.
About Inlet Technologies
Inlet Technologies is the leading provider of advanced encoding solutions, enabling new media for new networks. Inlet?s solutions produce the highest quality video, faster and more efficiently than any other, allowing content creators, programmers and distributors to increase efficiency, reduce costs and deliver superior quality video over any IP network. Inlet solutions are ideal for applications such as real-time professional streaming, Blu-ray encoding, Video-on-Demand, Web-based video, digital archiving and dailies. Inlet customers, such as MLB.com, Modern Video and Microsoft, are able to expand their audiences and create new revenue from their valuable content. For more information, visit www.inlethd.com.


Crossroads Public Relations for Inlet Technologies

Amy Needham, 919-270-9377

aneedham@crossroadspr.com