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SI.com to launch 'deep-tagged' video feature for NFL draft
Football-loving couch potatoes rejoice: here's a new way for you to get your NFL fix on during the tragically long off-season. SI.com, the online arm of Sports Illustrated, will be launching a new video portal, NFL Draft FilmRoom, so that you'll have access to video highlights of each of the college football players who have been selected to the NFL's 2007 draft. (If you're not a football fan, FYI, this is a huge deal.)
The picks for the '07 NFL Draft will be announced on April 28 and 29 in NYC.
The power behind this … Read more
ABC.com makes watching TV at work better
Among the networks, ABC.com has been one of the most aggressive in terms of streaming full versions of its shows online after they've aired on TV. During those quieter moments at work--some call them smoking breaks without the smoking--you can watch episodes of Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and more, right on your computer screen. Until a few days ago, however, the picture was rather small. Now ABC.com has launched a new full-screen "HD-quality" video player, and the "broadcast" looks shockingly good.
Meanwhile, NBC also has spruced up its online video player, … Read more
Joost commercial isn't quite ready for the Super Bowl
Most well-funded Web 2.0 start-ups spend their extra capital on logo T-shirts, Frisbees, or beer mugs. But if you're the ever-classy Joost, the hush-hush online video start-up, you make a commercial to explain your product. I'm not sure whether this will actually be shown on televisions in one country or another, or if it'll stay on the Web. Ironically, it's being distributed via YouTube, which is certainly going to be one of its foremost rivals.
I think the commercial is a little dull. It could use some Diet Coke and Mentos.
Take me out to the iTunes Store
Well, the NCAA tournament is winding to a close, which means that it must be just about time for baseball season. And because Steve Jobs is eager to take over your whole life, including your sports-watching experiences, you're going to be able to get your MLB fix at the iTunes Store this season. Apple will be selling 25-minute daily recaps of the season for $1.99 (or $7.99 for a month's worth) and two featured full-length games each week, also for $1.99 (or $19.99 for a "season pass"). A selection of "classic&… Read more
Bubble Guru: Video pop-ups reimagined
We got the tip today about a brand new service called Bubble Guru. Its goal is simple: to give your blog or Web site visitors a short pop-up video message that runs and closes without any user interaction required. You can also record and send message to friends via e-mail. For viewers, there's no escape--the talking bubble will follow them as they scroll down the page.
The service is by no means a full-fledged video blogging tool; it falls into a strange subcategory between video messaging and a pop-up advertisement. It's also a little early in development, offering no way to save and track the messages you've created. For now the service is free, but a paid subscription version is on the way for about $10 a month.
We thought long and hard about the usefulness of this for the casual user. In truth, video embedding services from YouTube or Viddler is much more user friendly. Users can turn those videos on and off at their discretion and pass any interesting ones along to a friend. That, however, isn't the point of Bubble Guru. This service is all about grabbing your attention, which it does very well. We've embedded one for you: to see what it looks like, click "read more" below.… Read more
Mog sheds beta status, launches Mog TV
Mog, the music recommendation tool and social network left beta this morning and launched a new video channel called Mog TV. The video service scans your music library and offers YouTube music videos that it thinks you'll like. There's also a kitschy feature called "The Magic Button" that can randomly bring up content related to your musical tastes. The button has been placed site-wide, and can be found on user profiles, Mog TV, and artist pages. The only bummer here is the need to install the Mog-o-matic software on your machine for access to personalized recommendations, … Read more
Hands-on with YouTube's remixing and real-time chat tools
YouTube went offline last night for updating. The new version is live now. Features include the capability to customize the colors and content on your personal profile page, and a new Google Labs-like feature, TestTube, where you can experiment with new YouTube features. The TestTube projects are the interesting thing here.
For example, TestTube has the new Audio Swap feature (previous coverage), which lets you replace your video's audio with a music track from one of several artists that YouTube has made arrangements with. The interface to make the swap is easy, and the selection of musical themes is … Read more
