videos

Rumor has it that there will be code details about OS X 10.6 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next week. Bold prediction, considering it's a developer's conference. Geniuses. Now, what cat to name it after? Also, Bill Gates gives his last speech on the road to his nearly-full-time-job-retirement; Oklahoma City has a sweet Wi-Fi mesh network that you can't use (unless the password is "password"); and you can now get your Outlook e-mail on an LG enV(2).

Mac OS 10.6 debuting next week? … Read more

As the cost of developing video games rises, developers are forced to find new ways to increase revenue. And although sales are still a major piece of that pie, advertising is quickly becoming the key to the future. But unfortunately, I just don't see how any of us would benefit.

According to Sony, it will introduce dynamic in-game advertising to its titles in an attempt "to bolster the already rapidly growing worldwide in-game advertising industry, which is expected to grow 1,150 percent to $971.3 million between 2006 and 2011 according to the Yankee Group."

No word was given regarding what titles would be included in that deal, but anyone with half a brain knows that just about every single title you want to play in the foreseeable future will feature some form of dynamic in-game advertising. And to make matters worse, some people in the industry thinks it's a good move.

"The PS3 platform is primed to leverage the high growth potential of the in-game advertising market," said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA. "Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers."… Read more

Studies have shown that many gamers actually like to see ads when they're playing their favorite first-person shooter or side-scroller. Hard as that may be to believe, the studies reveal that gamers find the ads make their experience more realistic.

Every time I think of that I have to heave a big sigh of resignation, since I find it depressing that realism based on ads is seen by some as a good thing.

But if you're one of the people whose opinion is reflected in those studies, you may be excited about a partnership announced Wednesday in which … Read more

Heavy, a niche video content company focused on the "dude" demographic, is slimming down.

The company said Wednesday it will spin off Husky Media, its video advertising platform, into a separate company. It'll remain under Heavy's oversight alongside the Heavy.com portal, but will be run by a different team.

Husky Media operates a technology called Video-Skin, which lets bloggers and other publishers "wrap" any video player in Husky ads and then pull in revenue. Husky also runs a Video Guide that offers publishers a library of video content in exchange for splitting ad … Read more

Impeccably timed to suit president Sue Decker's keynote at the Advertising 2.0 conference in New York, Yahoo announced Wednesday that it has inked advertising deals with two major clients: discount retail giant Wal-Mart and interactive ad agency Havas Digital. Terms of neither deal were disclosed.

The company has also signed on as a partner in CBS Interactive's CBS Audience Network of online video distribution partners.

For Wal-Mart, Yahoo will handle display and video advertising on the Walmart.com site as part of a multi-year agreement. Walmart.com will also become part of Yahoo's upcoming AMP advertising … Read more

Although it was recently outed by B&H, Wednesday marks the official unveiling of Pure Digital's Flip Video Mino, the latest camcorder from one of the leaders of the low-res, straight-to-Web capture pack. Thinner and smaller than its popular sibling, the Flip Video Ultra, the Mino crams similar technology into a more compact, more attractive package that can fit into a pants pocket.

Most of the Mino is about redesign. The USB connector now flips straight up, rather than to the side, for an overall more compact footprint that should fit better in a crowded USB environment. Though … Read more

There are few things that video game publishers--or any consumer products companies, for that matter--like more than reaching big, notable milestones.

So it was with considerable pride that Activision's wholly owned Infinity Ward studio told me Tuesday that its war game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, has just sold its 10 millionth copy.

Infinity Ward studio head Vince Zampella didn't know exactly how many units the game had sold on each platform it is available on--the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC--but did say that COD 4 had been most successful on the Xbox.

These days, monster … Read more

Life moves too quickly for us pathetic humans, with masses of fascinating activity happening too fast for our meagre brains to interpret. So thank heavens for high-speed cameras.

These marvelous inventions can capture thousands of frames per second, allowing a producer to slow down the footage so we can see exactly what happens when someone is punched in the face. One second of action can be played over several minutes, and without any apparent loss of playback smoothness--so we can see what it looks like when you throw tiny pies at a wasp. Now that's progress.

The following 20 … Read more

With Electronic Arts' much-anticipated evolution game, Spore, not scheduled to hit store shelves until September 7, it seems that it is stoking fans' interest by releasing bite-size teasers every week or two.

Last month, EA released the first video of the game's cell stage, in which players evolve their creatures from primordial murk.

And on June 17, it will release the game's creature creator, allowing anyone to make Spore creatures for free that they can use later on when the game is out.

Now, it has put out the first video and detailed screen shots of the tribal … Read more