Author Archive
New FiOS Interface Debuts… In Ft. Wayne
Talk about opening off-off-Broadaway: the lucky Verizon FiOS subscribers in Fort Wayne, Ind., will be the first to see the telco’s new TV interface (or Interactive Media Guide, as the marketers call it) for its fiber-to-the-home video offering.
In a sneak-leaked-peek, this demo shows the zippy interface with a cool bass-riff background. Sure it’s canned, but if you are one of the fortunate to be surfing at fiber-optic speed, networked or hard disk are probably the same thing to you these days.
Tuesday Morning Vid-Biz Headlines
More Tools for Online Video Ads, as Get Interactive, Adjustables show ways to put messages next to or inside online video offerings. (Media Post)
Qwest Bringing Video to Portland, part of slow-paced Northwest region rollout from telco. (The Oregonian)
Cable Ads Get ‘Digital Overlay,’ in new apps from RGB Networks. (Light Reading)
History Channel to feature Memorial Day Site, with video, maps, interactive features for Vets. (InformationWeek)
Cisco Acquires Video-Surveillance Provider BroadWare, for IP-based monitoring. (Company Press Release)
Joost Goes Straight to Talent, Sorta, partners with Creative Artists Agency. (Release)
Justin.tv Starts Network, will let new “life-casters” onto its platform. (TechCrunch)
Blinkx ‘IPO’ Raises $50 M
If our pounds-sterling-to-dollars math is right, it looks like video search engine startup Blinkx raised nearly $50 million Tuesday in its unique “public offering,” a complex stock arrangement with parent company Autonomy that Liz detailed previously here.
At a price of 45 pence per share (89 cents per share, again if our math is right), the market cap of Blinkx works out to about $247 million, as the shares went out at the top of the company’s expected pricing range.
Limelight Seeks $198 M in IPO
Content-delivery network provider Limelight Networks seeks to raise as much as $198 million in its previously announced IPO, pricing its shares between $12 and $14 according to reports of new filings made Monday. Limelight, which competes with the bigger Akamai in the burgeoning CDN space, counts online video provider Brightcove as well as established firms like Amazon and MySpace among its customers.
Monday Morning Vid-biz Headlines
Fresh off the NewTeeVee news ticker, headlines from the world of online video:
Escaped Gorilla tops YouTube Charts, as star of recent most-watched online videos on YouTube. (NY Times)
Tremor, Eyespot in Partner Deal, to combine video ads with Eyespot video-mashup capability. (Media Post)
VCast Adds New York, L.A., as part of 8-city expansion for Verizon’s mobile TV service. (Telecommunications News)
GOP Trailing Dems in Online Smarts, as 2008 race begins early. (Washington Post)
New Sony Player has 2.4-inch Screen, but only available in China for now. (I4U News)
Whale Watching, YouTube Style
OK, with the Warriors out of the playoffs… and the whales apparently headed back to sea, what better way to spend some time Sunday night than watching whales who got lost and spent some time in Sacramento?
Saturday Morning Vid-Biz Headlines
Fresh off the NewTeeVee news ticker, headlines from the world of online video:
IPTV Will Take Center Stage at NXTComm, according to equipment providers who are planning big exhibits at June Chicago event. (Telephony)
BitTorrent ‘Pirate’ Loses Appeal, Chinese court says he must finish out sentence. (Reuters)
Simpsons Coming to AOL, as part of NBCU/News Corp. alliance. (Beet.TV)
A Cable Company that Isn’t Hated? Cox outscores other service providers in poll. (BusinessWeek)
TiVo Beefs Up Online Search, rolling out over the next 6 weeks. (Florida Today)
Friday Morning Vid-Biz Headlines
Fresh off the NewTeeVee news ticker, headlines from the world of online video:
AT&T, EchoStar Partnership in Question, but satellite firm extends deal with CenturyTel. (Rocky Mountain News)
Canadian Telecoms Turn to IPTV, riding broadband surge. (Mediacaster Magazine)
VideoEgg Names Adam Klein President, lures former EMI and MTV Networks exec. (MediaPost)
Motorola Buys Modulus Video, adding MPEG-4 smarts. (CNet)
National Lampoon will use Joost, YouTube, Veoh, to distribute new web network offerings. (AP)
Nerds are Big on Old TV, according to upfronts promos of ‘Beauty and the Geek.’ (NY Times)
P2P, Streaming and CDNs: What Will Really Work?
From the wondering-out-loud dept. comes this question: Is peer-to-peer (P2P) technology on the verge of radically changing the content-delivery marketplace? And if so, what does that mean for both content producers and content delivery networks — more opportunity, or threatened business models, or both all around?
While there’s no single news nugget to point to emphatically, a series of recent announcements, posts and observations all seem headed in the direction of a big collision between traditional CDNs, P2P technology and streaming video. Out of the pileup, we see the following questions that don’t yet have clear answers; but please feel free to provide some in the comments arena.
YouTube to Pentagon: Stop Blockin’ Us
In a story coming from a sit-down interview with the Associated Press, YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen take a shot at the Department of Defense for its decision to ban YouTube viewing from computers using the military’s network:
“They said it might be a bandwidth issue, but they created the Internet, so I don’t know what the problem is,” Hurley tells the AP, in regards to the military’s decision to cut off access to YouTube, MySpace and a host of other social-media sites. The story goes on to say that YouTube and the others are trying to work with the DoD on a solution to the draconian ban:
Chen said YouTube was reaching out to the Pentagon, along with the other banned Web companies, to learn “what it’s going to take to keep the YouTube site up.” He said they were willing to work with the military to install controls on what type of content would be available.
Sponsor Gallery
Recent
GigaOM Network
© 2008 The GigaOM Network. Powered by WordPress.com. Marketing consulting by ACS.
