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At last year’s Streaming Media West conference, I had a chance to catch up with David Morel, who has worked for a number of content delivery networks (CDNs) and streaming platform providers in his career. Morel is a strategist and a fixer of complex problems so when he’s excited about something, I listen carefully and am often not disappointed. This meeting was no an exception, as he took the chance to talk about Unicorn Once, Unicorn Media’s new media manipulation technology and the problems it solves.

“Did you know that HLS works best in five-second segments on some devices,” he asked, “but in others it makes more sense to use the ten-second segment approach? We’ve figured out which devices do better in particular playout scenarios,” Morel said.

Having spent a few weeks in mid-2011 doing playout testing on a number of Android devices, as part of a set of reports commissioned by Adobe, Morel’s comment about different approaches for different devices piqued my interest, especially since his timing was spot on: a pressing concern had just arisen about Android playout, as during Streaming Media West 2011, Adobe announced development of Flash Player for Mobile was being discontinued.

At the same time, Google was announcing support for Apple HTTP Live Streaming in its newest Android operating system, Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich. In addition, MPEG DASH was winding its way through ratification for fragmented MP4 (fMP4) HTTP delivery, leaving the overall mobile video delivery market in a state of flux as to whether to stick with Flash Player or move to other solutions.

When I asked Morel how many devices they were working on, his answer floored me: it turns out that Unicorn had figured out the best playout profiles for a variety of iOS, Android, and other mobile devices, plus a number of set-top boxes and smart TVs.

Morel claimed that Unicorn can provide up to 4400 customized strings that covered over 500 different devices (and here I was happy I’d been able to test 14 and present my findings at Streaming Media Europe) but he also was quick to point out that no more than 100 mobile devices account for about 99 percent of all video content consumed in the marketplace today, and that globally no more than 500 devices are used except for very fringe cases. This matches up with my testing, where we determined about 400 different device permutations were needed to adequately cover the existing Android devices in mid-2011.

With the customized strings in hand, Morel said, Unicorn was able to create Unicorn Once to customize the experience for almost any user of any video-equipped mobile device.

“We are able to generate the appropriate format from a single high-quality file at the time of request, which is where the Once name comes in,” Morel said. “Give us a file once and we’ll make sure it’s delivered to the user’s device in the best possible format. And we’ll do it via a single URL.”

Just doing real-time conversion would be interesting enough, but Unicorn Media had its sights set on a higher prize: the ability to add multiple interstitials (read, commercials) into long-form content, with each user receiving a customized mix of interstitials based on the currently available advertising inventory.

“We generate the unique content for a unique end user at the time of request, instantaneously, with a full feature-length film with 20 commercials taking about one second to push through our Dynamic Permutation Layer or DPL,” said Morel. “We don’t do it through transcoding, but through direct file manipulation, effectively stitching together a seamless single piece of content with all the interstitials integrated directly in to the single piece of content.”

It all sounded a bit too good to be true, so like all good skeptics, I put the Once technology conversation aside for a few months. Last week I followed up again, asking Morel to elaborate with a customer example. Morel mentioned AccuWeather and another customer, Screen Media.

“For our customer, Screen Media, that has a library of premium long-form content, we do up to 28 interstitials for delivery to a Roku set-top box,” Morel said. “We’ve been told by Roku that no one else is doing that many interstitials, and certainly no one is doing it with delivery of different commercials to each unique user.”

Morel noted that Unicorn isn’t really stitching content together, although there are some devices that expect a playlist of content. Because Unicorn can “directly manipulate several pieces of video content into one seamless file” via their DPL, the ability to instantly change up advertising inventory is feasible.

“The moment a new commercial is available in inventory, we can begin serving it as part of our rotation,” he said, adding that a live version of the technology is also in beta release.

Today, while clicking on a video on MSNBC regarding the South Carolina Republican primary, I noticed the URL that briefly appeared was prefixed by once.unicornmedia.com.

The two images here show the page just before clicking the video link and just after clicking it.

Is MSNBC about to announce that it has become the newest Unicorn Media customer? If so, what will be the impact of a news organization being able to monetize live streams online in the same way that it monetizes breaking news (by adding in commercial breaks)?

Unicorn won’t confirm whether or not the MSNBC.com iPhone delivery is a beta test or a full-blown move away from bigger name CDN partners to the Unicorn Once technology (served through a Unicorn partner CDN, since Unicorn itself is not technically a CDN provider). It appears, however, at least a portion of MSNBC’s current videos are being served via Unicorn Once.

This article illustrates why the SOPA and PIPA legislation is bad for start-ups.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/18/businessinsiderthis-horror-story-sh.DTL

Joshua Metzger knows first hand how destructive the Stop Online Piracy Act (and its sister, the Protect IP Act) will be to startups if Congress doesn’t heed the protests and pull the cork on it.

He was the lawyer for Veoh, a once high-flying competitor to YouTube that was sued out of existence by a major record label, — even though Veoh won its case and its appeal.

Just last month, the court confirmed Veoh’s victory in its years-long battle with Universal Music Group. The 9th Circuit court upheld an earlier ruling from the district court.

Unfortunately, the costs of the suit, and the tactics used by Universal Music Group, had already forced Veoh to shut its doors.

“Universal Music Group had taken the unprecedented action of not just suing the company but suing individual investors on the board,” Metzger recounts. Ultimately the costs of the suit were so high for everyone involved that Veoh had no choice but “to sell the company even though we won.”

Metzger was Veoh’s staff lawyer at the time. (His title was senior vice president of corporate development and general counsel for Veoh). Universal Music Group filed a suit under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) .

“The DMCA is now pretty much well-established law, and because its been litigated for over 10 years, everyone knows the rules of the game. The courts have defined the DMCA and now the media companies want to introduce new legislation that is more beneficial to them than how the courts have defined DMCA,”  Metzger told Business Insider.

“The risk of SOPA/PIPA is that it’s a new set of rules,” he adds. “The world doesn’t need new legislation that will just lead to new litigation.”

Since copyright has already been well established under DMCA, Metzger sees only two real results if SOPA/PIPA passes: “It will force early stage companies to spend millions of dollars in litigation or it will stifle innovation and investment because investors will be loath to invest in a technology that has a risk of litigation.”

Veoh was founded in 2005 by Dmitry Shapiro, who has founded several Internet startups and was perhaps best known as the CTO of MySpace. Veoh had raised $70 million in backing from Goldman Sachs and other investors. These included Disney chief Michael Eisner, Time Warner Ventures, Adobe and Intel, he says. It was sold to Israeli startup Qlipso in  2010.

Veoh may have had problems other than just this lawsuit. It ran through a few business models. But the suit caused it to spend millions in defense instead of millions in development.

Metzger’s ultimate point is: if a startup of that pedigree, with that kind of cash, could be sued out of business even though it wasn’t breaking the law, what chance would the next crop of startups have under SOPA?

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Unicorn Media predictions via Vidcompare.com:

The venerable OVP space is going to continue to consolidate  – no surprise there – but the players who are growing are solving real problems for a space that has made mobile and connected device video more than a novelty.

1. The problem of platform proliferation is still growing. There is so much innovation in business models and technology that content producers will continue to be challenged with the need to reach new devices, operating systems and delivery networks.  At Unicorn Media we see dozens of new devices accessing our customers’ content each week. The Kindle Fire is just the beginning of a parade of emerging technology such as the Honeycomb (and all its variants), Windows Phone 7.5 (and 8), the long-awaited Apple TV and the many connected TVs expected to surface this year at CES.
2. Rise of the “channel”. Netflix is losing its stronghold on content deals and the customer relationship.  The number of specialty OTT providers producing channels to reach Roku, LG, Samsung and Apple TVs will begin to swell this year (see Popcorn Flix, FilmBox, Music Choice and others for examples of this today).  When the logjam breaks is anybody’s guess, but these entrepreneurs are looking for ways to reach customers – fast.  Solutions for Live and Linear channels will become as important as VOD as part of a complete solution for engaging customers.
3. REAL-time Analytics and Dynamic Advertising is moving from a concept to a need. The trends above increase the need for solutions that allow video publishers to shape their business model into something that works for them and their customers.  OVP providers who cannot supply their customers with real-time analytics that allow for on-the-fly adjustments, advertising content that can change or shift without relying on a Flash client, a device-specific app, or re-transcoding will be greatly challenged to meet ever-increasing customer demand to reach the sea of devices while making real-time decisions that affect their profitability.

Bill Rinehart, CEO, Unicorn Media

Read the full article at : http://blog.vidcompare.com/online-video/2012-online-video-predictions-ovps/

Panel To Discuss The Impact on Consumer Electronics Manufacturers of Cloud Computing Deployment

Tempe, Arizona – December 15, 2011 – Unicorn Media, a digital media management provider, today announced that its CTO, AJ McGowan will be speaking at the 5^th annual DCIA “Conference within CES” scheduled for Wednesday, January 11th in Las Vegas, NV in conjunction with the 2012 CES International trade show. The Distributed Computing Industry Association (www.DCIA.info) is an international trade organization with more than one-hundred industry-leading Member companies and is an allied association of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Unicorn’s CTO, AJ McGowan will take part in the panel discussion titled, “The Impact on Consumer Electronics Manufacturers of Cloud Computing Deployment” featuring Stefan Bewley, Director, Altman Vilandrie & Company; Shane Dyer, President, Arrayent; David Frerichs, Strategic Consultant, Pioneer Corporation; Kshitij Kumar, SVP, Mobile Video, Concurrent; Michael Papish, Solutions Architecture Director, Rovi Corporation; Jordan Rohan, Managing Director, Stifel Nicolaus; and Chuck Stormon, CEO, Attend. Their expert panel examines the implications of remotely accessing applications and data that must be integrated into networked end-user devices. A look at servers and other edge storage hardware products rounds out the discussion. The panel discussion takes place on Wednesday, January 11^th, at the DCIA Conference in the Cloud at International CES. For more information, visit http://www.cesweb.org/.

McGowan is responsible for developing Unicorn’s patented technology platform, Unicorn Once™. Unicorn ONCE™ allows video publishers to upload their content one time and distribute it to any Internet-connected device while allowing for dynamic ad integration and real-time analytics across every platform. Together, Unicorn’s modular suite of workflow optimization tools, including its technology platform Unicorn ELEMENTS, analytics tool Unicorn VISION™, and multi-screen ad targeting and analytics technology Unicorn ONCE™ make the distribution of content to any IP-enabled device less time consuming and less expensive, enabling content owners to cut cost and maximize profitability.

About Unicorn Media, Inc.

Unicorn Media, Inc. is a digital media management provider that helps companies deliver media to any device, anytime, anywhere, while providing real-time analytics on any platform. Unicorn’s core services include Unicorn ONCE™, Unicorn VISION™ and Unicorn ELEMENTS™, technology that allows users to syndicate to any Internet-connected device, track content in real-time across any platform and optimize workflow to maximize profitability. http://www.unicornmedia.com.

Click on the envelope to view the e-card

PATENTED UNICORN ONCE™ TECHNOLOGY FACILITATES MULTI-SCREEN,
PLATFORM-AGNOSTIC VIDEO ADVERTISING STRATEGY

Tempe, Arizona – November 29, 2011 –Unicorn Media, a digital media management provider, today announced that it is powering the delivery of ads to mobile devices and OTT devices for TidalTV, a video advertising platform and solutions provider, through its Unicorn ONCE™ technology. Unicorn ONCE™ facilitates TidalTV’s ability to work with its publishing partners to help monetize content across multiple platforms—such as smartphones, tablets, Roku, Tivo, smart TVs, etc.—in response to advertisers’ growing interest in reaching consumers wherever and whenever they consume video.

Unicorn ONCE™ is a patented technology solution that allows video publishers to deliver their content to any Internet-connected device with one simple step, then simultaneously allows for dynamic ad insertion and analytics across these same platforms.   Similarly, Unicorn ONCE™ allows ad platforms like TidalTV to greatly reduce the complexity of managing and delivering ad inventory by allowing them to upload their ad content one time, then dynamically target ads in real-time across every platform.

“TidalTV has the dual responsibility of helping our publishing partners optimize their inventory across the spectrum of emerging, multi-screen platforms, while also ensuring that our advertisers have the tools necessary to follow consumers across the many devices on which they now watch video,” said Kevin Haley, Chief Scientist, TidalTV. “Partnering with Unicorn Media, a leader in multi-screen video delivery and analytics, has helped us achieve both of these important objectives at scale.”

Together, Unicorn’s modular suite of workflow optimization tools, including its technology platform Unicorn ELEMENTS, analytics tool Unicorn VISION™, and multi-screen ad targeting and analytics technology Unicorn ONCE™ make the distribution of content to any IP-enabled device less time consuming and less expensive, enabling content owners to cut cost and maximize profitability.

“Tidal TV is an excellent example of the way in which Unicorn ONCE™ creates opportunities for monetizing content,” Bill Rinehart, Founder and CEO, Unicorn Media. “Our customers can seamlessly distribute their ad and video content via a single URL to any Internet-connected device, dynamically insert ads on-the-fly, and analyze all their content on any platform. We’ve not only given them the ability to distribute content more easily and efficiently, we’ve also enabled them to monetize that content on any device.”

About Unicorn Media, Inc.

Unicorn Media, Inc. is a digital media management provider that helps companies deliver media to any device, anytime, anywhere, while providing real-time analytics on any platform. Unicorn’s core services include Unicorn ONCE™, Unicorn VISION™ and Unicorn ELEMENTS™, technology that allows users to syndicate to any Internet-connected device, track content in real-time across any platform and optimize workflow to maximize profitability. http://www.unicornmedia.com.

About TidalTV, Inc.

TidalTV is a video advertising platform and solutions provider that flawlessly connects some of the world’s most powerful brands with their targeted consumers. Working with over 1,000 premier content creators and publishing partners, TidalTV has access to an online addressable universe from third-party providers, offering the ability to target precise consumer segments by demographic, psychographic and behavioral metrics. TidalTV’s industry-leading, mathematically-based consumer targeting technology guarantees that advertisers extract maximum value from every media impression, and that publishers monetize their audience most effectively.  TidalTV leverages the power of consumer data and ad decisioning to increase accountability, optimize performance and deliver tangible ROI within video campaigns. TidalTV is headquartered in Baltimore, MD, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and London. For more information, visit www.tidaltv.com.

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Video Marketing

With the iPad-2 blazing its way into the tablet war, Kindle Fire can heave a sigh of relief with the introduction of Unicorn Media’s cool gizmo.

Arizona-based digital media management and solutions provider Unicorn Media announced yesterday its patented-technology platform – the Unicorn ONCE.

The latest breakthrough provides non-conformal creativity support for the newly-introduced Kindle Fire, the first touch-screen, full-color gadget from Amazon’s Kindle tablet series that will be up for grabs in the US for $199 starting Monday.

A patented technological gizmo, Unicorn ONCE brings on the table total ease in ad assimilation, high-resolution video and real-time analytics to the Kindle Fire tablet.

These cool features simply prove Unicorn ONCE’s capacity to ‘future-proof’ the delivery of quality video for Unicorn Media’s clients, giving fast and efficient support for new technologies and shifting operating protocols that will enable video entrepreneurs to capitalize on their online content.

The new platform allows video marketers to internalize (ingest) their content – once- and receive a single uniform resource locator (URL) in return.

The process enables delivery of video to any gadget or device with internet connection with progressive ad- integration across popular platforms, like the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, Tivo, Roku, Smart televisions, among others.

According to Unicorn Media founder and chief executive officer Bill Rinehart, their clients are able to market and monetize their video contents on the very day of the platform’s release on the Kindle Fire without any extra development needed.

“We have created the Unicorn ONCE to give our clients the means to profit from their video content on every gadget or device and future-proof their investments in the process,” Rinehart said.

Unicorn ONCE is not a server-linked media platform or client of a software development kit (SDK), otherwise known as “dev-kit”. It is a video platform that lets Unicorn ONCE users to incorporate video content once while getting a URL in return.

A “win-win” solution, this new video solutions offering potentially enhances video publishers’ profits across all types of online platforms through a convenient yet effective integration of online ad content.

Among Unicorn Media’s products are Unicorn Vision, which also offers the same functions and dynamism of Unicorn ONCE and Unicorn Elements – a module-suite of enhancement tools for optimum video design and customization.

The Unicorn ONCE is a timely piece of upgrade for the Kindle Fire to go head-to-head in today’s raging multimedia confrontation.

For more information on Unicorn ONCE visit our website.

You can also view the original article at http://www.videomarketingtactics.com/unicorn-once-brings-more-energy-to-kindle-fire.html

Unicorn Media is growing fast- in fact, we’ve outgrown our original office space and have expanded to two buildings! Our sales and exec teams have moved across the street to our new headquarters and our engineering, development, QA and customer support teams have taken over our original office space.

The new office is located in the historic Andre building on Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe, AZ, giving us more space for our ongoing expansion and a great view of downtown Tempe.

More and more media companies are coming to Unicorn Media to solve their complex media management problems and we continue to grow in order to provide them with the best technology and support available.  If you find yourself in the downtown Tempe area, stop by and say hello!

Unicorn Media

401 South Mill Ave, 2nd Floor  •  Tempe, AZ 85281
24 West 5th Street  • Tempe, AZ 85281

PATENTED UNICORN ONCE™ SOLUTION DELIVERS, MONETIZES AND ANALYZES VIDEO CONTENT ON AMAZON’S KINDLE FIRE ON DAY OF RELEASE

Tempe, Arizona – November 16, 2011 –Unicorn Media, a digital media management provider, today announced that its Unicorn ONCE™ technology platform provides out-of-the-box support for the newly released Amazon Kindle Fire, a multi-media tablet device. Unicorn Media’s patented technology platform, Unicorn ONCE™ delivers high-quality video, on-the-fly ad integration and real-time analytics to the Amazon Kindle Fire day one.

Unicorn ONCE™ support for the Kindle Fire clearly illustrates its ability to future-proof video delivery for its customers, providing immediate and seamless support for emerging technology and evolving operating systems allowing video publishers to monetize their content on every platform. Unicorn ONCE™ is a patented technology solution that allows video publishers to ingest their content once and receive a single URL in return, enabling video delivery to any Internet-connected device with dynamic ad insertion and analytics across any platform such as iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Roku, Tivo, Boxee, Smart TVs and countless others.

“Our customers were able to monetize their video content on the Amazon Kindle Fire on day one of its release with no additional development required. We designed Unicorn ONCE™ to provide our customers with the means to monetize their content on every device and future-proof their businesses in the process,” said Bill Rinehart, Founder and CEO, Unicorn Media.

Unicorn ONCE™ is not a client SDK or server-stitched solution, it is patented technology that allows Unicorn customers to ingest their content one time and receive a single URL in return, while optimizing monetization across every platform by allowing for targeted, dynamic ad integration on-the-fly and real-time analytics on any device through Unicorn VISION™. Unicorn ONCE™ is layered on top of the Unicorn ELEMENTS™ technology platform; Unicorn’s modular suite of workflow optimization tools that make the distribution of content to any IP-enabled device less time consuming and less expensive, enabling content owners to cut cost and maximize profitability.

AJ McGowan, Unicorn Media CTO, will be speaking on a live roundtable at Streaming Media West on HTML5. The event takes place live at Streaming Media West, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA at 11:30am PST.

Panel Members include: