Roundup: Yahoo’s Bartz slams Bing, solar brightens chip market and more
Here’s the latest action:
Intuit picks up PayCycle — The software company paid $170 million for the payroll services provider to strengthen that division of its business, reports Reuters.
Miles unveils electric Coda — Miles Electric Vehicles, known for its low-speed electric vehicles, has launched Coda Automotive, maker of a $45,000 electric sedan, as a new brand. Earth2Tech has more.
YouTube in your living room — YouTube has launched a new interface that makes it easy to watch shows via any… Continue Reading
Roundup: AOL spinoff, secret news meeting, and more
Here’s the latest action:
AOL spin-off approved by Time Warner — After AOL’s merger with the media conglomerate in 2000, it’s been, well, a long decade. AllThingsD has more.
Leading newspapers hold secret meeting to discuss charge for content — The Atlantic reports. No word on whether there was an entrance fee.
Social game-maker Playdom hire game veterans — Virtual Worlds News covers.
Hulu Desktop, kinda — “Hulu Desktop simply presents an alternate [user interface] for the site (now with sound effects!) that’s… Continue Reading
Dave Matthews Band to stream Hulu’s first live concert
Hulu is taking its first serious step toward expanding from video clips of already-aired TV shows to live webcasts of entertainment events.
Yesterday VentureBeat broke the story that iPhone app maker Tapulous was releasing a Dave Matthews Band version of its highly popular iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge. Today the band’s announcing that it will perform in free online video service Hulu’s first live entertainment feature since Hulu webcast the New Year’s Eve ball drop in… Continue Reading
Roundup: Has Della got its groove back? Hulu, Google, etc.
Here’s the latest action:
Dell revises “Della,” its netbook marketing web site targeting women, after allegations of sexism — As Jezebel covers.
The once and future Valleywag — Owen Thomas (pictured right) is leaving to become editorial director of NBC Bay Area later this month. Ryan Tate will be taking over. Here’s Thomas’ farewell post.
The New York Times will figure out how to charge for some content by the end of June — The New York Observer has learned.
“Does Hulu,… Continue Reading
Roundup: Hulu eyes world domination, Schmidt busts antitrust talk, Nokia plots app store and more
Hulu closer to going global — The online video site backed by NBC Universal and Fox has signed a bevy of content deals with overseas television producers with an eye toward British and Bollywood programming.
OpenTable sets terms for IPO — The restaurant reservation service plans to sell 3 million shares for somewhere between $12 and $14 each to raise $16.1 million net from an IPO underwritten by Merrill Lynch & Co.
iPhones to point North — The next model… Continue Reading
Does Hulu have a user attention problem?
Hulu has released yet another peek at its monthly performance from comScore’s Video Metrix report. Long story short, the premium video hub is still growing in terms of unique visitors, while the amount of time spent on the site seems to be dropping.
For March, Hulu claimed the number three spot in terms of popularity, beating out other online video contenders like Yahoo, Microsoft, and CBS. In terms of traffic, this came out to 41.6 million… Continue Reading
Moxi uses online video to sweeten its high-def DVR
Digeo, a manufacturer of cable ready set-top boxes, has announced a slew of updates for its flagship device, the Moxi HD DVR. The free software update bolsters the device’s core functionality with access to a number of top-tier online video hubs and Rhapsody’s streaming music service.
The Moxi HD DVR made its debut earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Positioning itself as a subscription-free alternative to devices like cable DVR units… Continue Reading
AMC goes niche with B-movie video site
Online video destinations like Hulu and YouTube are always scrambling for the newest premium content. But, cable network AMC is adopting an entirely different approach for its new online video mini-site — namely, old, schlocky, B-level movies.
BMC (or B-Movie Classics) is AMC’s attempt at expanding the video offerings on its core destination site. However, instead of featuring the network’s prime time or original content, BMC allows users to stream campy, niche films from the golden… Continue Reading
YouTube, Sony partnering for streaming films?
Short-form video site YouTube and Sony Pictures are rumored to be in negotiations for a new content deal. Sources close to the talks have told CNet the agreement could make full-length films like Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man” and the 1998 remake “Godzilla” available for free on YouTube.
Although YouTube has ruled the roost in short-form online video, the site has always been light on full-length content. After its 2006 purchase by Google, YouTube became the go-to destination… Continue Reading
Disney CEO: Pulling online video is anti-tech, anti-consumer
Let’s be honest — Disney took its sweet time in partnering with Hulu and YouTube. But, chief executive Robert Iger says upping Disney’s online video reach was always part of the plan. During Iger’s keynote at the Cable Show conference in D.C., the Disney executive argued that the industry’s survival hinges on embracing online video rather than yanking content.
To note, Disney already has a relatively solid track record in the online space. Disney-owned ABC eventually became… Continue Reading
Hulu encrypts its HTML to fend off Boxee . . . again
The parry and thrust routine between Hulu and Boxee is still on. Engadget is reporting that Hulu has started encrypting its HTML content to keep non-browser applications (like the ones through Boxee’s media streaming software) from accessing its video library. Meanwhile, Boxee has said that it’s already cooking up a workaround.
For the uninitiated, Hulu originally made waves by launching as a premium video site that let users embed full-length video content virtually anywhere on the web…. Continue Reading
Hulu to replace video ads with questions?
Would you rather answer a question instead of watching a commercial? Executives at the online video hub Hulu think so. Chief executive Jason Kilar told iMedia that the company is working with advertisers to incorporate question-based prompts in place of traditional video ads.
This isn’t an entirely new proposition for Hulu, but an intriguing one nevertheless. Currently, the site prompts users with largely static questions during its ads. Up until this point they’ve been generic queries like… Continue Reading
Confirmed: Major Veoh restructuring, layoffs
Online video service Veoh is said to be undergoing a major restructuring tomorrow, a source close to the company tells me, that could include large layoffs and a potential change to its product strategy. [Update: We've since confirmed the layoffs and restructuring, more at the bottom of the post.]
Back in October of last year, the company denied a report that it was laying off 40 percent of its workforce, and instead announced cuts of between… Continue Reading
Boxee adds Pandora and makes its browser more Firefox-like for Hulu
Boxee, the streaming content startup, continues to push updates out at a brisk pace. Tonight, at its meetup in New York City, it’s announcing a few new features, one of which should help bring back Hulu support.
The marquee name being added to Boxee is Pandora, the online music streaming and recommendation engine. Fans of Pandora will now be able to listen to their favorite stations and make new ones right from within the application. This… Continue Reading
Hulu’s new documentary hub wants indie revenue
While Hulu works on its hate/love relationship with the big studios, it’s attempting to generate revenue from indie circles as well. The online video portal has announced the launch of a dedicated documentary hub within the site, hoping to attract fans, content creators, and distributors.
On a basic level, the new section functions as sort of a corral. Hulu users in search of over 100 documentaries like “Super Size Me ” and “Confessions of a Super… Continue Reading
Hulu jumps on the social bandwagon with Hulu Friends
To celebrate its one-year anniversary, Hulu launched its brand new social networking feature Hulu Friends today, allowing users to connect the video site to their Facebook and MySpace profiles. The service will record users’ Hulu activities on their newsfeeds, allowing them to discover new videos watched, recommended and shared by their friends and other Hulu users. They can even tie in their Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo address books for broader reach across their entire social… Continue Reading
The empire strikes back: Hulu blocks RSS access for Boxee
Well, that didn’t last long. This morning, Boxee, a company that offers a way to bring online video to your TV, brought back Hulu content to its users.
It did so by way of a workaround, using public RSS feeds. Hulu has already struck back, blocking Boxee’s access to those feeds. Game on, says Boxee in a post on this latest move.
While it was pretty ridiculous before that the big media companies behind Hulu forced the… Continue Reading
Boxee and Hulu can’t reach an agreement, so Boxee creates a workaround (and launches an app store)
When Boxee was forced to pull Hulu support a few weeks ago, users were outraged. And rightfully so. It’s not like Boxee, a software media center startup, was blocking the advertisements Hulu was showing, it was really just another way to view the content, almost like another browser. But the powers that be behind Hulu — that is, the big media companies that product the content — forced Hulu to shutdown the pipeline of content… Continue Reading
Boxee fanatics, chill out. The service works with the Apple TV 2.3.1 update
Apple sent out an update to the Apple TV last night, updating the box’s software to 2.3.1. No one really seems to be clear about what this update actually did (a network test, better iPhone remote performance?), but everyone is freaking out because as usual, the new software axed Boxee support. But really, it didn’t.
Boxee sent out an email today notifying users that Boxee will work just fine with 2.3.1. You simply need to reinstall… Continue Reading
Hulu channels Michael Corleone, Boxee support also whacked
Hulu, it seems, is tying up some loose ends.
Earlier today, it was revealed that the online streaming service had pulled its content off of CBS-owned TV.com — but that’s not all. It has also requested its content be removed from the media center software startup Boxee, an email from the company says. There’s the big media we all love to hate.
Hulu, which is backed by both NBC and Fox, offers many of the hit shows… Continue Reading