Philip DeFranco’s new YouTube channel Sourcefed clocked 100 million views since it launched three months ago as part of YouTube’s new channel roll-out. But with YouTube focusing on professional content, smaller producers could be left behind. That’s why DeFranco wants to share the stage with them. Read More »
The Plex app for Google TV will be preinstalled on Sony’s upcoming Google TV devices, which are expected to hit the shelves in the U.S. and other countries this summer. This is a big deal for Plex, and a nice addition to Google TV. Read More »
Google just flipped the switch for Hangouts on Air, allowing everyone to stream their Hangouts to an unlimited number of viewers. It’s a big Hangouts, and an interesting move for the company who has so far been cautious with its live video efforts. Read More »
How many Google TV devices are actually being used by consumers? Google and its partners have never released any sales figures, but publicly available Android Market data offers some interesting insights. Market data also suggests that price may be key to Google TV’s future success. Read More »
Google has filed applications for a satellite farm and a video franchise license, suggesting it’s serious about rolling out pay TV services in its fiber-to-the-home markets. But what’s that mean for the future of TV, as Google attacks that market? Read More »
Dozens of premium-content channels bankrolled by YouTube have been launching on the video site since January. So how have the first few weeks been for YouTube’s new TV stars? We caught up with Philip DeFranco, John Green and Felix Salmon to find out. Read More »
Google TV devices from Sony received an update based on Android Honeycomb 3.2 this week, and Logitech’s Revue will be updated in the near future. This is the last major update for the platform before Ice Cream sandwich, which is rumored to come before year’s end. Read More »
While much of YouTube’s monetization efforts have been based on advertising, CEO Salar Kamangar said the company could potentially create a service that could enable content providers to create their own subscription-based video offerings on the YouTube platform. Read More »
YouTube’s announced new viewership milestone today, with more than 4 billion video views daily. That’s impressive, and more importantly, shows how YouTube could serve as a blueprint for other technology companies that wish to create an alternative to the existing media industry. Read More »
Google SVP of ads Susan Wojcicki said on the company’s earnings call that 60 percent of all video ads that appear on YouTube are TrueView ads, meaning that viewers can skip it and move on to the video if it’s not relevant or interesting. Read More »
No, it’s not Apple’s long-rumored TV set or one of the countless other app platforms from Samsung to Roku: Google TV’s biggest competitor, capable even of derailing the company’s entrance into the market for pay-TV set-top boxes, may just be Android itself. Read More »
A week ago, it seemed like Google TV was back on track after announcing new partners. But if Google finally is gaining the trust and support of the consumer electronics industry, there was little evidence of it at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Read More »
More Must Reads
Sony is going to start selling Google TV devices around the world, Google revealed in a blog post today. Google also confirmed we are going to see new Google TV gear from LG, Vizio, Samsung and Sony at CES in Las Vegas next week. Read More »
The Intel days are over for Google TV: The next generation of Google TV devices will be powered by an ARM chip from Marvell that promises to be cheaper, snappier and less of a power hog. Also in Marvell’s pipeline: Android set-top-boxes for pay-TV operators. Read More »
On Sunday the Wall Street Journal published a report on Apple’s television plans. I had to read the story at least three times to really figure out what exactly Apple is doing when it comes to television. Here are my takeaways from the report. Read More »
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently said that the company’s TV platform will soon dominate the CE market. I was initially underwhelmed by the recent system update, but now I have to say that I agree with Schmidt. Here are five reasons Google TV will be huge. Read More »
Sling Media’s SlingPlayer app is now available on Google TV, making it possible for Logitech Revue owners to access Slingbox streams on their device. The launch of the Google TV app comes a month after SlingBox debuted a dedicated app for the Boxee Box. Read More »
YouTube is rolling out a complete overhaul of its site Thursday that includes a new emphasis on channels as well as a completely redesigned homepage. The changes tie into the site’s attempts to establish its millions of channels as the Internet’s answer to cable TV. Read More »
Winnie the Pooh, Cars, Alice in Wonderland and other Disney and Pixar movies are coming to YouTube, thanks to a new partnership between the mouse-eared Hollywood heavyweight and Google’s video site. Movies will be available for rent through YouTube’s premium content section. Read More »
All the reports about YouTube heavily investing into original content are true: The site will be launching a number of curated and scheduled channels with contributions from stars like Madonna, Rainn Wilson, Shaq, Tony Hawk and others. Some shows will be long-form, and some even live. Read More »
Google has updated its Google TV platform with a new UI, a bunch of interesting apps and access to the Android Market. The update is rolling out this Sunday, but we already have a first look at the next version of Google TV right here. Read More »
It will take more than a five-button remote control to efficiently navigate the new universe of video content now available. That means a new user interface for the video viewing experience is inevitable, and many companies are involved. Here are a few to watch. Read More »
Hulu’s owners and management have decided not to go forward with the sale of the company. Both said in a statement that Hulu will have more value to its owners when not being sold. In other words: The offers from Dish & Co. were just too … Read More »
For all the talk, there’s little evidence that cord cutting, to whatever extent it is actually happening, has loosened the grip of the networks or cable operators on the TV business. If anything, they’ve tightened their hold, as evidence from this last quarter shows. Read More »
There are few good ways to share a slide deck and video of a presentation after it’s given. 9Slides hopes to change that, with a platform for syncing videos and slide decks that can be watched simultaneously in a web browser or on mobile devices. Read More »
AOL, Yahoo and YouTube are all betting big on web original content. Why? Because for the first time in a long time, it seems that content may finally be attracting the type of viewership and ad dollars they’ve hoped for. Read More »
Sites like Vimeo or Hulu could soon utilize Google+ Hangouts to let their users interact with each other in real time, thanks to the new Hangouts API. The API makes allows anyone to develop apps for Hangouts, and video services could benefit greatly from it. Read More »
Online video distribution startup Ooyala has received a strategic investment from hardware maker Motorola Mobility. The announcement comes just a day after Ooyala launched new social features, and while Motorola is in the midst of being acquired by Google in a deal worth $12.5 billion. Read More »
With DirecTV dropping out of the bidding for Hulu last week, its assets are now being sought by Amazon, Dish Network, Yahoo and Google. And Google is bidding big, hoping to wrap up more content and for a longer period of time than the others. Read More »
The summer of 2011 was accompanied by a great web video pullback, as content owners lengthened distribution windows and demanded more from digital licensees. That’s caused some concern about the viability of the industry, but is probably a small road bump for the booming business. Read More »
There’s been a rash of speculation about which of Netflix’s competitors will bid for the streaming rights of TVs and movies from Starz. The most likely outcome, however, probably has the network keeping those rights to itself and making them part of its TV Everywhere play. Read More »
Google chairman Eric Schmidt was on a diplomacy mission to UK broadcasters late last week. His pitch? The Internet will make TV more personal, more social and enable better monetization and measurement opportunities. And Google wants to help them take advantage of those changes. Read More »
Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility could be a big boost to Google TV, and could signal a shift in its positioning from an operating system that Google sells to consumers to one that is used by a number of pay TV operators instead. Read More »
DirecTV has admitted to taking a look at Hulu’s financials to see if it’s worth buying. While the satellite provider could accelerate its rollout of TV Everywhere services with such a buy, DirectTV’s CEO said a Hulu acquisition isn’t necessary to achieve its long-term vision. Read More »
Startup Flixmaster is making it easier for video creators to make interactive applications. Its platform provides a drag-and-drop interface for creating branching relationships between videos and publishing them online. The platform publishes in HTML5 video, aiming at the growing number of mobile devices that support video. Read More »
Logitech just significantly lowered the price of its Revue set-top box to $99. It’s a desperate move, but price-conscious consumers shouldn’t see it as a closeout sale. Instead, it may just be a great chance to get much more bang for your smart TV buck. Read More »
H.264 license holder MPEG LA says it’s ready to step up the fight against Google’s open-source WebM format. After threatening to form a patent pool to use against WebM, the group now says it has identified 12 companies with patents essential to the VP8 standard. Read More »
YouTube users fluent in Japanese can now watch videos in that language with automatically generated captions, thanks to the same speech-recognition technology that also powers voice input on Android mobile devices. This is the first step towards an international expansion for auto-captioning YouTube videos. Read More »
Michael Dell likes Google’s new group video chat service Hangouts so much he wants to use it as a tool for customer service and sales. Dell revealed his thoughts about Hangouts on Google+, the social network that Google launched at the end of last month. Read More »
Nina Paley is upset. Her movie Sita Sings The Blues is blocked for German users on YouTube, making it the latest casualty in an ongoing conflict between the video site and German music rights group Gema. Rights holders deny that they’re to blame for the incident. Read More »
Deaf and hard of hearing users may soon get more use out of Google’s much-hyped new group video chat service Hangouts, thanks to a field test that looks at ways to add support for American Sign Language. Initial feedback from hearing-impaired users is enthusiastic. Read More »
Hulu has made its first pitch to a number of prospective buyers, but Netflix didn’t come to the party: The popular subscription service apparently has no interest in buying its catch-up TV competitor. However, there are plenty of other well-known suitors still in the game. Read More »
Leonado DiCaprio, Dexter Morgan and your mom are only some of the people who are using Google’s new and much-hyped video chatting feature Hangouts, if we can believe screenshots taken by users of the service. But of course, the question is: Can we? Read More »
H.264 remains the dominant force in online video, as the video codec now accounts for more than two-thirds of online video, according to a blog post by MeFeedia. Meanwhile, Google’s WebM format has yet to gain any significant traction after being released a year ago. Read More »
An app that allows phones like the Nexus S to access the Google Videos movie store found its way to the Android Market a few days ago, only to be quickly taken down again. The leak could hint at movie rentals coming to more Android devices. Read More »
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