SkyWire Video 2.0 Released

MPEG 4 for Better Video Performance, new audio capability and new options for scalability.

Boise, Idaho—January 20, 2004—ASTA Technology Group today announced SkyWire Video 2.0, the next version of its video surveillance and remote monitoring software, which allows any video/audio input to be captured and the video/audio stream to be efficiently distributed in a network/Internet environment.

. Key features of the new version include:

·        MPEG-4 for better video performance, especially on PocketPC devices. 

·        The ability to record and transmit audio, as well as video, to add a new dimension to surveillance systems.

·        New scalability options, based on “remote channels” capability.

SkyWire Video’s new MPEG-4 implementation means users with PocketPC devices and remote PC’s can view live or recorded video at higher frame rates.  PocketPC users viewing video over WiFi should see frame rates of 5-10fps.  PocketPC users connecting over cellular modems should see frame rates of 3-4fps.  Users viewing remote video on PCs should see similar or better frame rates.  MPEG-4 also reduces disk space requirements for recording video as much as 75% over SkyWire Video 1.2.

Audio will also be available on SkyWire Video 2.0, allowing PC and PocketPC users to hear, as well as see, what is happening at a remote location, or on a remote surveillance system.  SkyWire Video is among the first systems to transmit live video and audio to PocketPC. 

SkyWire Video 2.0 has new scalability options. They key to this scalability is SkyWire Remote Channels—the ability for SkyWire Servers to act as a remote clients to other SkyWire Servers, with a high level of security to assure the safety of the customers’ video, even in wireless environments. The SkyWire 2.0 architecture provides a flexible and “Lego”-like building block that enables software to capture video and audio, directly support remote clients, and securely push that video/audio to other remote SkyWire Servers, for a secure, tiered system.  This tiered system allows redundant recording is multiple locations.  A remote channel may also be a PocketPC device with an attached camera, such as a FlyCam.  In the future, cell phones with cameras may become remote channels.

For more detail, see the company’s website: astaskywire.com.

“With the popularity of the Internet, the proliferation of CCTV systems, the fast spread of Wi-Fi and cellular wireless modems, and the ever increasing demand for more security, ASTA has developed a new generation of SkyWire Video technology to take advantage of these converging technologies” Said Steve Garland, CEO of ASTA Technology Group.   “The goal is to securely support any video input, and any audio input, from anywhere and make them available on any platform and device, with a highly secure connection—either wireless or “wired,” using MPEG-4 Video with audio options for outstanding performance.”

SkyWire Video also supports advanced motion detection, and records video to hard disk using MPEG-4 compression to reduce disk space requirements. E-mail alerts can notify remote users of detected events.  Remote clients can play back recorded video, or view “live” video on PC’s, PocketPC devices or Java-enabled cell phones.

SkyWire Video is designed to meet Dept. of Defense Class III requirements for maintaining the safety and security of its video streams, so customers can use remote monitoring and wireless devices with confidence, knowing t