At the Streaming Media West show in two weeks, I will be presenting a special hands-on session demonstrating some of the latest streaming media devices and content platforms including the new Google TV, Apple TV, Roku XDS, Xbox 360, PS3 and some yet to be announced devices. See how these devices access content from content platforms including Netflix, Blockbuster, iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Zune Video, PlayStation Network and Cinema Now.

Attendees will see these devices in action, learn which platforms they run, what content they are capable of getting and have their questions answered in a Q&A session. If you like devices, this is the session for you!

In addition, we'll also have additional devices avaialble on the show floor including the TiVo Premiere,  Sony Internet TV with Google TV, the Logitec Revue with Google TV, Boxee and a new device from Western Digital.

Register online for the entire Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a question about one of these devices you want me to answer? Put it in the comments section below and I'll make sure to get you a response.

Many enterprise streaming media initiatives have developed robust on-demand and live webcast capabilities, and some even offer "YouTube"-like functionality. So what's the next area these companies will focus on? At the Streaming Media West show in LA, enterprise customers will discuss where they see the biggest gain in ROI and how much media control they will be giving their employees in the future. If you have a well-established streaming media environment, or if you just want to know what the future holds for enterprise streaming media delivery, this is the session for you. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Eric Hards, Manager Digital Media Services, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
• Mark Tarleton, Manager, Webcast Operations, Raytheon
• Kevin Hill, Manager, Collaboration Systems, Intuit
• KC Hundere, Director, IT, Glendale Community College
• Shaun McIver, Global Head of Multimedia Solutions, Thomson Reuters

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. And check out the entire list of enterprise and education speakers including executives from Wells Fargo, Northwestern University, Cadence Design Systems, eBay, Columbus State Community College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, San Jose State University, University of Toledo, Cisco and more.

For those that track the content delivery networks, they are familiar with the idea that CDNs are trying to diversify their revenue by adding "value add services" to their portfolio. While that term is widely used by CDNs, and was originally coined by Akamai, I have yet to see any CDN define what it really means or which services fall under that term. After my post two weeks ago regarding AT&T teaming up with Cotendo to bring new CDN services to the market, I got a lot of questions specifically about dynamic site acceleration (DSA). I thought it would be helpful to explain what dynamic site acceleration is, what are the differences between DSA offerings, and what's the business case for the product.

Simply put, dynamic site acceleration is a suite of technologies and/or products that make websites reliant on dynamically served content perform better, load faster, and ultimately, make more money. Traditional CDNs improved performance by caching critical content closer to end users. The personalization (Facebook), streams (Twitter), geolocation (FourSquare), real-time info (Google Instant), and customization (MyYahoo) inherent in Web 2.0 have made caching content far less useful. SaaS and enterprise applications (B2B and B2C) have made the case for dynamic, transactional content, as well as the demand for ecommerce and web retailers – focusing on personalized recommendations, and transactional and secure check-out and shopping carts.

DSA augments or in many instances replaces caching by creating new ways to quickly deliver online content or deliver online services and transactions faster. This, in turn, translates into a better user experience, more user clicks and interactions, higher conversion rates and better search engine visibility. Researchers from Microsoft and Google found that a 2-second site loading slowdown resulted in 2% fewer queries, 3.75% fewer clicks, and significant decreases in user satisfaction. The Aberdeen Group found that a 1-second delay in page load time equals 11% fewer page views and a 7% loss in conversions. (In other words, a site that averages $100,000 a day in revenues would lose an additional $2.5 million in sales each year). This is precisely why Google has an entire team of engineers dedicated to shaving milliseconds off load times for search results and is the rationale for DSA.

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With the announcement of Google TV, the race is now on to control the living room. Companies are hard at work trying to give consumers an easy and fast way to search content, navigate television channels, and bring online video to the forefront of the TV experience. At the Streaming Media West show, (Nov.2-3 in LA) executives will talk about some of the new offerings in the market and discuss which business and technology aspects of these services must be put in place in order for them to be successful. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: James McQuivey, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
• Shalini Pai, Group Manager, Partner Solutions, YouTube, Google TV
• Jim Lanzone, CEO, Clicker.com
• Christy Tanner, SVP, GM, TV Guide Digital
• Ashish Arora, VP, GM, Digital Home Group, Logitech

In addition, we'll also have additional devices avaialble on the show floor including the TiVo Premiere,  Sony Internet TV with Google TV, the Logitec Revue with Google TV, Boxee, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, PS3 and a new device from Western Digital.

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. And check out the entire list of speakers including executives from device and platform companies including Logitech, D-Link, Roku, Sony PlayStation, Intel, Google TV, Motorola, Sling Media, Cisco and more.

While Sony said customers would have to wait until Saturday to buy the Sony Internet Google TV, I was able to pick one up Friday afternoon at my local Sony Style store. All it took on my part was showing a real interest in the TV with an employee and telling him I didn’t want to have to come back the next day and he sold it to me on the spot. The store I went to said they had about 50 units in stock and that another shipment was due to arrive on Monday.

I’ve spent the past few hours setting it up and I’ll have a lot more comments and reviews next week. My initial impression is that the Google TV platform works quite well, but the setup of the TV gets an F. Horrible setup with terrible online support. I’ve been using it for nearly half a day now and I still can’t get some of the basics to work properly. I’ll talk more about that shortly, but in the mean time, here are unboxing photos of the 32″ model.

As web content continues to grow and mature due to technological advances and audience awareness, the question still exists of how to monetize it, whether via funding, sponsorship, or other strategies. At the Streaming Media West show on November 2nd, join a panel of web content creation experts as they discuss the various ways content creators can successfully profit from their work. Confirmed presenters include:

• Moderator: Jenni Powell, New Media Consultant (LonelyGirl15, The Guild, Legend of Neil)
• Tony Valenzuela, Director, BlackBoxTV (The Philip DeFranco Show, 2009: A True Story)
• Susan Miller, Executive Producer, Writer, Anyone But Me (L Word, Thirtysomething)
• Steve Woolf, Director of Content Development, West Coast, Blip.tv
• Mike Rotman, CEO, Founder, Streamin Garage

Additional discussion topics will include branded entertainment, sponsorships, the use of transmedia elements to extend the audience experience, and unique and creative ways to garner funding. You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a question about the show? Someone you want to meet? Reach out to me and I'll be happy to make an introduction.

You've heard all the noise about VP8, but how does it really compare to H.264? On November 2nd, at the Streaming Media West show in LA, Jan Ozer will present a hands-on demonstration comparing quality, encoding speed, and playback requirements of both codecs. Jan's presentation will also detail access to VP8 encoding from within live and on-demand encoding tools, the availability of hardware playback acceleration, and features like adaptive streaming. The session will also review VP8 usage by YouTube and other websites.

Register online for the entire Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a topic about VP8 or H.264 that you wan't Jan to cover in his presentation? Put it in the comments section below and I'll make sure he gets it.