Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) Tuesday spun off its MediaBase streaming server software into a new company called Kasenna, Inc., which will further develop and market the product.
SGI announced plans in August to spin off the media-streaming application and its engineering team and technology as part of a reorganization.
MediaBase software is designed to offer Web-based streaming networking, content and operations management services, SGI said in a release. MediaBase supports all leading media-streaming standards, including RealSystem G2, QuickTime and higher-bit-rate MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, according to SGI.
Use of streaming media almost doubled from 1998 to 1999, according to Dataquest, with 17% of U.S. businesses using it for various applications in 1999, up from 9% in 1998. Streaming software application and multimedia files reside on a Web site and are used or played as a continuous stream by the user, rather than first having to be downloaded to a local hard drive.
The spinoff is seen as a strategy for raising the cash needed to pursue market share in streaming media. SGI secured additional funding from venture capital firms U.S. Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures and Entertainment Media Ventures that will enable Kasenna to further develop MediaBase, the release said.
SGI, in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at (650) 960-1980 or at www.sgi.com.
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