FirePad Releases Streaming Video Server

Firepad, Inc. has released FireProducer™, the only streaming video server for the Palm platform. Together with FireViewer™, it allows users to stream video to Internet-connected Palm OS handhelds. Depending on the Palm user’s connection speed, Firepad’s software can display color video at up to twenty-five frames per second.

The free desktop trial version supports one input stream and one output stream. The Lite version supports one input stream and multiple output streams and costs $150 while the Enterprise version costs at least $2000.

FireProducer is able to stream live video or existing video files over any type of TCP/IP network connection, analog or digital, wireless or wired. Vingage Corp. has partnered with Firepad to integrate FireProducer into its Vingage Video Server a comprehensive IP video management and delivery solution. EncodeThis! and Loudeye have partnered with Firepad to provide video encoding services for the FireViewer format.

“Firepad has a legacy of solving problems on handheld devices that many have deemed impossible. We are proud to offer the only true remote streaming video solution for the Palm,” said William E. Mitchell, chief executive officer of Firepad. “Best of all, the system works on today’s Palm and Handspring handhelds; no hardware acceleration or plug-in module is required.” Firepad was cited in a November 2000 report by premier technology research firm WIT Soundview as the company to have written applications that help “neutralize the multimedia gap between Palm and Pocket PC.”

FireViewer is compatible with all PalmOS devices. Firepad’s suite of enterprise client-server applications are the only such applications to have received Palm’s highest quality ratings, Palm Powered and Customer-RatedSM status. Together with FirePublisher Enterprise Server and FireProducer, corporations can now view documents, images and video stored on enterprise intranets over any type of connection. Firepad’s suite of products can integrate with PalmOS web clipping applications or other third party applications utilizing Firepad’s published Application Programming Interface.