web video
Latest
Google Helpouts aims to improve your life with the healing power of web video
It's like a Hangout, only with less loitering and more healing. Or something. After months of behind-the-scenes testing, Google's launching Helpouts, a new service that leverages the company's video offerings to pair users up with doctors, teachers, personal trainers and the like. Those professional life maker-betters need to list their credentials, as per the Hangout-powered service's fine print, so you don't wind up showing off that gaping shotgun wound to just any Joe Webcam (also, you should probably see a real life doctor. That looks infected). It should come as no surprise, too that the offering will be available on mobile devices, as well, so you embark on that pilates session on the bus to work. And once you're all done, you can check out with Google Wallet.
YouTube's got big plans for web TV: specialized channels with niche and original content
YouTube's come quite a long way from its roots as a repository for random videos from the public. It's gone from "Chocolate Rain" and the Tron guy to streaming Disney classics and now creating original, quality content. The New Yorker spoke extensively with YouTube's Global Head of Content Robert Kyncl about the site's future plans, and YouTube's got its sights set on grabbing a big slice of TV's $300 billion pie. Kyncl thinks the future of TV is in niche content, and YouTube's original channels are just the vehicle to deliver it direct to your digital door. The site is commissioning people and companies to create the channels (as opposed to individual shows or pieces of content) which gives the creators freedom to program their channels as they see fit -- all YouTube asks is that they provide a certain number of hours of programming per week. This production model is apparently pretty attractive to content producers, given the talent that's on board and the amount of content that'll be rolling out over the next six months. The idea is that all the original content will get people watching YouTube for longer periods of time, and in turn grant more opportunities to reap ad revenue. Of course, these specialized channels don't provide the wide advertising reach of traditional television, but they do allow advertisers to target very specific audiences with focused ads. That presumably provides them with better bang for their buck. Time will tell if YouTube's new plan will win the war against traditional television and web TV (including Kyncl's former employer Netflix), but free, quality on-demand content certainly sounds good to us. Get a fuller accounting of Kyncl's vision at the source below, and feel free to sound off in the comments if you're picking up what he's putting down.
Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu plan birthday Hangout on Google+
If you're not a Google+ user, odds are pretty good that your weekend plans don't involve spending time with the likes of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The social network will be hosting a Hangout with the two peaceniks as part of the celebration for Tutu's 80th birthday. The online meeting was planned after South Africa refused to grant a visa to the Tibetan spiritual leader. The Hangout will be a late one for those of us in the Eastern time zone, occurring at 4:30AM, but Google has promised to post the video for those who miss the party.
Royal wedding livestream breaks hearts, records
No frogs transformed into princes and no wicked stepmothers were vanquished -- not on camera, at least -- but today's royal wedding managed to capture the world's imagination. Thanks to partnerships with CBS, the Associated Press, UK Press Association, and Entertainment Tonight, the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton broke viewing records on Livestream.com, maxing out at 300,000 simultaneous viewers and a total of "at least 2 million" unique users, according to Max Haot, the site's CEO. We reached out to YouTube and Facebook to see how they did on the streaming front, but neither site has a final tally -- though a Facebook spokesperson did tell us that 6,819,072 people have commented on the wedding in the past 24 hours. We don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but we hear News Corp. has secured the rights to the Royal Divorce -- just in case.
Internet Explorer 9 gets WebM support with 'preview' plug-in from Google, internet video gets more friendly
Google has released an early WebM plug-in for Microsoft's latest and greatest browser, IE9 -- stepping in to fill a gap that Microsoft itself refused to fill. You may remember the firm's decision to not build in support for the new standard natively, but that it was "all in" with HTML5, WebM's close cousin. Billed as a "technology preview" at this stage of the game, the add-on will enable users to play all WebM video content just like the good Internet overlords intended them to, despite the fact that an additional download is needed. Microsoft said that it would allow for support and it appears to be following up on its word, regardless of other harsher comments made separately. Isn't it good to see big companies getting along? Now if only these same niceties played out in the mobile landscape, then we'd really be getting somewhere. [Thanks, ChrisSsk]
Google defends H.264 removal from Chrome, says WebM plug-ins coming to Safari and IE9
Google renewed a heated discussion when it said it was dropping H.264 support from Chrome's HTML5 video tag last week, but it seems the company's ready and willing to push its WebM alternative video format hard -- not only is hardware decoder IP now available for the VP8 codec, but the project team is presently readying WebM plug-ins for Safari and Internet Explorer 9, neither of which include it themselves. As to the little matter of whether any of this is the right move for the web at large, we'll paraphrase what Google had to say for itself: H.264 licenses cost money; Firefox and Opera don't support H.264 either; and big companies like Google are helping the little guy by championing this open alternative. We have to say, the eternal optimist in us is cheering them on. Oh, and the linguist in us, too. Read Google's own words at our source link, and decide for yourself.
Time Warner, Disney and News Corp. bigwigs speak up against FCC stipulations in Comcast-NBC deal
Hello, inevitable. It simply had to happen, and now, it is. As Comcast, NBC and the FCC attempt to work out stipulations over Comcast's proposed 51 percent buyout of NBC Universal, a smattering of major media companies are paying close attention to the play-by-play. Naturally, the precedents that are set from this deal will affect future agreements of this caliber, and lobbyists for both Disney and News Corp. (as well as Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes) aren't standing over on the sidelines any longer. All three outfits have reportedly been "voicing their concerns this week with the FCC, worried that such conditions could undermine their own efforts to profit from the nascent online video industry." We're told that the media mega-corps are worried that the rules -- if hammered down -- could interfere with ongoing negotiations with online video providers, and in turn, give them less leverage to monetize and control their content on the world wide web. In other words, if NBC Universal is forced to provide content fluidly to all ISPs (and not just Comcast), what's to say other content makers and internet providers wouldn't also be forced into similar deals, regardless of whether or not they're involved in takeover negotiations? Needless to say, we're nowhere near the end of this journey, and while the nuts and bolts are pretty dry to think about, the outcomes could have a serious impact on our future viewing habits.
Google will drop H.264 support from Chrome, herd the masses towards WebM and Theora
We knew Google was rather fond of its WebM video standard, but we never expected a move like this: the company says it will drop support for the rival H.264 codec in its HTML5 video tag, and is justifying the move in the name of open standards somehow. Considering that H.264 is presently one of (if not the) most widely supported format out there, it sounds a little like Google shooting itself in the foot with a .357 round -- especially considering the MPEG-LA just made H.264 royalty-free as long as it's freely distributed just a few months ago. If that's the case, Chrome users will have to download a H.264 plug-in to play most web video that's not bundled up in Flash... which isn't exactly an open format itself. Or hey, perhaps everyone will magically switch to Chrome, video providers will kowtow, unicorns will gaily prance, and WebM will dominate from now on.
FCC proposes rules for NBC-Comcast deal
As you can imagine, the thought of a marriage between a broadband / cable TV service provider and a content provider for television and movies has more than a few folks concerned, which is why it's taken a while for the FCC and its erstwhile chairman Julius "Caesar" Genachowski to draft the conditions under which it would let Comcast snatch up 51 percent of NBC Universal. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC wants to require that Comcast make any content owned by itself and NBCU available to competitors (including streaming video providers) "at reasonable, nondiscriminatory terms." Additionally, Comcast will be barred from prioritizing its own video streams above others or interfering with rival Internet traffic. Of course, without the actual announcement, it's hard to know what impact this will have on everyone involved (especially Hulu), although with any luck the actual proposal will see the light of day soon enough. Even then, it will need to be approved, which could happen early next year.
Microsoft releases H.264 video plug-in for Windows 7 Firefox users
We're assuming it would still prefer you use Internet Explorer for all your web browsing needs, but Microsoft is now lending something of a helping hand to Windows 7 users that insist on using Firefox for one reason or another. It's just released a plug-in that gets around Firefox's current limitations in handling H.264-encoded videos on HTML5 pages by taking advantage of the H.264 support built into Windows 7. On a more technical level, that means the plug-in parses HTML5 pages and replaces the Video tags with a call to the Windows Media Player plug-in, which then allows the content to be played right in the browser. Sound like just what you've been waiting for? Hit up the link below to download the add-on and try it yourself.
Regulators push for tough conditions in Comcast / NBC deal, aim to protect internet video
Is it the deal that'll never go through? Some might hope. For the better part of this year, Comcast has been jonesing to pick up a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal (for a cool $13.75 billion), but as you'd expect regulators have been poking and prodding the arrangement from just about every angle. The potential antitrust issues go on for miles, and now officials are paying particularly close attention to how the deal could shape the future of internet video. As you may or may not know, NBC holds a 32 percent stake in Hulu, and in theory, a Comcast buyout would enable it to limit access to other ISPs or force Comcast internet subscribers to also pay for a programming package in order to have access. A new AP report on the topic mentions that the US government is considering forcing Comcast to sell NBC's Hulu stake as a stipulation for the deal to go through, and moreover, they may insist that Comcast provide online access to NBC Universal's content library without a cable sub. Currently, Time Warner Cable requires users to sign up cable in order to access ESPN3 -- a nasty, strong-arm tactic at its finest -- and if the Fed gets its way, it could also set a new precedent for other operators. Needless to say, there's quite a bit to be sorted before NBC bigwigs take on corner offices at Comcast, and there's an awful lot at stake along the way.
PlayOn finally gets its iPhone app approved, HTML5 lets out a sigh of resignation
We're loving this new, slightly more liberal wave of App Store approvals (aren't we easily pleased?), and it looks like PlayOn drew the lucky number today. After waiting in vain for an app approval, PlayOn actually developed a fairly sufficient HTML5 solution to its streaming-web-video-to-your-device problem, but there's nothing quite like the sheen and polish of a bonafide app. Unfortunately, PlayOn's desktop software, which is required to make this Netflix / Amazon / Hulu / ESPN / CBS / etc.-beaming possible, is still PC only. [Thanks, Corey]
MPEG-LA makes H.264 video royalty-free forever, as long as it's freely distributed
The H.264 codec that makes a good deal of digital video possible has actually been free to use (under certain conditions) for many years, but following recent controversies over the future of web video, rightholders have agreed to extend that freedom in perpetuity. Whereas originally standards organization MPEG-LA had said it wouldn't collect royalties from those freely distributing AVC/H.264 video until 2016, the limitless new timeframe may mean that content providers banking on WebM and HTML5 video won't have an expensive surprise in the years to come. Then again, patent licensing is complicated stuff and we'd hate to get your hopes up -- just know that if you're an end-user uploading H.264 content you own and intend to freely share with the world, you shouldn't expect a collection agency to come knocking on your door. PR after the break.
Google: HTML5 is good, Flash is the 'best platform' for YouTube today, WebM is the future
We can't say there's a ton of surprises here, but, if you're curious to know exactly where Google stands on the whole HTML5 / Flash debate, the company has now laid out its position in a post on its official YouTube API Blog. The short of it is that while Google says it has been "excited" about HTML5 for some time now and that the <video> tag is a "big step forward for open standards," it says that Flash will continue to play a "critical role in video distribution," and that it remains the "best platform" for YouTube's requirements today. Of course, Google also didn't let slip the opportunity to once again talk up the recently-announced WebM video standard, which it says is the open video format the web has been waiting for. It isn't saying, however, that it will replace Flash for video, and notes that Adobe itself has committed to supporting VP8, the video codec for WebM. Hit up the link below to read the company's complete argument for yourself.
Know Your Rights: H.264, patent licensing, and you
Know Your Rights is Engadget's technology law series, written by our own totally punk ex-copyright attorney Nilay Patel. In it we'll try to answer some fundamental tech-law questions to help you stay out of trouble in this brave new world. This isn't legal advice or analysis, so don't get all donked in the head. What on earth is going on with H.264, patents, and video encoding on the web? It seems like ever since Steve Jobs published his Thoughts on Flash the world has gone crazy. We know what you mean! It's getting pretty silly out there. OSNews just declared that H.264 would be the death of video art and culture because professional video cameras are only licensed by AT&T for personal and non-commercial usage. Terrifying, although most of the creative people we know have continued working free of devastating laser attacks from space.
The Guild posts episode 9 of season 3
The Guild is back after last week's Halloween interlude, and left at her "wit's end" while leading the guild, Codex decides (with a little prodding) to take the fight to the Axis of Anarchy. And they do so with wacky results as usual -- Zaboo shows that his trysts with the stupid tall hot girl might have given him a whole new side. The video's available in all of the usual places (including after the break on this post), so tune in and give it a watch. There are only three episodes left in the season after this one, which means in three weeks (barring any more holiday-related extras), we'll be seeing a conclusion to this "rival guild" storyline. Will the Knights of Good conquer? Will Vork find his place in the world again? Will Clara find her own domestic bliss? Whatever happens, it's sure to be entertaining as always. Like The Guild? We do, too! We chatted with all of the folks at BlizzCon, including Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, and Jeff Lewis and Michele Boyd. We also saw their panel, and the guys were nice enough to stop by our meetup as well. Stay tuned here every Tuesday for a brand new episode of season 3!
BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Felicia Day, continued
That's the last money question that I have. You work with all of these actors, the first season it was like you were kind of the face of the show, and you were talking to everybody, and the other actors have kind of come up. And this BlizzCon I think is one of the first ones where people are really diving in and saying this person is my favorite, I really want to talk to Robin, I really want to talk to Jeff. You wrote the stuff, you even talked on the panel as well about how the actors are kind of taking over your characters. How has that been, in terms of how your actors are becoming the characters you're writing about? As of the third season, I've written them hundreds of pages, at this point. So they've as actors really helped me define, it's kind of a metamorphosis. Every TV show, if you watch a pilot, a lot of characters change a lot, from the time they do that first pilot. For this one, the actors though, they bring so much to the table, Jeff and Sandeep do a lot of improv, and ad-lib a lot, they're adding a lot of ideas with their characters. At the same time, honestly, I've been pushing them forward as far as press and stuff and meeting fans and stuff, because I'm out there on the Internet a lot, I get sick of myself, honestly, I'm sure some of your readers are like, "I hate this girl." [Laughs] No! They do have trolling tendencies. Which is cool, they will, but that's cool, everybody doesn't have to love me. [laughs]
Multiboxing.tv lets you watch multiboxing as it happens
Our old friend Tim Sullivan, who worked at Wowhead way back in the day, just sent along a note that he's working on a brand new web video series all about something in World of Warcraft that's been gaining a lot of ground lately: multiboxing. Thanks to recruit-a-friend and all of the bonuses that come along with sponsoring a second account, quite a few people have shown an interest in running more than one character in the game, and Tim's series, called Multiboxing.tv, shows live feeds from his gameplay (all five screens of it, four Hunters and one Priest) while people can chat and learn live about multiboxing and how it all works. He's also leveling the group up -- they're currently around level 40, and he says he's headed to 80 eventually.You can check out his front page to see when he'll be streaming next (and someone told us he was streaming for something like fourteen hours the other day -- take care of yourself, Tim!), and if you're interested in how you might get started multiboxing, he and his chat channel are probably more than happy to help you figure out how to do it. He did say he'd be streaming every night this weekend, so if you're around then, you should be able to catch him. Personally (as you probably already know), I'm a big fan of the standard one character gameplay -- I have enough trouble figuring out one toon, much less five. But Turpster, as you've probably heard on our podcast, has dived into this kind of stuff headfirst and loves it, so if you're interested in seeing how it works, tune in to Tim's channel and find out.Update: Apparently while this was presented to us (and appears to be) just a guy streaming his multiboxing, Tim may have some less generous motives -- he's apparently trying to sell multiboxing software, and you can see the comments below for some other shady moves that have been made. Watch at your own risk, and keep in mind that while the stream appeared legit to us, it may be an advertisement for software you certainly don't need to multibox.
Neuros intros web video-playing Neuros LINK
It's just been a few short months since Neuros started shipping its OSD 2.0 set-top box, but it looks like the company is now already moving on to other devices that are equally boxy and open source-y. It's latest is the Neuros LINK, which promises to let you watch videos from Hulu, YouTube and other sites on your TV without a subscription courtesy of Neuros' own Neuros.TV service. Unlike the OSD, however, it doesn't look like the LINK has any internal storage of its own (at least beyond the bare necessity), but it does have a generous six USB ports to let you hook up some drives filled with music, photos or videos. Otherwise, you can expect both HDMI and optical S/PDIF outputs, as well as gigabit ethernet, 802.11b/g WiFi, and an included wireless "keymote" complete with a trackball. According to Neuros, while the device is available now for $300, it's still in a "gamma release," which means is primarily aimed at early adopters wiling to accept a few hiccups along the way.[Thanks, Charles V, Zatz]
TiVo gets official with Desktop Plus 2.6, enables web video viewing
Well, what do you know? TiVo's delivering as promised with this one, as Desktop Plus 2.6 is indeed going live in March -- just like we were told back in January (and nary a week after TiVo promised YouTube access later this year). Truth be told, there's not a whole lot here that you didn't already get a taste of in our hands-on at CES, but here's the skinny. As of today, TiVo users can grab hold of the latest version of Desktop (Windows only, we're afraid) and "enjoy a broad range of web entertainment available directly from their TV." More specifically, these customers "can choose web videos downloaded on the home PC using web browsers, RSS video clients such as iTunes podcasts, or other video download software to automatically copy to their TiVo DVR's Now Playing List alongside recorded broadcast and cable TV shows." In case you couldn't tell, Desktop Plus 2.6 can be downloaded today for a one-time fee of $24.95, but consider that waived if you're upgrading from an earlier version. Click on through for the full release.
