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Google to rival Amazon in the cloud

Google is quietly establishing itself as a major player in the cloud-based video market, competing with the likes of Amazon and IBM, after acquiring one of the processing firms responsible for delivering this year’s Super Bowl live stream.

In Saturday’s ‘What caught my eye’ session on the cloud, guest speaker Marina Kalkanis, a software engineer who worked on the launch of the BBC’s iPlayer, advised delegates to check out Anvato’s stand (Hall 14.L24).

“They’re not doing much promotion around their new owners but they’re unusual because they run off Google Cloud and from what I hear, Google is really interested in going after the media industry.”

Kalkanis added that Anvato, whose customers include NBCUniversal and Fox Sports, was one to watch to see how Google adopts its data capture and AI technologies to fit into a video ecosystem.

“Google has a global reach and comes with tools such as automatic translations which can translate into 80 languages. While those tools are not yet perfect, you can’t not credit Google to get there eventually,” she said.

Google’s bulking up in video infrastructure comes after a series of other cloud-based video deals, marking consolidation in the sector including Amazon’s acquisition of Elemental last year and IBM’s purchase of Ustream in January.

Kalkanis’ own firm, M2A Media, is also worth seeking out in hall 5.C80, where it is demoing the live to VoD cloud-based technology that was used by Channel 4 for the Paralympics and Formula One.