Mickey, ABC News Go E-l-e-m-e-n-t-a-l

Submitted by Sam on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 21:19

Today is an exciting day for everyone here at Elemental, and really, for anyone with a stake in the future of online and mobile video delivery. This morning we announced that Elemental has raised $7.5 million in Series B financing led by Steamboat Ventures, joined by our existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Voyager Capital.

Elemental Mickey Ears

So coming up on our fourth birthday, there are many reasons to toast the future:

1. Our new VC partners: Steamboat Ventures is the ideal fit for Elemental. As the venture capital firm affiliated with The Walt Disney Company, Steamboat Ventures invests in early- to mid-stage, technology-focused companies pursuing opportunities in emerging digital media and consumer technology markets. 

Scott Hilleboe, Managing Director at Steamboat, joins Elemental's board, bringing significant media experience and a Harvard MBA to the table. Besides Elemental, he is currently an investor in EdgeCast Networks, Kyte, MediaBank, and MerchantCircle. Scott’s prior investments include Quigo (acquired by AOL), Fastclick (acquired by ValueClick), and PopularMedia (acquired by StrongMail).

Vancouver Olympics Streaming Brings New Meaning to Live Event Viewing

Submitted by Greg on Fri, 02/12/2010 - 16:23

tickets to OlympicsIt's been a long, but worthwhile, wait since the last Olympic Winter Games.
I think this year is especially exciting due to how far we've come technologically in just the last four years, let alone since I was a kid.

I remember bending rabbit ears on my 7" TV, picking up a fuzzy CTV Broadcast of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.  Being a young hockey player and skier, I was addicted to the Winter Olympics from that moment on, and I've watched every Olympics since. 

The evolution of media delivery and consumption over that period is really remarkable, and the Vancouver games will bring more options than ever for tuning in. In the US, NBC has gone to an all-HD production for the first time.  They will be broadcasting 835 hours of content on their network.  In addition, they will be live streaming about half of that over the Internet, and providing video-on-demand replays of over 1,000 hours of events. NBC is teaming up with Microsoft to present the online streams using Smooth Streaming technology and Silverlight players, which presents an amazing step forward in video quality.

Smarter Server: Moving from Man-hours to Computer-minutes

Submitted by Julie on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 18:08

 

Smarter Server

 

What will it take to create a video processing system that maximizes content output and minimizes management input?

Producing a "smarter server" will take a lot of time and effort, but the seeds of innovation are clearly in the market today. While an industry roadmap is not yet established, Elemental CEO Sam Blackman weighs in on the development potential for a smarter server. Here's an excerpt from the Streaming Media article:

The Future of TV Predicted at NewTeeVee Live Conference? Maybe.

Submitted by Sam on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 02:19

Today should be an interesting day in San Francisco. I've been looking forward to NewTeeVee Live conference for a couple months now. I'll admit this is somewhat due to the fact that Elemental is featured as one of ten of GigaOM's "favorite startups," but also because the conference has a terrific lineup. The startups invited were asked to talk about what they think is the "Next Big Thing"; there should be some interesting responses! Elemental is the first company to present, and I'm very curious to hear what the following companies (including some of the most exciting companies in the space like Boxee, Ooyala and Inlet) predict.NewTeeVee Live logo

Beyond the "Next Big Thing" portion, the schedule features a buffet of intriguing conversations with new media thought leaders and companies. I've been especially looking forward to hearing more about:

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