CES '18: Giraffic Goes After Streaming Platforms With SDK Release
Video acceleration company Giraffic released a new software development kit (SDK) today, and the executive team is at CES showing it off to prospective customers. Called the AVA TV SDK, it makes Giraffic's Adaptive Video Acceleration available to streaming TV platforms for the first time. The SDK works with Android TV, Apple TV, and Fire TV platforms, as well as Android and iOS devices.
Think of the AVA TV SDK as a way to add quality to the viewer experience. It speeds adaptive video delivery, reducing buffering and ensuring viewers see the highest resolution version possible.
Giraffic's SDK sits on the client app, and changes how the player requests video. Rather than going directly to the source for the requested file, Giraffic redirects the download and delivers the content on its own, monitoring the connection moment by moment to check traffic conditions. It also checks the video's manifest for information on the content.
Two years ago, Giraffic was at CES showing off a solution for connected TV makers. At the time, the subscription streaming market wasn't mature enough for this type of solution, but that's changed. Today's viewers are happy to pay for multiple streaming services, but they expect TV-like quality on any device. The AVA TV SDK in intended to help them achieve that.
"It's an easy library: They just add a few lines to their own app and it just works," says CEO and founder Yoel Zanger.
Why is the SDK not available for Roku and Sony PlayStation? Zanger says those two are built on Linux and are closed to third-party enhancements. SDKs like this have to be whitelisted before they can be used. While he says his company has conducted successful trials on Roku, it isn't yet available for general use.
A few multiple-system operators (MSOs) and major service providers are now testing the SDK, Zanger adds. Having completed their lab testing, they're about to move on to massive A/B testing in the field.
Licensing for the SDK is on a per-subscriber basis, paid monthly or annually. Pricing starts at $1.50 to $2 per sub per year, but decreases substantially with volume.
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