Vivo Software has produced an enticing line of products designed for real-time audio and video on-demand. Both VivoActive Player and PowerPlayer deliver real-time audio and video content to the web as plug-ins for Netscape (v2.x and later) or as ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer (v3.x and later). The freeware VivoActive Player will give you an idea of the possibilities that exist with Vivo's technology, but to realize its true potential you'll need to purchase the commercial PowerPlayer client ($12.95). In addition to letting you save Vivo content, the PowerPlayer uses the proprietary H.263 video codec for enhanced video and Vivo's SIREN technology for high-fidelity audio. The freeware player is also limited by the lack of playback controls and program settings, whereas the PowerPlayer delivers an intuitive interface with playback controls, download status, content information, and an option for viewing video content double-size (or twice its original size). But where Vivo really shines is in its line of development tools. The set of three VivoActive Production Tools begins with the $49 VideoNow client. VideoNow is specifically designed for entry-level developers wanting to add basic video and/or audio to their personal home pages or small business web sites. The client's primary selling point is that it produces multimedia content optimized for streaming over the bandwidth of most modems. Of its limitations, a maximum video size of 160 x 120 pixels, the lack of variable streaming rates, and the inability to embed captions, HTML, Visual Basic scripts, and other events into its streaming content stand out as the most glaring. And at only $49, it should come as no surprise that VideoNow also lacks quite a few more of the advanced features found in Vivo's high-end production tools. Like the other two production tools from Vivo, VideoNow lets you take either an AVI or a QuickTime file and convert it to streamed video content (with compression ratios of up to 200:1) that can be served from any type of web server. Or you can go the audio-only route by converting WAV or AIFF files into streamed audio content. In either case, the best aspect of all three production tools is that they are server independent, meaning that VivoActive content can be hosted on and streamed from standard HTTP (web) servers as well as specialized media servers like Microsoft NetShow, Netscape Live Media, and RealNetworks Real Media. Formerly the stallion in Vivo's production stable, VivoActive Producer has been relegated to mid-range duties by the enterprise-level VivoActive Producer for NetShow. Yet despite being overshadowed by the NetShow release, VivoActive Producer ($199) is likely to be the best solution for many developers. Of the three Vivo production tools, it's also the only one that is currently available for evaluation over the 'net. Producer offers many advantages over VideoNow; four of the most important are video optimization capabilities (matches the streaming content with the network connection of your choice - modem, ISDN, T1, LAN, etc.), support for ActiveX and Live Connect (allows you to use Visual Basic Script or Javascript to create multimedia presentations with synchronized video, audio, graphics, slides, and URLs), a maximum video size of 352 x 288 pixels, and optional "FM quality" sound (16kbps) for your audio content. Vivo's current showcase development tool is VivoActive Producer for NetShow, which goes far beyond the capabilities of its two siblings but also carries a far more expensive price tag ($695). The main benefit of Producer for NetShow is that it gives developers the ability to broadcast live multimedia content using Microsoft's Advanced Streaming Format (ASF). Producer for NetShow includes the Microsoft NetShow server for broadcasting live events, or you can use any standard web server for hosting on-demand streaming content. Of the three tools, Producer for NetShow is the only one that will allow you to create interactive ASF-based web pages with content markers, text captions, choreographed web page sequencing, and automatic HTML page generation. If you need the best and can afford the best, VivoActive Producer for NetShow is definitely the route to go. Overall, Vivo presents an audio/video streaming solution that nearly equals RealNetworks' RealPlayer, and it does so with the benefit to developers of not having to purchase a specialized server for delivering real-time multimedia content. While the VivoActive Player and VivoActive Production Tools lack support for RealFlash content (a critical feature of RealPlayer 5.0), the video content produced by Vivo is nearly on the same level as that of RealPlayer and the audio isn't too far behind. RealPlayer takes the nod at this point for the reasons listed above and also because it sports a more advanced set of features, but Vivo definitely merits considerable attention. Developers especially will want to take a close look at Vivo for the fact that is one of the few streaming technologies available that allows you to serve real-time multimedia content from a standard web server. Pros: Excellent real-time audio and video streaming capabilities without the need for specialized servers Cons: Lacks some of the more advanced features of RealPlayer, quality lags slightly behind RealPlayer For the latest information on VivoActive, check out: http://cws.internet.com/32video.html#vivo