IPTV Set Top Box

IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television and is a way for content to be delivered over the Internet rather than over-the-air, through satellite, or by cable. It is a form of streaming video, which means content can be played on your television as it is being delivered rather than waiting for the entire video to be downloaded and then played. The video is stored on servers and streamed to the television when the video is accessed by the viewer.

Unlike traditional television where the signals are broadcast for all the channels, when you change the channel in an IPTV scenario, the previous channel stops streaming and the new channel is streamed to your television.

Why use IPTV?

IPTV differs from other Internet delivered video in that IPTV uses developing standards to deliver content to subscribers through a device – the set top box – which streams the content to your television in a reliable and secure fashion. It offers the viewer interactivity through options such as time-shifted television and video on demand.

Many set top boxes also allow additional interactivity by providing extra material, such as actor biographies, that can be accessed at the same time as the video is being viewed, or by allowing chat windows over the Internet connection so you can share the experience with someone outside your living room.

Working with TikiLIVE you’ll be able to offer the many benefits of IPTV with your HD content.

How It Started

The term IPTV was introduced in 1995 when a company called Precept introduced a product called IP/TV, which transmitted audio and video traffic over the Internet.
The company was purchased by Cisco in 1998 and Cisco kept the IP/TV trademark and continues to provide IPTV set top boxes.
With the “/” removed, the term came to describe the industry in general – another case of a trademark becoming part of the general culture.
In 1998, the first continuous live webcasts were streamed.
By 1999, telecommunications companies were experimenting with streaming video over broadband by providing video on demand services.
More companies began to explore the IPTV arena throughout the world. By the mid-2000s, IPTV was really taking off.
In 2006 Saskel, a Canadian company, was the first to offer HDTV over IPTV.
In 2014 NBC took advantage of the advances in technology and delivered the Winter Olympics events to 36 different IPTV HD channels.

Where Is It Headed?

In 2008, there were a little over 21 million IPTV subscribers with revenue just under $7 billion.
According to the ABI Research Company, the worldwide number of users of IPTV in 2013 was over 90 million with revenue of nearly $38 billion.
The number of IPTV users is projected to nearly double by 2020.

Why Has IPTV Grown?

At first IPTV was limited due to equipment costs, inefficient video compression, and slower Internet capabilities. These hindrances are no longer a problem for most of today’s Internet users. Today HD video can be captured on smartphones, software prices for creating video has dropped precipitously, and high speed broadband which makes HD video streaming more efficient has gained in popularity and availability. Viewers are becoming more comfortable with the technology and are actively seeking ways to take more control over television content.

As technology has improved and costs have decreased, broadcasting has become more than a dream to more and more people. TikiLIVE makes those dreams even more attainable with our HD streaming solutions that allow you to broadcast to the viewer’s television. For individuals and companies wishing to take advantage of those growing number of consumers and the increasing revenue, TikiLIVE can give you access to IPTV set top boxes to provide your own HD content.

The Set Top Box Revolution

Set top box makers partner with vendors to provide shows to the viewer through the viewer’s television. Disney, PBS, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and HBO are just some of the providers that make content available on major set top boxes. What makes the set top box solution so desirable is the high quality that can be delivered now, and the proliferation of boxes that can stream content to your television for less than $100. Even when you add in subscription costs for the various vendors, set top box solutions are financially attractive. Combine the price with more interactivity and convenience for the viewer and add the quality of the streaming HD video, and it is little wonder that IPTV has experienced such rapid growth.

Who Are the Players?

Roku

In terms of content provided, Roku is the major player in set top boxes. They offer free and premium channels and they have hundreds more channels than their competitors.

The TikiLIVE platform lets you be part of that by allowing you to broadcast your HD content through Roku right next to YouTube, Hulu, and others. Your HD content can be viewed on your subscriber’s television just like any other IPTV vendor.

Apple TV and Chromecast

Apple TV and Chromecast are two other popular set top boxes for which we provide the means to deliver your content through mirroring.

Your TikiLIVE content stream is accessed through the user’s mobile device and then sent to their television.

TikiLIVE Branding Option

We also offer white label set top boxes, which you to deliver your content to your subscriber’s television through a set top box that carries your brand. Instead of having your video on a Roku or Apple TV box, your HD content will be synonymous with the label on the box delivering that content.

What Do You Do Next?

IPTV is going to continue to grow and be an alternative to traditional television. Why not be part of that growth? TikiLIVE offers the solutions that allow you to have the latest and most efficient methods to format and deliver your content. We can allow you to be an IPTV player in no time at all! More importantly, we allow you to be an IPTV player with the confidence that your reputation will not suffer due to the use of inferior technology.

For more information or questions about how TikiLIVE can help you, please contact our highly qualified support group. If you prefer, you can reach us by phone at 305-289-4557 for the same expert assistance.

TikiLIVE’s Lineup of Premium Content

TikiLIVE_Networks-large

With TikiLIVE, not only can you stream your own content, but now you can also offer high definition premium shows such as Comedy.TV, QVC, Nasa.TV, and many more. Not only are you able to choose from top hit movies to offer such as Edge of Tomorrow and Lucy. As one of the world’s leading providers of end-to-end media solutions, we are able to assist in providing the best HD content across a wide variety of platforms from computers, to mobile devices.

We have a full list of content available to pick from where you can even browse the channels and movies to get a glimpse of the amazing quality content available that may even become yours to offer. See it first here at www.tikilive.com/networks. Our TikiLIVE platforms deliver FCC approved content through a middleware based solution, delivering premium content in the most cost effective manner to ensure provider monetization.

In the article “LIVE Content viewing up 200%,” Rapid TV News reports live streaming is a growing industry that is constantly expanding across all platforms. “Live viewing of content is up a staggering 214% year-over-year,” explains Michelle Clancy, meaning that providers also need a reliable delivery system. TikiLIVE not only delivers strong, high definition content, but also offers support for unplanned instances. 24/7, we’re by your side to help make your system grow to its fullest potential with premium content via TikiLIVE.

What is TikiLIVE?

TikiLIVE functions as a world-wide streaming service capable of broadcasting your streams anywhere across the globe. With mobile broadcasting, Set Top Boxes, and desktop streaming, there are multiple ways to get content to your viewers no matter where they are. Cloud based video encoding ensures that your content is always in the right format and accessible anytime on the Internet.

For more information, you may visit our site here, fill out an online Contact Us form, or call our office to speak to a representative at 305.289.4557.

Unicast and multicast streaming

Streaming video is content that can be accessed by the viewer without having to wait for the entire video to download to a hard drive. The name comes from the fact that the video is sent in a “stream” that is played as it arrives at its destination. Long wait times while large videos download to a hard drive to be played are gone with streaming. At TikiLIVE, we provide streaming solutions for HD video.

Unicast and Multicast are two methods of streaming video over the Internet. Unicast is a point-to-point protocol where information is sent from one device to another. This is the primary method of sending files and information over Local Area Networks (LANs) and most of the Internet. It usually uses what is known as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Device A sends the data directly to Device B. If Device C also wants the data, Device A will send the data directly to Device C, even if Device B is being sent the data separately at the same time.

Multicast is where information is sent once from a receiver to multiple delivery points and requires the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). UDP uses less overhead than TCP and transmits data faster. Device A sends the data out, typically to a switch. If Device B and C want the data, they “join” the switch to receive that single data stream coming from Device A. Device A does not send Device B and Device C their own signal, B and C tap into the one signal sent from A.

How Do They Work?

Unicast is easy to use and usually doesn’t require anything extra to be done to a network to function. It is a method that goes from one IP address to another, so it is based on where the content is going. It is a connection protocol. If the video to be streamed is going to go to a user, it goes from the sending device to that user. If another user wants to view that video, a separate iteration of that video is sent to the second user.

Multicasting is what is known as a connectionless protocol. It really doesn’t care where data is sent, or if it even gets to its destination. Multicasting may require some network configuration, as special addressing must be used. The end user has chosen to receive the video before it has been streamed. The video is sent one time from the sending device and all the devices that have been set to receive the stream also get the video. Devices that are not set to receive the stream do not get that traffic. In a way it is similar to cable TV. The signal is sent out from the head end and if you have the right cable package and tune into that channel, you can get the video. If you don’t have the proper package or are on a different channel, that signal isn’t delivered to you.

As a side note, broadcasting is similar to multicasting in that the packet is sent once to all devices in a given range, but it is sent to all the devices whether they want it or not. Your device has to determine if you want the packet or not for all the packets being broadcast. This obviously isn’t practical for the Internet as a whole and is usually limited to local subnets of a network, especially since most routers will block IP broadcast traffic by default.

Why Would You Use Unicast or Multicast?

For On Demand video or video that will be streamed at a user’s convenience, unicasting makes sense. It is easier to use, the user has control over the stream (e.g., bitrate and play-pause-stop), and is more reliable. YouTube is an example of a service that uses unicasting. Generally, there will not be so many users accessing a video at once that the system becomes overloaded from separate streams being sent to each viewer.

Unicast uses too much bandwidth for live events, or other events where a large number of users would be accessing the data. Every person that accesses the video would be getting a separate stream with its own bandwidth overhead. Multicasting takes care of that by streaming the video once to all the devices that have opted to receive the stream. Multicasting is very efficient in this regard. As previously mentioned, since it uses UDP, which is a simpler protocol, multicasting is delivered faster and it is better suited for streaming video.

What Are the Disadvantages of Multicasting and Unicast Streaming?

We alluded to one disadvantage of unicasting above. Unicasting does not scale well. If there are a large number of users accessing the stream at the same time, bandwidth becomes an issue. TCP sends data in the packets that ensures the data gets to where it is being sent. When data slows from traffic or from the signal being checked for error loss, buffering happens on the unicast stream. This is irritating when watching streaming content, but can ruin a conference call or a live event.

Multicasting handles bandwidth overhead very well, but with UDP there are no recovery options. Nor is there any guarantee that the packets will reach where they are intended. It is up to the receiving device to do any error checking. This can result in lost packets or dropout. Multicasting also requires routers and ISPs that support multitasking; not all do so. It is also more difficult to multicast over a large number of different networks, switches, and routers because of the complexity of delivering multicast streamed content.

Why does it Matter?

At TikiLIVE we have the software, encoding options, and infrastructure to provide the option that works best for you. As you can see, both unicasting and multicasting have advantages and disadvantages. If your video is not delivered reliably and with quality, your reputation and potential monetary bottom line can be affected.

We are committed to providing the answers and solutions you require. Our highly trained customer support staff can tailor the streaming method specifically to fit your needs. Please contact us today! You can also feel free to explore our knowledge base, open a support ticket, or chat online with one of our customer service experts. If you prefer, you can also call us at 305-289-4557.

Live Video Broadcasting Software

A recently published infographic showed some very interesting statistics in terms of the importance of live video streaming and the role that it current plays in the online world.

Americans spent roughly 20 hours watching online videos in September of 2013.
Over 75% of marketers plan to add video content to their sites and place more of an emphasis on video marketing than Facebook, Twitter and blog content.
Cisco expects video content to account for almost 70% of Internet traffic by 2017.
Video integration greatly improves the chances that your content will land on the first page of Google.
Mobile video viewership increased by over 40% between January-June of 2013.

As you can see, due to the proliferation of high-speed Internet access as well as high-powered mobile devices, video content is here to stay. These statistics show just how important live video broadcasting can be for companies and individuals who are looking to expand their brand both domestically and internationally.

If you are looking to find a company to assist you with your live video broadcasting, TikiLIVE offers a full suite of products and services that can help even the most novice of users stream high quality video content to the cloud with ease.

In this article we will discuss some of the many benefits of TikiLIVE that will allow you to create and share video content with the masses. No longer do you need expensive equipment, cameras and television airtime. TikiLIVE allows you to stream your content to computers as well as smartphones, tablets and set top boxes using the same methods of the big boys like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

Video Broadcasting Software

If you are just beginning to learn about live video streaming you are likely overwhelmed. You’ve heard about all kinds of software that allow you to stream content and you’ve also probably heard that you can even stream video from your smartphone or tablet. While all this is true, if you are looking for the highest quality HD video possible you likely want to utilize live video broadcasting software.

TikiLIVE offers HD Wave, a full-featured live video broadcasting software that is extremely easy to use. To begin live streaming with TikiLIVE and HD Wave follow the following simple steps:

Install HD Wave for PC or MAC depending on the type of computer that you are using.
Create a broadcaster account with TikiLIVE.
Once you have created a broadcaster account you can then select to broadcast using HD Wave.
Start your live video broadcasting session using HD Wave software.
That’s it!

Live streaming with HD Wave is easy, even for someone who has never streamed video online before. Should you have any issues throughout the setup process, feel free to give the customer support team at TikiLIVE a call at anytime.

Live Video Streaming for Business

Some of the largest benefits from using live video broadcasting software can be seen by businesses. While businesses are sometimes looked at as behind the curve when it comes to emerging technologies, companies stand to increase productivity immensely through the use of video streaming. Some ways that businesses around the country are using TikiLIVE to improve efficiency include:

Live stream business conferences – Business conferences are a necessary evil. They are incredibly expensive to coordinate, especially if you must pay for travel and accommodations while your employees attend a conference. With live video streaming you can easily broadcast your conference from one location to your employees around the world while saving serious money.

Training videos – Many employees are visual learners and grow tired of reading hundreds of pages of SOP’s to attempt to learn a new skill or job task. With video streaming you can create a variety of training videos once and reuse them as you train new employees. Talk about an incredible return on investment!

Expand your reach – Live streaming allows you to truly go global in terms of distributing your content to people all over the world. Partnering with a distributed content delivery network like TikiLIVE allows your users to experience the same high level of video quality whether they are located in your same city or on the other side of the world.

Don’t Discount Your Mobile Audience

As a producer of video content you need to always be thinking about your target audience. In traditional marketing, reaching your target audience is often the most important part of “making the sale.” Marketers around the world are beginning to understand that, more times than not, this target audience is accessing your content from a mobile device. Whether it is an iOS phone or tablet, or an Android device, you must be accessible through as many mobile channels as possible. With more than half of Internet users viewing content on their mobile devices, you are setting yourself up for failure if you do not address this huge portion of the market.

TikiLIVE offers a wide variety of features for the mobile market. With full HTML5 support, you can ensure that your videos will appear crisp and clear across all types of smartphones and tablets. This attention to detail will allow you to separate yourself from your competitors and to ultimately gain more customers or followers.

Social Media Sharing Is Easy With TikiLIVE

Another avenue to help share your content is through a variety of social media platforms. With TikiLIVE, we make sharing to these social media networks as simple as a click of the mouse. We are in the business of reducing the amount of work that it takes to stream and share your live video content through as many mediums as possible.

Have Questions about Your Video Content Strategy?

We understand that we’ve offered up a lot of information and that you may have questions. Feel free to give us a call at 305-289-4557 or visit our website to chat with one of our live streaming experts today. We are standing ready to help you stream your live content to a growing audience.

More on the MarketPress Plug-in for WordPress

If you’ve had a website for some time and have started to gain traction in your niche, you are likely looking for ways to monetize your online efforts. There are many different methods that you can take to earn money from your site and one of the more popular methods is through eCommerce.

What is eCommerce?

eCommerce is the trading of products or services using the Internet.eCommerce retailers typically provide a virtual storefront of sorts that allows customers to browse and purchase a brand’s products or services.

The first documented eCommerce sale occurred in the early 1970’s when a cannabis sale was arranged between students at Stanford and MIT. However; it was not until 1979 that the first online shopping platform was demonstrated by Michael Aldrich.

Challenges of Selling Online using eCommerce

While most of us purchase products and services online all the time, when it comes to setting up the infrastructure to sell your own products, this process can be difficult and expensive. There are a variety of shopping cart platforms such as Shopify, Volusion and Magento that allow you to sell your products online, but many of these present several challenges.

High costs: Many eCommerce platforms have steep monthly fees, which are cost prohibitive for small business owners who are just trying to test the waters of eCommerce.
Complicated back end infrastructure: Similar to some web design platforms, eCommerce platforms can be overwhelming for novices to navigate.
Payment integrations: Most people who purchase items online will want to pay by credit card. Accepting credit cards online requires a merchant account as well as a payment gateway that securely handles the transfer of customer data. Setting up this infrastructure can be quite complicated and, if it is not setup correctly, you may have to deal with data breaches in the future.
Labor intensive: When you are setting up an online store to sell your products you have to take pictures, write product descriptions and ensure that each item is listed correctly on your website. This can take significant time and is not something that can happen overnight. This is especially the case if you have a large number of products that you plan to sell online.
Mobile optimization: When choosing an eCommerce platform it is imperative to choose a solution that is mobile friendly. With more people accessing the Internet from mobile devices each day, you need to make sure that your users can view and purchase all of your products with ease from their mobile phones.
SEO: Each product page on your eCommerce site offers you a chance to improve your SEO rankings. It is important to create product descriptions with unique content to improve your chances of ranking higher with major search engines like Google and Bing.

Creating an eCommerce Store With WordPress

One way to save money when it comes to setting up an eCommerce store online is to use the popular content management system WordPress. This CMS offers thousands of plugins that allow you to create a website with all sorts of custom capabilities. One of the most popular categories of plugins that integrate with WordPress is eCommerce. These plugins work directly from within the WordPress dashboard, allowing website owners to quickly add product descriptions, photos and pricing without the complicated coding that is required from many shopping cart platforms.

MarketPress Plugin for WordPress

One of the most popular eCommerce plugins for WordPress is MarketPress.

This plugin allows anyone with a WordPress site to quickly begin to sell products on their site without any coding background.

MarketPress offers a variety of features that allow website owners to easily begin to sell products online including:

Support for payment gateways: MarketPress offers full integration with all major payment gateways.
Support major currencies: Sell to customers around the world with multiple currency options.
Multiple shipping options: Customize your shipping options to include options from all major shipping carriers.
Stunning themes: Ready to go themes can be customized without any complicated coding.
Widgets: WordPress offers widgets that allow you to easily insert interactive elements throughout your website. MarketPress takes full advantage of these widgets and allows you to instantly place product clouds, product lists and product categories throughout your site simply by dragging your mouse.
Product thumbnails/images: MarketPress allows you to easily upload images and the plugin can create thumbnails on the fly. It also offers lightbox zoom options to give your customers a true close up look at all of your products.
Detailed documentation: MarketPress is designed to be simple, but if you run into problems you have access to a robust set of documentation to understand exactly how to setup your eCommerce store. In fact, MarketPress even offers a step-by-step guide to get you up and running in no time at all!
Established community: Because MarketPress is one of the most popular eCommerce plugins for WordPress, there is a large community of people who have significant experience with the plugin. These individuals are often willing to help others who are having trouble setting up certain aspects of MarketPress. WordPress offers a variety of online forums, which make communication between MarketPress users remarkably easy.
Coupons and discounts: Looking to offer your customers coupons or special discounts? This functionality is already built into MarketPress!
Lite and Pro versions –MarketPress offers a lite version for small eCommerce stores which is free as well as a Pro version which includes a variety of enhancements including:

o Google Analytics eCommerce integration

o Integrated shipping modules (UPS, USPS, FedEx, store pickup)

o Full suite of payment gateway options (Lite version only supports Simplify, manual payments and PayPal)

The Sky is the Limit With WordPress Plugins

WordPress plugins offer a wide variety of easy to install add-ons which can quickly turn your website into an eCommerce store. One additional plugin that may be beneficial for your eCommerce store is a WordPress module from TikiLIVE that allows you to showcase your video content alongside your products. Think about how beneficial it could be for you to highlight some of the benefits of your products through videos. For more information on embedding videos in your WordPress site, contact TikiLIVE today!

WordPress Users: Manage Your Pictures with NextGen

NextGen is a popular gallery plugin for WordPress that allows you to organize and display photos on your website. NextGen allows you to easily upload your photos and display them in interactive galleries on your website. These galleries can feature rich effects such as image sliders, carousels and other jQuery effects.

Getting Started with NextGen

If you are looking to install NextGen on your WordPress site, you first must search for the plugin through the Directory. Here you can search for and install the NextGen plugin for your website.

Once you have installed NextGen you should see a sidebar in your WordPress admin area that is labeled “Gallery.” This is where the heart of the NextGen WordPress plugin is managed. Once you click on the “Gallery” option, you are ready to add images to your website. Here you can create a new gallery and upload images with ease thanks to the NextGen uploader. You can upload one image at a time or use NextGen’s bulk upload functionality to easily add multiple images to your site. Here you can also edit details about each of your images. Details that you should pay special attention to for SEO purposes include meta tags, alt and title tags.

Integrating Your NextGen Galleries Into Your Website

Now that you have created a NextGen gallery on your site, you are probably wondering how you can get your images to actually show up on your website. With NextGen, displaying your galleries is extremely easy. Simply navigate to the page or post where you are looking to insert your gallery and look at the WordPress WYSIWYG toolbar for the NextGen button. This button will allow you to choose which gallery you want to include and will instantly embed the gallery into the page or post that you are editing in WordPress.

NextGenWordpress Plugin Features

Uploading Galleries

NextGen makes it extremely easy to embed your images into your website. You can upload files through a standard WordPress uploading tool or via a zip file upload or even via FTP.

Managing Your Galleries

Centralized management: With NextGen you are able to manage all of your galleries from one interface.

Editing your galleries: NextGen provides a fairly robust set of editing capabilities including changing gallery descriptions, titles, the reordering of images and changing the size of thumbnails.

Edit individual images: NextGen also allows you to change individual meta tags, title tags as well as the ability to rotate image orientation.

Watermark management: Easily add watermarks to your existing images to prevent others from stealing your intellectual property.

Editing thumbnails: Easily change the size of thumbnails as well as batch resize thumbnails across one of more of your galleries.

Displaying your NextGen Galleries

Slideshow options: Choose from all sorts of slideshows including different sizes, speed, image order, style of transition and navigation bar.

Thumbnail display options: Choose from a variety of different display options for your thumbnail galleries.

Gallery types: Choose between two different types of galleries: thumbnail and slideshow. You can even allow your users to switch between the two while viewing your images.

Single images: Not only can you display your images as galleries, but NextGen also allows you to display single images if necessary.

6 Reasons Why You Should Use NextGen Gallery

User friendly site design

It is important to create a website that is interactive and pleasing to the eye. NextGen allows you to easily upload and showcase images on your site in an aesthetically pleasing way. Create stunning galleries that look as if you hired a custom programmer to create smooth transitions as well as lightbox effects.

Showcase your products

If you are selling a product online, it is important to show your potential customer as much about your product as possible. This often includes multiple angles of your product so that the customer feels as if they can make a decision as to whether or not to make a purchase. The more pictures the better when it comes to offering products online. NextGen allows you to easily create galleries showcasing your products with ease.

Strong community

NextGen has been the most popular WordPress gallery plugin for a number of years. More than 10 million people have downloaded the NextGen plugin since its inception. With this popularity has come a devout community that is willing to help beginners. Should you have any trouble installing NextGen, you can receive support through online forums or peruse NextGen’s robust documentation archives.

Third party extensions

Because of the popularity of NextGen, a large number of extensions have been developed that integrate into NextGen. Some of these extensions focus on eCommerce, social media, gallery displays and smart phone integration.

WordPress widget integration

Adding one of your galleries to the sidebar or home page of your WordPress website is extremely easy through a WordPress widget. You simply drag one of the NextGen widgets onto the portion of your site where you want to display your gallery and NextGen handles the rest. No fancy coding is required to have beautiful galleries sprinkled throughout your website.

Well maintained

Sometimes with WordPress plugins you have to worry about whether they will be maintained as the plugin becomes more popular. With NextGen you do not have to worry as with over 10 million users, you can be confident that the developers are behind the plugin and will make necessary changes to address bugs and other feature requests. In fact, Photocrati Media recently took over maintenance of the NextGen plugin. Photocrati Media has long been a leader in creating WordPress themes for photographers and artists.

Need Help With Embedding Videos Into Your Website?

In this article we have discussing using NextGen to create image galleries for your site, but you may also be looking for easy ways to integrate video content into your site as well. TikiLIVE offers a WordPress module that allows you to easily display videos on your website without any coding experience. For more information about TikILIVE, contact us today!

Live Streaming on WordPress

WordPress is an open-source platform that is used by millions of website owners around the world who are looking for an easy way to publish content online. WordPress was started in 2003 and was one of the first widely used Content Management Systems (CMS). It allows users to be up and running with a website in a matter of minutes, complete with a robust backend that allows even non-developers the ability to easily tweak the look and feel of their website.

Unlimited Features and Functionality

Because of the sheer number of websites that use WordPress, an entire community has been created around this innovative platform. Websites such as ThemeForest.com and Elegantthemes.com allow users to purchase themes to easily create professional looking websites for a small price, all without any development experience.

Aside from easy to use WordPress themes, users are also able to download and install plugins for a whole host of interactive features. A high-resolution gallery or a contact form is as easy as installing a simple plugin. With thousands of plugins available for free or at a low cost, website owners have unlimited options when it comes to creating highly interactive websites.

Video Streaming on WordPress

As website owners look to increase the effectiveness of their brand, video streaming often comes into play. Live video streaming allows companies and individuals to showcase products and services that are simply impossible through a standard website. Live streaming offers an additional level of interactivity that can be extremely helpful for those looking to grow their online audience.

While there are a variety of WordPress plugins available that allow website owners to feature their video content on their websites, few compare to TikiLIVE’s WordPress module. TikiLIVE is a robust content delivery network that allows you to easily publish your live streaming content to WordPress as well as to other platforms including mobile devices, computers and IPTV boxes such as Roku. Aside from the ability to stream content to your WordPress website, TikiLIVE offers a whole host of features which are beneficial to anyone looking to produce live streaming video online.

Top Features of TikiLIVE

In business since 2007, TikiLIVE is a full-featured live streaming platform that is built to provide an avenue that can handle the viral growth of your online content. Several of the features that set TikiLIVE apart from other online content providers include:

Robust Knowledgebase – Say you have a question about live streaming on WordPress or Roku integration, TikiLIVE has a knowledgebase with a powerful search engine allowing you to find answers to your questions quickly. Simply searching for “WordPress” results in over 50 detailed hits relating to using TikiLIVE with WordPress.

HTML5 Compatibility – When you create content on the TikiLIVE platform it will be instantly HTML5 compatible. This means that anyone can view your content from a smartphone, tablet, computer or IPTV device. Having your content easily accessible across multiple devices allows you to more easily grow your audience.

Pay Per View Monetization – If you suddenly realize that one of your videos is extremely popular, TikiLIVE allows you to continue to broadcast this recorded content, but for a fee! Generate income from your hard work long after your original live video was streamed online. Think about generating income from your pay per view content while you are on vacation or even asleep. Pay per view video streaming can allow you to truly begin to generate passive income based on your high quality video content.

Cloud Based Video Encoding – Not sure whether your video format will work across devices? Have no fear! With TikiLIVE’s Monster encoder you can easily upload content in a variety of formats and have it be streamed across set top boxes, iOS devices as well as Android phones and tablets. Leave the difficulties of encoding for multiple devices to the pros at TikiLIVE.

International Language Support – Go truly international with our multi language modules.

Analytics – Not happy with the analytics provided by your current live streaming provider? TikiLIVE offers robust analytics that can track viewer habits as well as statistics for each of your channels including daily, monthly as well as yearly bandwidth usage and total number of viewers.

White Label IPTV Network – Ready to create your own IPTV network without all of the headaches? With TikiLIVE this is entirely possible. Brand your platform with your company logo, colors and contact information all while using our high quality infrastructure to handle your viewer traffic.

Broadcast From Mobile Devices – Ready to break that news story fast? If so, you need to be able to broadcast from mobile devices. With TikiLIVE you can easily stream directly from your tablet or smartphone and get the first exclusive on that big story that you have been following for so long. No need to wait for the satellite truck to arrive – go live from your smartphone or tablet!

Top-Notch Customer Service – Are you able to talk to your current video streaming provider via phone, email or chat? We didn’t think so! At TikiLIVE, we work hard to have a customer service team that is available and properly trained to handle the majority of issues that face our customers on a daily basis. We understand that being available is simply not enough. We want to be available and knowledgeable enough to handle your requests.

Ready to Give TikiLIVE a Try?

If you are looking for live streaming on WordPress or just a content delivery network that will allow you to grow, TikiLIVE should be your next stop. With our vast experience in the live streaming arena, we understand what it takes to create a content delivery network that can handle the demand of our growing customer base. If you are fed up with your current provider and would be willing to give us a try, call us today at 305-289-4557 or chat with one of our customer service representatives. We can’t wait to have the opportunity to earn your business.

Perform Your First Concert and Reach Thousands by Tomorrow with TikiLIVE

If you’re a musician who’s just starting out, you’ve probably been warned that there is no such thing as overnight success. Even so, as the time comes for you or your band to play that first concert, you can’t help but feel like the stakes are high. It’s the first step in your journey, and while it’s great to be able to play your first show in front of a small but dedicated following, it’s hard not to ask yourself: what could the possibilities be if we got our music in front of more people? People who like what they hear and want to hear more? People who could help us on our road to success, but wouldn’t be in the room with us when we play our first show? What if, even with this very first show, we could perform for people all around the world?

With a content delivery platform such as TikiLIVE, you can take your first concert beyond the confines of your stage or club and deliver it to TVs, monitors, tablets and smartphones everywhere. TikiLIVE integrates live streaming and pre-recorded on-demand video, audio broadcasting, social media, and analytics tools in a powerful delivery infrastructure that can capture the energy and excitement of that first live show and make your music heard around the globe – all at an affordable price and without having to invest in specialized equipment.

Make Your Name as a Live Act by Broadcasting Your Show Live

Show the world what your band can do with a live broadcast of your debut show. TikiLIVE enables you to set up a TV channel for your band and stream your show live, in real time. Before the show, set up your channel using TikiLIVE’s Custom Design tools, which allow you to choose a theme and upload a custom banner (such as your band’s logo).

At show time, use TikiLIVE’s Mobile Broadcasting to stream your show from your mobile device; either iOS or Android devices can be used. All you need is a Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G connection and your show streams live from your mobile device to your channel. TikiLIVE’s robust architecture ensures a top-quality broadcast, free from buffering lapses or feed drops, and its HTML5 encoding makes the show playable on digital devices of all types – smartphones, tablets, TV set-top boxes such as Roku. Think of all the places your band’s music can go, without you all piling into the van and spending a bundle on gas to give fans a taste of your live performance.

Record the Show for Video on Demand

Heard from fans who couldn’t tune in to the live feed of your show? TikiLIVE can also record the show for on-demand playback. There’s no processing delays or any other barriers to getting the video up fast; simply upload the file and boom! The show is ready for viewing on any digital device. Share the URL with people who missed the show, talent bookers, or other interested parties.

Use TikiLIVE’s Analytics to See Where the Fans Are

Okay, so you’ve played your first show and it went great. You used TikiLIVE to stream and record the show, and it was so easy. But now what? How do you know how many people watched, where they tuned in from, and whether they stayed for the full show? To answer these questions, TikiLIVE employs a sophisticated set of analytics tools to give you statistics on the number of viewers, their location, how long they watched, what devices they used and many others. These tools give you valuable information on where to focus your efforts on growing your audience, as well as where to fine-tune your set if you see points where viewers start to drop off.

Keep Your Fans Informed of Your Next Moves on Social Media

With that first show under your belt, you’re going to be eager to plot your band’s next moves. As you develop a timeline of your upcoming activities, use TikiLIVE’s social media integration to announce upcoming gigs and appearances, embed new videos you’ve created, and interact with your fans. TikiLIVE updates your Facebook page, Twitter feed, and other social media sites simultaneously with your new posts. Embed the videos you create with TikiLIVE on YouTube to increase your audience. Use social buttons to enable your fans to share your posts and videos on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and any other platforms you may be active on. All social media functionality is built with responsive design to make it all usable on mobile devices.

As Your Band Grows, TikiLIVE Grows with You

As you and your band play more live shows and record more material, TikiLIVE keeps pace with your band’s development. When you are ready to expand your band’s profile, these are just a few of the ways TikiLIVE can help:

● Create an archive of your live shows and music videos for playback on your channel.
● Use Channel Manager to set up playlists of your videos to play nonstop on your channel.
● Use the Scheduler to create an events list for your channel viewers.
● Leverage TikiLIVE’s Better than Radio suite to upload, manage and broadcast your band’s audio content.
● Create pay-per-view events on your channel
● Sell merchandise using TikiLIVE’s WordPress Shopping Cart.

So many possibilities…and TikiLIVE can make them all happen for your band.

Let Us Help You Build Your Band without Breaking Your Budget

When your band is just starting out, the list of things you need to do to build an audience can seem daunting, and a major distraction from the most important part: creating the music. TikiLIVE greatly simplifies these tasks by placing the recording, hosting, and social media/publicity components all under one virtual “roof,” and at a fraction of the costs that bands formerly had to pay for these services. We don’t just hand you these tools and send you on your way; we provide top-notch support to help you learn your way around the sheer breadth of options TikiLIVE gives you. For more information, give us a call today at 305-289-4557 or fill out our online contact form. We would be thrilled to help your band get its start and be heard all over the world.

Closed Caption Coverage from TikiLIVE Allows Government Agencies to Provide Equal Access

For a government to truly represent the people, it needs to be accessible and transparent to all citizens. The onus is on government agencies to ensure that all members of the public can participate in their business. This means providing equal access to individuals with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires public entities to make accommodations for these citizens, which include the deaf and hard of hearing. It is estimated that 12 percent of Americans suffer from some form of hearing loss, so this represents a substantial segment of the population requiring assistance to interact with their government.

One of government’s most effective outreach tools is video, and 21st-century technology has revolutionized the creation, delivery, and cost effectiveness of this powerful tool. A government agency can record and stream high-definition video of public meetings, events, and informational presentations with a digital video recorder or mobile device, easily keeping the public informed of an agency’s activities and initiatives anywhere there is a broadband connection. And thanks to the robust yet easy-to-use closed-captioning capabilities of content hosting and delivery platforms such as TikiLIVE, it’s a snap for your agency to use video to provide equal access to the deaf and hard of hearing.

Producing a Closed-Captioned Video with TikiLIVE

No special skills are needed to use TikiLIVE to manage and caption your agency’s videos. Note, however, that captions are supported only in HTML5 video players and not Flash players. To broadcast closed-captioned video with TikiLIVE, all you need to do is:

• Record the live streaming event. No specialized recording equipment is required because TikiLIVE lets you auto-record the broadcast sessions. Auto-recorded files will be saved in your Video Library. You can also use the HD Wave feature to locally record the broadcast session.

• Encode the recorded video to make sure it is available on all HTML5 devices. (More on this later.)

• Insert captions in TikiLIVE’s video editor. TikiLIVE’s Entry, Midrange, and Pro plans include captioning capabilities. Simply open your video in TikiLIVE’s Video Library Editor and type your captions in the corresponding places in the video. You can also upload already created subtitle files from your computer.

• Add your video to your TikiLIVE channel for viewing.

Just by making the video of your agency’s activities available, people will feel better informed and more connected to their government. By adding closed captioning to the equation, you help ensure that your agency is just as communicative and transparent to the deaf and hard of hearing, and TikiLIVE makes it all as easy as possible.

It’s Easy to Make Changes to Your Captions

Once captions have been added to your TikiLIVE video, it’s easy to go back and make changes to them if needed. Simply go back into the video editor, change the text that you entered for the video, and save your changes. Additionally, the captions are stored in a separate text file from the video, and this file can also be used as a transcript for the video, if you want to file the contents of the meeting or event in a document or make them available to the public.

HTML5 Encoding Makes Your Content Accessible Across Devices

Once you’ve taken the step of captioning your agency’s video, you’re going to want to make it as accessible as possible. With traditional television broadcasting, having your video seen would depend on viewers being at a television set at the designated time to watch. With the rise of internet video technology, however, people can watch your video anytime, anywhere, on any device. TikiLIVE makes this possible with its HTML5 encoder, which makes your videos viewable on all computers, smartphones (both iPhone and Android), tablets, and TV set-top boxes such as Roku. Your captioning will be supported on all these devices as well, so you won’t sacrifice equal access by device. Remember that closed captioning only works with HTML5 video players and not Flash players.

Use TikiLIVE’s Social Media Integration to Reach the Community and Disability Advocacy Groups

Once you have your videos produced and ready to view, spread the word about them! TikiLIVE integrates with most social media networks to help you get the word out about your agency’s latest news and share your videos. Set up a Facebook account for your government agency and invite your constituency to “like” and participate in the page. Share your videos, noting that they are closed captioned for the deaf and hard of hearing. Reach out to disability advocacy groups to ensure that the deaf/hard of hearing are aware of your efforts to keep them connected to your agency’s activities and initiatives. Invite discussions on your videos’ subjects. Taking advantage of social media will enhance your agency’s profile as an in-touch, transparent organization that strives to be inclusive and values the input of all citizens.

Broadcasting Power that Fits into Public-Sector Budgets

In the days of traditional video production, making a video for your government agency was, well, a production, and a pricey one at that. You needed to purchase or rent expensive video recording equipment, and likely hire somebody who knew how to use it. You had to outsource the editing to firms with editing consoles, and have them make physical copies of the videos. And then to ensure equal access, you had to pay and allow time for the whole separate process of captioning the video. THEN you had to work out broadcast channels for your videos – local network or public-access TV stations, public libraries, and so on. TikiLIVE gives you all of that power under one virtual roof and, by streamlining the process of video production, captioning, and delivery and by harnessing IPTV technology, makes it all surprisingly affordable.

Partner with TikiLIVE to Bring Your Agency’s Message to All People

As you can see, providing equal access through closed captioning fits seamlessly into TikiLIVE’s video production workflow; it’s no longer a specialized task to be handled only by people with the right training. Working for the government can be complicated enough, so why not make your content delivery simpler for your staff and your constituents? Let TikiLIVE help you. Contact us at 305-289-4557, or use our online contact form.

How Educators Can Brainstorm New Ways to Engage Students with Their Overseas Peers

Today, schools and universities are more connected around the globe than ever before. Before the rise of the Internet, options to engage with students from other countries were very limited. Students needed to enroll in Study Abroad programs or attend international conferences to meet students in other countries and share ideas. These options were only available to students who could afford to pay to stay overseas, who didn’t have jobs outside of school, children, or other stateside responsibilities to attend to. Technology has democratized this process, however, making worldwide student interaction possible anywhere there are Internet connections and digital devices.

Educators can give their students a valuable global perspective by leveraging this technology to foster connections between students all over the world. The good news is that it’s never been easier to do this, thanks to online content delivery systems such as TikiLIVE.

This revolutionary platform integrates live streaming, video on demand, social media, and device-independent encoding, all within a powerful hosting infrastructure you can rely on to seamlessly close the distance and build a bridge to understanding for students around the world, all at an affordable price. Let’s look at some ways TikiLIVE can help you make these connections.

Overseas Students Can Attend Your Lectures Without leaving Their Dorms

Let’s say you meet a fellow academic from another country at an international conference in your field of scholarship, and the two of you get excited about getting your students to share ideas and see the class material from each other’s cultural perspectives. What better way for this to happen than sitting in on each other’s class lectures, discussions, or labs?

In the past, university classes in different countries had to share lecture material via transcripts, or by mailing audio or videotapes – not a very speedy or reliable way to exchange ideas. Videotaping lectures also involved setting up an expensive camera and having it operated by someone who hopefully knew what he or she was doing, with sometimes less than ideal results.

With an online content delivery platform such as TikiLIVE, however, you can live stream your lectures directly to an IPTV channel that you can set up for your class. The overseas students would just need to tune in their computers, tablets, or smartphones to the channel and get the immediate experience of attending one of your lectures, live.

No specialized knowledge or recording devices are required; with TikiLIVE, you can broadcast your lectures from a digital video camera, or even a tablet or smartphone. HTML5 encoding ensures that your video can be watched on any platform or mobile device, whether PC or Mac, iPhone or Android, iPad, or Windows tablet. Our robust infrastructure ensures that your high-quality video is delivered without drops, buffering, or other lapses. If time zones prevent overseas students from viewing your lectures live, TikiLIVE makes it easy to archive your recorded lectures to be viewed on demand.

Bring Your Guest Lecturers to the World

For the most part, your students’ overseas peers are physically limited by geography when it comes to guest lecturers and other experts they get to learn from. If you teach an agricultural sciences course and you schedule a guest lecture with a world-renowned crop scientist, wouldn’t you like to be able to share that experience with students all around the globe who could benefit from it?

With TikiLIVE, you can live stream the guest lecture and dramatically increase the number of students the speaker’s information reaches worldwide. If you have contacts at overseas schools, you can invite them to tune in, or put out a general invitation using TikiLIVE’s social media integration.

TikiLIVE’s Social Media Tools Bring The World Closer to Your Students

One of social media’s greatest strengths is its ability to connect people around the world with common interests, and TikiLIVE’s social media integration can help you reach students around the world to discuss your class’s subject matter and activities.

Teaching a course on 18th-century English literature? Create an open Facebook group for your class and share video of your class lectures and discussions there. Hosting a seminar led by a world-renowned expert on particle physics? Send a tweet with a link to where students around the world can tune in on your TikiLIVE channel. Hosting an international conference for textiles professors and students? Record the proceedings and upload them to YouTube for students everywhere to view.

TikiLIVE shares your content to all of these social media platforms seamlessly, greatly extending your class’s reach and inviting participation from fellow scholars around the globe, who can then share your video on their own social media feeds and reach other like-minded scholars. TikiLIVE’s social tools also enable you to create chat rooms for real-time discussions on your course’s subject matter, as well as threaded message boards where students from all parts of the world can get to know each other and exchange their ideas and knowledge.

Global Reach That Is Within Your Budget

Departmental budget constraints are a reality that every academic has to work with while still providing the most enriching educational experience possible for their students. TikiLIVE delivers unparalleled value to your department by bringing your classes to the world stage while eliminating the travel expenses that traditionally have gone with sharing your expertise overseas, as well as the expensive equipment previously needed to record lectures. TikiLIVE also documents your lectures and academic activities for archiving, providing your department with educational resources that can be used for years to come. All this educational power can be yours for a price that will likely surprise you.

TikiLIVE can truly help you close the distance between your students and their fellow students worldwide. We would be honored to help you deliver your class to students anywhere in the world there is a Wi-Fi connection and a digital device. Give us a call at (305) 289-4557 or contact us online to learn more or get set up!

1...262728...41 Page 27 of 41