– Video game publisher Electronic Arts and reality show producer Endemol are partnering on a new project that combines reality TV and online virtual reality. The venture is called Virtual Me, the new online entertainment product will allow players to create an avatar, or a virtual version of themselves, and to participate in online versions of Endemol series such as Big Brother, Fame Academy or “Deal or NDeal. Virtual Me will launch this summer with “Big Brother” software whereby viewers can set up their own online house and play the game according to established rules of the TV version.
— Fox creates tell-all webisode: Channel will produce 30 webisodes of “Nightclub Confessions,” which will feature clubgoers spilling their beans in front of cameras at bars across Southern California.
— Jalipo, a UK-based online distribution network for TV and video content, launched this week with support from BBC World and Al Jazeera English. Jalipo, which has the former president of Sony Europe Chris Deering as its chairman, will offer a pay-as-you-go credit service to consumers wanting to watch live events and VOD online.
— SpeedBit’s Incredible Shrinking Download: The Israeli company says its new accelerator can download a film inside 20 minutes. SpeedBit uses complex algorithms to optimize available bandwidth, in effect, downloading different chunks of a video simultaneously over multiple Internet connections, rather than in a single stream.
— Now on YouTube: The Latest News From Al Jazeera, in English: To YouTube, Al Jazeera English is just another “branded channel” that provides video content.
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