Kaltura

Soccer video goes online with Kaltura

Kaltura is an open-source video application server that competes with the likes of Brightcove. In a nutshell, it helps companies put video on their Web sites.

Kaltura recently released an integration of its product for Drupal, which was a great way to quickly enable its technology for broad distribution. Of more interest to me, however, is that Kaltura was recently selected to power the video on Footbo, a dedicated social network for soccer (football).

With more than 1 billion soccer fans on the planet, Kaltura couldn't do much better than to tap into this passion, starting with Footbo. From … Read more

Video-collaboration firm Kaltura gets more funding, positive press

Kaltura, the video company that's considered a blend of YouTube and Wikipedia, has closed a second round of funding.

The New York-based company, which has become something of a media darling, declined to disclose the amount but did say the round, led by .406 Ventures, was "significantly larger" than the $2.1 million the start-up secured from Avalon Ventures and angel investors.

Kaltura appears on its way to becoming a high-flying service. Flip through the upcoming issue of Esquire and you'll see Ron Yekutiel, the company's co-founder and CEO, modeling a suit as part of … Read more

Open sourcing Web video with Kaltura

There used to be a time when proprietary "Internet TV platform" providers Brightcove and Maven slept soundly at night...

That was life before Kaltura.

Kaltura is an open-source "video application server" and has been getting tremendous press. After spending a half-hour on the phone with co-founder Shay David today, I can see why. This is such a cool open-source opportunity. According to the company's Web site:

Kaltura's open-source platform enables any site to seamlessly and cost-effectively integrate advanced interactive rich-media functionalities, including video searching, uploading, importing, editing, annotating, remixing, and sharing. Kaltura' goal is to bring interactive video to every site and to create the world's largest distributed video network.

As the Web gets richer video content, Web publishers are going to want to have more control over the process by which video content is managed and delivered through their sites. This is why Wikipedia chose Kaltura to bring video to every one of its entries. Wikia, Remix America, and others (e.g., New York Public Library) are also using it.

The reason is clear: If a content provider wants to innovate, it needs an open-source platform with which to do so. Building on a proprietary platform is a dead-end.… Read more

Kaltura's new Facebook app sends friends video e-cards

Birthday alarms and reminders have been taken a step further with Kaltura's new Facebook app, the clunky-sounding Friends' Video Cards. It's a cool, fun way to fill an e-card with video and photo content and get mutual friends in on the deal.

I test drove Friends' Video Cards with a greeting for my friend Erin, whose birthday it just happens to be today. Creating the card is cake--the Friends' Video Cards app conveniently pulls your friends' upcoming events or lets you name your own occasion. You just add a title and invite mutual friends, if you want, to … Read more

Kaltura lets groups edit videos

Of the 100 companies relegated to the "Demo Pit" at the TechCrunch 40 event, one was chosen by the audience to the last on-stage presenter: Kaltura, a very slick group video editor. I haven't had a chance to check this one out yet but Allen Stern at Center Networks saw a preview a few months ago.

Based on the stage demo, the Flash-based editor looks very slick, reminiscent of JumpCut and Adobe's Remix. The founder expects that this tool will be used by stars, who might push media out into the world so their fans can … Read more