Veoh getting $30 million investment from Intel and Adobe
June 3, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
NewTeeVee is reporting that someone new has stepped up to pay Veoh’s bandwidth bills as it figures out its business. The Internet video portal and software maker is announcing today it has raised $30 million from Intel Capital, Adobe Systems Inc., and Gordon Crawford, senior vice president of Capital Research Global Investors.
Veoh now has $69.5 million in total investment from these three plus previous investors Shelter Capital, Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, Time Warner Investments and Jonathan Dolgen. The Los Angeles-based company reports 28 million viewers per month, spending an average of more than 100 minutes per month.
Matsushita’s Panasonic, Google to launch Internet TVs
January 8, 2008
TOKYO (Reuters) - Web giant Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is developing televisions that display Internet content such as photos and videos together with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd’s (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Panasonic unit.
The TVs, to be launched this spring, will allow users to directly browse and access videos from YouTube, a video-sharing Web site owned by Google, and view Picasa Web Albums, a free online photo-sharing service from Google, Panasonic said in a statement on Monday.
“Panasonic’s cooperation with YouTube and Google’s Picasa Web Albums exemplifies our commitment to leading the natural evolution of the Internet and extending it to the High Definition television,” Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company’s Vice President Merwan Mereby said in the statement.
The news sent the shares of Matsushita higher right after the market open, but they shed 1.8 percent to 2,150 yen by 0108 GMT to underperform a 0.7 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225.
Late last year, Matsushita, the world’s top plasma TV maker, said it would take control of a liquid crystal display joint venture and may build a new factory, marking a major shift in its strategy for the flat panel TV market.
Matsushita has until now invested aggressively in plasma displays in the belief that it was the most cost-effective technology for flat TVs bigger than 37-inches, while procuring LCD panels to make TVs for the smaller sets.
YouTube content ID tool going beta
October 15, 2007
A few months ago, Google announced the initial development of a highly complicated technology platform — content identification tools for YouTube. Today, they are pleased to launch, in beta form, YouTube Video Identification.
Video Identification is the next step in a long list of content policies and tools that Google have provided copyright owners so that they can more easily identify their content and manage how it is made available on YouTube.
Video Identification joins the following policies and tools:
- strict repeat-infringer policy, which has been in place since our launch, terminates accounts of repeat infringers based on DMCA notices.
- a unique “hash” of every video removed for copyright infringement is taken and block re-upload of that exact video file prospectively.
- require a 10-minute limit on the length of content uploaded to the site.
- provide content owners with an electronic notification and takedown tool, to help them more easily identify their material and notify us to take it down with the click of a mouse.
- publish copyright tips for users in plain English and clear, prominent messaging at the time of user upload.
Like many of these other policies and tools, Video Identification goes above and beyond our legal responsibilities. It will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube, and choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even—if a copyright holder chooses to license their content to appear on the site—monetize their videos. In implementing this technology, we are committed to supporting new forms of original creativity, protecting fair use, and providing a seamless user experience—all while we help rights owners easily manage their content. Stay tuned … and for more information, check out YouTube Video Identification page.
Source Googleblog
Google AdSense Video Units
October 9, 2007
Google released a new type of ad / content channel: “video units.” Basically you get the chance to embed certain YouTube videos into your website via some snippet, either by picking from an available channel (or feeding Google your preferred categories and keywords), or by allowing Google to automatically target the content to your site. Then, above the video there will be a graphic AdSense banner ad, and in the video itself, different text banners will be displayed during playback. Right now, Google says video units are only available for the US. Check your Google AdSense -> AdSense Setup tab to see if they’re included for you. If you decide to include video units on your site and visitors click on the ads in them, 3 parties make money: 1) you as webmaster who provides the channel space, 2) the video creator, 3) Google.
Ads are best when they’re not annoying, yet the video is wrapped in two big ad areas fighting for attention, both using transitionals to show different ad segments; this is a far step from the minimalist ad approaches of Google’s past, and much less obtrusive than the old, more tasteful YouTube ads we saw (which were only showing one ad into the 15th second of the video).
Via blogoscoped
Microsoft going after YouTube, Apple and Joost
September 27, 2007
If Internet-based video is the wave of the future, many of us are already drenched with options including such as YouTube, Joost and Apple’s iTunes. But today, Microsoft is making a play to have its own video download service added to the mix.
During his keynote speech at the DigitalLife show here in New York, Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore will pitch Microsoft’s new, free streaming video service, called Internet TV.
Going into beta on Sept. 28, Microsoft’s Internet TV service will enable users to stream content from MSN Video. It will also offer more than 100 hours of additional, ad-supported content, including television shows like “Arrested Development,” full-length music concerts, movie trailers, news from MSNBC and sports from FOX Sports.
YuMe, a broadband video advertising network, is handling the ad delivery for Microsoft.
Microsoft Internet TV is designed for both the TV and PC screen, the company said in a statement. The service’s video is optimized for broadband, and will be compatible with Microsoft and third-party “media extenders” devices for Windows Media Center.
These devices — a new crop of which Belfiore will highlight during the show — wirelessly connect a TV with a PC, delivering TV, PVR, movies, pictures, music and online services to any television set in a home. The products support connections to PCs running Windows Media Center in Windows Vista and generally, Windows XP Media Center Edition.
Media extenders to date include the Xbox 360 console as well as third-party products by a number of networking and storage companies. At the show, Microsoft is expected to showcase new media extenders from Cisco’s Linksys unit, D-Link, and Hewlett-Packard, which all unveiled their products today.
Belfiore said in a statement that the devices are “designed to deliver the ultimate entertainment experience to every TV set in your home.”
Microsoft has long been supportive of efforts to extend Internet-based multimedia throughout the home. The company’s chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates last publicly touted extender devices in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
It’s also a hot category for other major players in the PC space. Apple Inc. announced its own $299 PC-to-TV device, Apple TV, only a few months before.
Apple’s offering is designed to let consumers play their movie and TV downloads on the living room TV, and is compatible with the company’s iTunes download service. In May, Apple partnered with Google’s YouTube video streaming service to provide additional, specially formatted content for the device.
When Apple launched Apple TV last year, Phil Leigh, analyst with Inside Digital Media, said at the time that such products answered a consumer desire to not just download Internet video, but to watch in on their televisions.
Today, however, Leigh described the Microsoft effort as, “an incremental step in the right direction, I don’t see it as much more than that.”
Yet a number of Microsoft partners are still banking that consumers’ desire remains for watching streaming video on their TVs.
Linksys today announced two Media Center Extender products — one with a DVD player, and one without — for estimated street prices of $349.99 and $299.99, respectively.
From D-Link comes the DSM-750 MediaLounge HD Media Center Extender, which supports HD video resolutions of up to 1080i and Windows Media Video (WMV), DivX, and XVid formats. It includes a USB 2.0 port for access to music, photos and videos on removable Flash drives or external hard drives. It’s estimated price is also $349.99.
The HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV — a television with built-in Media Center Extender capability and 802.11n wireless — will be available in Best Buy stores for an as-of-yet undetermined price.
Source: InternetNews
Google adding Video News to it’s offering
August 22, 2007
One of our goals at Google News is to offer as many different perspectives on the news as possible. That means bringing content from multiple sources together in a way we hope you find to be organized and relevant. Now we’re adding video to the mix: we’re showing related news videos along with our news articles to give you a broader spectrum of info available. You’ll see the prefix “Video” next to story titles, and clicking on these video links will open a video player directly on the page so you can watch the video right there.
Today, viewing news videos or other content types on the web can be a frustrating experience. You often get videos that don’t play, sites that require different video player downloads, or have misleading descriptions of the content. That’s why we’re working with YouTube so you can easily view online videos without any downloads required and regardless of what browser you’re using.
For our initial launch, we have included several top news sources such as CBS, Reuters, and a number of local Hearst TV stations. Over the next few months, we’ll continue to add new sources as fast as we can. Right now we’re just offering this addition in the U.S., the UK, and Ireland; we hope to make it available in other languages and editions soon.
We’re excited to add this to your Google News experience, so give it a try and let us know what you think.
[Source: GoogleNewsBLog]
Google Ends Paid Google Videos
August 10, 2007
On January 7 2006 Google announced a video store service on top of Google Video. You were able to purchase videos such as NBA games, Charlie Rose interviews, or shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (in the US at least).
In an effort to improve all Google services, Google will no longer offer the ability to buy or rent videos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program. To fully account for the video purchases made before July 18, 2007, Google is providing current users with a Google Checkout bonus for $2.00.
[Via GB]
Latest rumour: Google to buy Apple
June 21, 2007
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Scepticism about the launch of the Apple iPhone is growing, and it isn’t helping the Apple share price. What a coincidence that exactly as things get tougher in the stock market, rumours start appearing that will “cause a 40 per cent premium on the Apple share price”!
The rumours simply say that Google may buy Apple.
The original idea is buried deep in a New York Magazine hagiography of Jobs by John Heilemann, mostly saying how the appearance of failing physical health actually marks his ascendance to a Higher Plane of guruhood.
[Via channelregister]
Apple and Google are ready for the battle of your digital life
June 20, 2007
Have you noticed how Apple and Google have been teaming recently? All the pieces of the puzzle are falling in place for both of them to conquer your digital life. Steve Jobs has pulled a “Bill Gates” on Microsoft with it’s successful partnership with Google. In case you did not know, Microsoft success was in major part due to it’s ability to partner with other company to gain more and more market share.
But Microsoft appear to have missed on the great opportunity of partnering with Google. They where blinded in engaging an enemy they just did not knew how to fight. Meanwhile Steve Jobs appear to have learned from Microsoft past success and decided that fighting Google was not the answer to the problem.
Instead, Apple decided to partner with Google. After all, Apple has always had the touch to produce great looking hardware that was easy to use and appealed to the mass. Google, on the other hand, had the data Apple needed to fuel it’s innovative applications. The wedding was celebrated on August 29. 2006 when Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt joined Apple’s Board of Directors.
Since then Apple and Google went on secretly developing applications that would run on both the iPhone and Apple TV.
The iPhone got an integrated Google search, Google Maps, Google mail and the recently announced YouTube video application.
The Apple TV got it’s 1st interactive application as the YouTube video option in the update release on June 20, 2007.
Playback of YouTube video on both the iPhone and Apple TV became possible when Google decided to change it’s choice of Flash Video codec for YouTube to the more standard h.264 codec supported by the Apple hardware. This is clearly just the beginning of a great relationship. It is likely that more Apple/Google applications will emerge in the months to come… and not just for the iPhone and Apple TV.
One could easily speculate that the next OS upgrade of Apple will include more and more Google integration. This could come in the form of YouTube video integration in the new OS X Leopard Front Row application. In fact Leopard Front Row has become similar in features to the Apple TV.
If you think of it, Apple and Google are most likely getting ready to conquer you Living Room, Office, Bedroom, Loft, etc. All that is needed now is for Google to announce content partnership with major networks. Once Google has the content Apple will provide the interface that everyone will love to use. Throw in the mix a few in-line ads and you get the perfect platform for video on demand distribution.
Joost, Babelgum and others better watch out. The day Google announce major content partners for YouTube the race for the living room will be over. At the end it will come down to who can better provide the best content to the users in a pleasing to use package. Both better start working on improved hardware platform with proper interface that can be easily used with a remote control from a couch. Neither have this at this point… but Apple and Google already have their foot in the door… and the opening is getting wider and wider day after day.
The latest move of Apple in the Windows browser space is most likely part of the plan. Safari for Windows gives Apple the control they need on the environment to better display and play YouTube content… and content is king, especially in the digital space.
What else might you expect from the Apple/Google partnership? A secret feature for the iPhone that will allow direct video capture in h.264 and upload to YouTube. All your YouTube followers can then watch your video almost instantly… And when you come back home you can watch it on you PC, Mac, Video iPod or TV (via the Apple TV). This would certainly be a big ticket item for all the youth out there.
Apple .mac hosted service moving to Google announcement next monday?
June 8, 2007
Cloud computing is the hot new thing in the world of technology right now; Apple is a complete laggard; and it knows it needs to fix it.
Apple makes beautiful hardware, but it hasn’t improved on .Mac, its cloud based storage offering, in years. Meanwhile, Google runs cloud based hardware and software better and cheaper than anyone in the world right now.
And the hints from Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO and Apple board member and from Apple boss Steve Jobs point squarely in that direction. Jobs’ response to .Mac’s whithered state? “stay tuned.”
[Via blog.wired.com]
