Ultravox or Ultravox Media On Demand Server (UltraMODS), is a streaming video project by AOL

AOL

AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

. The goal is to create something like SHOUTcast

SHOUTcast

SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...

 but for routers, so that the data is handled much better, can handle more users efficiently, and channel changing is much faster.

Marketing

Certain streams made available by Shoutcast

SHOUTcast

SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...

 use Ultravox. AOL Radio has since moved to a non-streaming "beamcast" approach to music listening as of late Summer 2008. CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

 stations featured on AOL Radio use a variety of streaming methods not limited to Ultravox.

Technology

This format uses uvox URLs, and can be viewed in Winamp

Winamp

Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...

. Nullsoft

Nullsoft

Nullsoft, Inc. is a software house founded in Sedona, Arizona in 1997 by Justin Frankel. Its most known products include the Winamp media player and the SHOUTcast MP3 streaming media server. In recent years, their open source installer system, NSIS, has also risen in popularity as a widely used...

 is reportedly helping AOL create Ultravox. Nullsoft also releasedNullsoft Streaming Video

Nullsoft Streaming Video

Nullsoft Streaming Video is a media container designed for streaming video content over the internet. NSV was developed by Nullsoft, the makers of Winamp....

, which is streamed over Ultravox software.

Michael Wise is on the ISMA

Internet Streaming Media Alliance

The Internet Streaming Media Alliance was Founded in December 2000, by Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, IBM, Kasenna, Philips, and Sun Microsystems. It is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to accelerate the market adoption of open standards for streaming and progressive download of rich...

Board of Directors, and is reported as being actively involved in AOL’s streaming technology planning. In an effort to drive interoperability and lower distribution costs, he and his team are now working to standardize key parts of Ultravox, AOL’s own streaming technology platform.

Ultravox is implemented in servers and in the firmware of certain routers to provide efficient, scalable delivery to hundreds of thousands of customers simultaneously.

External links

• Official site
• CNet
  • AOL aims to supercharge streaming
  • AOL debuts its own streaming tech
• TheInquirer - AOL to ditch Real Networks in Netscape Radio?
• Flexbeta - AOL pulls Nullsoft file-sharing software (Read last paragraph for blurb about Ultravox)