Open Standards Organization Paves the Way for Industry Conformance Testing; IP-Streaming Consortium Trumpets Interoperability of Leading Products, Announces Test Cycle for H.264/AVC Video Codec

Business Wire, July 5, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) disclosed today the names of leading companies in IP-based streaming multimedia whose products were formally submitted for certification testing, and have officially met test criteria established under the ISMA Conformance Program to become reference products for that program. The program was launched last year, and is the industry's first test suite designed to validate interoperability between products that implement end-to-end streaming solutions based on open standards.

ISMA member companies Apple Computer Inc., Coding Technologies, Envivio, Inc., and Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits have successfully completed the interoperability test process that provides conformance points for each profile, or encoding layer. Test procedures are categorized by product type such as encoders, hinters, servers, live encoders and players, and reflect compliance requirements in existing ISMA standards. After the self-test phase, candidates submit test results for product conformance verification. Once certified, they are authorized to use the "ISMA Approved" designation in products, on packaging, and in marketing materials.

"Developing products that are based on open and widely adopted industry standards is important, but you can't stop there," said Yuval Fisher, Principal Engineer at Envivio, Inc. and ISMA board member. "To promote standards-based technologies as a viable alternative over proprietary systems, products should work together and to a large extent, be vendor agnostic. The ISMA Conformance Program is a critical service for the entire streaming arena because it provides the final step in a process of multi-vendor interoperability. Having the ISMA stamp of approval demonstrates to our customers that we're committed to an effortless and gratifying user experience."

ISMA is now accepting applications for the next conformance test cycle, which is scheduled to begin this week. ISMA 2.0 Conformance will focus on the latest and most efficient codec technologies available for video and audio, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) and MPEG-4 HE AAC. Implementations for other technologies in the ISMA 2.0 Specification will also be tested, including transport of encoded data in MPEG-4 file format, and RTP/RTSP streaming.

Companies whose products are approved will be invited to join the ISMA Product Pavilion, to be launched later in the year. The ISMA Product Pavilion is an online showcase featured on the ISMA website, and offers companies the opportunity to highlight their products to the outside world using ISMA marketing tools, services, and communications.

For more information on joining the ISMA Conformance Program, visit the website at http://www.isma.tv/conformance/overview.html, or contact the program coordinator at coordinator@isma.tv.

About the Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA)

Founded in 2000, the ISMA is a global alliance of industry leaders dedicated to the adoption and deployment of open standards for streaming rich media such as video, audio, and associated data over Internet protocols. The goal of its membership is to promote standards-based solutions that offer greater choice, flexibility, extensive cost efficiencies, and higher quality of service. The organization achieves this by providing the industry with technical specifications based on non-proprietary and existing standards, testing solutions that enable multi-vendor, multi-platform interoperability, and a premier logo certification program. ISMA collaborates with industry analysts to track standards adoption, as well as with other trade associations and standards bodies to promote interoperable solutions across the entire content delivery spectrum.

More information about the alliance and its membership may be found at www.isma.tv.