Brightcove, which provides cloud content services, has launched native player software development kits (SDKs) for Apple iOS and Google Android devices, that are integrated with mobile advertising, analytics, audience measurement and digital rights management providers. Brightcove says the move means that premium video publishers can rapidly deliver apps that integrate with the third-party services required for successful video monetization and harness the performance and deep operating system integration that only native technology can provide.
“The biggest challenge facing media companies today is delivering high-quality video across mobile devices with the advertising, analytics and content protection required to propel their business,” said Phil Costa, director of product management, Brightcove. “We architected these new native player SDKs in close collaboration with media industry leaders to provide maximum power and flexibility to developers building video-rich apps for the leading smartphones and tablets.”
The Brightcove player SDKs extend the native video player capabilities of iOS and Android devices with a layer of additional functionality and integrations that the company says accelerate development of high-quality consumer experiences. Features include built-in support for mixed video types, automatic buffering, and easily skinnable video controls and layouts that enable publishers to fully customize the player to their brand.
The SDKs and player architecture are also designed to support the needs of the Brightcove partner ecosystem, with a set of APIs that partners can customize. Brightcove’s native player SDKs have been integrated with Adobe SiteCatalyst, Adobe Pass, Akamai Media Analytics, comScore Media Metrix, FreeWheel, Google DoubleClick for Publishers, Nielsen VideoCensus and Google Widevine. The native player SDKs work with the Brightcove Video Cloud Media API, as well as with other online video platforms. 
The SDKs are available today free of charge to Pro and Enterprise edition Brightcove Video Cloud customers. The company plans to make the SDKs available as stand-alone commercial products for customers who manage their own online video platform or use other third-party solutions.
To emphasize its commitment to native SDKs, Brightcove has also announced plans to discontinue App Cloud and accelerate investment in the SDKs. The company will cease to operate App Cloud for existing customers at the end of June 2014.
