Wal-Mart is testing the movie download waters by allowing those who purchase the “Superman Returns” DVD to also purchase the rights to download a copy of the movie to play on PC’s but not iPods. The additional cost of the digital download version ranges from $1.97 to $3.97, depending on the options that the customer selects.
iTube is a simple, easy to use Windows program that enables you to download movies from major video sharing sites (YouTube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, etc) and use them on your desktop. It will automatically convert it into either MPEG (plays on every computer) or MP4 (plays on iPods) and save it for you. iTube can also optionally import the file into iTunes, so that on the next sync it will appear on your iPod Video.
Allfg is one of many sites on the Net that are consolidating links to TV Shows and Movies available for streaming or download on the Web. It is a couple guys in the garage type of offering that really provides a valuable service.
Streaming video on the Net has got to be the greatest thing to happen to independent filmmakers since Robert Redford. There are a number of sites popping up on the web to support and showcase the work of independent filmmakers. Liberated Films is one of the latest entrants.
Simple Act is now offering free software called QuickMark for WebCam which will enable your PC webcam to read QR Codes and Datamatrix Codes.
It seems like every week someone launches a new video sharing site. Last week it was Comcast that launched a rather uninspired entry called Ziddio. Users can submit clips in eight categories including animation, comedy, games, movies, horror/sci-fi, action/drama, music and reality TV.
A great project called Semapedia (not to be confused with Semacode). Their goal is to “connect the virtual and physical world by bringing the right information from the Internet to the relevant place in physical space.” More specifically they aim to bring the knowledge from Wikipedia into the physical world.
The Nokia N93 phone comes with a QR Code reader pre-installed. Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend outside of Japan. It Nokia pre-installs code readers on other models, and Microsoft does something with their Windows Live Barcode initiative, we could see a jump start in uptake of mobile phone barcodes in Europe and the U.S.
NBC is among the most progressive of the major networks in making their content available for streaming and downloading on the Internet. Many of their shows are available on the Web. The network will stream a special edition of the “The Office” episode that will air on November 7th on TV.
Fujitsu has done QR Codes and ShotCodes one better by creating a two-dimensional, camera phone readable code that can be invisibly embedded in real pictures.
In what is the largest marketing implemenation of consumer oriented mobile phone camera scanning outside of Asia, Coca Cola Mexico has slapped ShotCodes on 40 million bottles of Sprite.
Set to fully launch on November 14, Microsoft has launched a front page for the Zune.net site to garner early interest. Zune.net will be a social site that will integrate with its soon to be released Zune player.
Google surely knew when they were mulling over the purchase of YouTube that they would face a huge legal quagmire over all of the pirated content on YouTube. Pete Cashmore at Mashable is reporting that Google is frantically paying off content owners to avoid getting sued and to keep content on YouTube.
Ducan Sample has written a Firefox browser plugin called Mobile Barcoder that generates 2D QR Code barcodes of the URL of the current page that is being viewed in the browser. Users can then use their QR Code enabled camera phone to easily capture the QR Code from the screen and have the URL stored in their phone.
If you are new to two-dimensional barcodes in the consumer space, it is hard to visualize all the many ways in which they are being put to use, mostly in Japan. One of the best ways is to browse these photos at Flickr, all have the tag “QR Code“.
In a move that may bring a much needed jump start to Quick Response Code (QR Code) two-dimensional barcodes beyond Japan, Microsoft has launched Windows Live Barcode Beta.
A QR Code is a two-dimensional bar code introduced by the Japanese company Denso-Wave in 1994. QR stands for “Quick Response”. QR Codes are most common in Japan, and are the most popular type of two-dimensional code in Japan.
Kaywa, a company that offers services for mobile bloggers, has posted a presentation that discusses the use of 2D barcodes in the consumer market. Here are some examples in pictures. The key point that they make is that the market in Japan took off when mobile phone operators began pre-installing barcode readers for cameras in mobile phones. Today there are more than 30 million handsets with QR Code readers in Japan. Sorry about the low quality photographs.
Kaywa is offering the free Kaywa QR Code Reader for selected mobile phones. Currently they offer versions of their reader that work on some models of Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and SonyEricsson phones. Check here for an up-to-date list of supported models.
Finding quality software to install on your mobile phone to read QR Codes is challenging. Microsoft recently launched its Windows Live Barcode Beta but has yet to provide software for Windows mobile phones or links to places to download the software. A Swiss company, Kaywa, offers free phone software, but only for a limited number of phone types.
All About Mobile Life has an interesting video by Kaywa showing how a QR Code enabled camera phone can read an ink stamp on paper. It is a good introduction to consumer barcode technology for those new to the concept.
The International Herald Tribune has a good article on QR Codes in Japan. The introductory paragraphs illustrate a common scenario.
ChannelSurfing.net offers free real time streaming of CNN on the Net. The clean and simple single-page site does just what it claims by offering a wide-screen version of CNN. The video played smoothly during my visit, although it did simply stop playing abruptly several times. ChannelSurfing also offers a CNN RSS news feed under the video.
In a move that highlights the growing importance of video on the web, Fox has announced that it will debut the first two episodes of ”The OC” on MySpace before it is aired on television.
Fox has posted a web-only trailer for the sixth season of 24 on Fox for those of us who can’t wait for the new season to start in January.
MySpace founder Brad Greenspan has taken a majority stake in Flurl, a Belgium based video search engine. Flurl indexes video sharing sites including YouTube, Metacafe, Grouper, Blip.tv, Revver, and others.
To help us all get in the Halloween mood, BitTorrent.com has put together a good offering of full-length free legal public domain horror movies for download. There are 9 titles available.
StupidVideos.com has relaunched its popular site to look and act more like YouTube. In addition to a complete design overhaul, they have added a number of social features similar to those of YouTube. They must of seen the price paid for YouTube by Google, and decided it was time to upgrade.
ifilm, owned by Viacom, has quietly launched a new video sharing site, ifilm beta, to compete with YouTube. The site offers MTV licensed programming including Jackass, Laguna Beach, Pimp My Ride, Aeon Flux, Punk’d, and Real World. ifilm also allows users to upload and share videos.
Richard Hunter, over at MovieNode is getting into the Halloween spirit by highlighting some of the best places on the Net to watch scary movies. His latest find is The Horror Channel.
YouTube and CBS have partnered to launch the CBS channel on YouTube. Currently, the CBS content on offer is comprised of clips from shows rather than full-length episodes. The first clips on the CBS channel are the Late Show With David Letterman, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, CSI: Miami and CBS News First Look With Katie Couric.
CBS is making full episodes of its hit show “Jericho” available online on its innertube video streaming site. Five full-length episodes are available now for viewing.
CrackSpace is a site which mixes elements of YouTube and MySpace together to draw hip-hop music fans. Focused on the “urban youth” market, the site will offer video exclusives and music from artists like Ludacris, T.I., Diddy, Akon, Ghostface, Lloyd Banks, Hi-Tek, Jim Jones and Foxy Brown.
Quick Online Tips, the site that brought us “The Great Flickr Tools Collection“, also has a post entitled “The Amazing YouTube Tools Collection“. The comprehensive article includes sections on downloading and saving YouTube videos, integrating YouTube videos into your site, and a list of “Best of YouTube” sites.
Google has agreed to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock, surely to be the biggest blogging story of the month. It is amazing what you can do with a boatload of bandwidth and a bunch of pirated content.
Google has agreed to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock, surely to be the biggest blogging story of the month. It is amazing what you can do with a boatload of bandwidth and a bunch of pirated content.
Google Video has announced that they have made deals with Warner Music and Sony to distribute their music videos. Revenue for the deal will come from Google AdWords’ Video Ads, and the video will be free to stream for consumers. The music videos will also be available for download, but will cost $1.99. Google Video will add additional content with the videos including interviews and behind-the-scenes clips.
Current TV, founded by former U.S. vice-president, Al Gore, and his business partner, Joel Hyatt, is a cable TV channel with tight integration to the Current TV web site. The channel features short-form information based programs called “pods”. About 30% of the videos aired on TV are contributed via the web on the CurrentTV site.
Daily Motion, a French video sharing site similar to YouTube and Google Video has a not very well kept secret. Beyond the Cute Kitten’s Channel and the Travel Channel, lies the Sexy Channel (adult content - NSFW). Sexy is a big understatement. The videos on the sexy channel are downright adult.
Reporter Steve Bryant has written a concise and engaging short history of online video from May 2005 until today. The article contains a graph that plots 10 of the major events on a timeline correlating to YouTube’s growth in page views.
Reporter Steve Bryant has written a concise and engaging short history of online video from May 2005 until today. The article contains a graph that plots 10 of the major events on a timeline correlating to YouTube’s growth in page views.
Not happy with just streaming videos from your favorite video sharing sites? Want to download and save videos from Google Video, YouTube, Metacafe, and DailyMotion? There are quite a few options, but VideoRonk (nice name) does a pretty good job searching across several video services and allowing users to download videos in the Flash (.flv) format.
AT&T recently announced that they will launch a service called AT&T Broadband TV. It will be available for $10 a month, only in the United States.
Viidoo is similar to Channel Chooser, Streamick, NetChannels, FreeTube, ChooseandWatch, TVLord, Channel King, Channel Break, and many others in that it aggregates regular TV and web only video channels into one site.
In an effort to rise above the low-quality offerings of video sharing sites like YouTube, Dovetail TV offers filmmakers and producers a place to share and promote their work. While YouTube is for the uploading masses, Dovetail is for professionals and aspiring amateurs.
Viral Video Chart attempts to track the most viral of viral video by looking at number of times they are embedded and linked to from web sites. Viral Video Chart currently rates videos from YouTube, MySpace, and Google Video.
Fliqz, a video sharing web site, is very similar to the existing sites such as YouTube, Yahoo! Video, Google Video, Microsoft’s upcoming Soapbox, and many others. The site allows you to upload, categorize, and share your videos globally or with your friends.
Motionbox is a video editing and sharing site. The premise of Motionbox is that only certain parts of the video users shoot is really interesting, and that most people shooting video do not have the time or the knowledge to edit their videos.
Microsoft will unveil a video sharing site to compete with YouTube, Yahoo! Video, Google Video and others. The project, code-named Warhol, is expected to be renamed “SoapBox” when it launches.
ZDNet has an interesting article with Mark Cuban in which he says that it would be smarter for content owners and movie rental companies to send hard drives loaded with high definition (HD) movies via UPS to customers rather than to offer the movies for download over the Internet.
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