"Akamai Streaming combined with Macromedia Flash fundamentally changes the way video is deployed and used on the Internet today," said Chris Hock, director of product management, Macromedia, as Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Macromedia announced the immediate availability of Akamai Streaming for use with Macromedia Flash.

Akamai customers can now take advantage of the on-demand Flash Streaming media service, delivered over Akamai's globally distributed platform to Macromedia Flash Player, the Internet's most ubiquitous rich client.

By leveraging the Macromedia Flash Communication Server and the Akamai EdgePlatform, customers will benefit from massive scalability, increased reliability and capacity, and a fast and flawless delivery to viewers.

This service allows companies to deliver integrated, interactive Flash video experiences, including movies, TV shows, broadcast media, product demonstrations, corporate announcements, sales training, and other major events to end users flawlessly every time. By using Flash Player, end users are able to instantly view video with no waiting and no need to download a player. Publishers are able to lower their development, quality assurance, and customer support costs because Flash eliminates the hassles of deploying video on-demand applications across multiple platforms and browsers.

Akamai already serves several gigabits per second of downloadable Flash content, including several hundreds of megabits per second of Flash video traffic. This partnership allows Akamai to deliver more Flash video content leveraging Macromedia's Streaming solution, with better quality and availability using Akamai's globally distributed platform

"We're excited to work with Akamai, as their global reach and leadership in the industry will give content providers the ability to deliver the best Flash video experiences to the widest possible audience worldwide," said Hock.

Media companies, news agencies, ad serving companies, and large and small businesses will realize significant benefits from this solution. It allows them to more deeply integrate video into their website while controlling the look, feel, and functionality of the player. End users can browse a site while the video clip continues playing without any noticeable disruption. Because video is just another object in Flash , it can be custom branded, as well as synchronized with contextual elements such as graphs, charts, text, and other audio and video streams.

"Akamai experienced a more than 200 percent increase in total content streamed across its global platform in 2004, and has seen significant adoption in the industries of sports, news, music, and movies," said George Khater, senior director product management, Akamai. "Adoption is only going to continue to increase with the growth in these industries, and this service is an incredible tool to bring reliable delivery of key events to these companies."

"Macromedia has developed an end-to-end video production tool set that gives publishers and sites a path toward greater interactivity inside linear video," said Paul Palumbo, research director, AccuStream iMedia Research. "Whether delivering a content experience, or wrapping a business application around the content experience, Flash is designed to stimulate more engagement with the content stream, which implies greater value. Flash , combined with a globally distributed Streaming and media serving platform operated by Akamai, creates a powerful new medium."

In addition to delivering Akamai Streaming for use with Macromedia Flash , Akamai provides storage options for Flash media to improve the availability of media to end users. Customizable, web-based reporting tools are also available for companies to measure return on investment with both real-time and historical analysis of viewer usage and behavior.

For more information, visit http://www.akamai.com/en/html/services/streaming.html.