Over the last year we have built on the strong momentum of Azure Media Services by adding more innovating features to enable content owners and partners to prepare, protect, distribute and monetize media content in the cloud. Building off of the recent successes in live sports with Superbowl 2015 and the launch of Next Generation Sports Network (NGSN), we’ve also brought on board broadcasters and telcos such as FujiTV in Japan and Telenet in Belgium. As evidenced by our recent launches of Live Channel, Media Indexer and Content Protection services, we continue to rapidly deliver game-changing capabilities to enable media content monetization and high quality delivery to any device, anywhere.
Today at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show 2015, Azure Media Services is excited to announce key new services, certifications and partnerships that enable fully end-to-end cloud based media workflows, from camera to viewer.
- Live Encoding Preview – Live encoding expands on the industry proven live cloud platform and can be combined with dynamic packaging, dynamic encryption, sub-clipping, dynamic manifest manipulation, ad-marker insertion, and seamless live to on-demand capabilities to build comprehensive live, linear, and cloud DVR workflows. Common use cases include event based streaming with dynamic ad-insertion and 24×7 linear streaming with cloud DVR requirements. This private preview of Azure Media Services live encoding is the same solution that has been used to power some of the largest events on the planet such as the Superbowl 2015 and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. To access this private preview please send mail to amslived@microsoft.com. Look out for more details of the service and options for getting early access in the Azure Media blog over the next couple of days. To learn more about live encoding, click here.
- Azure Media Player – Azure Media Player is an automated player solution that allows content owners to reach the most popular devices with the best player and streaming format. Azure Media Player provides a simple and customizable developer experience for content owners and partners to reach media viewers across a wide range of browsers and devices. It utilizes industry standards such as HTML5, Media Source Extensions (MSE) and Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) to provide an enriched adaptive streaming experience across browsers and has a seamless fall back to browser plugins like Flash & Silverlight. Watch out for a more in depth blog on Azure Media Player over the next couple of days. To learn nor about Azure Media Player, click here.
- Spanish Language Support for Azure Media Indexer – We’re also launching an addition to our popular audio Indexing service to enable customers to increase accessibility and discoverability of their Spanish-language content. This addition expands the powerful Speech to Text engine from its current English language capabilities and enables greater discoverability and monetization of audio tracks for scenarios ranging from sports to surveillance and security. Look out for more details of the service and access options in the Azure Media blog over the next couple of days. To learn more about Azure Media Indexer, click here.
- New compliance certifications – Protecting premium media content in the cloud is a requirement for content owners and distributors, and to meet these needs, Microsoft Azure Media Services has obtained the Content Delivery Security Association’s Content Protection and Security Program certification. Now with the added validation of CDSA certification content owners on the Azure Media Services platform can rest assured that their content is protected with enterprise grade security. Look out for more details on our certification on the Azure Media blog over the next couple of days.
- Clearleap Partnership – Building on our rich partner ecosystem, Azure Media Services is proud to partner strategically with Clearleap a powerful OTT video solution provider. Through Clearleap’s integration with the industry proven Azure Media Services platform and their own range of SaaS services they will provide a full range of on-demand and live solutions. For more information on our partnership, click here.
We’re continually moving the needle when it comes to scalable, secure, and cost-effective media workflows in the cloud, and combined with our rich ecosystem of partners we offer a differentiated platform to enable your end-to-end solution needs. Stay tuned to the Microsoft Azure Blog all week for deeper dives on these announcements, click here to learn more about Azure Media Services, and come visit us at NAB Booth SL 6610 to see these services in action.