Windows Azure Media Services–Released

 

Windows Azure Media Services is a cloud-based PaaS solution that enables you to efficiently build and deliver media solutions to customers. It offers a bunch of ready-to-use services that enable the fast ingestion, encoding, format-conversion, storage, content protection, and streaming (both live and on-demand) of video. It also integrates and exposes services provided by industry leading partners – enabling an incredibly deep media stack of functionality that you can leverage.

You can use Windows Azure Media Services to deliver solutions to any device or client - including HTML5, Silverlight, Flash, Windows 8, iPads, iPhones, Android, Xbox, and Windows Phone devices. Windows Azure Media Services supports a wide variety of streaming formats - including Smooth Streaming, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), and Flash Media Streaming.

One of the unique aspects of Windows Azure Media Services is that all of its features are exposed using a consistent HTTP REST API. This is true both for the media services we've built, as well as the partner delivered media services that are enabled through it. This makes it incredibly easy to automate media workflows and integrate the combined set of services within your applications and media solutions. Like the rest of Windows Azure, you only pay for what you use with Windows Azure Media Services – making it a very cost effective way to deliver great solutions.

 

Windows Azure Media Services Page

https://www.windowsazure.com/media

Note: There is a link at the bottom of the page for customers to request access to the preview free of charge.

Announcement on Windows Azure Blog:

https://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2012/04/16/announcing-windows-azure-media-services.aspx

Announcement on ScottGu’s Blog:

https://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/

 

Terry Clancy

Developer Audience Marketing Manager