Posted 11/20/09 at 04:11:40 PM by Bart Salisbury

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye: to YouTube’s API access. From now on, it’s through the front door or you’re not getting inside.

The word comes from Syabas, the maker of the Popcorn Hour set-top box. They, along with pretty much every set-top box maker, used YouTube’s API access to video’s which provides a neater integration to video than the regular Flash-based web interface. Besides better video, advertisements were also avoided. Good deal all around.

But no more. Google has changed the agreement for using API access--which it has a right to do. Google has decided to cut off access, except perhaps to a few of the powerful set-top makers, like Sony or Nintendo. Could be Google has figured out a new way to generate revenue, which certainly wasn’t coming from those who skipped the ads.

Final farewells take place on December 2.

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Posted 11/20/09 at 08:21:54 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube's reign as the No. 1 online video site doesn't appear to be in jeopardy, but among the also-rans, Facebook now ranks as the third most popular portal for viewing video on the Internet, according to Nielsen's VideoCensus report.

YouTube leads the way with 6.6 billion streams and just shy of 106 million unique visitors in October, leaving the real battle to be fought for second place. As it stands, the No. 2 spot belongs to Hulu, which served up 632.6 million streams and recorded 13.4 million unique visitors. Facebook trailed not far behind with 217.7 million streams, but had more unique visitors than Hulu with 31.6 million hits.

Not to underestimate the significance, Nielsen noted that the amount of time Web users spend hanging out at social networking sites watching videos increased 98 percent year over year. And viewing of video streams in general jumped by 26 percent, Nielseon said.

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Posted 11/19/09 at 06:10:45 PM by David Murphy

Ever have one of those moments?  You know the one: When it's so difficult to teach someone how to accomplish an everyday task in a particular application that you up and grab the keyboard and mouse yourself and just get 'er done, as it were. Isn't that frustrating?  Doesn't your passionate rage for simplifying the art of attaching files to email terrify your coworkers, friends, and loved ones?  Wouldn't you like a better way to show someone how to accomplish desktop tasks, one that doesn't actually require you to get up from your chair or, better yet, even pick up a phone?

In a move that's sure to sooth the savage beast that's been identified as a computer expert by his or her flock of advice-seeking peers, the Web app ScreenToaster is a perfectly packaged solution for showing people how to get stuff done on a PC. It does this by taking a live video (complete with audio, if you so choose) of whatever it is you're doing on your desktop, straight out of your Web browser--no additional software installation is necessary, save for a requisite click on the "accept" button for a piece of Java.

But surely the app can't be just that easy?  There has to be another catch!

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Posted 11/16/09 at 07:20:32 PM by Pulkit Chandna

The Zune entertainment brand is all set to traverse platforms and borders. Microsoft reckons its time for the Zune brand to go global. Beginning Tuesday, a new Zune-branded video service will replace the Xbox Live Video Marketplace in 18 countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia. The addition of streaming video content is what really separates the Zune-branded video store from its Xbox-branded predecessor. Microsoft wants its Zune brand to traverse platforms and this launch is clearly a step in that direction.

“The strategy and vision of Zune is to continue to build out that full entertainment experience. This is a very important step for us to introduce Zune to new consumers around the world,” Christine Heckart, general manager for TV, video and music marketing at Microsoft, told the Financial Times. Apart from rebranding the video service on the Xbox 360, the company will also be introducing direct access to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

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Posted 11/11/09 at 02:50:26 PM by Pulkit Chandna

YouTube has launched what it terms as “a small test of skippable pre-rolls.” But don’t be misled by YouTube’s humble choice of words for describing its latest experiment. After all, it is something that could shape the advertising strategy of one of the most popular sites on the internet.

YouTube wants to test the viability of optional pre-roll ads. Such ads will not only give more freedom to the viewers but also force those responsible for creating the ads to come up with more informative, entertaining and compelling ads.

“We've learned from Promoted Videos that advertisers are often willing to pay more money for an engaged opt-in view, as opposed to a forced view like an in-stream ad, so this also has the potential to increase CPMs,” the company said in a post on the YouTube Biz Blog, which it uses to make advertising and business related announcements.

YouTube first flirted with in-stream ads in 2007. But that experience proved to be far from perfect as it found the abandonment rate to be as high as 70%. It then went on to realize that in-stream ads work best with longer videos.

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Posted 11/11/09 at 07:04:35 AM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft has revamped its Bing Video interface, and over the next few days will be rolling out a new unified online video destination, the software maker announced. The overhauled service, which meshes MSN Video with Bing, promises to be more organized and contain plenty of high-quality content.

"With the New Bing Video you can now access videos from across the web, MSN's array of high-quality videos, and videos from sites such as Hulu, ABC, and YouTube," Microsoft said on its Bing blog. "Bing videos viewing options are nearly endless."

Microsoft said its video portal grants users access to over 900 television shows, all of which it says are organized and easy to sort through, even if the episode you're looking for is from last season. Users will also be able to share videos, and the portal now includes a 'dim the lights' feature. 

Give Bing Videos a peek here, then hit the jump and tell us what you think.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 05:51:01 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Sony Ericsson today published the specs and a video of the Xperia X10, its debut Android smartphone, which was hitherto known by its code name “Rachel”. It can be expected to be a guaranteed fixture on the list of the most powerful Android phones by the virtue of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

As for the software, the X10 will run Android 1.6 Donut. In addition to apps found on the Android Marketplace, apps for this phone will also be available through Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena service. The X10 will feature a 4-inch TFT touchscreen, an 8MP camera with LED flash, WiFi, A-GPS and 3G. The company is expected to release the X10 in the first quarter of 2010.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 02:25:27 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Technology purists may still swear by the ubiquitous DVD. It is probably a sense of nostalgia that usually deludes them when a much loved technology draws perilously close to the brink. But the writing surely has to be on the wall for the DVD if one of its biggest backers and beneficiaries is busy bracing for its demise.

Best Buy has announced a new deal with Sonic Solutions. It will use the latter's Roxio CinemaNow service to stream DVD titles to a wide range of internet-enabled devices, inlcluding Blu-ray players, TVs, PCs, smartphones, and personal media players. Users will be able to enjoy their favorite movies on a host of devices after they purchase them on DVD: pay once and watch on any device.

“All these guys — Best Buy, Blockbuster and Netflix — realize is that the era of the boxed DVD is about to end,” Creative Stratigies' president Tim Bajarin told the New York Times. The service is set to debut early next year.

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