John Ham, cofounder and longtime CEO of live streaming video service Ustream, is stepping down from the company he helped start four and a half years ago. Ham will be replaced by cofounder and (and Ham’s former West Point classmate) Brad Hunstable, who will serve as interim CEO while the company looks for a permanent replacement. Ham will stay on as the company’s Chairman of the Board and an advisor.
Ham says that the decision to step down is one he made entirely on his own accord, and that the company has been preparing for his transition for the last 2-3 months. His reason for leaving? He says that he’s ready to scratch his entrepreneurial itch again, and will be announcing a new startup he’s working on by the end of the year. He isn’t talking about the new company just yet, other than to say he’ll be starting it with an (unnamed) founder of a social gaming company. → Read More
Live video streaming service Ustream continues to expand its presence in Asia with the help of major telecom corporations.
Today, the company is announcing that it’s teaming KT Corporation, a leading telecommunications provider in South Korea, to launch Ustream Korea. Ustream will be launching its new Korean portal in January 2012, with a new office opening in Seoul that month as well. The joint venture includes a new $10 million funding round for Ustream, which brings the company’s total funding to $98.7 million.
The bulk of that funding comes from Japanese telecom provider Softbank, which forged a deep relationship with the company in February 2010 and has invested 75 million.
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Japan-based startup Cerevo took the wraps off the so-called “Live Shell” [JP] yesterday, a small device that makes it possible to stream live video to the web (via Ustream) without using a PC. It’s a significant improvement over the similar “Livebox” the company introduced last year.
The Live Shell is sized at just 68×120×26mm, weighs 106g and is officially approved by Ustream (it has the “Ustream Compatible” mark). It connects to the web via IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a mobile router or Ethernet. → Read More
Last month, Ustream launched its video streaming service on the iPad. As Jason reported at the time, the app allows users to view live and recorded content streaming through the Web and even to stream their own footage directly from their iPad 2s.
The move was a big step forward for live, streaming video on tablet devices, especially in that the latter feature allows users to be couch videographers. Of course, since last year, Ustream has been working on a series of apps that give users the added benefit of video editing features that can turn couch videographers into pro video creators.
Today, Ustream is announcing a partnership with Telestream, the maker of digital media tools and workflow solutions, which will bring Telestream Wirecast live video production technology to all Ustream subscribers and add yet another layer to Ustream’s video editing solutions. → Read More
Ustream has landed on the iPad.
Today, the streaming video service has launched its first iPad-optimized app, allowing users to view live and recorded content streaming through the service — and to stream their own footage direct from their iPad 2. You can grab the app right here.
iPads are obviously well-suited for lounging — and Ustream is expecting that plenty of people will take advantage of the app to stream their thoughts direct from their couches (in other words, don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of new talking head streams pop up as people react to what they just watched on the news or after a sporting event).
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If you’ve used an Android Honeycomb-equipped tablet for any length of time, you’ve probably run into a serious issue: there just aren’t that many good applications that have been optimized for the tablet form factor (or at least, they’re impossible to find). Sure, there are some phone apps with minor tweaks that scale up nicely, but in terms of apps that feel like they were built with Honeycomb in mind, the pickings are slim.
Well today, Honeycomb is getting a very nice addition its app catalog, complements of Ustream. The popular video service, which lets users stream their content live to the web, for free, has just launched a version of its Android app. It’s available right here. → Read More
If you have been watching TechCrunch TV interviews lately, you may have noticed the videos are much sharper, crisper and much higher quality. The reason: we’ve gone HD. We are now using a new workflow with HD cameras and HD video switcher. Our shows from New York (Fly or Die and Founder Stories) have always been produced in HD at AOL Studios. But, now our San Francisco studio has gotten the upgrade.
You might be saying, “Wait a minute, high definition today means 720 or 1080 lines of resolution. I’m only watching the videos on a smaller-than-HD window on the TechCrunch website or smartphone. That’s not HD, so what’s the point.” Well, there is a big point. → Read More
Exclusive - Ustream is today launching a new and improved Facebook application that it says will take live streaming within the hugely popular social networking site “to another level”.
The app, which is currently available to anyone with a Facebook fan page, be they businesses, artists or general user communities, enables users to opt-in for reminders for upcoming streaming events using Facebook Oauth and receive notifications whenever a certain broadcaster turns on a live stream (the ‘Join Crowd’ feature). → Read More
Video service Ustream has seen an interesting six months, between broadcasting the Chilean miner rescue, the newsfeeds of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the debut of the Charlie Sheen show and the news surrounding the Japanese Tsunami and earthquake last Friday. VP of Marketing and Communications Lynn Fox tells me that the service has seen unprecedented growth, and hit 10 million total broadcaster signups at the end of February, averaging a rounded 20% growth month over month since December. → Read More
Want to watch Charlie Sheen’s Sheen’s Corner on mobile? Aspire to be Charlie Sheen on mobile? Well, just like it did on Android back in January, Ustream today has combined both its Viewer and Broadcaster app into one all encompassing and newly redesigned iPhone app allowing you to stream and watch live video all from your iPhone.
Taking advantage of iPhone 4′s front facing camera, the Ustream 2.0 app allows you to easily log in to your Ustream account and live broadcast or record video with one click, letting you share your broadcast on Twitter and Facebook as well as launch chat or take a viewer yes/no poll. → Read More
Week One of the Age of iPad was barely weekended when Keith Olbermann was removed from his position at NBC/Comcast. I missed his final show, mostly because I stopped watching it and all the cable news channels once the election was over. But then I remembered we are now in the Age of iPad, and guess what I found when I turned on Apple TV. There it was right in the podcasts section, ready to stream.
Parsing the language I heard the same thing we heard earlier when Steve Ballmer fired Bob Muglia, when Eric Schmidt was kicked “upstairs,” when I was asked to leave along with my wife and a friend from the Crunchies because the room was too full. In the last case, I refused to move, waiting until the venue manager moved on to people more her size. I wonder what would have happened if Muglia just said, no, Steve. I’m not going anywhere.
We’ll get back to Eric and the boys in a minute, but in the Age of iPad, all is not as it seems. Take Olbermann for instance: firing him seems like exactly what NBC doesn’t want. It dredges up the recent Leno fiasco in a visceral way, suggesting that even if Conan’s new show might as well be emanating from Siberia, at least he suffered no bad will for telling NBC where they should get off. By contrast, I wouldn’t touch NBC at 11:30 with someone else’s hard disk. → Read More
Verizon is really looking to push the capabilities of its 4G network when it arrives on Android handsets later this year. Earlier today we wrote about a partnership the carrier had forged with streaming music service MOG to put that company’s apps on every 4G Verizon Android phone. Now Ustream has announced a similar partnership: every 4G Verizon Android phone will be shipping with Ustream installed as well.
The application will let you both broadcast and view live video streams, with integrated chat and social network integration for posting your videos to Facebook, Twitter, etc. Obviously this is good news for Ustream in terms of getting exposure, and, as with MOG, this is the kind of application users are going to be eager to try to test out their new speedy connections. → Read More
The San Francisco Giants won the World Series earlier this evening and of course the celebration in San Francisco has at this point devolved into multiple riots, which you can now follow on Twitter through the hashtags #SFRiot and #SFScanner. About a hundred or so people have checked into the riot on Foursquare at the venue “Giants Riot on Polk Street” and assorted others. → Read More
We’ve gotten word this morning that online streaming video service Ustream has laid off 9 people from its 200 person staff. With social news site Digg having other notable layoffs this week, it’s crucial to remember that startups often shed staff when going through product and business goal realignments. This is also the case here according to Ustream VP of Communications Lynn Fox. → Read More
Today live video streaming service Ustream launches a series of new features with the intent of making it easier for users to monetize their platform.
The sexiest new feature is a service called Open Pay Per View which allows any Ustream broadcaster to apply for their own pay per view program, charging users to view premium content through Pay Pal.
Like on Stickcam, with Ustream Open Pay Per View any Ustream user can apply directly to Ustream to create their own Pay Per View Service, allowing users like Robert Scoble or TechCrunch to earn some cash whenever they have a high profile guest, livestream an important conference or hold any other event where they might draw more eyeballs. → Read More
Have you ever wanted your camera to stream live video to the web (on Ustream) without having to carry a computer around? Then the so-called Cerevo Livebox [JP], made by Japanese startup Cerevo, might do the trick for you. → Read More
By now you’ve doubtless heard about the ongoing rescue of 33 Chilean miners, who have been tragically trapped 2,000 feet underground since August 5. After months of waiting, the miners are being rescued one by one (as of this writing three are still below ground), and media organizations are broadcasting the footage of the recue effort live to a reported 1 billion people. That massive worldwide audience has led to some new records for live-streaming service Ustream, which has been broadcasting feeds from media organizations around the world.
Ustream says that it has served 5.3 million streams over the course of the rescue, tallying figures between 4AM October 11 until 4AM this morning (given the fact that the rescue is still going on, the final count will be significantly higher). → Read More
One thing I’m particularly proud of: we have provided a free live stream of nearly every conference we’ve ever put on. We’ve found that we still have plenty of people that want to attend in person. But for those who can’t make the event, the content is available to watch, gratis. Very few other large events do this.
The numbers from TechCrunch Disrupt: San Francisco earlier this week are staggering. We’re still gathering the on demand view data from TechCrunchTV. But we’ve just received the high level numbers from Ustream, who powered the live stream of the event.
235,389 unique viewers tuned in at some point during the event (there were about 2,000 people there in person). Over 65,000 hours of video were viewed, and a total of 316,426 streams were served. → Read More
