AOL and Warner Bros. officially launched their In2TV Broadband Television Network featuring thousands of classic TV shows available on-demand over the Web and for free. The service is supported through advertising.
“In2TV breaks new ground as the first true broadband television network. With the largest collection of full length television programming anywhere on the Web, plus interactive features and viral videos all free and on-demand, In2TV will appeal to existing fans as well as introduce these shows to a whole new generation,” said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL Media Networks.
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- AOL is using the Kontiki Plug-in and Relay Network delivery mechanism to deliver the VOD service. It supports various bit-rate delivery, including a High-Quality option that uses Windows Media 10 and downloads the content in advance.
The Kontiki Relay Network links the machines of all participants who install the AOL Hi-Q Video plug-in into a P2P speed delivery system that can deliver files faster by enabling the network to use the resources of participants’ hard drives.
The Relay Network and the Kontiki software analyze the hard drives and connections of potential participants that have already received the file being requested to determine from where the file can be accessed and delivered more quickly.
The AOL Hi-Q Video plug-in is able to deliver videos from any of the other users in the Relay Network, which should be faster than accessing a remote server.
The Relay Network’s “Grid Delivery” mechanism also delivers videos in pieces from many users simultaneously.
The AOL Hi-Q Video plug-in continuously monitors the responsiveness of every user it’s getting a delivery from and requests data at the speed that user’s machine can support.
AOL is using Windows Media DRM to protect media files from tampering and illegal distribution. AOL’s Hi-Q Video will allow playback for videos for specific periods of time only, after which the media file will no longer play.