We've just wrapped up our review of the BlueRaven MediaMate 7000 PVP over on CNET Reviews. The thing is gigantic! If you're in the market for a wide-screen PVP with built-in DVR capabilities, but the Archos players are out of reach, the MediaMate might be an acceptable alternative. It's bulky, and could really use a higher screen resolution--but it'll get the job done. Here's our slide show.
Video-sharing site Revver said Thursday that CEO Steven Starr has stepped down, in the company's second executive shakeup in the past six months.
One of the sector's pioneers in sharing revenue with videographers, Revver said in a statement that Kevin Wells, the company's chief operating officer takes over for Starr, who will now serve as Revver's chairman.
Revver competes in a crowded video-sharing market by billing itself as a friend to artists. But what many performers prize most is an audience. Revver's has never come close to the size of YouTube's, the sector's … Read more
ooVoo is a free, standalone desktop chat application that has both a text and video chat capabilities. Its official launch is next week, but the beta has been available since mid April. I took it for a spin this morning and came away impressed.
There are a ton of chat clients out there, so one of the things it has done to differentiate itself is multiperson video chat. ooVoo can handle as many as six people in one video conference, which is two more than what iChat is capable of. Users can drop in and out of conversations, and the video windows will scale with a similar effect to iChat's "swoop." Along with video, users can chat among themselves with their computer's microphone or a headset. There are volume controls for both speakers and the microphone right in the chat window, a handy addition.
I found the video and audio to be fairly clear, even when topped off at six users. ooVoo's creators tell me that when running full six-user video, it will take up only half the bandwidth on a low-end DSL connection. Assuming you're not downloading or uploading large files in the background, your connection shouldn't drag to a halt.
In addition to live video and text chat, ooVoo doubles as a video e-mail service. Users can send each other video messages as long as a minute in length that are available right in the app or via e-mail. Users who get the e-mail are also provided a link that takes them to a live flash version of the video, so they can access it while away from their home machine.
For people interested in adding a quick way to be reached on their social networking profile or Web site, ooVoo gives users the option to embed a quick contact button that will automatically launch an ooVoo conversation if installed. I've posted an example image of this on the left side of this post.
ooVoo is not alone in the multiperson video chat space; competitor SightSpeed also offers a free video and text chat service. The main difference is that SightSpeed is aimed at businesses and limits video chat to four users at a time with a monthly subscription fee.
ooVoo is currently available only for Windows users, although the team is releasing a beta for Macs in about six weeks. Users on both platforms will be able to chat with one another using the same client.
You can download ooVoo over at CNET's Download.com. For more shots of the service, keep reading.… Read more
Major League Baseball might not be a fan of Sling Media, but the National Hockey League on Wednesday announced its support of a forthcoming Sling feature called "Clip + Sling."
The NHL is the first pro sports league to make a deal with Sling. Clip + Sling is a feature that will allow Slingbox users to select clips of live or recorded television and share them with others. Though the content can only be clipped by Slingbox users, anyone can access the Web portal that will host the clips. The 2-year-old company also has a Clip + Sling licensing deal with … Read more
Looks like YouTube is bringing sexy back. Former boy band sensation and current pop star du jour Justin Timberlake has signed Esmee Denters, an 18-year-old Dutch singer who got her start by building up buzz on the ubiquitous video-sharing site, to his new record label.
Timberlake, 26, founded Tennman Records in a joint venture with Interscope Records last month; Denters is the first artist signed.
But despite her karaoke-like start, Denters is no "Numa Numa" kid--she can actually sing. She's been performing in several European countries already after gaining a fan base through videos where she sang … Read more
There's the temptation to start talking about the Democracy Player with a Lord of the Rings-esque, "One Player to Rule Them All" joke, but that wouldn't be very democratic, would it?
The latest version of the open-source Democracy Player contains some serious upgrades that make it worth a second look, if you haven't liked it in the past. The most important improvement is that the publisher, the Participatory Culture Foundation, seems to have worked through most of program's early stability issues. After tooling around with the player for hours on Windows Vista, it neither crushed my system's memory usage nor crashed. Memory usage and stability have been major issues for the plucky little player, and I suspect they will continue to be. But at least it wasn't gathering piles of RAM like a YouTube-obsessed squirrel fearing the approaching winter.… Read more
While YouTube continues to be one of the most popular and widely recognized Web video sites, there's a rather large smattering of niche video services out there. Sclipo (formerly known as Visuarios) serves up a bevy of instructional videos in nine different categories. The service won "Best Start-up" last week at the StartUp 2.0 awards in Bilbao, Spain.
Like other video-hosting sites, Sclipo users can rate, comment on, and share the videos with others. What makes it so interesting is its revenue-sharing model. "Masters," or users who provide skills videos, will get a portion … Read more
Experts may take years to examine and analyze the latest purported video of the Loch Ness Monster, henceforth known as "Nessie." But our crack analytic team, to wit CNET editor Lori Grunin, has identified the camcorder used to take that footage.
Lori took a look at the Scottish TV video of the cameraman and his sighting. After examining the video of the camcorder, she tells us it's an antique Sony DCR-TRV130E (an old Digital 8 model). At any rate, the camcorder is far more modern than the legends of Nessie, which go back more than 2,500 … Read more
Justin.tv is making way for Justine.tv, a prettier, East Coast version of the all-live, all-the-time Web show.
Justin Kan, host of his own Web "lifecast," has spun off a new show featuring Justine Ezarik, an attractive 23-year-old Pittsburgh native.
Kan emerged last year as an Internet star after he attached a video camera to his head and began beaming his life to the Web. He is founder of Justin.tv, a company trying to sell video players that stream live video to the Web.
Ezarik debuted this week and a review of some of her videos … Read more
Is your home theater in dire need of an upgrade? Well, Denon Electronics and Boston Acoustics have teamed up to give you a chance at a $17,000 home theater makeover.
'The Makeshifters' contest will allow consumers to upload videos and pictures explaining to the world why they need a new home theater. All user-submitted content is then voted upon (beginning June 8), then one grand prize winner will get to enjoy the following:
Yet-to-be-named high-performance flat-screen TV Denon AVR987 receiver and DVD757 disc player Boston Acoustics P430 speakers with XB6 subwoofer and Bravo II surround speakers Denon AH-D2000 headphones … Read more
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