youtube

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we will be covering most stories in summary/round-up form over the next few weeks. Here is a round-up of recent news in various categories:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we will be covering most stories in summary/round-up form over the next few weeks. Here is a round-up of the latest broadband video and over-the-top (OTT) news:

In a posting on its corporate blog, Tuesday, YouTube announced that, during and after President Obama's State of the Union speech--which will be live-streamed Wednesday on YouTube among other platforms, along with the Republican Party's response--users of its service will be able to ask follow-up questions, some of which will be answered live by the president himself next week as part of a special live event (whose exact time and date has apparently not yet been determined). "On Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

In a posting on its corporate blog, Wednesday afternoon, YouTube announced that it is introducing an "experimental version" of an HTML5-based video player. YouTube recently used its blog to canvas users on what kinds of new features they would like to see on its video sharing service, and, according to the company, the "number one request was that YouTube do more with HTML5." HTML5 is "a new Web standard that is gaining popularity rapidly and adds many new features to your Web experience," YouTube's blog posting explains. "Most notably for YouTube users, HTML5 includes support for video and audio playback.

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:

Google has filed a patent application that appears to describe a method for collaboratively creating interactive games on top of videos on YouTube.

MobileTribe--a company which describes itself as an enabler of cloud-based converged services across multiple screens and which recently announced the launch of a service that it bills as bringing online social networking to the Roku over-the-top-TV platform (see the article published on itvt.com, December 7th)--on Tuesday announced that the service now supports YouTube. The company previously announced support for Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Google, Flickr, Picasa and Yahoo.

Video search specialist, TV Genius, announced last week that UK commercial terrestrial broadcaster, ITV, has selected its Content Discovery Platform to power a personalized recommendation feature on a new ITV Player app for Facebook. According to the company, the app, which is called "ITV Favourites" and which is available now, will "promote Christmas and New Year scheduling, as well as into 2010," through recommendations of content available via the ITV Player online catch-up service; and will also remind users of upcoming shows that might be of interest to them.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

In what may be one of the most unusual examples of convergence to date, two researchers from Japan's Keio University have developed a microwave oven that plays YouTube videos while the user waits for their food to cook. Dubbed the Castoven, the device incorporates a 10.4-inch LCD screen into its door and also integrates a speaker.

Designed to be connected to a home computer, and powered by an Adobe AIR app that accesses videos through YouTube's API, the Castoven--which is not yet available for sale--selects the videos it displays based on length: thus, if the user is warming up their Hungry-Man TV dinner for six minutes, the device will automatically play a six minute-long video.

A UK company called 3View unveiled a hard drive-equipped, broadband-connected HD set-top box, Tuesday, that combines the ability to receive standard- and high-definition linear-TV programming from the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, with various Internet/OTT capabilities. The company says that the box--which is slated to be available in retail in March--will allow users to receive a range of over-the-top video services, as well as browse the Web and use Facebook and Twitter. It bills it as "the world's first Internet-connected HD free-to-air set-top box."

Livestation, a UK-based company that streams live news from a range of international sources via browser and desktop player solutions (note: the company recently announced the launch of version 3.0 of its desktop software--see the article published on itvt.com, November 24th), contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that UN TV, the official TV channel of the United Nations, is now available on its service.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

AEG Digital Media--a company that specializes in the technical and creative production of music, sports, reality and special event programming and that claims to take "a broadcast approach to streaming media to enable the world's most watched and most innovative Webcasts and live events"--contacted [itvt] late Monday to let us know that it is producing a live Webcast of today's (Tuesday, December 1st) sold-out concert by Alicia Keys in AEG's Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York City.