Amazon, Netflix, Google & Others Form Alliance for Open Media

WAKEFIELD: Seven leading internet companies, among them Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft, have come together to create the Alliance for Open Media, an open-source project that is aiming to develop next-generation media formats.

The alliance will be working together to develop a video format that is interoperable and open, optimized for the web and scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth. It will also be designed with a low computational footprint and optimized for hardware; capable of consistent, high-quality, real-time video delivery; and flexible for both commercial and noncommercial content, including UGC. The initial project will see the creation of a new, open, royalty-free video codec specification based on members' contributions.

Along with Netflix, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, the Alliance for Open Media is comprised of Cisco, Intel Corporation and Mozilla.

"Customer expectations for media delivery continue to grow, and fulfilling their expectations requires the concerted energy of the entire ecosystem," said Gabe Frost, the Alliance for Open Media’s executive director. "The Alliance for Open Media brings together the leading experts in the entire video stack to work together in pursuit of open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of video delivery."