- Adobe Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced a new, more video-friendly version of Flash Media Server that also introduces a less expensive single-server edition.
Flash Media Server 3, which can help Web publishers deliver Flash applications and Flash-encoded video, can handle about five times the number of streams and amount of bandwidth as version 2, according to the San Jose, Calif. software company.
FMS 3 will come in an interactive server edition that costs $4,500, which Towes says is comparable to FMS 2's original and edge-server package, which are aimed at large publishers and content delivery networks (CDNs) and list for a combined $60,000.
But customers can also buy a license to deploy FMS 3 just on a single server -- an option not previously available in FMS 2 -- for $995. That, he said, compares to FMS 2's professional edition, which cost $4,500 and allows between 150 and 2,500 simultaneous connections.
"The cost of deployment was too high, so we addressed that and also improved performance so you can stream more video using less CPU," said Kevin Towes, Adobe's product manager for Flash Media Server.
Everybody wants to get in on the act
Adobe claims that Flash is used to encode three-quarters of the video on the Web today. For instance, YouTube videos are encoded and streamed to viewers using Flash.
But staying on top requires effort in this space. To drive adoption of its competing Expression publishing platform, Microsoft Corp. is offering much of the software cheaper than its Adobe equivalents -- or, in the case of Expression Media Encoder, for free. Expression Media Encoder offers many of the same features as FMS.
Other cheaper alternatives such as Wowza Media Systems Inc., which offers server software that also streams Flash content and video, also threaten.
During its MAX conference earlier this fall, then-Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen said that Flash's market share today "is a clear indication that our pricing is competitive now."
But the company also said that if enough customers look like they might defect, it would be wiling to cut prices.
"If the cost of Flash Media Server comes in the way of Flash adoption, we will adjust that," said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's president, at the time. Narayen took over as CEO on December 1 after Chizen's resignation in November.
FMS 3, which will be available in January, improves upon FMS 2's video quality and compression by using the H.264/MPEG-4 standard.
"It takes us closer to HD," Towes said.
FMS 3 also adds the ability for music and other audio to be compressed with the AAC format used by Apple Inc.'s iTunes software.
When deployed in tandem with its in-beta Adobe Media Player, FMS 3 also adds advertiser-friendly features, such as the ability to track and measure up to 30 different user behaviors, and digital rights management (DRM) that can allow publishers to charge for access or ensure that ads be played before, during and after a video, Towes said.
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