Last week we touched briefly on the new Java libraries in our post about the latest Document Imaging features for Linux in LEADTOOLS. Today we'll take a closer look at what the LEADTOOLS April update has for Java programmers as a whole, because it extends far beyond just Linux and document imaging.

The recent LEADTOOLS Version 19 update added far-reaching Java support for both Windows and Linux operating systems. These new, highly-requested imaging libraries for Java include functionality for nearly all markets and imaging technologies that LEADTOOLS is known for:

LEAD Technologies is pleased to announce the release of a major update to the LEADTOOLS Document and Medical Product lines. The headliner of this update is the Advantage OCR engine, which boasts a plethora of improvements which contribute to a significant increase in overall speed and accuracy.

Keep reading below to see a list of all the improvements in this update. You can also read the official press release.

LEAD Technologies is pleased to announce the release of the Media Streaming Server SDK. This major addition to the LEADTOOLS Multimedia product line provides a programmer-friendly library for building professional audio/video multimedia streaming applications for playback on any device.

Media Streaming Server SDK Overview

• High-level Media Streaming Server framework with minimal coding required
• Place any audio/video media file on the server and stream to any client
  • Adobe Flash RTMP — for any web browser that has Adobe Flash installed
  • Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) — for most web browsers that have Adobe Flash installed
  • Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) — for Apple iPad / iPhone and Android devices
  • MPEG-DASH — for most web browsers that have Adobe Flash installed
  • Microsoft Smooth Streaming (SSF) — for web browsers with Microsoft Silverlight installed
  • RTSP/RTP — for web browsers with the Apple QuickTime or VLC RTSP plugin installed or any application that supports RTSP
  • RTSP/RTP (MPEG-2 transport) — for web browsers with Apple QuickTime or VLC RTSP plugin installed or any application that supports RTSP
  • RTSP/RTP over HTTP — for web browsers with Apple QuickTime or VLC RTSP plugin installed or any application that supports RTSP
  • HTML5 Video — for most web browsers with HTML5 support (PC and mobile devices)
• Automatically convert videos on the fly from a single base format to minimize recompression
• Configure server settings programmatically or with XML files
  • Supports custom, application-defined properties and settings
• Monitor and manage connected users
• Flexible filters and demultiplexers allow for continuous streaming with changing formats
• Stream high-quality videos at Full HD 1080p resolution
• Broadcast audio/video content compressed with LEADTOOLS' industry-leading compression technology

Product Line Changes

Developers can acquire the new LEADTOOLS Media Streaming Server as an add-on to LEADTOOLS Multimedia SDK or bundled with LEADTOOLS Multimedia Suite:

Last week, I officially introduced LEADTOOLS Version 18 for the first time and gave a bird's eye view of the changes coming to the product line. Today I'm covering the fun stuff: features!

LEADTOOLS Anywhere

Of course, the marquee update in version 18 is the completion of LEADTOOLS Anywhere. Announced last spring, our executive management put forth a vision and plan to incrementally release cross-platform versions of LEADTOOLS. First came zero footprint HTML5 and JavaScript tools, then native libraries for WinRT (the new Windows 8 platform previously called Metro), and now with version 18 there will be native libraries for iOS, OS X, Android and Linux.

LEADTOOLS Version 18 is very close, and everyone is excited around here. Our existing customers are pretty stoked as well, and this post is for them! Many of you have been asking us what upgrades will look like since we streamlined the product line to make it easier and more cost effective to get the necessary development licenses.

Who is eligible for an upgrade?

For existing customers, LEAD is making it very simple to upgrade. There is no in-sequence or out-of-sequence distinction, meaning as long as you have a valid license to an earlier version of LEADTOOLS you will receive a significant discount to upgrade. Even better, upgrading provides you with all of the new features and cross-platform development interfaces in V18, as well as the various add-on modules and plug-ins that are now bundled in at no additional cost.