Streaming Media Spotlighted At Internet World
(04/09/99, 7:50 p.m. ET)
By Malcolm Maclachlan, TechWeb
At Spring Internet World 99, the big news is around rich content and the pipelines that are going to bring it to users.
Microsoft promises to make one of the biggest announcements at the show on Tuesday, when its Windows Media Technologies groups hold the Audisee99 event. The company will be showing off its latest audio- and video-streaming technologies.
Two days later, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser will give a keynote at the show, discussing new business models for streaming media. Glaser should be an expert; his company's competition with Microsoft in the streaming space has led it to constantly adjust its business model. Two years ago, RealNetworks was the acknowledged leader in the space, but an ill-fated partnership with Microsoft may have given Redmond a chance to catch up.
Last month, RealNetworks announced major upgrades to its G2 Player. However, some analyst said that the technology leadership has been ceded to Microsoft. RealNetworks, however, can still play on its powerful brand name, and has been increasingly turning its player into a portal, offering content from a variety of different partners, some of which pay a premium for the spot.
Other streaming-media companies at the show include both Spinner.com and Geo Interactive, both of which will be introducing new technologies on Monday, the day before the show starts.
The show will also feature many of the big players that will provide the networks that bring this content to people. Keynote speakers include Rich McGinn, CEO of Lucent Technologies; John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems; and John Sidgmore, vice chairman of MCI WorldCom. Each will focus on how the Internet needs to grow and change, from adding bandwidth to accommodating new services, in order to meet future demand. AT&T Internet Services is also planning a major announcement at the show.
Another big player at the show will be Oracle, which will show off an updated version of its application server and a new message-broker system with support for XML.
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