Akamai announces The HDWeb, a ‘proof-of-concept’ portal designed to showcase the experience consumers can have with high definition content online. The Website, available at www.thehdweb.com, showcases content from a variety of industries including music, movies, professional sports, games and news. Akamai customers are now delivering a consistent, high-definition video experience on Akamai’s uniquely distributed edge delivery platform that is specifically tuned for optimal delivery of high-definition files online. As an industry leader and pioneer in online video, Akamai has raised the bar for what a service provider must offer companies in order to deliver this content effectively and efficiently online today.

Companies providing HD content for the initiative include Apple, BBC Motion Gallery, CBS, Gannett, MTV Networks, NBA and more. The proof-of-concept portal will serve as a temporary Internet Programming Guide to HD video on the Web and provide access to a complete HD experience. These companies understand the value that HD content brings their brand and are ahead of the curve by offering HD programming online.

Consumer appetite and interest in premium quality online video has already arrived. Akamai has created a venue for Internet users to fully experience the possibilities of the HD Internet. Bringing together broadband ISPs, content providers, technology providers and consumer electronics manufacturers, this groundbreaking initiative is designed to build the framework to galvanize the industry around the potential of HD online.

Akamai’s goal is to provide high bandwidth consumers with a superior online HD experience and highlight the content providers that are pushing the industry forward. The HDWeb portal will:

• Bring together the most powerful brands online to showcase premium content
• Offer a glimpse into the ‘future’ of the Internet
• Engage audiences with higher quality video experiences
• Seed the market for premium content monetization strategies
• Show industry support and leadership around the move toward high-definition video

A critical factor to enable high bit rate delivery of very large HD files is the proximity of the end-user to the server sending the file. As the distance from the server becomes greater, throughput dramatically decreases. Even a seemingly small distance can result in lost throughput due to lower throughput, higher packet loss, and increased latency. The more latency, the longer it takes to download the file, which can interrupt the viewing experience and result in a poor end-user experience. Akamai works closely with leading broadband ISPs to deploy servers directly in those networks to ensure that content is served closest to the end user for a superior HD experience. Compared with other centralized models, the results that Akamai's network offers are unmatched on a global scale.

Akamai recently outlined technical criteria for delivering HD content on the Internet. Akamai has architected its platform to comply with the following technical criteria that content owners must leverage to successfully enable an HD Web. Akamai believes that it is the first and only platform to meet these technical requirements which include offering:

• Technology and an operational model to operate serving devices in the largest high-throughput networks around the world (servers need to be physically in the networks, as that is where the capacity lies)
• Established relationships with the largest high throughput networks
• Support for delivery, storage, and management of files greater than 2 Gigabytes
• Support of VC-1 and MPEG-4 video standards, achieving visual parity with other broadcast video networks
• Support for files with resolutions of 720p, 1080i and 1080p
• Client-side technology that is deeply integrated into its delivery system to be deployed as appropriate

Industry studies have shown that without meeting these criteria, online audiences will become impatient, tune out, and find premium HD content that works elsewhere. By ensuring these requirements are met, content providers are able to avoid slow or delayed downloads, the inability to serve HD content in its entirety, download interruptions, limited audience reach, and overall poor end-user satisfaction, which often accompany the download of large files. In addition, multi-player compatibility is crucial to meet the needs of a diverse end user community.