iPhone OS 3.0 ships with Apple's HTTP Live Streaming approach
Apple released iPhone OS 3.0 on June 17, 2009, putting its new HTTP-based adaptive streaming approach into shipping mobile software. The technology, later universally known as HLS, broke live and on-demand media into ordinary HTTP-delivered segments selected through playlists.
Исторический контекст
Much internet streaming still depended on specialized streaming servers, browser plugins or proprietary media stacks. At the same time, smartphones were creating a need for video delivery that could survive rapidly changing network conditions and work efficiently through ordinary web infrastructure and content-delivery networks.
Что произошло
Apple's HTTP Live Streaming design delivered audio or video as a sequence of small files referenced by an M3U8 playlist, allowing a client to switch between encoded variants as network conditions changed. Apple also submitted the protocol specification to the IETF in 2009, and the QuickTime implementation in iPhone OS 3.0 supported the format.
Последствия
HLS became one of the most influential streaming-delivery formats, accelerating a shift toward adaptive bitrate streaming over standard HTTP infrastructure. Its architecture proved particularly well suited to CDNs, mobile devices and later connected-TV and browser playback ecosystems.