Slightly Tilted Humor
Thanks for the tip Mr. J
Archive for March, 2007
Another TV Guide for the Web
Red Herring article about yet another wannabe TV Guide for internet video - Divvio
Divvio, a startup based in Menlo Park, California, is offering to connect fans of Internet video and audio with the right content. On Monday, Divvio will launch what it calls a “personal guide to the Internet for video and audio.” “You don’t want to go from web site to web site to extract what you need,” said Divvio Chairman and CEO Hossein Eslambolchi, the former chief technology officer at AT&T.
We noted two statements that seem to conflict and will have to reserve any quality judgement in the meanwhile for lack of hard deets.. that being said this doesn’t sound right from the get-go.
Divvio will offer a web-based application with a built-in viewer that can handle the various forms of digital media on the web, from MP3 to QuickTime…
.. because Divvio does not store any content on its site and merely points to the location of the item, Mr. Eslambolchi also expects a warm welcome from media companies that have tussled recently with sites like YouTube over copyright issues.
So they have a custom player embedded on their site but ‘technically’ don’t store other peoples content so ‘in theory’ big media companies should not be upset about the fact their property is being used as a hook to sell ads..?!? Ya Right.
Skype Launches New Prime Beta
Via the Skype Developers Journal:
In short, it enables paid Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls. You can charge other people for calling you either a one-off fee or by the minute. Conversely, if you are the caller, you can call experts who charge for their services, and you can then pay the fee and access the expertise that the other call party provides.
When you call someone who is a Skype Prime call provider, and you both have the new version of Skype, the provider can initiate what we call a “payment request”. That is, all calls start as free, but you can then switch to the paid calling, charging either by the minute or a one-off fixed fee. The call then proceeds as a paid Skype Prime call and your Skype Credit is deducted by the appropriate amount that then goes to the receiver’s account. The provider does not get the call fees directly as Skype Credit — rather, they go into a special holding “box”. The provider then receives the revenue via PayPal.
Another way how Skype Prime is “more than a phone” is that you can also have paid video calls. This has not really been possible previously in the regular phone system. Since we first launched the free Skype Video feature, we have received many moving stories about how it has really made a difference, for example from family members living on different continents who have been able to see each other’s faces again after being separated for years. We believe that Video coupled with Prime will similarly boost many services that were previously unfeasible.
This could well spawn a whole new meaning to the call-girls industry!
Lo-Fi St. Louis Does Rag-time Blues
Great resource for all you down south blues fans. We came across this one-on-one video interview with Pockey Lafarge and knew you’d be swinging..!!
Do-It-Yourself Web Video Syndication
Multichannel news posted this interesting platform and technology comparison between upstart Maven networks and Brightcove. Note one of the key differences in the respective business models is starting price and therefore the customer target.
Maven’s pricing starts at $5,000 per month for a one-year commitment, which includes 500,000 video plays per month. Fees scale up depending on usage. Customers include Hearst, CBS’s CSTV and A&E Television Networks and their newest high-profile customer is Hearst Magazines who will launch with 1,000 pieces of video content in the next 90 days, on sites including TeenMag.com, Esquire.com, Seventeen.com and CosmoGirl.com.
FastWeb Founder Launching Babelgum
Silvio Scaglia transformed FastWeb from a start-up with a plan to bring fiber-optic cables into houses from Milan to Palermo into a company with €1.3 billion in annual sales and 1.1 million clients. Now, Scaglia, the FastWeb founder, chairman and largest shareholder, is turning his attention to a new venture, an Internet television and web video on-demand service called Babelgum.
Scaglia has invested €10 million, or $13.2 million, of his own money in Babelgum and is the company’s chairman and sole investor. The service aims to stream videos online at close-to-television quality using p2p technology similar to that used by Internet phone calling services. It will be introduced publicly in a testing phase at the end of the month, with a full release expected by the end of the year.
Via: IHT.
JumpTV on Joost — Coming Soon
According to AP, a deal to be announced Friday with global video carrier JumpTV will bring international television channels to Joost, the still-in-development Internet TV platform from the influential creators of Skype and Kazaa.
Joost has been signing several contracts to carry video for media publishers, most notably a pact reached last week in which Viacom Inc. agreed to let Joost show content from such properties as MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount and Comedy Central. But what is striking about the JumpTV deal is that Jump already has its own online network for transmitting video. Jump buys the rights to shows from TV networks in 70 countries and broadcasts the video online supported by ads and subscriptions.
More Joost Juice via this post at PaidContent and if you’re still trying to get a Joost beta tester invite visit WebTVWire, tell Chris we sent ya!
Funeral Home Announces Web Video
Heartland Cremation launched an interactive video-driven website which incorporates a virtual host to take visitors through the site, as well as online videos about cremation and veterans’ benefits. According to the Heartlands president, Andrew Loos, they have recognized the need to offer an unobtrusive place for families to research and explore cremation and burial options. “The last thing anyone who is experiencing sorrow or loss wants to do is explore funeral arrangements with a stranger”.
Prizm, a Kansas City-based online video company, added the video elements to the site. “This compassionate video provides a solution to a very sensitive matter that has been prevalent among consumers for decades,” Loos added. “Now, families can explore their options in the privacy of their own home without the pressure of a funeral consultant.”
Considering our post last week about BabyTV this one seemed a logical follow-up to cover the streaming niche span from cradle-to-grave..
