RedHerring reports that Ustream.TV said Tuesday it has completed a $2 million angel round and that U.S. General Wesley Clark joined its board. Ustream and its competitors will need to attract large and consistent audiences before advertising dollars roll in. But they will be in competition with one another and mainstream broadcasters, who have content and are looking for ways to earn revenue from the Internet. Two major U.S. professional sports leagues, Major League Baseball and the National Football League, now broadcast games live on their web sites. Ustream hopes such interactive features as live polling and applause meters will draw users. Viewers can make requests and pose real-time questions with broadcasters. And much like YouTube, the site is a stage for people who otherwise don’t have a way to share their content with a global audience.
First it was Wired and now from RedHerring.. gotta hand it to their PR folks
Chicagolive.com debuts today and features video content about Chicago, by Chicago and for Chicago giving local users a chance to share their video creations in a uniquely Chicago setting, including videos from professionals and amateurs alike. Produced by Chicago Tribune Interactive, the site provides a chance to tell stories about the Windy City in a different way.
In addition to user-submitted footage, chicagolive.com aggregates video content from professional sources like Chicago Tribune, CLTV, WGN-TV and others as well as city-centric videos collected from sites across the Internet.
Vice magazine has built a small media empire out of a raw, ironic sensibility, risqué photographs and a willingness to deal in taboo subjects. On VBS.tv, the video Web site the company runs, viewers can find short videos about independent music, extreme sports and, of course, some nudity. What’s even more surprising is the company that finances most of these projects: Viacom. Late last year, the Viacom-owned MTV Networks Music and Logo Group made a deal to start VBS, with financing from MTV and content from Vice, which also sells ads.
Hunter Weeks and his friend Josh Caldwell quit their cushy 9 to 5 job so that they could follow their dream, which was to get a sense of America and today’s American Dream. The way Hunter and Josh planned to accomplishing their dream was to travel across the U.S. (from Seattle to Boston), but instead of walking, driving, or flying, they decided to do this journey on a Segway.
Hunter and Josh did this journey with very little money and because of this they struggled. But this didn’t stop them from them reaching their dream, they kept at it and figured things out on a shoe string budget. They turned their weaknesses into strengths by leveraging the media, which allowed them to get press in outlets such Wired, LA Times, Washington Post, The Pheonix, CNet, Boston Globe, and the Denver Post. Instead of complaining and making excuses these two individuals accomplished their dream while becoming somewhat famous.
As the convergence of the four screens continues - PC, TV, mobile phone, and Personal Mobile Platform - Internet video has shifted programming into the hands of Web users instead of television viewers, blurring the division between a Website and a TV channel as broadband connections enable viewers to surf the Internet to find whatever programs they want.
iTVCon looks in detail at how, with all the data and entertainment being pumped down the same pipe or transmitted over the same wireless networks, the worlds of TV and the Internet are colliding and old-fashioned broadcasters need to discover new revenue channels fast.
Now that broadband is available to more than 100 million households worldwide, every corporate Website - not to mention every media company - must now provide video content on the Internet to remain competitive, as well as live and interactive video Webinars and on-demand Webcasts.
A startup officially debuting at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston next week claims it has software that can significantly improve the quality of Web video across a range of devices from cellphones to servers and digital TVs. Ipera Technology Inc. aims to license its algorithms which run on ARM and x86 processors.
The startup conducted the first demos of the software a few weeks ago and is now ready to ship the code. Ipera charges a flat licensing fee, non-recurring engineering fees if users need customization of the code and a royalty based on the type and volume sales of the product using it.
The code has been optimized for an ARM 926EJS for use enhancing video playback in devices such as cellphones and digital cameras. It can provide enhancements to quarter VGA resolution video on handsets running on a 150 MHz or slower processor. It can also run on an ARM7-class CPU for lower-end feature phones.
Not to be outdone by Silverlight, Adobe has announced a beta version of its Flash player with the ability to play high-definition video. The new player adds support for H.264 - as used in the Blu-ray and HD DVD standards - plus High Efficiency AAC audio.
The company’s Premiere Pro and After Effects software for content creators already supports H.264 encoding, and support for the standard will also be added to Adobe’s AIR platform for rich Internet applications. Get the beta Flash Player here. The final release is expected during the next few months.
Fred Wilson posted Here that Howard Lindzon got on a plane, went to NYC, hired a couple of awesome video producers named Adam and Jeff and a wonderful host named Lindsay. He set out to make a funny short video about Wall Street five days a week for less than $1000 per show. Adam and Jeff figured out how to do that and they’ve been online every work day since October 16th of last year. 10-months later = $5 Million deal..!!
Congrats are certainly in order..
So you are off on the big trip… or maybe you are planning the big trip; or maybe you just returned from the big trip. How are you going to document, edit and then share your vacation fun times with your friends and family?
This is the guide for what you need to do before you go on your trip, how to capture and document it, and then, how to share it via the net.
Meanwhile, there’s a few thousand more examples to watch on the tube
After 11 years, Slate has decided to become a parent. So, light up a cigar and say hello to Slate V.
That’s “V” as in video, not the Roman numeral for “5.” The new video magazine will deliver original features, compelling documentary segments, and buzz-worthy video clips culled from the far reaches of the Web.
On the site you’ll find familiar Slate franchises such as “Explainer,” “Dear Prudence,” “Damned Spot,” and “Ad Report Card”—now in living color!—alongside newly created segments about politics, culture, business, technology, and [oh soooo much] more.
