• Save the stuff you like, create playlists and share them.
• Promote your taste in music and meet other music fans.
• Get recommendations based on the music you like.”

We hope you’ll keep us updated about your experiences on PluggedIn. Let us know what you think!

• Cisco, a Move investor, demonstrated Move’s edge caching infrastructure and set-top boxes;
• Level 3, a Move partner, demonstrated Move’s adaptive streaming;
• Microsoft, a Move partner, pushed the integration of the Move plugin with the Silverlight platform.

Move’s strategic industry involvement is growing deeper, and we’re glad to be involved with the biggest names in technology and television.

At NAB 2008, Beet.TV interviewed Microsoft’s Steve Sklepowich about the Move-Microsoft strategic partnership, and Sklepowich expressed why Microsoft is so excited to be integrating Move’s exceptional technology with Silverlight. He said, “Move has raised the bar for streaming today on the Web. They have just a really gorgeous adaptive streaming technology with some very interesting ad insertion models as well as a very interesting HD experience. [. . .] Silverlight brings a next-level of interactivity—DVD interactivity—together with [Move's] high-quality adaptive streaming experience. ”

More details about the Move-Microsoft partnership coming soon.

Investors, media publishers, and media consumers: We hope you’ll stay tuned in coming months to Move’s progress transforming the landscape of Internet television.

Fox.com streams video through Move Networks, and recently on their site I was delivered an ad for Old Spice that was tied into a preview for Semi Pro, the new Will Ferrell comedy in theaters. In the ad, Ferrell was in character, with the costume, hair, and humor of Jackie Moon. I found the ad entertaining; it achieved what Young described as allowing “the brand and the user to take the journey together, with the tacit understanding being that more entertainment, not just advertising, lies right around the corner. It’s . . . taking the world of the original feature film, edgy television show or much ballyhooed novel and going even further with characters, situations, humor, drama, you name it.”

I have more to say about improving ad models, but for now I’m interested to hear your thoughts about ads as entertainment and what else creates quality advertising.

In Oprah’s live Web classroom, viewers from all parts of the world call in, send video messages, or email questions for Oprah or Eckhart Tolle about Tolle’s book, A New Earth. Questions from viewers guide the Webcast’s discussion and heighten the event’s interactivity, enhancing the learning environment for each viewer. The only way to achieve this level of worldwide interactivity is through the Internet and Move Networks’ streaming to hundreds of thousands of people. A viewer named Cathy in Beijing, China, called in and said, “This is huge that we can have this one conversation around the world. I’m a girl from Deluth, Minnesota, living in Beijing, China, and I’m talking to Oprah in Chicago and Eckhart.” Oprah responded exuberantly, “Fun!”

If you haven’t watched Oprah’s event yet, it’s not too late to catch up. Watch the past two weeks’ Webcasts on demand, and tune in on Monday to participate in the discussion of Chapter 3. Let us know how it goes for you!

Today Move Networks announced plans to integrate the Move media player with Microsoft’s Silverlight technology.  Because of this integration, developers (and viewers) will enjoy greater flexibility and quality in their streaming video.

Microsoft Silverlight, a cross-browser, multiplatform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web, will now integrate Move Networks’ video streaming technology that allows videos to start faster, play smoothly with no buffering, and deliver high quality video resolution.

As online video usage continues to grow exponentially, Move Networks’ technology combined with Microsoft Silverlight’s open, flexible development platform will give media companies and developers the ability to quickly develop and deploy unique online television offerings. Within one environment, developers will be able to seamlessly integrate unique branding and navigational elements within, around and on top of the highest quality online video on the net.

We are excited to push the boundaries of online video streaming!  The announcement was made today at MIX and on Microsoft’s site. 

The use of the internet in political campaigning has reached all-time highs and has shown another sign of the cultural transition to web-based media.  As the BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan said in a Streaming Media report,  “…social networking—and streaming media—play a big role in the ‘get out the vote’ process.”

Check out the ABC News site Tuesday night!

For instance, ESPN 360 is streaming tonight’s Lakers vs. Suns game live and in HD to those with ESPN 360 access. This is not the first time HD has been streamed live. Fox and ABC have both streamed live content with Move in the past (Fox streamed the Sarah Conner Chronicles live to rave reviews, the Oscars were streamed live, ABC carried the presidential primaries live, etc.); however, this is the first regular season NBA game to go live with HD.

If your ISP is AT&T, Verizon Communications, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier Telephone & TV, Charter Communications, Mediacom Communications, Conway, Grande Communications or some of the other smaller carriers, you should have access to ESPN 360. (If not, you should ask your cable provider to become part of the family!)

Go to ESPN 360 and check it out! If you can’t watch now, take a look at the other HD events at ABC and FOX. When it comes to high-def online viewing, the future is now.

However, Move isn’t the only streaming provider that claims to stream video with high quality. So, what’s the difference? Move defines quality as (1) fast starts, (2) continuous playback, and (3) high fidelity. Our experience and reporting systems tell us that users stay more engaged with the video and visit the Web site more often if these three elements are maximized. Our streaming solution ensures that video is adapted to every kind of platform, regardless of bandwidth or processing power. Our reporting and analytic services show that when these are maximized, viewing lengths are extended. Most recently, our stats indicate that we have extended maximum viewing length from under 15 minutes to over 50 minutes. The bottom line: quality leads to increased viewership and is a must for advertisers. This makes perfect sense—media’s history demonstrates over and over that quality is the key to viewership. More on this idea another time . . .

Move is interested in hearing what you have to say about video quality and what creates a high-quality viewing experience for you.