Microsoft today unveiled a competitor to the popular Adobe Flash Web media player at the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas. This new solution for video and interactivity on Mac- and Windows-based Web browsers is being called Silverlight.
Silverlight, according to Microsoft, is designed for quick installation to Web browsers and " integrates with existing Web technologies and assets to provide higher-quality experiences with lower costs for media delivery." This Microsoft technology, previously called Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere, has garnered the support of some pretty heavy hitters in the media company arena. These companies include Akamai Technologies Inc., Brightcove Inc., Eyeblaster Inc., Limelight Networks, Major League Baseball and Netflix Inc.
Silverlight uses the Windows Media Video (WMV) format, which Microsoft says will make it compatible with "the millions of hours of content already available on the Web." It will work with Netflix, for example, to let members "enjoy DVD-quality movies immediately on our instant-viewing feature." Silverlight will reportedly scale full-screen high-definition (HD) to mobile display sizes and is supported in Internet Explorer,Firefox and Safari.
“Content providers are seeking a way to deliver rich interactive applications using the tools and skills they already have," said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, in a statement. "They want an end-to-end solution that enables them to rapidly reach multiple platforms with reasonable deployment costs. Microsoft Silverlight delivers on this need and marks a real step forward for the industry. Silverlight is the only solution in the market today that enables content creators to tap into the broad ecosystem for Windows Media technologies while taking the Web’s rich interactive application experience to new levels.”
