August 2019 Summaries

Mux's Data and Video platform aims to enhance viewer experience while maintaining efficiency for broadcasters and large media companies. The platform includes Mux Data, a real-time analytics tool that measures Quality of Experience (QoE) parameters such as startup time, rebuffering, video quality, and playback failure. Additionally, Mux Video offers global viewer experience data, just-in-time transcoding engine, optimized streaming origin, and multi-CDNs for efficient video streaming. At IBC, Mux will showcase new features that advance encoding, live streaming, and real-time performance monitoring. These include Audience Adaptive Encoding using machine learning to provide the best range of renditions for each video based on audience bandwidth and device resolutions. The platform also offers reduced latency options for live streaming API, enabling latency as low as 8 seconds with any modern video player. Furthermore, Mux is previewing a beta version of Real-Time Data Exports at IBC, allowing customers to access real-time performance metrics via API and integrate them with monitoring services like Opsgenie and Datadog or use their own infrastructure. This integration helps in better planning for incidents and efficient incident response. Mux also plans to introduce Live Simulcasting to platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Periscope, Twitch, etc., and enhancements for audio-only content soon.

A new SDK has been released for integrating Mux Data with Shaka Player, an open-source web-based video player developed by Google that supports DASH and HLS video playback. Unlike other players that are wrappers around HLS.js and Dash.js, Shaka uses its own media stack without third party dependencies. The integration of Mux Data allows for detailed data about video performance, including an "Overall Score" metric, rich visualizations, and segmentation to diagnose issues. Additionally, a real-time dashboard is available for monitoring video views as they happen. Developers can sign up to try Mux Data and provide feedback on desired player integrations.

Phoenix LiveView is an experimental feature allowing developers to create rich, real-time user experiences with server-rendered HTML. It can be used in conjunction with Mux Live Streaming and Elixir programming language. The example app "Snitch" demonstrates how LiveView handles webhooks from Mux by re-rendering on the server side and pushing changes to the client, eliminating the need for websockets or polling. This feature is useful in applications that require real-time updates and can be used across various industries.

Mux Video introduces "test assets," allowing users to explore and experiment with its powerful video API without any payment information required. Test assets are limited in certain ways, such as being watermarked, clipped to 10 seconds for pre-recorded videos, or limited to 5 minutes for live streams, and automatically deleted after 24 hours. Users can have an unlimited number of test assets, with full access to all features of Mux Video. Upon entering credit card information, users receive $20 in credit and can continue using test assets. Test assets are useful for trying out new features or testing the API without affecting production environments.

Mux has raised $20 million in Series B funding from investors including Evolution, Accel, and Y Combinator. The company's vision is to power internet video by building an API for video that solves the hard problems behind video streaming. The funding will be used primarily for hiring and product development, with a focus on making it easier for developers to work with video and democratizing access to video technology. Mux plans to expand its offerings in data exploration, features, scale and performance, integrations, developer tools, R&D, and support over the next year.

Mux's webhook infrastructure is frequently discussed due to its ability to proactively notify users about changes in assets and live streams. However, customers often ask how to validate that these notifications are from Mux. To address this concern, Mux has added a unique signing secret for each webhook, which can be used to verify the origin of requests and ensure no tampering with messages. This security feature is now available in all webhooks, including existing ones.

The author expresses excitement about joining Mux, a company specializing in video streaming solutions. They highlight the simplicity and developer-friendly nature of Mux's APIs, particularly for video-on-demand playback. Additionally, they mention Mux Data, which provides valuable insights into end users' experiences with video streaming. The author also praises Mux's live streaming capabilities and its use of cutting-edge programming languages like Elixir and Phoenix. They emphasize the growing importance of video streaming on the internet and encourage others to join Mux in shaping the future of video technology.