When it comes to online video networks, Google’s YouTube is the oversized and undisputed king of the hill with 1 billion monthly unique visitors. Yet that domination sometimes obscures some of the interesting developments that are afoot among the smaller startups also working in the same space. Vuclip, the California-based mobile video streaming network that focuses its efforts mainly in emerging… → Read More
Major League Baseball has always been very strict about its content appearing on YouTube and other video streaming sites. Peruse YouTube for highlights from your favorite players and teams, and you’ll find it nearly impossible to find quality footage. As soon as a clip from a game goes up on YouTube, it’s taken down. Up until now, it’s just a collection of slideshows and footage uploaded from… → Read More
Voddler, the Swedish film and TV streaming service that has been described as the “Spotify for video,” is going global to take on Netflix, Amazon, Vdio, BitTorrent, and the many others in this space. Live in Scandinavia since 2010, and Spain since 2012 (where all together it has picked up 1.2 million users), this week Voddler is extending its footprint to the rest of Europe and Russia; and it is… → Read More
The war for customers for streaming video is being played out at all age demographics. Today, Amazon’s LoveFilm upped the ante on the youth front by announcing a deal with DHX Media (formerly known as Cookie Jar Entertainment), which will add 2,000 new childrens shows to its catalog in Europe, a massive expansion of its existing kids entertainment offerings. Among the well-known titles that will… → Read More
Netflix announced today that it now has more than 30 million members streaming content via its video service. That’s a lot of uses who’ve opted for on-demand, digitally delivered content. Netflix had 20 million members in 2010, so it’s added 10 million in the two years since, mostly via global expansion, although it now also has 25 million users in the U.S. alone. → Read More
Simple.TV, which attracted a lot of attention at this year’s International CES show in January, is finally announcing the ship date for its DVR solution for live and recorded TV: September 27 for U.S. customers, who can pick one up via the Simple.TV website for $149. The device automatically converts HD content via an integrated TV tuner from HD over-the-air signals or ClearQAM digital basic… → Read More
For some of you this will be news, for some, a reminder. But the long and short of it is that Netflix has been forced to change its approach to user privacy, specifically in regard to how long it stores rental history for those who have unsubscribed. Netflix was forced to do so by a class-action lawsuit, which alleged that the company was illegally retaining and disclosing the personal information… → Read More
Netflix has just released its second quarter 2012 earnings report, in which the video rental veteran outpaced estimates, improving on last quarter and meeting most expectations and even beating some. Revenue increased to $889 million compared to the same period for 2011. Earnings per share came in at $0.11 per share. In the weeks leading up to the release, analysts had been projected Netflix to… → Read More
Last week, Facebook staked out its claim as a prime destination for people looking for this summer’s Olympics coverage online. Today, the BBC threw its hat into the social media ring, too — it’s putting its sports coverage into a new Timeline app. The app, which is only accessible by UK users, is in beta form (pictured here) and live already: people can currently access streams of Wimbledon. That… → Read More
Amazon is continuing to grow its collection of streaming video titles at Amazon Prime Instant Video, and is today announcing another new agreement with Paramount Pictures bringing “hundreds” of new movies to the service. This deal isn’t as large as March’s partnership with Discovery, which saw some 3,000 new titles added, but it does introduce what are arguably more big-name movies. Included in… → Read More
Amazon announced a new licensing deal this morning with Discovery Communications, the media company behind cable TV channels including the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery and Science and Military Channel. Under the terms of the agreement, which CEO Jeff Bezos calls the company’s “biggest addition yet,” Amazon Prime customers will now have the rights to stream series… → Read More
Lately, we’ve been seeing more and more big television events come with an online streaming counterpart. Big sporting and televised events are showing up online, with the 2010 Olympics seeming to be one of the first big global events where both viewers and media publicly recognized the power and potential of carrying an event like that online.
For the first time ever, the Super Bowl is being… → Read More
Tennis anyone? You have to love this. Realtime event coverage startup Livestream recently brought commercial-free, streaming coverage of New Year’s Eve in Times Square to the Web. If you caught more than a few minutes of network TV coverage of NYE, you would have been subjected to the ungodly number (and frequency) of ads. Livestream’s commercial-free coverage was a welcome respite.
This… → Read More
FyreTV is a set top box that streams on-demand video (perhaps not the kind of video you’re thinking of) for $9.95 per month. The box itself is free and the monthly fee gets you 100 credits good for between 50 and 100 minutes of video (the kind of video only grown-ups should watch). → Read More
Amazon has begun beta testing its forthcoming streaming video service (sign up here) called Amazon Video on Demand. It’ll offer the ability to immediately stream any of the 40,000+ TV shows and movies that are available through Amazon’s “Unbox” service. The real story here, though, is Amazon’s partnership deals with various hardware vendors. It’s already struck a deal with Sony to… → Read More
Just a heads up that Joost will be conducting a test run of every game in the NCAA tournament, streamed live. There’s a fair amount of warning that this is a test of Joost’s live streaming capabilities, so take that into consideration if you’re hell bent on being able to watch the games reliably. There’s also CBSSports.com’s live stream as well, so you’ve got a… → Read More
The wait is finally almost over. Sometime later this year, TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD owners have access to the wonderful world of YouTube, allowing them “to search, browse and watch these videos directly on their television sets through their broadband connected TiVo DVRs.” Dave Zatz finds it interesting that only Series3 and TiVo HD owners will be getting this feature, wondering if… → Read More
The original boxless Slingbox, Orb might just be unveiling an iPhone/iPod Touch version of its excellent-and-free interface in the next couple of days. Orb has apparently found a way around Apple’s RTSP port cockblockery by streaming your goodies as MP4 files. You’ll also be able to use Orb features with Winamp to "turn your home media player into a very limited kind of on-demand… → Read More
If you’ve been patiently waiting for the DivX Pro codec and converter but you constantly find yourself without the $19.99 necessary to purchase said tools, now’s your chance to download DivX Pro for the low, low price of free. No rebates, no hassles. Just download it and enter the serial number that’ll be sent to your e-mail address. Free DivX Pro [DivX.com] via FatWallet → Read More
Looks like Netflix subscribers get yet another feather to add to their caps. NBC has struck up a deal whereby flixers can watch episodes of some hit shows like “Heroes” the day after they’re aired on cable. You’ll be able to stream the new episodes, or get ones from earlier in the season on DVDs. Sounds sweet to me, mainly for those who haven’t taken the plunge and… → Read More
http://cellfish.com/static/swf/player8.swf?Id=241751 This looks like it’s easy to use. Plus, the video is both funny AND informative. It basically allows you to send videos to your phone via text message. Available videos are on Cellfish’s own web site but developers can play around with the API or use the "Add-to-Phone" widget to offer content from their own sites. You can… → Read More
DivX announced this morning that its technology will soon be alive and well inside your PS3 console. “Our technology will expand the multimedia functionality of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy access to the broad library of content in the DivX digital media format,” said DivX CEO Kevin Hell. I’d like to announce this morning that I’ve never known of someone with the last… → Read More
Best Buy is now in the video hosting game, thanks to UK-based Mydeo. Mydeo is basically a service that allows you to upload your videos to it and then share them with friends, loved-ones, and hangers-on. → Read More
HEXUS.tv has a pretty good one-on-one video with DivX co-founder Jerome Rota about his company’s upcoming foray into the connected video box realm, where it’ll compete with AppleTV and similar devices. As reported earlier, the difference with the DivX box will be that most of the horsepower will be provided by your network-connected PC whereas AppleTV and, say, Xbox 360 are both… → Read More
If you’re a DirecTV subscriber and you’re prepared to cough up the $368 it’ll cost you to get the NFL Sunday Ticket package plus the SuperFan upgrade, you’ll be able to stream every game to your computer (Windows only) this season. → Read More
Ubergizmo got a chance to play with an in-development 720p networked media player built around the DivX platform. While they compared it to AppleTV, such a device seems more like an orange – it’s dependent upon a host PC, doesn’t have a hard drive, and doesn’t make use of content purchased from an iTunes-like store. All that aside, the device has a couple of… → Read More
I’m not all that excited about watching 15 to 30 second pre-roll ads attached to videos. I understand that it’s a necessary evil and that advertising pays the bills and keeps the videos free, but it’s still somewhat annoying. YouTube feels my pain and will begin using a service called InVideo, which basically lays a semi-transparent advertisement over the lower 20% of… → Read More
Adobe is getting set to support the H.264 high-definition standard, the same standard used in Blu-ray and HD-DVD players and set-top cable and satellite boxes. Most popular video sites on the Internet use the Flash video format and as more and more videos get published in this new format, we can expect to see the visual quality of web video improve exponentially. → Read More
WiTV, short for Wireless Internet TV, requires nothing but a web browser yet it’s designed to behave like internet television services Joost, BabelGum, and VeohTV. The service was announced a few months ago but has recently dropped some user interface photos for the world to see. It looks very slick and easy to navigate although I can’t help but wonder about the “slick”… → Read More
Our digitally doting papa, TechCrunch has a writeup on YouTube’s new customizable video player. This is great news for sites that rely heavily on YouTube videos and wish to gather everything in one place. Previously, you would have needed to write your own code or rely on outside providers like Splashcast to get the job done. YouTube’s new feature allows you to select a color, a… → Read More
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