The iPad Is Coming ... And It's All About Video ...

No mystery here -- the iPad is coming to an Apple store (and Best Buy store) near you this Saturday, April 3rd. The lines are already forming ...

Some of compared the iPad to a glorified iPhone -- it is bigger, but so what? (I must confess, that was my initial reaction as well).

But, the iPad represents so much more -- Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO of salesforce.com says it best in a guest post from yesterday's TechCrunch which is worthy of a read -- here is the link (I urge you to click on it because his "take" is thought-provoking).

One particular nugget from his piece that spoke to me is that the iPad represents an entirely new paradigm for computing -- "It's not about typing or clicking; it's about touching. It's not about text, or even animation, it's about video."

Read that again ... it's about video. It's about video. We are visual creatures. Video holds much an entirely different heightened impact on us than text ever could.

As if this point of accelerating video demand needed to be underscored further, a new report concludes that mobile data traffic will rise 40X over the next five years. The culprit? Primarily video! By 2015, it is reported that mobile video will account for 68.5% of all mobile data usage in the U.S.

Will be fun to watch all of this unfold ... and I likely will be doing that over the years on an iPad ...

OVPs and CDNs Offer Different, Yet Complementary, Solutions That Enterprises Need for Their Online Video

Tim Sigline of Streaming Media today gives an interesting perspective about OVPs and CDNs -- and expresses a view that the line between the two may be blurring.

Here is my take from Sorenson Media's perspective, since we offer OVP (online video platform) services (Sorenson 360), among others:

We have no desire to BE a CDN (content delivery network); in fact, we partner for CDN services rather than build ourselves. And, from our direct experience, CDNs absolutely need our kind of differentiated TOTAL video solutions to meet their fast accelerating demand from businesses and enterprises for high quality Internet video. Just like we recognize that we don't have CDN expertise, CDNs recognize that they don't have our kind of critical video expertise, technology and solutions. And, this is how great complementary partnerships are made -- we offer CDNs what they need and don't have; and CDNs (in particular AWS, our CDN and storage partner) offer the content delivery we need so that we can offer the most robust global content delivery for our users.

To be more precise, here are just some some significant things that we can uniquely do and CDNs alone cannot (but need to provide for their customers): (1) directly address the video professional's and enterprise's entire video workflow -- from video production all the way to distribution; (2) proprietary client-side encoding/transcoding technology and expertise, which is absolutely necessary for highest quality video and expedited publishing into the cloud (which is of growing importance and differentiation with the thirst for HD video); (3) player customization, SEO (search engine optimization), review and approval, and all the myriad other critical features absolutely necessary for the enterprise; (4) video management via a robust CMS; (5) fully customizable total video solutions for the enterprise including not only our OVP component (i.e., Sorenson 360), but also all of our other unique video technologies and solutions (Sorenson Squish, Squishnet, etc. -- client-side encoding in the browser and "YouTube in a Box" solutions -- and our professional services); and (6) full "community" features and exchanges (i.e., a place where video professionals gather and directly address each other's needs).

Bottom line -- OVPs and CDNs do not see themselves as being the same kind of "animals" at all. But, both recognize that the CUSTOMER's needs and wants are blurring and that they need the seamless integration of both.

Sorenson Sparks Yet Another Partnership -- This Time with Lenovo, Together With Qualcomm

I am pleased to announce yet another significant partnership for my company, Sorenson Media -- this time with global computer company Lenovo, together with mobile chipset powerhouse Qualcomm. Through this partnership, Lenovo joins a fast-growing list of companies licensing the Sorenson Spark video decoder -- this time an optimized version via Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset. Lenovo will include Sorenson Spark in its new Skylight smartbook which becomes available next month, in April.

Just in the past year alone, a veritable "who's who" of global consumer technology companies have joined with us to harness the power of Sorenson Spark -- including Lenovo, Qualcomm, Verizon and Samsung. Sorenson Spark enables licensees to offer consumers the widest selection of videos available on the Internet -- and Sorenson Spark, optimized on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, packs the combo punch of mobile processing performance, optimized power consumption, connectivity and multimedia to the "nth" degree. The full press release announcing the partnership can be viewed by clicking this link.

Expect other major enterprise partnership announcements soon ... very soon ...

Attention All CEOs -- Your Company May Be Good, But Is It Great?

Rarely, if ever, do I recommend a business book.

But, if ever there were a book to recommend, it is this one -- Jim Collins' "Good to Great."

No, it isn't new -- was published several years ago. But, its lessons -- backed by in depth study and analytics -- are timeless.

CEOs -- and any tech/digital media team member -- run, don't walk, to buy it. Read it. Strive to follow its lessons, which apply not only to business, but to everything you do.

Spotify -- Where's the Beef? Still Don't "Get" Your "Next Big Thing" Status

Spotify, the Euro-based online radio service, continues to be hyped everywhere in the news -- the company's CEO just gave a keynote at the SXSW conference, and the Los Angeles Times gives the company front page treatment in today's edition. Seems like Spotify continues to be publicly anointed as the "Next Big Thing."

But, why? I still don't "get" it (I wrote about this in a previous post).

Scores of companies -- literally -- have been offering Internet radio via a "Freemium" model for years (i.e., a "free" ad-supported service or a significant free-trial period for most, with the hopes of upselling a portion of those to a paid subscription model with additional features). Pandora (another tech darling), Slacker, Rhapsody, and Napster being just some of them (in fact, my own former company, digital music pioneer Musicmatch, offered Internet radio in this way years ago).

So, why Spotify? The underlying service is essentially the same -- the actual available music tracks are essentially the same -- and the business model is essentially the same.

Chalk it up to a great PR team that hypes Spotify's European roots and millions of users. But, virtually all of those users simply listen to the "free" ad-supported service (320,000 out of 7 million purported users -- i.e., about 5%) -- even the company's own clever home page video loudly proclaims "Instant, Simple, AND FREE!" as its call-to-action.

And, Spotify's subscription numbers pale in significance to even the much-maligned Rhapsody service (which still has hundreds of thousands more paying subscribers). Don't forget that Spotify -- like all subscription music services -- also sheds a portion of each users each month (via "churn"), meaning that it needs to continuously fill that void as well as add incrementally new users.

Finally, of course, Spotify still isn't legally available in the U.S. due to its inability to close deals with the major labels to date.

So, where's the "beef"?

Will someone "fill" me in on Spotify's special sauce?

Google, Sony, Intel & Logitech Give Apple (& Cable Companies) a Slice of Reality TV

Score 1 -- a major 1 -- for Google in its escalating war against Apple for your hearts and minds. This time, for your living room.

In a major -- MAJOR -- strategic initiative, Google is working with tech/consumer electronics titans Sony, Intel and Logitech to finally make Internet TV a wide-spread reality. No longer will the promise of compelling Internet-to-your-TV be in the hands of Apple only (or via countless other clunky smaller initiatives). Now, Sony (the TVs), Logitech, (the remote controls), and Intel (powerful chipsets) will pool their massive resources with Google's beyond-massive resources to make this a near-term reality (Reality TV for Apple?). Testing already has been ongoing, apparently, with satellite company Dish Networks.

What does this mean? Certainly it is a call to arms for Apple. Apple TV, to date, has not seemingly been a priority for the company. Well, Google's announcement certainly is a major wake-up call -- Apple wants your living room badly.

But, this strategic partnership of tech titans also is another major shot across the bow for cable companies. Google, of course, aims to make all content of whatever type searchable -- and that includes television programming. In other words, Google believes in "over-the-top" Internet TV (TV "freely" available over via your standard broadband Internet connection) -- whereas the cable giants seek to block such open access to television programming via their traditional IPTV "walled garden" approach in (closed access to television programming only for those who pay the cable companies). The stakes are extremely high here -- at the risk of stating the obvious. And, I have always believed -- as I have written several times -- that Internet TV will ultimately carry the day.

Well, Google TV accelerates this reality in a big, big, big way ...

This ain't good for a lot of major players ...

Sorenson Media -- Enrolling With Higher Ed (Harvard, U of Utah, OSU & More) with Enterprise Solutions

Little known fact to many -- Sorenson Media's products have been used by some of the biggest global brands for years (including some of the biggest media companies in the world such as Warner Bros., Gannett, HBO, and Conde Nast).

While we have fully embraced small-to-medium businesses, our focus always has been on meeting the needs of all business -- no matter what size.

As a result, it was only a matter of time that we signaled our formal entree into the enterprise market with our Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network (VDN) and differentiated high quality Total Video Solutions. Our recent announcement about our APIs -- which enable the customization and complete video solutions that enterprises demand -- signaled that the time was nye ...

Now is that time.

Right now, even before the formal press release hits the wires first thing tomorrow morning (click here for a preview of that release), you are the first to learn that Sorenson Media is officially in the enterprise business with our Total Video Solutions (Sorenson 360, Sorenson Squish, Sorenson SquishNet -- you can see all of our business Solutions on our new "Solutions" page -- click here). And, we enter the enterprise market first with higher education, given the unique needs of those institutions (and our unique ability to give them what they need -- i.e., the highest quality total video solutions from a brand they trust -- Sorenson). I am proud to write that our official entree is marked by significant implementations both domestically and internationally with Harvard University, the University of Utah, Ohio State University, Loyola Marymount University, and Ireland's Dublin City University.

Here (click here) is our new Higher Education-focused page on our website (including detailed descriptions of how each university is utilizing different pieces of our enterprise-grade Total Video Solutions).

Sorenson Media -- now officially open for enterprise business beyond Squeeze. The legacy of Squeeze's encoding engine -- i.e., highest quality video -- is the foundation of everything we now can do with our APIs and Total Video Solutions. That is our "special sauce." We make your videos look better, so that you can better build your brand, your credibility, and your revenues.

This matters to higher education ... this matters to your business.

Expect several other significant announcements soon ... very soon ...

SXSW -- Sorenson Welcomes Developers -- Here to Help

The SXSW conference continues this week -- and has become a virtual Mecca for digital media developers.

Developers -- need video solutions to build your better mouse-trap? Have no fear -- Sorenson is here! CTO Mike Flathers is taking meetings at SXSW to showcase what our APIs can do (which is just about anything you could want with Internet video).

As you may recall, we just recently launched our "Developer" site -- so, developers, come and get 'em!

Pink Floyd's Pig Flies High in Britain's High Court

Pink Floyd -- one of my favorite bands of all-time. The band's concert at the Rose Bowl in 1994 remains my favorite concert of all-time.

And, Pink Floyd's pig continues to fly high -- as artistic integrity wins over EMI's commercial factory (that was my attempt to use a metaphor flowing from the band's "Animals" album cover -- click here to see if I succeeded.)

Specifically, Britain's High Court ruled yesterday that Pink Floyd's record label -- the beleaguered EMI -- no longer can sell individual Pink Floyd tracks online; instead, in order to preserve the band's artistic vision for its "Works" (yet another Pink Floyd album), only full albums can be purchased online. In siding with the band, the High Court took an anti-Steve Jobs-ian stance, since it was iTunes that originally pressured virtually every band into selling stripped individual tracks.

How can anyone argue with this? Who wouldn't consider it blasphemy to listen to "Dark Side of the Moon" in anything other than a full, total experience? Yes, by placing artistic integrity over commercial gains, Pink Floyd certainly is leaving "Money" on the table (the band sold 1.71 million individual tracks online last year -- essentially 2 to 1 over digital album sales). But, at the end of the day, how much more money does the band need? It is all about legacy at this point.

Although I "Wish You Were Here" touring again ...

Dinner & Drinks On Us at LA's ESPN Zone! (Together With Partners Amazon & Digitaria)

What better way to spend St. Patrick's Day?

Next Wednesday night, March 17 from 6-10 pm, Sorenson Media -- together with partners Amazon (AWS) and leading agency Digitaria -- will host a Cloud Computing dinner and drink event at LA's ESPN Zone (at the Staples Center). Click here for more information about this event.

Learn more about our total video solutions for enterprise -- and how we partner with the best -- to give you the best.

If interested -- and to get on the VIP guest list -- send a note to my attention at bizdev@sorensonmedia.com

Sorenson Media -- Our Pushbutton Digital Media Summit "Spiel"

Yesterday, as indicated in my previous post, I presented as one of the "Hot" Utah-based companies at the Pushbutton Digital Media Summit.

Click here for the slide deck that accompanied my 15-minute "spiel." It gives a good high level overview of who we are -- what we have done -- what we do -- and why we matter.

Salt Lake City -- The "Quiet" Hub of Digital Media

Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are the home of much digital media and technology, it's true. But, that also means that hundreds/thousands of companies vie for a limited talent pool.

Very quietly -- too quietly to date -- another important hub for technology and digital media has risen, this time amidst the mountains of Salt Lake City. This is where tech titans Adobe, Novell, Omniture and countless others got their start. And, this is where my company, Sorenson Media, got its start over a decade ago (we now have roughly half our team in Salt Lake, and the other half in San Diego).

Yesterday and today, Utah's robust digital media community is finally showing its stripes -- showcasing itself in the first Pushbutton Digital Media Summit. I had the privilege of meeting the Governor and presenting Sorenson Media at the event -- and, on my panel (the regions "Hot" companies), I had the pleasure of meeting David Bradford, CEO of Fusion-io, among others. Fusion-io describes itself as offering the "world's fastest storage device."

How strong is the talent in the Salt Lake City region? Just look at Fusion-io. In a pure fortuity -- are there any coincidences? -- just before yesterday's panel the Wall Street Journal issued its Top 50 venture-backed companies in the world ... and Fusion-io was listed as #2.

Congratulations to David and his team at Fusion-io. And, good work in bringing some well-deserved and long-overdue visibility to the great digital media and technology talent on the other side of the mountains from Silicon Valley.

(FYI to other talented technology and digital media folks in the Salt Lake City region -- we at Sorenson Media continue to aggressively hire top talent -- see www.sorensonmedia.com/jobs and submit your resume.)

Sorenson Media -- "Hot" Today at Pushbutton Digital Media Summit

In a couple hours, I will be taking the stage at the Pushbutton Digital Media Summit in Salt Lake City -- to present in a segment titled "Hot New Utah Digital Media Companies." Here is a link to the conference site.

We are proud to be part of this first digital media summit in Salt Lake -- home of many of the biggest names in digital media and technology.

At this point, Sorenson Media is split essentially evenly with the bulk of our development team in Salt Lake -- and the bulk of our business/marketing/sales team in San Diego.

Hulu's Downward Spiral Continues -- No Content, No King

I have written several times previously about the early promise of online video site Hulu -- and its slow demise and its inevitable loss of relevance at the hand of traditional media economics.

Two more body-blows just hit the company to accelerate this death march -- both by media heavy-weight Viacom. Two of Hulu's most popular shows -- Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" & "The Colbert Report" have now been pulled. Yanked. Rendered MIA by the media conglomerate. Why share ad revenues and syndicate those hit shows -- with massively loyal audiences -- when you can monetize them yourself (which is what Viacom hopes to do by featuring them on its own websites only)?

Viacom's reasoning is understandable, of course. It is traditional -- conventional. And, that's the problem. While it may seem logical to fully control distribution and attempted monetization, that view is extremely short-sighted. While no one yet has cracked the monetization nut for television content distributed over the Internet, certainly the answer is NOT limiting viewership. Is it?

Especially with Jon Stewart who is consistently brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! My recommendation to Viacom -- ask him for his ideas to monetize in this New World Order. Once he wipes off that initial and endearing smirk off his face, he likely will have some really good ideas ...

Developers -- Welcome to the Wonderful World of Sorenson Media's API -- Build It & They Will Come

Big big news today on the Sorenson Media front -- we have now opened up our API to any and all developers! That's right, we now have our API freely available for development, complete with robust documentation to make it easy, easy, easy to integrate our differentiated high quality Total Video Solutions. Click here to our new Developer site -- and click here for more specifics from our press release that just hit the wires. And, most importantly, click here to hear what some outside developers are saying about our Sorenson API (you can see these in the "Videos" section of the Developer site).

Our open access to developers and our API is the result of a lot of blood and sweat (but no tears), since simplicity and robust documentation ruled the day as we planned for this day. Kudos to CTO Mike Flathers and his team for leading the charge here -- we had the full weight of our company behind this strategic initiative (you will see that our new "Developers" section is front and center with its own tab on our home page). Mike knows developers -- he spends significant time with outside developers and has been doing this longer than just about anyone. He knows what developers want and need.

So, now developers have full access to Sorenson Media's Total Video Solutions, including our Sorenson 360 video delivery network (VDN), which re-imagines what an online video platform should be.

Developers, enjoy! We anxiously await your feedback.