VentureBeat

We first wrote about FriendFeed working a new Really Simple Syndication (RSS) supplement that it was calling Simple Update Protocol (SUP) earlier this year. The idea was to speed up the way new content is pulled into the social aggregator. Today, FriendFeed has announced several updates to its SUP support.

Services now using SUP on FriendFeed include Disqus, Brightkite, Identi.ca, BackType and 12seconds. “Whenever one of these feeds is updated, the new entry appears on FriendFeed within seconds,” FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit wrote today in a blog post. Normally, non-SUP updates can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, Buccheit explained.

I’ve definitely noticed speed increases when it comes to certain service imports over the past several weeks on FriendFeed — and yes, Brightkite and 12seconds were two of them. The speed at which I’ve seen them pulled in really is just about instantaneous.

Incidentally, I’ve also noticed that Twitter, the service that was previously the fastest to get imported thanks to its XMPP support (which also provides near-real-time updates), has slowed down substantially in recent weeks. You’ll note that Twitter is not among the services listed with SUP support, and it’s not clear if the so-called “firehose” of XMPP data has been turned off or is just wonky. I have an email in to FriendFeed asking about this.

Update: Buchheit tells me that Twitter should still be fast, but that they will look into any issues I see in the future on that end. Perhaps I’m just noticing it being slower when compared to the SUP results I’ve been seeing. He also notes that SUP support for Twitter would be nice, but XMPP generally works well enough — though SUP could also work on private feeds, which XMPP cannot.

FriendFeed has also launched some other resources to help users better understand and use SUP. There’s a FAQ, a SUP validator, an RSS/Atom feed tester and the public SUP feed. These tools will help more services implement SUP support on FriendFeed and in turn will make that service more useful as a hub of social web data and conversation.

Buchheit has also created a Twitter clone called frittr to showcase micro-messaging SUP support. Find the room it’s importing to in near real-time here.

Update 2: FriendFeed’s Benjamin Golub has made a video showing SUP’s speed. Find it below.

Find me on FriendFeed here, along with fellow VentureBeatniks Eric Eldon, Dean Takahashi, Anthony Ha, Chris Morrison and Dan Kaplan.

Up there on the list of complaints about the iPhone is that its camera doesn’t support video capture. Well, it can (more on that later), but Apple won’t turn it on or allow any applications in the App Store that use the camera for video. That’s a problem for a startup like 12seconds, an online video application. So it came up with a new way to post to 12seconds with its iPhone app.

The app, which is available now in the App Store for $0.99, asks users to select three still pictures — these can either be new ones taken with the iPhone’s camera or selected from your photo library. Once you’ve chosen the three pictures, you then record 12 seconds of audio to go alongside those images. The result is a three-image slideshow set to your voice-over, that runs for, yep, you guessed it, 12 seconds.

This slideshow is then made into a video complete with the audio you recorded and sent off to the 12seconds web site. Sure, it’s not actually video, but it’s a cute (and more importantly legal) workaround for the iPhone that allows 12seconds to get into the App Store while competitors like Qik and Seesmic cannot.

Speaking of Qik, it does have an iPhone app that works very well at yes, recording live video, but because of Apple’s App Store rules, it is not available in the App Store and there is no indication of when — if ever — it will be. I’ve used it quite a bit, and it’s a shame that Apple and/or AT&T won’t allow it (I suspect it will take up a lot of 3G bandwidth).

12seconds is smart to come up with this alternative app. It’ll help spread the company’s product even if it doesn’t technically record the signature 12-second-long video that gives the site its name.

12seconds, which first launched over the summer, has also now moved into public beta testing. You can sign up here.

3 bevs on 12seconds.tv

Here’s the latest action:

Cleantech has another record quarter — A total of $1.6 billion went into cleantech during the most recent quarter. However, much of the money came in a few massive later-stage rounds, so the sector shouldn’t breathe easy in the face of recession.

US economy contracts most in seven years — Analysts expect a massive 2.5 percent drop in GDP growth next year. More detail at Reuters.

MTV exec may head MySpace Music — MTV vice president Courtney Holt may be offered the vacant top position at the new MySpace Music, according to CNET.

Imeem adds global indie labels — Social music sharing site Imeem has agreed to join with Beggars Group and Matador Records to promote the label’s artist rosters on its site.

EMusic cutting 10 percent of staff — Meanwhile, music subscription service eMusic will slice 10 percent of its workforce, citing slowing growth.

Google not such an inspiring example after all — Downturn optimists like to point to Google as a company that started in the downturn and went on to stunning success. GigaOm shreds that “modern day fable”.

Sun dims — Server maker Sun Microsystems reported a huge $1.68 billion loss for its third quarter. Critics say the company must change its tactics.

Game companies accuse innocent of copyright infringement – Non-gamers have been caught in the crossfire of copyright protection efforts by game companies, reports the BBC.

Lithium-ion still tricky for electronics — Sony is embroiled in another battery recall after finding out that yet another batch of notebook batteries are a risk.

12seconds partners with BBC, Current TV — Video instant messaging service 12seconds, the “Twitter of video”, is joining with two major media outlets to do election coverage.

Social sharing is vital to video consumption — MySpace, YouTube and AOL executives on a panel all agreed that video has a vital social component. Watch the video, below.

In case you forgot, it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day today — a day when a lot of websites and online networks get into the pirate spirit (check out Google Pirate). Recently launched 12seconds, a video website that limits all video posts to 12 seconds, is taking the opportunity to bring some extra attention to its service, still in private alpha.

12seconds is granting everyone access to its services for just one day. Any visitors to the company’s home page will be able to record a pirate-themed message and will also receive an invite to join the 12seconds network.

While this promotion is somewhat reminiscent of retailers that have one-day sales for Presidents’ Day, 12seconds is actually using this opportunity to test out various aspects of its service–and gain some new alpha users as well. If you’re particularly convincing as a parrot-wearing ransacker, you’ll even win a 12seconds Buccaneer Award. Actually, even the mediocre pirates will receive this special Buccaneer Award. So in true un-pirate fashion, 12seconds is being gracious enough to give everyone the lot of the bootie. Now there’s a deal you just can’t beat.

12seconds recently launched its application programming interface (API) and partnered with some other services including the Adobe AIR-based messaging client TweetDeck and Phreadz, a threaded video conversation site. It is attempting to gain some traction against the likes of the longer-form video update service Seesmic. Because 12seconds videos are so short, it’s a bit more akin to a video version of the micro-messaging service Twitter.

Grand ol' Day! 12 challenge: talk like a pirate day! on 12seconds.tv

12seconds has a goal: It wants to be the go-to platform for video status updates. In order to make a good platform, you need a good application programming interface (API). Today, 12seconds is launching that API and announcing its first three partners.

TweetDeck, an Adobe Air client for services including Twitter, Blippr, a site that does short-form reviews, and Phreadz, a startup that does threaded video conversations, are the first three partners to use the 12seconds API. But the company is eager for more partners and is encouraging anyone to play around with the code.

I Hate Mom. on 12seconds.tv

Despite 12seconds’ lofty goals, it’s still easiest to describe it as a video version of the micro-messaging site Twitter. Many think of the video conversation site Seesmic as that, but on Seesmic videos can be fairly lengthy. On 12seconds, just as on Twitter, there are very short limits for how much you can say on video and in text respectively. In my opinion, this 12 second limit leads to some interesting, yet disposable videos.

12seconds has been having some fun with this limit as well. It recently launched the 12second challenge, where everyday a question or task is posed and users respond in a video. Today’s challenge, for example, asks users to sing their favorite songs when they were 13 years old. All of the response are then compiled on a single page.

It’s lightweight fun, but that’s what 12second is all about right now. Whether this API can transform it into a platform remains to be seen.

Find the API here.

Below: What 12seconds will look like integrated into TweetDeck.

This morning a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California near Los Angeles. Well before the information was anywhere on the major news outlets, tweets (Twitter messages) were flowing in at a rapid clip. I say again, events such as this showcase the power of the micro-messaging service Twitter.

When natural disasters strike, people want news ASAP. Twitter is simply very fast at disseminating information. We saw this when a large 7.8 earthquake struck China back in May and we’re seeing it again today. Today, it was especially true when used in conjunction with the social conversation and aggregation site FriendFeed. Minutes after the quake, I had various accounts of it and maps of its epicenter.

Twitter’s new search site (formerly Summize) is also an incredible tool for getting information. It used to take a little while for information on these events to trickle down depending on who you were following on Twitter. Now you can simply open Twitter Search and do a query for “earthquake” and get thousands of results. Within minutes of me opening the site up, I was alerted that there were already hundreds of updates on the earthquake — the information was coming in fast.

It takes reporters time to set up and get the story, but Twitter turns thousands of regular people into citizen journalists — all of whom are on the scene. Of course one has to worry about the spread of incorrect information, especially in the time of a disaster, but the sheer volume of tweets allows for the truth to come up.

Many people only like to talk about Twitter’s monetization strategy or when it will hit “mainstream” usage. Throughout all of this the most important fact remains that Twitter is useful. As long as it stays that way and can maintain (or achieve depending on the week) reliability, the rest of that will come.

You can find me on Twitter here along with fellow VentureBeat writers Eric Eldon, Dean Takahashi, Anthony Ha, Chris Morrison and Dan Kaplan. Oh, and we have a VentureBeat account (for our posts) as well.

Update: The so-called “video Twitter” site that I’ve written up a couple of times, 12seconds, also has a user, PodGen, with supposed (see the comments) video footage of the quake from the 36th floor of an L.A. building.

Update 2: The 12seconds vid was fake, posted after the fact, a co-founder of 12seconds confirmed.

Update 3: Twitter itself is now weighing in on the earthquake and Twitter’s role in spreading the news. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone notes that the AP pushed out its first wire item on the news 9 minutes after people were already tweeting about it on Twitter. The first tweet about it came mere seconds after the earthquake started.

He also says:

Whether it’s updates from best friends, internet pals, companies, brands, or breaking world events, the real-time aspect of sending and receiving Twitter updates continues to motivate our work.

Check out the chart below.

A month ago we wrote about 12seconds, a company that truly aims to be the “Twitter of video.” That is, it wants to be the goto site for video status updates. Now you can actually try it.

The service is entering its public alpha testing phase today. It’s still invitation-only for the time being, but now anyone can request an invite. (See the bottom of the post for a special offer for VentureBeat readers.) With the move to alpha, the site also offers new features, including friend search, video search and contact invites.

While most people associate the video messaging site Seesmic with being the video equivalent of Twitter, it isn’t really. One of Twitter’s defining characteristics is its 140 character limit. This requires that you keep your communications short, whereas Seesmic videos can be several minutes long. 12seconds’ videos, as you might imagine, can only be 12 seconds long.

In fact, not only can the videos only be 12 seconds long, they can’t be any shorter than 12 seconds either. This restriction will no doubt make for some interesting impromptu moments.

The site lets you share the video clips shot with either a webcam or a mobile phone. To share from your phone, you simply send clips to a personalized address via email or MMS.

Watch the site’s two founders, David Beach and Sol Lipman, describe the site in 12 second intervals at an amusement park of some sort.

If you’d like access to the sites’ application programming interface (API), 12seconds requests that you email them.

As a special offer, 12seconds is offering the first 500 VentureBeat readers who fill out a simple 1-question survey, accounts with the service.

When online video messaging service Seesmic first emerged last year it was dubbed by many (including us) as the “Twitter of video.” It’s an easy comparison to make, both are micro-messaging services of sorts. However it’s obvious that Seesmic is much more time-consuming than Twitter. Seesmic videos can be several minutes long. That’s an eternity in a Twitter world limited to 140 characters or less. A new video messaging service called 12seconds aims to fix that “problem.”

As you might imagine, videos posted to 12seconds are limited to 12 seconds in length. Why 12 seconds? “Because anything longer is boring,” reads the service’s about page.

It goes on:

The scientists here at the 12seconds dodecaplex have conducted countless hours of research to determine the precise amount of time it takes for boredom or apathy to set in during typical Internet video viewing. Our patent pending Electro-Tear-Duct Prongers have determined that exactly 12 seconds of video is the ideal amount of time to keep anything interesting.

The site is a side project by Yahoo employee David Beach, according to NewTeeVee, which stumbled upon the site earlier today.

If you hate Twitter — and I know there are quite a few of you out there — then you’re really going to hate 12seconds. I cannot wait for people to start using it just to watch them get abruptly cut off when they don’t realize just how short 12 seconds actually is.

The site has a clean, easy-to-read UI as compared to Seesmic which is rather cluttered. It’s also almost entirely white compared to Seesmic, which is almost entirely black. I smell a rivalry a-brewin’.

The Santa Cruz, Calif.-based 12seconds is currently in private Alpha testing mode.

Here’s someone showing off their $700 shoes. In 12 seconds!

Mobile/E-Mail Video on 12seconds.tv

update: Fellow writer Dean Takahashi saw this product’s 12 second limitation and immediately thought it was simply to save on high costs of serving video over the Internet. An interesting take, I think.