14 DAY TRIAL // The Beta Build of the next iteration of Microsoft’s integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform is now available for download. Both the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions of the IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta are now live on the Microsoft Download Center allowing customers running Internet Information Services (IIS) to encode content and serve it to customers via the web. IIS Media Services 4.0 is a plug-in designed to integrate seamlessly with IIS 7 and higher for customers that deal with media-delivery scenarios.
The best thing about the evolution of IIS Media Services 4.0 to Beta is the fact that Microsoft optimized the plugin to deliver content to PCs, mobile phones and TVs, by introducing support for a variety of file formats and protocols. Early adopters are encouraged to download IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta and test it, providing feedback to Microsoft.
“IIS Media Services now has a checkbox option to allow live adaptive streaming delivery to Apple devices. Using the same live H.264 streams you encode for Silverlight players running on PCs, Macs, Linux, Nokia S60 and Windows Phone 7 mobile devices, Broadcom and Intel set-top-boxes, IIS Media Services can now transmux those in real time to streams for iPad, iPod, and iPhone,” Chris Knowlton, a senior product manager for the media server platform at Microsoft, revealed.
Believe it or not, some of you have already enjoyed content served through IIS Media Services. If you watched online content of the 2008 Summer Olympics, but also from the Sunday Night Football, the UEFA Super Cup, the Tour de France, and the 2010 Winter Olympics, you were enjoying video delivered to Microsoft’s HTTP adaptive streaming technology for IIS.
According to Microsoft, IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta brings to the table a variety of new features, including: Smooth Streaming, Live Smooth Streaming, Transform Manager, Advanced Logging, Bit Rate Throttling, and Web Playlists.
IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta is available for download here.