Tech Shout!

Besides, launching its Adobe Media Player, Adobe Systems also announced the launch of Adobe Flash Media, a new program aimed at customers who need to deliver live and on-demand streaming media applications. In a separate announcement, Microsoft announced the launch of its new online media platform called Silverlight, which will definitely prove to be a rival to Adobe.

Inaugural members of the Adobe Flash Media Solution Provider include The FeedRoom, Multicast Media Technologies, Jalipo, Onstream Media and StimTV. These solution providers specialize in enabling organizations to broadcast live Flash streaming content for sports events, concerts, webcasts, educational and promotional events.

The Flash Media Solution Provider program members will use Flash Media Server 2.0 and the Flash Video Streaming Service. Flash Media Server 2.0 offers traditional streaming media capabilities and a flexible development environment for creating and delivering innovative, interactive media applications to a broad audience. The Flash Video Streaming Service program offers hosted services for delivering on-demand video for Adobe Flash(R) Player, across high-performance networks.

According to Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager, Dynamic Media at Adobe, “The market for live and on-demand streaming applications continues to grow as companies realize the power and efficiency of using the Internet and Flash to deliver high-impact communications through video. The new FMSP program enables organizations to deliver innovative streaming solutions via the Flash player to large audiences even if they don’t have Flash expertise in-house.”

Microsoft, who “co-incidentally” unveiled Silverlight on Sunday, was surely a means to challenge Adobe Systems rather dominant Flash player.

Microsoft Silverlight works on most Web browsers including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s FireFox. The company sees the plug-in as a platform for rich interactive applications, or Web programs that run like desktop computer software.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Microsoft’s Silverlight outshines Adobe’s Flash Media or vice versa.