DST does NaviSite site
Systems integrator Digital System Technology has completed construction of an Internet broadcast operations center for NaviSite Inc., Andover, Mass. The 10,000-square-foot facility, a rebuild of a previous company's operations center, is equipped to receive audio and video from fiber and satellite. It allows NaviSite to handle up to 120 encoded live and on-demand video streams per hour. NaviSite's first successful stream—a live Madonna concert from London viewed at Msn.com last year—was considered the largest Internet broadcast to date. Other recent projects included a live stream at MirReentry.com of the Mir Space Station's descent and plunge into the Pacific Ocean.
HDTV Over IP
This month, 2netFX, a provider of streaming systems for intranet and broadband Internet media delivery, demonstrated an HDTV multicast delivered over the Internet. The demonstration, at only 20 Mb/s, took place via an Internet2 connection using the company's ThunderCast HDTV/IP v3.5 server, located at Manoa, at the University of Hawaii, and its StreamRider HDTV Player software v3.5—including a 2netFX HDTV decoder board—set up at NASA's Moffet Airfield in Northern California. ThunderCast HDTV/IP is a multicast server for high-definition streaming of live or prerecorded video at 10 to 50 Mb/s over ordinary IP-based networks. It also allows playback on a standard PC or set-top appliance.
Bluetooth Losing Its Bite
Microsoft has announced that it will not add support for Bluetooth, recently championed as the next generation for computing, to its newest version of Windows XP. The move is seen as a blow to the technology, which has claimed the support of nearly 2,000 leading technology companies. Another wireless technology, 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, seems to be gaining momentum with developers and in the marketplace. Although Wi-Fi requires that users be within the proximity of a transmitter, it offers faster speeds and easy adaptation for programs because it so closely resembles traditional networking. Bluetooth, on the other hand, allows devices to communicate directly instead of through a transmitter. Microsoft said it will include Wi-Fi support in the new Windows XP version.
