MainConcept AAC Encoder is the latest addition to MainConcept’s successful set of Plug-Ins to enrich Adobe products with state-of-the-art codec solutions. It offers professional AAC Encoding within the Adobe® Flash® Media Live Encoder 2.5 that only comes with Nellymoser or MP3 audio encoding as standard.

Why not using MP3 only?

AAC is the emerging future audio standard that might replace existing ones, such as MP3. It is already supported by popular devices such as Apple iPod, Sony PSP, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, various cell phones etc. Some technical snap-shots:

• AAC and HE-AAC offer a significantly better audio quality while using the same bit rate as other audio codecs, especially for bit rates below 192 kbps.
• AAC may only need a fraction of the bandwidth than MP3 for your field of application (e.g. broadcasting concerts), thus resulting file sizes will be smaller too.
• AAC offers a significantly higher coding as well as compression efficiency and allows you a higher flexibility in usage than MP3.

Most importantly, saving bandwidth and having smaller file sizes means saving money – especially if your business relies on continuous video & audio streaming over scarce resources. Providing better audio quality to your audience and encoding efficiency only add to the advantages of the AAC encoding standard.

AAC was developed to be the successor of MP3. For more technical details on AAC you may refer to comprehensive public documents at Wikipedia.

Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder 3.0 (FMLE) already includes the MainConcept H.264 Encoder technology to create professional video streams. Now using the AAC Encoder Plug-In, it additionally supports AAC (MPEG-4 AAC & HE Audio), enabling you to directly create and stream Flash compliant F4V or FLV files that include both H.264/AVC video and AAC audio. It is the perfect companion for FMLE, as it enables you to generate Flash compliant streams using these encoders on-the-fly. And your files are always compliant with the latest Flash Player version.

 Plug-in your cameras. Prepare your shots. Broadcast live.
Wirecast software lets you produce professional-looking live events with just a camera, an internet connection and a computer. Stream or record live internet shows, broadcast breaking news or sporting events, stream live concerts, transmit church services, corporate meetings, lectures and much more.

• Full scale video production studio for your desktop or laptop computer
• Capture live video from multiple cameras & control switching between cameras
• Import pre-recorded video, audio, graphics and slides
• Picture in picture – enables viewers to see multiple sources, including the presenter/host
• Chroma key, 3D graphics & transitions – enable creation of professional quality webcasts
• Stream live and/or record to disk for on-demand viewing
• Encode to popular streaming formats (Flash, Windows Media & QuickTime)
• Simultaneous encoding to multiple bit rates – for a variety of quality choices

What’s New in Wirecast 4.1

• Broadcast live interviews via chat with new audio support in Wirecast Desktop Presenter
• LiveU video-over-cellular transmission backpack integration enables remote broadcasting
• Teradek Cube integration makes any camera wireless
• New capture card integration:
   

  ◊ Matrox Multi-Ingest capture card integration enables 4 simultaneous HD-SDI inputs
  ◊ Integrated support for Viewcast Osprey capture cards

• Support for more IP cameras
• Mac OS X Lion compatability

 Wirecast 4 — Affordable live streaming for everyone

Adobe® Flash® Media Live Encoder 3.2 live audio and video capture software is a media encoder that streams audio and video in real time to Flash Media Server software or Flash Video Streaming Service (FVSS). When high-quality streaming is your priority, Flash Media Live Encoder 3.2 can help you broadcast live events and around-the-clock broadcasting such as:

• Sporting events
• Concerts
• Webcasts
• News
• Educational events

What’s new

Cross Platform Support

Flash Media Live Encoder is now available on both PC and MAC platforms.

Updated user interface

Work with a streamlined interface that is easier and more intuitive to use.

Support for Flash Media Server 4 features

Encode up to three streams at multiple bit rates simultaneously to take advantage of the new Dynamic Streaming. Additionally, you’ll have enhanced control over live streams with the new DVR.

Enhanced Auto Adjust

Help ensure real-time delivery, even under suboptimal network conditions, with added support for degrading quality during encoding.

Improved file management

Use parameters in file and stream names to make it easier to manage files and streams that are created using Flash Media Live Encoder 3.2. Output files can be created in chunks to limit by file size or duration.

Top features in Flash Media Live Encoder

• Cross platform support — PC and MAC
• Support for AAC and other codecs
• Intuitive user interface
• Support for a wide range of input devices
• Support for On2 VP6 and H.264
• Support for Nellymoser and MP3
• Local and remote command line control
• Auto Restart
• Auto Adjust

Flash Media Live Encoder – Tutorials

There are lots of new and improved features in this new version as you’d expect, but also a lot of optimisations behind the scenes to try and get every last bit of performance out of the system.

Some of the headline new features in this update include many Ajax Order Form Improvements, Multi-Language Support for the Admin Area, Admin Upgrade/Downgrade Ability, the ability to Split & Merge Invoices, Mass Products/Service Updates, a new & improved Addon Modules system, and a new feature we’re calling Website Widgets for getting product information to display on your website.

Ajax Order Form Enhancements

This update, the first since the original Ajax Order Form release earlier in the year, sees the addition of the more advanced order features that many of you have requested since its launch:

Implemented stock control support to prevent orders when out of stock
Added support for domain addons
Added additional domain fields requests on new registrations
Added custom client field support
Added support for security question setting at signup
Added support for ordering hidden products
Added support for passing promotion code via the url
Fixed domain transfer option showing even when disabled in config
Fixed translation issue where Years word was hardcoded
Fixed bug which caused custom field values to not be saved on some occasions
Fixed bug allowing double user creation if user clicked checkout more than once
Admin Area Multi-Language Support

WHMCS has always supported multiple languages for the client area, but now the long wait is over and the admin area supports multiple languages too! Able to set language per admin user, we’re well underway with converting all of the admin area pages to be translatable, but as we’re sure you’ll understand it’s a very big task converting every page and so we estimate we have around 75% of pages converted so far. That already gives you over 1500 lines of text to translate so happy translating! And we’ll release further updates with additional translatable pages before long.

Admin Upgrade/Downgrade Ability

Added the ability for admin users to create upgrade orders for products/services & configurable options from the admin interface which allows changes to be made, displays a live preview of the cost for that change, and then allows you to generate an order/invoice for it automatically with the upgrade being automatically processed as soon as the invoice is paid.

Split/Merge Invoices

From Invoices, it is now possible to select one or more line items on an invoice and split them out into a new separate invoice for payment. Similarly, it is now also possible to merge two or more separate invoices into one single combined invoice.

Mass Product/Service Updates

Added the ability to perform mass updates to products a client owns from the client summary page such as changing prices, bringing next due dates in line to a uniform date, and changing payment method, billing cycle and /or status

Client Activity Logging

We’ve added a new Log tab to client’s profiles which will hold an indefinite log of all system activity relating to that specific client. The log will show who initiated each action, from what IP, and on what date/time. This compliments the existing system wide activity log and makes it easier to trace events for particular clients. The log can also be filtered by date, description, admin and IP to pinpoint specific actions/events.

Website Widgets

This new feature which we are calling widgets in WHMCS provides a simple way for you to retrieve information such as product names, prices, order links and domain pricing to display on your website in any page with a simple javascript include, that will then auto update whenever you make changes inside WHMCS to your products & pricing.

New Addon Modules System

Possibly one of the most exciting new features is the new addon modules system. For end users like most of you, this simply means a much easier way to manage addon modules. It provides an easy & consistent way to install, manage & remove addon modules. It also introduces the ability for you to be able to set exactly which addon modules you want to allow each of your admin role groups to access.

But for developers it opens up a whole new world of possibilities, firstly allowing them to provide end users with a simpler install/uninstall procedure, allowing the use of modules and hooks from a single folder, providing a structured method of handling updates, allowing for modules to have custom sidebar functionality, allowing for multi-language support and more.

We hope this will open up a whole new wave of addon module development from third party developers who are now able to achieve more with their modules, and also we ourselves will be creating some addon modules of our own for functionality that doesn’t necessarily fit the core system.

PayPal Addon

As the first addon module using the new system, WHMCS V4.4 includes a PayPal Addon module which allows you to view your current PayPal account balance on your WHMCS admin homepage aswell as performing transaction ID lookups to verify payments and statuses without ever needing to actually login to PayPal.

ResellerClub/LogicBoxes DNS Management & Email Forwarding

Added support for ResellerClub’s remote auto login interface to allow clients to perform DNS Host Record Management & use LogicBoxes Email Forwarding service (as they still have no remote API for performing it within WHMCS)

Client Name Display Format

Added a new customisation setting for determining the format used for clients names in admin areas such as orders, product lists, transactions, support, etc… Can be Company Name or First Name/Last Name or a combination of the 2.

Disable Grouping in Invoices

Added option to disable automatic combining of products/services into a single grouped invoice when due on the same day and by the same client as a client profile and client group option

Improved Support Ticket Notes

Added a more intuitive dedicated “Add Note” tab when viewing a ticket and display of any staff notes directly above the replies list to avoid needing to switch to a tab to view

• Adobe® Flash®
• Apple® iOS: iPhone®, iPad™, and iPod® touch
• Microsoft® Silverlight®
• Apple QuickTime™
• Android™, Blackberry® and other 3GPP platforms
• Set-top boxes and more…

One Media Server. Any Platform. Any Screen

Wowza Media Server 2 is the proven, industrial strength media server for streaming video/audio content, video/audio/text chat, recording, and RIA. It takes your H.264 video to any screen – the desktop, mobile and the living room – for unified streaming on all popular media platforms:

• Adobe Flash
• Apple iOS: iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
• Microsoft Silverlight
• Apple QuickTime
• Android, Blackberry and other 3GPP platforms
• Set-top boxes and more…

Wowza Media Server 2 unifies the any-screen H.264 streaming into a single workflow. This capability eliminates the need for multiple player-specific encoders and servers. With Wowza Media Server 2 you can do it all at an unbeatable price — 75% less than the single-protocol Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server (FMIS) or limited protocol Microsoft Windows Server® with IIS.

Industrial Strength

Broadest Any-Screen Coverage

Flash – streaming, video chat, recording, RIAs, and more Wowza Media Server 2 delivers a complete interactive Flash media streaming feature set proven by over 50,000 licensees worldwide on the award-winning Wowza Pro platform. It delivers file streaming in all Flash player-compatible formats, including FLV and H.264 video, MP3 and HE-AAC audio, as well as the exclusive features you can’t get with FMIS/FMSS. 100% Flash, Flex and AIR player compatibility Live, on-demand streaming up to 1080p HD Complete RTMP dynamic streaming support, including RTMPE HTTP dynamic streaming support Support for Video/audio/text chat, recording, collaboration Remote Shared Objects (RSO) Flash (RTMP) and Non-Flash (RTSP/RTP, MPEG-TS) live encoder support Exclusive MP3 and AAC SHOUTcast/Icecast re-streaming Bi-directional AMF3 support Support for all Flash player video and audio formats Streaming to game consoles like Wii and PS3, and Flash-compatible set-tops Mobile streaming to the Flash player 10.1+ equipped devices

iPhone/iPad – live and on-demand HTTP Streaming Wowza Media Server 2 features our own implementation of the Apple stream segmenter that lets you deliver H.264 content to any Apple iOS device using Apple HTTP Streaming protocol directly from any standard RTSP/RTP, MPEG-TS or Flash (RTMP)encoders, as well as the H.264 files in a variety of file container formats — no external stream/file pre-segmentation is required. Wowza Media Server 2 supports: In browser playback on iPhone/iPod touch with iOS 3.0 or later, or iPad Support on desktop in QuickTime player (10.0 or later) and Safari browser (4.0 or later on Snow Leopard) using HTML5 tag Playback on other Apple HTTP Streaming compatible devices, such as the Roku streaming player Multi-bitrate adaptive streaming — consistent video delivery in variable wireless conditions, from EDGE to WiFi AES-128 encrypted streaming Per-session logging for complete content usage visibility Multi-server streaming scalability for a virtually unlimited capacity

3GPP – live and on-demand smart phone streaming Wowza Media Server 2 enables streaming to many H.264-capable 3GPP smart phones and wireless tablets supporting Android, BlackBerry, Palm (WebOS), Symbian and other operating systems. H.264 content is delivered to 3GPP smart phones over RTSP/RTP live from any standard RTSP/RTP, MPEG-TS or Flash (RTMP)encoders, or MP4/MP3 files for on-demand content. Wowza Media Server 2 supports: Playback in native media players on Android (various manufacturers), BlackBerry, Palm, SonyEricsson, Nokia and other H.264-capable 3GPP smart phones Per-session logging for complete content usage visibility Multi-server streaming scalability for a virtually unlimited capacity

Silverlight – live and on-demand smooth streaming Wowza Media Server 2 features our own implementation of the Microsoft smooth streaming segmenter that lets you deliver live H.264 content directly from any standard RTSP/RTP, MPEG-TS or Flash (RTMP) encoders, as well as on-demand H.264 from files in a variety of file container formats — no external stream/file pre-segmentation is required. Wowza Media Server 2 supports: Stream Silverlight from any OS – Windows Server and IIS are not needed Compatible with Silverlight player (3.0 or later) Multi-bitrate smooth streaming Per-session logging for complete content usage visibility Multi-server streaming scalability for a virtually unlimited capacity

QuickTime – live and on-demand RTSP streaming With Wowza you don’t need to deploy separate QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS), Darwin, or Real Helix servers — it goes beyond what the other servers can give you. Wowza Media Server 2 can stream live H.264, AAC and MP3 content to the QuickTime player and other player types and devices that support the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). And it also covers the rest of the streaming universe – Flash, Silverlight, iOS, and more.

SHOUTcast/Icecast – multi-client audio re-streaming Thanks to the Wowza Media Server 2 exclusive SHOUTcast/Icecast re-streaming capability, delivering the best sounding AAC, AAC-LC, aacPlus (HE-AAC) and MP3 audio to the biggest audiences on the Internet has never been easier. Now you can re-stream SHOUTcast content from existing SHOUTcast servers to Flash, iPhone, Silverlight, 3GPP mobile devices and more.

IPTV and beyond – set-top boxes, game consoles and more…

Based on feedback from several Resellers, we’ve been improving both the look and the usability of our Control Panel and we’ve only recently completed the first phase.

Our New Domain Management Interface goes live on March 24th and with this post we’d like to give you a little sneak peek at what we’ve improved.

The Domain Management Interface is the most used area of the Control Panel and naturally, we thought it would be the best place to begin. Also, given the multiple sections within the area, it gave us a lot of scope to test out various little tweaks to help improve the overall user experience.

What’s new?
There are quite a few things we’ve improved keeping functionality in mind:

■Simple and neat interface to help you and your Customers navigate easily
■All Domain Management functions on a single page
■Better visibility and easier execution of Pending Invoices
■Clearly indicated Renew button and simplified renewals
The new Domain Management Interface will go live on the 24th of March. We’ll be taking up other product interfaces after that and releasing them as they’re ready.

We’d appreciate your feedback on this. Do let us know what you like/don’t like about it in your comments below.