video

Video review: Chrome a 'decent start'

Google Subnet — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:39:40 -0400

Google's Chrome browser, just released in beta this week, excels at some basic browsing tasks but is missing a few key features. That's according to Network World Multimedia Editor Jason Meserve, who spent some time putting the new browser through its paces and comparing it with its more entrenched competitors, IE and Firefox.

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Study: DVR becomes can't-live-without device

Keith Shaw — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:27:30 -0400

You don't have to tell me that the digital video recorder (DVR) has become an institution in the American home. Any family with a toddler knows how nice it is to start playing a TV show instantly when they start screaming, "Dora! Dora! Dora!", and how painful it is to explain to same toddler, "No, you can't watch that show, it's not on yet" if you don't have said show saved on the DVR. But now there's a study that proves how essential the DVR is to Americans. According to the NDS DVR Report, more than 80% of Americans say they can't live without a DVR, and other than the washing machine (97%) and microwave oven (86%), no other device in the home is more essential. In terms of "essential technology gadgets", the DVR comes in second (81%) to the mobile phone (92%). According to the survey, more respondents would give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio, hairdryer and MP3 player rather than their DVR. The DVR apparently also makes for a happier home. According to the study, 81% of respondents with families say the DVR has improved family life, and 79% say that using a DVR has improved their relationship with their partner. Other fun facts from the survey (share with friends!): * 57% of DVR owners watch more than three hours of live or recorded TV daily. * Male DVR owners watch more recorded TV on average than women (2.2 hours vs. 2.0 hours). * 67% say the DVR is much easier to operate than a VCR. * 59% say they are watching more interesting TV shows since getting a DVR. I have a question for the survey takers for next year – what percentage of saved DVR shows never get watched? I have about 10 "Hogan's Heroes" episodes that I keep meaning to watch, but something else is always on when I'm ready to watch. NDS press release is here if you want to read more stats.

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The Power of IP Video - Introduction

ciscovideo — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:38:32 -0400

Welcome to our blog! The kind people at Network World asked Nader and I to be guest bloggers during the month of September, and we were very pleased to accept. We, along with our colleagues Mike Mitchell and Felicia Brych, are the authors of an upcoming book called “The Power of IP Video: Unleashing Productivity with Visual Networking.” The book is set to come out in December, just in time to fill your Christmas shopping lists! (You’re welcome.)

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Google adds video sharing to Apps

Google Subnet — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:29:57 -0400

Google bolstered its Google Apps suite with new YouTube-like video sharing capabilities called Google Video for Business. Available at no extra cost to Google Apps Premier users, the new feature lets users easily upload, edit and share videos across an enterprise.

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Could CDNs take a cue from the airlines?

Jason Meserve — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:58:35 -0400

With a number of new CDN vendors popping up each month, it could be tough for vendors to retain customers. One idea that sprouted up during a recent roundtable discussion hosted by Mirror Image: The idea of customer rewards. "At the very least, we should be getting something like frequent streaming miles," said a tongue-in-cheek Brad Wendkos, president of TrueFire.com. Wendkos was really discussing the cost of streaming video and how vendors need to continue to drive the price per megabyte and/or stream down for business to continue to grow for the CDN customer. But the frequent-streaming-miles comment delivered the most laughs. You can hear the entire 49-minute roundtable here (mp3 link).

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Check out NBCOlympics.com. Everybody.

CurtMonash — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:29:30 -0400

If you're like most people, there are sports you like even though they're not terribly popular, perhaps because you've enjoyed them personally. I loved to fence. My wife was an archery instructor. My dear friend and web designer trains horses. And all of us can, if we choose, see hours of our favorite sports, courtesy of NBCOlympics.com. Well, almost all. For a few sports, the video isn't quite up to snuff for showing details of the rapid action (for example, I found watching water polo to be problematic). But for most events, the video quality is a literal eye-opener.

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Android rumors, video surface

Google Subnet — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:38:12 -0400

When will the first Android phones hit the market? It depends on who you ask. Some say the schedule has slipped and we won't see phones until early next year, while others, most notably HTC, continue to maintain that the first Android phones are right on time to ship by year end. Either way, they're coming. So what will these first new phones look like? A new video on YouTube provides a tantalizing glimpse.

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Google covers the Olympics

Google Subnet — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:52:57 -0400

So you're a sports nut who lives in Nigeria or Indonesia, but you've never used Google or YouTube before? Get ready to change all that. Google hatched an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), enabling its YouTube subsidiary to broadcast Olympic coverage in 77 countries starting with the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8. The move is bound to improve Google/YouTube's visibility--and usage--worldwide.

Unfortunately, those 77 countries don't include the U.S., U.K., Canada and several others. The IOC said its IOC Channel will be available on YouTube only in territories where digital video-on-demand rights have not been sold or acquired on a non-exclusive basis.

But the news isn't all about YouTube. Google has also begun showing a new 'onebox' as part of its results for Olympics-based search queries, Blogoscoped's Philipp Lenssen notes. In the onebox, which is a special result integrated into organic Google search results, users get a list of the upcoming events for the sports category, all linked to Beijing2008.cn. So even if U.S. residents can't watch on YouTube, they can quickly find the event they're interested in and tune into to NBC's exclusive Olympic coverage.

And that's another place Google is placing a bet. While the NBC Olympic site is run on Microsoft's Silverlight, Google's DoubleClick will be serving up all the ads within the Silverlight applications. The upshot? It looks like the competition for Olympics hearts and minds will be happening online, as well as in Beijing.

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UPDATE: Google has also created 3D models of the Olympic Village, available in Google Earth, to allow people to see the general location and perspectives of the venues and stadiums throughout Bejing. Take a spin.

Cisco Telepresence: Pretty Spooky…

Mark_Lewis — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:58:04 -0400

A while back I had my first experience using a Cisco Telepresence system (3000), and I thought that I would share some thoughts.

My overall impression is that it is pretty spooky (at least the first time you use it). Sat there ‘across' the Telepresence virtual meeting room from people who are on the other side of the world, you can almost believe that they really are just across the room.

This impression is obviously completely different from older, less sophisticated video conferencing units that sometimes give the impression that other participants are located in another universe, and are perhaps members of an alien species.

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Google buys start-up to bolster YouTube

Google Subnet — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:05:53 -0400

Google said on its YouTube blog that it has acquired Omnisio, a video editing and annotation service, for an undisclosed amount (although TechCrunch estimates the deal at $15 million). Omnisio will dovetail nicely with Google's YouTube video site, enabling YouTube users to mix and edit together different videos as well as overlay comments over specific frames. It could also be a clever way to help Google monetize the site.

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The End of the Road Warrior?

jimandneil_simplified — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:22:20 -0400

For several years the role of the corporate “Road Warrior” has been glorified as the invincible employee, somehow getting their jobs accomplished despite incredible odds to the contrary. The road warrior faced an endless onslaught of connectivity challenges, ever waging the constant battle to stay connected. Airlines like to celebrate the role, often handing out annual rewards for the truest warrior, and most traveled roadie.

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Video makes Cisco's crystal ball sparkle

Cisco Subnet — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:00:46 -0400

Cisco predicts that global IP traffic will reach over half a trillion gigbytes -- or 250 billion DVDs -- in the next four years. Reaching half a zettabyte by 2012 represents a sixfold increase from 2007, and is driven by video and social networking, Cisco claims. Cisco's data comes from its own Visual Networking Index, which is intended to pinpoint trends on consumer and business IP networking driven by increasing use of video and Web 2.0 social networking and collaboration applications.

And perhaps not by coincidence, the VNI is intended to build the case for Cisco product -- video, Web 2.0, collaboration and infrastructure.

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What I have in common with actor Tom Green

Jason Meserve — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:37:44 -0400

Okay, it's a bit of stretch that I have much in common with Tom Green, the actor, comedian, author and talk show host. But, in an interview with him yesterday, he described himself as a "A/V geek", which is what I am sometimes referred to in the halls at Network World (well, maybe it's A/V guy, but why split hairs.)

Listen:

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Why did Network World interview Tom Green? Because he's on the the cutting edge of live streaming over the Internet with his "Tom Green's House Tonight" talk show, which is broadcast live on TomGreen.com through BitGravity. Green built a multi-camera set in the living room of his Los Angeles-area home and brings in guests (Andy Dyck, Shannon Elizabeth, to name a couple) to chat for an hour or more. He even takes guest calls over the phone and Skype, with some calling in using Skype video. All this is done with a meager crew: Usually one guy, though for the bigger productions seven or eight people can be brought in. The entire experience with what Green calls "Web-O-Vision" is reminiscent of his days broadcasting on public access in Canada, before he was picked up by MTV. Through the Web, Green is free to experiment and be wacky, without having to report to a network executive. Plus, by doing this himself, he's got more flexibility to work on movies and other projects that suit is fancy.

See how Twinkle for the iPhone works

videonet — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:01:34 -0400

We've posted our first user-submitted video! Bill Walsh sent in a clip demonstrating how the Twinkle Twitter client for the iPhone works: Thanks, Bill! More terrific Twitter tools can be found here.

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Stinky's MPEG-2 codec to the rescue

Jason Meserve — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:52:40 -0400

For some non-obvious reason, my colleage couldn't encode MPEG-2 files to Flash 8 video using Brightcove's Publishpod application, which has a built-in Flash encoder. All he got was the audio track, no video. We both have the same laptop and OS, yet Publishpod on mine works flawlessly.

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Tech Update 2.0: Unified Communications

videonet — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:39:21 -0400

What do Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and the "Wizard of Oz" have to do with unified communications? Peter Greco of Siemens Communications explains in this primer on UC technology:

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Video: Hot summer gadgets

Keith Shaw — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:23:50 -0400

Get a jump on summer vacation by checking out our picks for the hottest summertime gadgets, including a waterproof and shatterproof iPod speaker system, a hand-crank-powered flashlight and AM/FM radio, and some headphones that won't fall out of your ears when exercising.

Also, be sure to check out the Hot Summertime Gadgets slide show, where we profile even more fun stuff for outdoor fun.

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Windows 7 video shows off multi-touch interface

Microsoft Subnet — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:07:30 -0400

As expected Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates demonstrated Windows 7 Tuesday night at the annual D Conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal. The highlight of the demo was no doubt the multi-touch screen technology, yet that was but one among many features Microsoft revealed during the first official demo of the software. Windows 7 is expected to ship in late 2009.

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TriCaster and the mystery codecs

Jason Meserve — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:54:28 -0400

How did we produce 41 videos in three days at Interop in Las Vegas? NewTek's TriCaster Studio played a huge role. Our video guy (Skip Bensley of Brilliant Video Productions) rented one for the shoot and learned the interface in about three days. Personally, I didn't run the unit so I can't comment on how well it works versus other systems. But, Studio Monthly did the job for me, covering all the technical aspects of the Tricaster in a review published in this month's print edition.

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What's the full cost of Cisco TelePresence?

Cisco Subnet — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:10:13 -0400

The new Cisco TelePresence System 500 is videoconferencing at a lower cost than Cisco's other offerings, but Computerworld Canada last week quoted analysts who noted that not only is the 500 not that low in cost, but it also can ring up high bandwidth costs.

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