| Open-source multimedia middleware goes gold |
Aug. 14, 2007
 A seven-year-old, dual-licensed project for cross-platform multimedia middleware has achieved its first stable release. Motama's NMM (network-integrated multimedia middleware) 1.0 is said to let developers build whole-house multimedia applications with advanced features such as "follow-me" handoff from one device to another.
The NMM project was founded in 2000 by Professor Philipp Slusallek, of Stanford University and later of the Computer Graphics Lab at Saarland University, Germany. A version of NMM for Linux was released under an open source license in 2002. Then, in 2005, Saarland University researchers Marco Lohse and Michael Repplinger founded Motama, together with Slusallek, in order to commercialize NMM. The new 1.0 release of NMM, which now also supports Windows XP and Vista, is the first to be officially maintained by Motama.
NMM, shown distributing an image across two laptops -- one running Windows, and the other running Linux
NMM comprises a core runtime library with an extensive C++ API (application programming interface) together with about 60 available plugins, including virtual I/O devices, codecs, data processing elements, and on-screen displays. The library is portable and available as source, or pre-built for major OSes. The API is consistent across platforms, making it easier to build applications for multiple target OSes, Motama says.
Motama claims that NMM works better than traditional network-based multimedia frameworks such as Windows Media, RealMedia, or Gstreamer, RealPlayer, or Windows Media due to a lower-level approach. NMN is said to support standard protocols such as RTP and standard data formats such as XML, but it also includes "highly optimized proprietary components" that handle inter-application and inter-system message passing directly.
Traditional client-server (top) vs. NMM multimedia architecture (bottom)
Other touted benefits of NMM include:- Simplifies development of distributed and networked multimedia applications
- Supports "all major operating systems," including Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux
- Available SDK includes "comprehensive documentation"
- Supports applications and plug-ins
- Enables "seamless" networking and transparent connections between multimedia devices
- Music stored or received anywhere within the home network can be enjoyed on multiple systems
- Media presentations in multi-room environments show "no perceivable delay or echo," according to the company
- "Follow-me" feature allows seamless hand over between output devices
Repplinger stated, "Applications developed for one operating system can be run on any other supported platform with only little or no change. This allows for a single multimedia application to span across a number of heterogeneous devices, ranging from embedded systems, to PCs, to powerful servers and large-scale computing clusters."
Availability
NMM 1.0 is available now, along with an SDK and documentation. The version for Windows XP and Vista is available under both Motama's non-commercial license and a commercial license. Linux and Playstation 3 Linux versions are also available, either under the GNU GPL or Motama's commercial license. Motama has also launched a forum for NMM users.
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