Five O’Clock Roundup: Stockbroker sentenced, Google Voice investigated, Moon hit by NASA
Accomplice of criminal VC William “Boots” Del Biaggio gets five years in prison for $100 million fraud — Boots had backed ShopNow.com and VerticalNet before co-founding San Jose’s Heritage Bank. He invested in the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators hockey teams. But he also… Continue Reading
YouTube now serves more than 1 billion money-losing views per day
Fifteen million viewers watched CSI on Thursday night, making it the most-popular show on television. On that same day, YouTube served over a billion video clips — 66 times the number of views CSI got.
Yet YouTube owner Google is currently losing an estimated $1.5 million… Continue Reading
Google buys videotech firm On2, but YouTube costs aren’t as high as rumored
Google’s YouTube division is a victim of its own success. A source inside the company told TechCrunch that YouTube streams close to 1.5 billion video clips every day. That makes sense, if you think of it as everyone on the Internet watching one clip daily.
Google… Continue Reading
Dear YouTube: When do Jill and Kevin get paid?
If you haven’t seen the viral video that sent Chris Brown’s year-old track “Forever” to the top of Amazon and iTunes sales charts, here’s your chance to catch up with the rest of the Internet. A gushing blog post on the Official Google Blog yesterday… Continue Reading
Roundup: Pogue’s voicemail rage, YouTube monetization, more Techmeme bragging
New York Times gadget guru incites backlash against mobile carriers’ costly voicemail instructions — David Pogue is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. Not that you could tell, given Pogue’s perennial good cheer and unfailing politeness. But he went on a… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple tablet haters, do NOT text while driving, Verizon cutting another 8,000 jobs
Why the rumored Apple tablet could be a flop — Apple products get more than their share of pre-release hype from … well, from just about everyone but Bill Gates. PC World writer Michael Scalisi explains why he thinks the rumored device, best described as… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
‘Separating the men from the boys’ in Government 2.0
Updated
Everyone knows the internet is critical to getting elected nowadays, especially after it played a crucial role in President Obama’s success. But you need to do more than just throw up a Facebook page and a Twitter account, said Obama campaign advisor/Twitter investor Chris Sacca… Continue Reading
Popular video site Dailymotion gets new CEO, looks for cash
French video-sharing site Dailymotion, which has long fancied itself as a leading competitor to YouTube outside of the U.S. market, is reportedly seeking more cash even after raising $34 million two years ago. It is still losing money, according to PaidContent and the Stratégies newsletter.
It… Continue Reading
Roundup: Ashton vs. CNN, the NY Times vs. Sarah Lacy, Dell vs. HP and more
Here’s the latest action:
Expectations run high for Apple earnings — Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey estimates the iPhone maker’s take at $8 billion for the second quarter, up 6 percent from last year.
Twitter topped 9 million visitors in March — The micro-blogging site saw a 131 percent… Continue Reading
Universal deal with YouTube frees up music videos (just as newspapers threaten to charge for articles)
The Associated Press and a range of newspaper leaders trashed online news aggregators large and small earlier this week, calling them parasites and other foul terms and demanding that everyone start paying for doing things like republishing excerpts of news articles (or even paying for… 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… 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… 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… Continue Reading
Roundup: Spam bounces back, angel investors balk, Entellium bigwigs go to jail and more
Bebo caught in Irish conflict — The video sharing site has become an unexpected platform for both Irish Catholics and Protestants to hurl insults and violent threats at each other. The BBC has the story.
Downturn puts drag on angels — The Center for Venture Research reports that… Continue Reading
Disney on Hulu would leave CBS as the odd network out
The premium video streaming site Hulu works first and foremost because it has great content. And it looks to be on the verge of getting even better.
A deal to bring Disney’s content to Hulu is “basically done,” a source familiar with the negotiations tells Silicon… Continue Reading
Roundup: Hammerhead’s tale, web ad stats and more
The tale of Hammerhead Systems — A Cisco competitor, it got as far as inking deals with major telecommunications companies during its seven-year run, but now it’s closing up shop. It had received more than $110 million in funding and promised superior routing technology. The San… Continue Reading
YouTube, Universal Music teaming for Vevo, a.k.a. MTV 2.0?
Universal Music Group and Google-owned video supersite YouTube are close to striking a deal to create a standalone site for music videos, according to anonymous sources cited by CNET News.com and the Wall Street Journal. The site would be called Vevo (uh, what?), it would… Continue Reading
Roundup: The White House and YouTube test an open relationship, the Dow plunges below 7,000, an iPod and iPhone-less Gates household and more
Here’s the latest action:
The White House and YouTube need to video message one another — A report this morning by CNET claimed the White House was ditching YouTube as a platform for President Obama’s weekly addresses and going with a different Flash-based solution from Akamai. The… Continue Reading
Flickr opens video for all, and HD video for Pro users
Flickr, while known as one of the main picture hubs on the web, is also a pretty nice place to share videos. Until now, though, that option has only been available to users with “Pro” paid accounts. Today, that changes as the service opens up… Continue Reading