Facebook acquires QuickFire Networks in a bid to cut down video buffer time

Facebook has reportedly acquired QuickFire Networks, a TC Disrupt 2014 Battlefield contestant that developed a custom hardware and software platform for decreasing video file sizes.

QuickFire's platform speeds up encoding videos with different profiles for frame rate, resolution, colour and audio settings for different platforms. Facebook's decision to integrate the technology on its platform will reduce the time required to buffer videos without compromising on the quality, reported Tech Crunch. The technology relies on custom motherboards developed to accommodate 11 high-end Intel Core i7 processors. Custom software makes these processors work together, and a layer on top of that lets the startup scale up massively by distributing work among multiple motherboards.

A letter written by CEO Craig Lee announced the deal on QuickFire's site and said that the prior business operations of the company will halt as the team switches over to Facebook.