New York’s Livestream this week showed off the fruits of its collaboration with the Verizon Innovation Center in Waltham, MA, unveiling an updated video broadcasting device at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
Max Haot, Livestream’s CEO and co-founder, talked up the new broadcaster equipped with a Verizon 4G modem when he came by the wireless provider’s exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Haot tells Xconomy that his company worked with Verizon Wireless last year to streamline the device.
“We have always had the vision to put 4G inside the device, but without Verizon’s guidance and support it would have taken us a lot longer,” he says. The new Livestream Broadcaster is expected to be available by the second quarter. The device encodes HD video for transmission to mobile devices, computers, and Web-connected televisions.
Founded in 2007, Livestream’s products and platform let users host and broadcast live media. The updated Livestream Broadcaster displayed at CES puts HD video streaming capabilities into users’ hands with a built-in connection to Verizon’s network. Users, naturally, must be customers of the wireless provider for access to its network.
Haot says he met last April with Verizon Wireless, which is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas. At that trade show, he unveiled a previous version of the broadcaster that required a wired connection, Wi-Fi, or an external modem to stream content.
Livestream and Verizon began work last October, he says, on a prototype device with a built-in modem to work on the Verizon network. This is part of Livestream’s overall plan to give more individuals and production companies the ability to transmit live video from most any location. “Live video on the Internet has existed for more than 10 years and was only for the big networks,” Haot says. “You needed a lot of equipment.”
There are plenty of other ways for people to record and share video and images on the Web. Livestream’s basic service to stream content is free while additional features such as embedding Livsetream on Facebook and websites require subscriptions. Viewers can watch the content at Livestream.com, on connected mobile devices, and on websites hosting the feeds. Individuals as well as companies such as ESPN and The New York Times use Livestream’s services to stream events online instantly.
Haot, while onstage at CES, said CNET was using Livestream’s platform to broadcast live from the show. “We offer a platform for anybody with a live event,” he said.
Working with Verizon, he said, helped fast track development of the updated broadcaster, which he believes can make streaming content more widespread. “We wanted to break down the barrier of entry for live video a lot more,” Haot said.
