Video

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

VideoClix.TV creepy video ads go live, starting with Revision3 shows

Last year VideoClix.TV demoed an early version of its creepy, yet intelligent video advertising technology in an episode of Revision3's Diggnation, the popular podcast starring Digg.com's Kevin Rose and co-host Alex Albrecht. The technology, which inserts clickable advertising in every element of the video, gives users a way to be linked up to online retailers for any product or service that's seen in videos. It also lets users click on things not for sale to see any related information from elsewhere on the Web--a handy service that's usually ended up with horribly annoying results … Read more

Video game creator Realtime Worlds closes on $50 million

Realtime Worlds, creator of the video game Grand Theft Auto, has raised $50 million in a series B round of funding led by Maverick Capital. Other investors included New Enterprise Associates and WPP, a marketing services company.

The Dundee, Scotland-based company, which was founded in 2002, said that plans to use the money to develop new games, including its latest development work All Points Bulletin, a multiplayer online game. "Realtime Worlds is poised to deliver new original experiences to gamers around the globe and to push the boundaries of online gaming," CEO David Jones said in a statement.… Read more

Blockbuster offers $1 billion for Circuit City

Video rental giant Blockbuster on Monday announced it has offered to purchase Circuit City Stores for $6 to $8 per share, or about $1 billion to $1.3 billion.

Blockbuster initially made the proposal on February 17, but says Circuit City has not provided the due diligence it needs to make a more definitive offer. On Monday, Blockbuster decided to go public. In a letter to Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes notes that the two companies have been discussing proposed tie-ups since December.

Blockbuster says the offer is intended to "capitalize on the growing … Read more

Move Networks nabs $46 million for high-def TV tech

Move Networks, a content delivery network for high-definition television online, has closed on a $46 million series C round of financing led by Benchmark Capital. Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Media, and Televisa, along with the company's previous investors, Steamboat Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, also joined the round.

The American Fork, Utah-based company has raised more than $44 million in two previous rounds of funding since 2006. The company supplies video-delivery technology to publishers including ABC, Discovery, ESPN, and Fox. But it has a hefty list of rivals, including Akamai Technologies, Edgecast, and Limelight Networks.

Benchmark general partner … Read more

Hulu update allows in-feed RSS video viewing

Reading blog posts on Google Reader is cool, but creating a feed full of playable video clips is far more entertaining. Video host Hulu's latest update to its sharing tools has done just that, letting you tweak several RSS feeds to automatically include embed code that will let a video play in its entirety right in your feed reader. More importantly, this can double as a simple way to get around any domain restrictions put in place by your IT department to keep you from watching Hulu videos while at work.

To get it to work you simply need … Read more

The Masters swings for rich Web coverage

For those of you who have tuned out the golf world, the most prestigious tournament in golf, The Masters, is this weekend.

To mark its 72nd year, Augusta is turning up the heat on its online presence. With partner IBM, Augusta National is offering a rich online experience for golf lovers. While the online coverage still does not rival what is offered currently on broadcast TV, it's great for the times in which national TV is not covering the event, or for sneaking a peek at work.

This is not the first year for online coverage of The Masters. … Read more

Crossfade TV: Nina Simone, UFO!, Red House Painters

On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music crew checks out a cool new set of previously unreleased recordings and interviews from the late jazz/blues/gospel/soul artist Nina Simone called Protest Anthology; a few new songs from electronic artist UFO! (not to be confused with the Brits who brought you the classic-rock staple "Too Hot Too Handle"); and the brand-new album from Sun Kil Moon, the name Mark Kozelek seems to be sticking with (after long-ago retiring his previous band name, Red House Painters).

Crossfade TV is a collaboration between Download Music and CNET TV.

Keeping up with the times, AP turns into online video broker

The Associated Press, a news cooperative owned by its print-newspaper contributors, said Friday that it and Microsoft have built a back-end platform that lets Web publishers syndicate online video to other sites across the Web. The upside: the video creator, Microsoft, AP, and the Web site publisher share in the revenue from video advertisements linked to the content.

The AP service, called the Online Video Network (OVN), lets members upload video to their site's player and then share it with anyone else on the network, which could include the U.S. Web sites of member newspapers, TV networks, or … Read more

Attention Flickr video haters: Try a free doughnut

First came Flickr video on Tuesday. Then came the anti-Flickr-video outcry on Wednesday. Now there's the anti-anti-Flickr-video outcry.

This last movement takes the highly facetious form of Flickr's new We Demand Donuts group. "If we get 20,000 people to join the group Flickr will be forced to give us free donuts!" the group's manifesto states. "Join the group and invite all your contacts. We will make this the biggest protest group on Flickr and force them to give us free donuts!"

There are some subtleties here, but given the timing, it's … Read more