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Spin Magazine expands online video service to the iPad, iPhone

SPIN will be using Brightcove?s HTML5 service to expand its online video operations to Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

The company is using Brightcove's HTML5 service for its online videos. The content will be available to consumers using Apple devices that do not support Flash video, including the much-anticipated iPad, as well as the iPhone and iPod touch.

?We want to take advantage of the iPad's video capabilities and enable our custom-produced, exclusive video content to be fully compatible with this exciting new device,? said Peter Gaston, interactive director at SPIN, New York. 

?Brightcove has been powering SPIN's video for two years, and we were excited to learn that their platform would be easily convertible to service HTML5-capable Apple devices,? he said. ?This keeps iPad and iPhone users connected to our video content, anywhere and anytime.?

Spin magazine offers daily music content and breaking news to its readers.

Brightcove is a cloud-based online video platform.

IPad platform compatible
The Brightcove Experience for HTML5 provides an embed code that auto-detects the device used by a consumer to access the Spin Web site.

?As commercial availability of the Apple iPad draws near, we have been getting a lot of inquiries from customers looking for guidance on what they need to do to deliver great video experiences on devices like the iPad that exclusively support the HTML5 approach to video,? Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing ath Brightcove, Cambridge, MA. ?These customers are excited about the possibilities of the iPad, but they also have concerns about what it will take to deliver great video experiences in this environment.

?Our customers want to be able to deliver their video content to every screen without sacrificing the quality, interactivity and monetization capabilities they have come to expect from the Brightcove platform, and this new solution allows them to accomplish that on HTML5-compatible devices,? he said. 

?Additionally, we also continue to invest heavily to make it possible for our customers to deliver Flash-based video experiences both on the Web and across Flash-supported mobile devices.?

Music platform
When accessed via a handset that supports Flash, the platform provides a Flash-based video experience on Spin?s site.

Additionally, the platform will automatically display an HTML5 video when accessed via the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. 

SPIN will leverage the HTML service to make its Web site iPad compatable and the company claims that it has been features on multiple iPad tutorials on Apple?s Web site already.

?The service specifically provides support for intelligent device detection, playlist rendering, and playback of H.264 encoded video content,? Mr. Whatcott said. ?Over the course of the year, Brightcove will also expand the solution to include full support for customization and branding of the player environment, advertising, analytics, social sharing and other capabilities currently found in Brightcove Experience solutions for other platforms.

?When it comes to the user experience, the Brightcove platform enables publishers to ensure their users are always receiving the best video experience possible, regardless of the format the video is being delivered in,? he said. ?While HTML5 is here to stay, the reality is that it is still in its infancy and that the Flash platform is not going away for the foreseeable future.

?The rapid emergence of hand-held devices is bringing the Flash versus. HTML5 issue to the forefront and has raised deeper issues for media publishers who are eager to have their content be accessible to end-users.?