Requirements for Watching Apple’s Sept. 1 Keynote Live

Apple’s decision to limit the availability of its September 1 live streaming to Snow Leopard and iOS users is not arbitrary, as Apple is using a new streaming technology - HTTP Live Streaming -  introduced alongside QuickTime X and iOS 3.0, according to a report.

“Apple will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards,” the Cupertino-based company announced.

“Viewing requires either a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad,” Apple said.

HTTP Live Streaming is an HTTP-based media streaming communications protocol implemented by Apple as part of its QuickTime X and iPhone software.

MacRumors makes a note of Apple’s requirements to watch the live video streaming of its September 1 event, revealing there are workarounds even for those who don’t own a Macintosh computer running Snow Leopard, or an iOS device.

For non-supported users, the streaming will be available (“at least in stops and starts” the rumor site notes) via a workaround that involves the VLC media player (download for Mac and Windows).

The stream is said to load in VLC for both Mac and Windows.

The workaround is available because HTTP Live Streaming breaks the overall stream into a sequence of small HTTP-based file downloads, each download loading one short chunk of an overall potentially unbounded transport stream.

The client may select from a number of different alternate streams containing the same material encoded at a variety of data rates, as the stream is played.

This allows the streaming session to adapt to the available data rate.

VLC would supposedly download an extended m3u playlist containing the metadata for the various sub-streams which are available at the start of the streaming session.

The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.