Not many gadgets were on display at Streaming Media East earlier this month, but this was my favorite:  a portable, battery-powered video encoder, which we understand to be the world's first.

The device, which can be attached to a camera, creates a H.264 file which is streamed to a CDN via Wifi or to a cellular network.

This sort of functionality for live streaming is currently provided by a computer connected to the camera.  Having a portable solution opens a number possibilities for news organizations, sports teams, and performers.  We think this is very cool.

The device comes from Germany's TV1, a major European content delivery network.  The portable device will go on the market in North America later this year.  The price will be around $1,200.

For a demo, we interviewed TV1 CEO and co-founder Michael Westphal.

In related news, uStream, one of the leading live Web video services, has just announced a professional product.

Andy Plesser, Executive Producer