The latest release improves site load speed up to 30% and solidifies JW Player as the industry leader for reliability, customization and ease of use
NEW YORK, NY (September 14, 2017) — JW Player, the world’s largest network-independent video platform, today announced the beta release of the latest version of its media player, JW8. With this release, the player which reaches over 1.8 billion unique devices monthly, will offer significantly enhanced video load speed, deliver a fully-customizable modern and responsive user-interface, and support next-generation advertising standards including VAST4. Combined, these enhancements allow JW Player to further expand upon its leadership position in providing media companies, publishers and marketers with world-class video solutions that enrich users’ video experiences and maximize monetization opportunities.
“Since creating JW Player over a decade ago, we have obsessively focused on building products that allow businesses to create the most compelling video experiences for their users,” said Dave Otten, co-founder and CEO of JW Player. “That means enabling our customers with simple, fast and customizable video technology from which they can effectively generate revenue. Without question, JW8 brings together these core principles and significantly raises the bar in the marketplace. We are incredibly proud to deliver what we believe is the next generation solution of digital video.”
JW8 enables websites to load up to 30% faster overall versus the last version of the player. This dramatic increase in speed results from the following enhancements to the player’s architecture:
The ability to load only the necessary components for playback to occur based on environment — making startup times optimal, every time.
Intelligent preloading of media based on a viewer’s intent to watch, reducing page load time and providing a more seamless playback experience.
A lighter player designed for modern desktop and mobile websites means faster load times for viewers.
In addition to dramatically improved overall player performance and speed, JW8 also features:
A completely refreshed player skin, with a space-saving layout, attractive design and optimized for every device.
A new player builder that allows for more customization of live JW Player embeds in real time.
JW Showcase integrated into the player dashboard, allowing customers to create a video gallery website with minimal effort.
Early enterprise customer support for the VAST4 advertising standard, Facebook WebView, and deprecation of Flash.
“JW8 is a massive step forward for our customers and further separates us from other offerings in the marketplace,” said Jeroen Wijering, co-founder and Head of Product at JW Player. “With JW8, we had two primary objectives. First, we wanted to significantly improve speed and performance across devices. Second, we sought to modernize the look and feel of our player, particularly in responsive environments. We think we have more than accomplished these goals.”
The core features of JW8 are available now to all customers and can be accessed at http://www.jwplayer.com/jw8.