Brightcove Upgrades Its Online Video Platform

Online video is big today and it's going to get huge in the not-so-distant future. Sites like YouTube and Hulu may be getting all the attention and the users, but at one point specialized video hosting sites will be replaced by custom platforms and most sites will offer their own videos. This market is small at the moment and there's no place to go but up. Brightcove, a video platform provider aimed at businesses and a big player in the market, has launched the latest version of its platform with a nice list of new features and, more importantly, with a set of new lower-tier pricing.

From a technical perspective, the Brightcove 4 platform comes with a number of updates and new features covering some of the latest trends in online video. Topping the list of new features is a new native player for the iPhone, Facebook support and live video streaming.

The underlying technology has also gotten smarter, allowing the player to adjust the quality of the video on-the-fly, depending on network conditions and CPU power, by using Adobe technology and content delivery networks. Moreover, it will be able to switch between Flash-based or HTTP delivery.

Great technology by itself is useless if you can't sell it. Therefore, Brightcove also introduced a couple of new pricing levels to cater to smaller businesses which couldn't afford the full service. The company's cheapest offering came in at $6,000 per year, out of the reach of many businesses which might still have been interested in giving video a shot.

Now Brightcove offers a $99 per month option which comes with 50 videos, 40 GB of bandwidth, and one account. A little higher on the pricing ladder, the company is now introducing a $199 per month option with 200 videos, 100 GB of bandwidth, and two accounts. Finally, there is a $499 per month option with 500 videos, 250 GB bandwidth, and three accounts.