Product life starts at version 3.0, as old MS legend says.
I think I cracked the idea about Server Side PVR system based on Windows Media platform to overcome problems with ASF late indexing.
New and important moment of this idea is making client side completely generic, or at least as generic as possible.
Newest idea is using completely generic client - silverlight generic with just a thin layer of logic, enabling it to pause live stream coming from Windows Media Services.
So, in this idea, when you press pause button, media element must switch from main Server Publishing point to custom server pub point and remember correct time stamp.
When client presses play, his media element / player now connects to custom server, but still windows media format port, just it is not WMS port, but custom server (thin layer app, nothing special.)
What are the benefits? Generic silverlight client is possible - from linux to any platform, including nokia phones series 40 & 60 (already signed between companies.)
What are the compromises?
You don't have fast start, some start lag will be introduced, and you don't have advert power of windows media services.
Although it is possible to make workaround to even this problem, creating and reprograming new publishing point for every client with specific time tag. This newly created publishing point would internally connect to custom server, and use it as any other windows media stream from http source. So we would have adverts and fast start.
What are the risks of such soulution?
Well, it would be extremely complex to provide perfect pause, but using some smart psihology, we could revert few secconds before the user paused, and he would not miss anything, with just a little overhead.
For more info, just email me.
