Brightcove Powers Video for New iPad-Ready Web Site from Bell Canada's Sympatico.ca

Broadband video platform provider, Brightcove, said Monday that it is powering video for a new iPad-ready Web site from Sympatico.ca, Bell Canada's consumer portal. According to the company, Bell Canada is the first Canadian media company to implement the Brightcove HTML5 solution (note: the solution is also used by the New York Times and the Financial Times, among others): the solution allows Sympatico.ca's news and entertainment video portal to be viewed on any HTML5-compatible device, including the Apple iPhone and iPod touch, as well as the iPad, the company says. "Sympatico.ca is one of Canada's leading destinations for online video content, and we're committed to providing the same high-quality experience to consumers on any device," Gavin Lucas, product manager for video at Sympatico.ca, said in a prepared statement. "The Brightcove platform helps our organization stay on the leading edge of technology trends and accelerate time-to-market for our video initiatives, which must now include both the PC Web and new mobile devices like the iPad."

Sympatico.ca provides a range of local, national and international content through what it describes as its network of national Canadian Internet media properties, including Fashionism.ca, CelebEdge.ca, InMusic.ca, InMovies.ca and Push.ca. Brightcove claims that its platform allows Sympatico.ca to deliver a high-quality user experience across all its properties, as well as extend the reach of its video content through the platform's social sharing capabilities. The company says that its Brightcove Experience for HTML5 technology provides Sympatico.ca with support for intelligent device detection, playlist rendering and playback of H.264-encoded video content on HTML5-compatible mobile devices. As a result, it claims, Sympatico.ca is able to automatically deliver H.264 video simultaneously to Adobe Flash and HTML5 video experiences, thus enabling it to enjoy the broadest possible reach for its video content and to "cover the full spectrum of consumer use cases across the PC, Web and mobile devices."

In other Brightcove news: The company has also recently announced 1) that Mexico's Vanguardia newspaper is using its technology to power an iPad-compatible online video application; and 2) that UK fashion retailer, Warehouse, is using its technology to offer video-rich online shopping experiences and a new iPhone app.

In other broadband video news: Content protection and video optimization specialist, Widevine, on Monday announced support for Dolby Digital Plus in its video optimization and DRM platform. According to Dolby Laboratories, Dolby Digital Plus is a versatile, scalable digital audio coding technology that extends the capabilities of Dolby Digital, delivering up to 7.1 channels of surround sound and supporting a wide range of bitrates in order to ensure optimized sound quality and efficiency to match available bandwidth. It also enables advanced applications, the company says, such as multiple-program support and audio stream mixing. "Dolby Digital Plus enables video providers to deliver a richer, more immersing audio experience over the Internet," John Griffin, senior director at Dolby Laboratories, said in a prepared statement. "By supporting Dolby Digital Plus in its video optimization solution, Widevine can offer outstanding audio along with high-quality video to deliver cinema-like experiences for the home."

According to Widevine, its video optimization platform includes adaptive streaming and virtual DVD features, such as trick-play and chaptering, in order to create a "DVD-like" viewing experience for Internet-delivered video. The company says that the solution is natively supported in nearly all major brands and types of consumer electronics, including TV's, Blu-ray players, mobile devices and gaming systems. It claims that its technologies have been adopted by content providers and service operators across a range of industries, including large cable, satellite and telecommunications companies launching "TV Everywhere" services.