Microsoft is making moves to better compete with Twitch due to recent updates to its recently acquired live stream service, Beam. This new update is currently in beta, and it makes the service a lot better than it was before, and that's great for streamers.
Beam is powered by a low-latency tech that makes it possible for folks to interact quickly with streamers. Seeing it in action shows how better it is when compared to Twitch. One can see how fast a streamer gets a message sent via the chat window by a viewer. This takes longer on Twitch, so the experience is not as tight.
"We're no longer the scrappy startup we were last year, and with the resources of Microsoft behind us, we're going back to the basics and evaluating how we can make every aspect of the site more smooth, stable, and epic," according to Beam blog.
What Are The New Changes
The user interface has changed, so it's more smoother than before. Navigating the website should feel faster. Furthermore, there are now some new transition and interaction animation, and the styling is more consistent. As for the loading speed of Beam, well, the improvement is five times more than the usual.
Render performance throughout the whole website is now 60 fps, yet again, a big step over Twitch. If you're on a mobile device that has yet to get a Beam mobile app, worry not, things have been vastly improved, according to the Beam blog.
Xbox Live Log-In And Increased Bitrate
Beam is a Microsoft-owned service right now, and with that, the company would prefer for users to log-in with their Xbox Live accounts instead of just the regular Beam accounts. The developers aim to bring Xbox Live log-in as an option, with the long-term goal of making it the only way to log in to Beam.
For those with a Beam account, it will be possible to convert the account to an Xbox Live account. Furthermore, if folks already have an Xbox Live account, then the original Beam account can simply be replaced with the Xbox Live account.
Now, when it comes down to the increased bitrate, we can say for sure that 1440p 60 fps streams are now supported due to the 10 Mbps bump. Furthermore, if you're into super high motion 1080p, well, according to the Beam guys, it looks awesome with the new update.
New Video Player
By now it should be common knowledge for Beam users that HTML5 is the default format, with Adobe Flash being secondary. However, Flash will no longer be available with the new update, so everyone will be required to use a web browser that supports HTML5.
It should be noted that in 2017, Beam will come to the Xbox platform. Furthermore, only Beam Pro users will get the chance to test run the Beta. By early 2017, new features should be available to all.
