iTV

Amazon.com unbox – watch now: Instant video streaming is coming to PC and Mac

marco Leave a comment

watch nowAmazon.com has opened up the second round of the beta phase for its unbox instand video streaming service called “watch now”. The unbox service enables you to rent and buy movies and TV shows from amazon through a download to your PC without the need to get the DVD shipped to you, or going to a DVD rental store. The amazon-unbox watch now feature is an additional way from amazon-unbox to make the service more attractive, allowing you to start watching instantly (the video gets streamed to your computer). You will need at least a 0.5Mbps DSL (down stream) connection to be able to use the service.

As of this morning they are still alowing new sign ups, but space is limited. Just go to the Amazon.com unbox page and on the upper, right hand side you’ll find the link (picture to the left) to sign up for the test.

I’ll be testing the service and will post an update on my findings.I am very curious to see how it will work on PC AND (!) Mac, as it was PC, Tivo, Xbox only before. You need the latest Flash version (v9) for your computer to be able to use the new watch now feature. The good news is that you also be able to continue to download movies (e.g. after buying them, not only renting them for a day…) and store them locally on your harddrive (this remains a PC & Tivo only feature).

Check out the new amazon unbox service and watch now!

Have you been using the Amazon unbox service before, in the incarnation of a video download service?

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TV: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Hulu.com or iTunes

marco Leave a comment

I have been missing out on this completely, so for everyone who is in the same boat, check out http://drhorrible.com:

Aspiring super-villain Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) wants to join the Evil League of Evil and win the girl of his dreams, but his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), stops him at every turn in this three-part musical.

I have also embedded the full episode below (it might be geo-restricted, and for US IPs only):
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.hulu.com/embed/Z4kt7M5Uta51JuIDJV6HeQ" width="520" height="300" wmode="transparent" /]
I had some problems embedding the episode using the Hulu embed code. Hope you are able to see it here on my blog. If not, head over to Hulu or get the episodes via iTunes. Check ’em out and enjoy!

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More Ads to appear in Online Comcercial Breaks at abc.com

marco Leave a comment

Looks like we might need to watch through more ads Online, too. Online viewing moving close to the “TV model”?

MarketingVOX: ABC to Pump More Ads into Online Commercial Breaks

Starting this week, ABC will insert multiple commercials into ad breaks within shows streamed online. Each break typically serves one :15 or :30 commercial.

Because the medium is new, the standard for streaming TV shows is one spot per break. Some sites, like Hulu, give users the option of watching a single two-minute trailer at the beginning of a show, in exchange for an otherwise uninterrupted experience.

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AdAge: Adults Spend 1/2 Their Media Hours With TV & Advertisers Loosing Confidence in TV

marco Leave a comment

Is this a loosing battle for the TV industry in its “traditional definition”? Time to move your media to the Internet and build a new business model? Or not yet?

From AdAge.com: Adults Spend 1/2 Their Media Hours With TV

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — It seems marketers and TV executives are having a half-full, half-empty kind of argument over TV’s prowess. The results of a survey on consumer media habits commissioned by the Television Bureau of Advertising show that adult consumers spend a little over half of their media hours with TV. Meanwhile, a recent survey of marketers and advertisers by the Association of National Advertisers found many were losing confidence in TV as a medium.

From AdAge.com: Marketers Losing Confidence in TV

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Whether traditional TV advertising has truly lost its power, marketers and advertisers are already eager to find alternatives. The Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research’s fourth biennial TV and Technology survey shows a dramatic loss of confidence in the medium as the industry gears up to explore new ad formats and forms of video commercials.

Indeed, two thirds of the C-level-executive respondents said they are watching the medium closely, up from just half two years ago, and 87% of respondents said they were going to be spending more on web ads in the coming year. The study was conducted in January and is based on a survey of 78 leading advertisers across all major industries and categories. 

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TV Interface/Navigation: neave.tv

marco Leave a comment

Neave.TV ScreenshotStill around and still a really cool idea how to navigate video on the web: www.neave.tv. I did not come back to Neave.TV for some time. But everytime I see the interface and the ease of use I am excited again! The site utilizes video from other video sharing sites (like youtube, blip.tv etc.) and updates itself all the time to keep the videos fresh!

Check it out! Enjoy watching the videos!

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Video Twitter (?): Seesmic

marco Leave a comment

Only a short post as they are still in alpha. Check out : Seesmic – “The dashboard for your videos”. You find a longer review on techcrunch: “Loic Le Meur’s New Startup Launches: Seesmic“.

The service can be described as a video based Twitter, although it is also much more than that. The grand vision behind Seesmic is for it to become a very open online video/television service where people are constantly interacting around both user generated and professional content.

The startup is co-founded by Loïc Le Meur (Organizer of LeWeb3 – Dec 11-12 ’07, in Paris, France) who recently re-located to San Francisco. Stay tuned!

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Tubemogul: Upload to all major video sites and audience statistics

marco Leave a comment

Do you make online video? Always go through the hassle of uploading/submitting your video to sever sites? Or gave up and only focused on one (the best?) video site?

Oh, and…. how many users watch my videos on all these platforms? How big was my audience for that specific episode again?

Tubemogul Logo Tubemogul to the rescue!

Everybody how makes web video and/or vlogs will find this site extremely helpful. I have not yet checked it out but heard very positive things about it. Let me know if you have used it and want to share your experience. Leave a comment! Thanks!

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Rebuilding Hollywood in Silicon Valley’s image

marco Leave a comment

Marc Andreessen has written a very interesting post about the current writer’s strike in Hollywood.

The writers’ strike, and the studios’ response to the strike, may radically accelerate a structural shift in the media industry — a shift of power from studios and conglomerates towards creators and talent.

We all stay tuned what the outcome will look like and if this really accelerates the shit he describes in his post.

Ze Frank says:

Download Link: Ze Frank on the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Let me know if you find other interesting articles about this topic!

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Microsoft TV in France first

marco 4 Comments

IPTV is getting more and more attention these days! The news from Reuters shows that also the big players (here Deutsche Telekom owned Club Internet) are starting serious offerings.

Deutsche Telekom’s French Internet arm, Club Internet, will be the first in Europe to sell Microsoft’s software for TV and video on demand over Internet Protocol networks to consumers, the pair said on Friday.

More on CNet…

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