Openwave Introduces Media Optimization Solution to Help Operators Intelligently Manage Increasing Video Demand

Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions that enable communication service providers and the broader ecosystem to create and deliver smarter services, today announced Openwave® Media Optimizer, an intelligent, scalable, and policy-aware video delivery solution. Openwave Media Optimizer enables the reduction of data transmission costs and works to improve the online video experience across any device. Openwave Media Optimizer is part of Openwave’s Traffic Mediation solution and can be delivered pre-integrated with Openwave® Smart Policy, also announced today.

“Data demand, specifically driven by video, is on a path to quickly outstrip network capcity. According to a recent report from Cisco Systems*, video traffic is projected to be roughly two thirds of the world’s mobile data by 2014,” said Ken Denman, CEO, Openwave. “With the advent of game-changing devices such as the iPhone and potentially the iPad, the growing popularity of video on smartphones and other non-phone devices is putting a tremendous strain on operator networks. An immediate way for operators to manage skyrocketing bandwidth consumption is by deploying in-network software optimization solutions like Media Optimizer to control data transmission costs and dynamically optimize video for an optimal viewing experience.”

“Video traffic is rising and operators are looking for ways to reduce costs while monetizing the opportunities as well,” said Chetan Sharma, president of Chetan Sharma Consulting. “The ability to optimize video traffic without impacting the user experience is an important piece of the operator’s overall traffic management portfolio.”

Key benefits of Openwave Media Optimizer include the following:

• Content-aware Bandwidth Compression uses a video encoding algorithm to potentially compress data by 30 percent, thus potentially reducing bandwidth consumption with minimal impact to the visual quality of the video.
• Dynamic Content Inspection can eliminate the need to manually identify video contents using a “white list.” This feature allows video content to be accurately identified regardless of their source and packaging.
• Smart Caching works to reduce core network traffic and to improve the user experience through faster video delivery. It also can perform offline optimization on popular videos, resulting in multiple versions of videos pre-encoded according to device profiles and pre-configured optimization levels.
• Dynamic Bandwidth Shaping – enables the adjustment of the video bit-rate according to real-time network conditions to ensure continuous video playback without any stalls or jitters.
• Just-In-Time Video Delivery works to deliver just enough content for smooth playback, preventing wasted bandwidth when users do not watch an entire video.
• Device- and Network-Aware Optimization takes into consideration a device’s capabilities and encodes media content in a bit-rate suited for each device.
• Optimized Codecs include one that is tuned for speed for real-time transcoding and delivery, and another that is tuned to produce the best video quality for cached videos during offline optimization.
• Policy-Aware Optimization works to ensure that users receive the quality of service they expect – or paid for – with a configurable optimization level that is based on attributes such as subscriber profile, device characteristics, data plan, and time of day.

Openwave Media Optimizer is expected to be generally available at the end of the first calendar quarter of 2010.

* Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2009-2014, February 9, 2010