Wowza Media Systems has been making headlines for its media server products more than usual lately. More recently, it has been demonstrating Google's (News - Alert) WebM live streaming with the Wowza Media Server on its company’s website. WebM is an open, royalty-free media file format designed for the Web.

Because Wowza Media Server is codec-agnostic, adding the required VP8 video and Vorbis audio was easily accomplished according to the company. The Wowza team created a WebM (VP8/Vorbis-encoded) file and implemented WebM HTTP streaming. The file is streamed as if it were live using the Wowza server-side publishing API with results that include fast-loading playback and high image quality.

Wowza Media Server is high-performance software that simultaneously streams H.264/AAC/MP3 A/V content to users on any screen, including desktops, mobile devices and those in the living room. It offers broad support of media platforms, including Flash, Silverlight, Apple iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android (News - Alert) and Blackberry, as well as IPTVs and game consoles.

Wowza Media Systems has also announced that their product was a key factor in the recent launch and subsequent recovery of SpaceX's (News - Alert) Dragon. Wowza Media Server 2 software was a key component in supporting the first-ever commercial company to launch and recover a spacecraft from orbit successfully.

On December 8, 2010, American space exploration company SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into the Earth's orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft twice orbited the Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean only a few hours later. Thousands watched the historic event unfold on SpaceX's live webcast.' According to StatNews, relying on the Wowza multiplatform streaming solution, SpaceX captured the event on HD-resolution IP cameras placed around the launch pad and pushed live streams to a global Web audience via Akamai (News - Alert) streaming services. The flexible Wowza software made it easy for SpaceX engineers to view operations from every angle. "At Wowza, we are continually developing and enhancing our unified media server software to make it more useful in a wider variety of applications," said Alex Dobrushin, chief marketing officer, Wowza Media Systems. "In step with us are the innovative companies continually finding new ways to take advantage of our product. SpaceX is a great example. For Wowza, it's exciting and gratifying to be part of the advanced technology mix supporting the next generation of space travel."  Award-winning Wowza Media Server 2 is a high-performance video engine that unifies delivery of live and on-demand H.264 video or AAC/MP3 audio streams to multiple clients and devices, extending the content's reach to any platform and any screen. Wowza Media Server 2 offers broad support for a wide variety of media platforms, including Adobe® Flash®, Microsoft (News - Alert)® Silverlight®, Apple® iOS, Android™, and Blackberry®, as well as IPTV and game consoles.

Stefanie Mosca is a Web editor for TMCnet. Previously she worked as a freelance copy editor for Digital Surgeons LLC. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of New Haven. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca