5 years later, Viacom still suing YouTube out of “principle”

A five year-old legal battle between Viacom and Google-owned YouTube over copyrighted content continues to clog up the U.S. court system because Viacom, parent company of Paramount Pictures and MTV, believes there’s an important principle at stake, president and CEO Philippe Dauman said Tuesday.

Dauman, in an interview at the D: Dive Into Media event, defended his company’s ongoing litigation against YouTube, the purveyor of user-generated content, despite a 2010 federal ruling establishing that the … Continue Reading

Google responds to privacy policy criticisms

Google is defending its new privacy policy, stressing that the company isn’t collecting more data, just collecting it in a new way.

“We’re making things simpler and we’re trying to be upfront about it. Period,” said Google’s policy manager Betsy Masiello in a blog post Thursday evening.

The company recently announced big changes to its privacy policy, posting notifications throughout its products that read, “We’re changing our privacy policy and terms. Not the usual yada … Continue Reading

YouTube makes more changes to support content creators

Like it or not, more change is afoot at Google’s widely successful video site.

YouTube is following its controversial redesign of the home page with another channel-focused update, several video editing goodies, and some small concessions to member indignation Thursday.

In furtherance of its new-found channel-centric vision, YouTube has refreshed its video “browse” page with a new look and design. Should you dive into the categories from the left-hand menu, you’ll now find channels that … Continue Reading

Google+ Hangout with Obama planned for Jan. 30

In what might be the biggest promotion yet for the Google+ social network, President Obama will be participating in a Google+ Hangout and answering questions submitted via YouTube on Jan. 30.

While there’s been some controversy over forced registrations for Google’s social network and misleading statistics from Google, there’s no doubt that a chance to “hangout” with the President will get Google+ some more traction and more followers. Google claims Google+ has 90 million registered … Continue Reading

YouTube videos get a snowflake button for the holidays

Overall, the majority of the country has experienced a pretty mild winter this holiday season, which means there isn’t much fluffy, white snow falling. The same cannot be said for YouTube videos.

The Google-owned video sharing community site has added a temporary snowflake button that allows you to control the level of frosty precipitation within your video player. The feature is available on most videos, but some still don’t have the ability to manipulate the … Continue Reading

YouTube now available on the Xbox 360

Now, you can surf for cute cat videos from the comfort of your couch. Microsoft has added a YouTube app to its Xbox 360 console.

By linking your Xbox gamertag with a YouTube account, you can access your Watch Later, Playlists, Favorites, Subscriptions, and more. However, not all of the content on the video sharing site is available, including some trademarked and licensed content from official partners.

The YouTube app has been optimized for the … Continue Reading

YouTube makes its site safe for the classroom

Let’s play a quick game of word association. I say, “YouTube,” you say the first thing that pops in your head. Did the phrase “educational resource” come to mind? I didn’t think so, and therein lies a perception problem that often gets the video streaming site banned from schools.

To tackle this setback, the Google-owned property has created a safe-for-classroom network setting called YouTube Schools that restricts student access to just the content available on … Continue Reading

YouTube’s updated analytics tool could be a game-changer

YouTube has launched a new analytics tool that lets users see a variety of information about the videos uploaded to the service, the company announced today.

The new tool, which replaces YouTube’s Insight page, will provide video viewing data that’s more user friendly for the average person. (See a screenshot of the new YouTube Analytics dashboard embedded below). The new YouTube Analytics tool is also intended to help people grow their channel subscriptions and see … Continue Reading

YouTube testing a new design with Google+ in mind

Google is testing a new design for its streaming video-sharing site YouTube, which highlights elements of the company’s Google+ social network, reports TheNextWeb.

Despite being the most popular online video service in the world, YouTube’s current website design is not very appealing compared to other streaming video sites. So any change to its current design is something to talk about.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the new design is heavily influenced by … Continue Reading

Google+ gets YouTube and Chrome integrations, deeper ties with Google itself

Google+ is getting Googled-out with new support for YouTube as well as integration into the company’s Chrome browser, according to an official blog post.

Undoubtedly, Google has a lot of great products to offer outside of Google+. Larry Page realized this and explained in a post after Google’s third quarter earnings call that the team feels like it’s delivered the “+,” and now it’s time to deliver the Google. Page explained Google has grand visions … Continue Reading

How one YouTube channel is changing the future of education (video)

Have you ever considered how a simple, free technology such as YouTube videos could drastically improve a global problem such as education?

Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, is something of an expert on the topic. In this video, he talks about the future of higher education in the U.S. and how to increase access to and quality of education. The remarks were made to education influencers from around the world, including university heads, … Continue Reading

YouTube’s gorgeous, Hulu-like redesign makes videos pop

YouTube is testing a gorgeous new redesign of its website called Cosmic Panda, which features an overhauled user interface, less white space and additional customization of YouTube channels.

Despite being the most popular online video service in the world, YouTube’s current website design is not very appealing compared to other streaming video sites. The current site is cluttered with hyperlinks and video thumbnails. The white background is the brightest portion of the page, which distracts … Continue Reading

YouTube adds crazy loading bar to Nyan cat viral video

YouTube has added a special rainbow progress/loading bar to the original Nyan cat video — the three and half-minute clip of an 8-bit Poptart-bodied cat flying in the air on a rainbow that’s been making the rounds over the last few months.

The company hasn’t made an official announcement regarding the customization of progress bars, and as far as I know this is the only instance where a video has displayed something other than the … Continue Reading

Do people realize they can skip YouTube’s TrueView Ads?

Only 30 percent of people skip YouTube’s new TrueView ads, which play as a pre- or mid-roll against short or long form video content, according to YouTube Sales Director Bruce Daisley.

While Daisley says users that choose to watch TrueView ads on YouTube are 75 percent more engaged on average than users who are subjected to standard ads, it begs the question of whether those same users know they can skip the ads in the … Continue Reading

VentureBeat’s photo gallery captures the noise of E3 2011 (part 1)

The only thing bad about an E3 photo gallery is that you can’t hear the sounds. E3, the video game industry’s trade show, is an extremely loud trade show, with game exhibitors blasting sounds as much as they can to draw attention to their games. The convention drew an estimated 45,000 people to Los Angeles this week. We were there from the first parties to the last. We saw many of the 35,000 screens showing … Continue Reading

Nvidia lets users share 3D videos and photos on YouTube

Nvidia, the biggest maker of stand-alone graphics chips, is giving YouTube fans the ability to view thousands of 3D videos in rich, stereoscopic 3D using PCs and laptops equipped with Nvidia 3D Vision glasses technology.

When using the latest version of the Mozilla Firefox web browser, users with Nvidia’s 3D glasses can view videos and photos in the 3D section of Google’s YouTube service, which allows users to upload their own 3D content.

YouTube is … Continue Reading

YouTube launches movie rental service

YouTube will soon begin offering its users major Hollywood movie titles as an on-demand service, according to TheWrap. The service is a direct competitor to Apple’s iTunes.

The official announcement is expected soon, and the service may launch as early as this week. Pricing details and titles are not yet available. Neither are the details about video quality, but high-definition options wouldn’t be a big surprise. The movies will be available from at least three … Continue Reading

YouTube Live officially launches, backed by popular Revision3 shows

After a rocky start, YouTube today officially launched its live streaming service, along with the support of popular shows from the web video network Revision3, including The Totally Rad Show, Dan 3.0, and Destructoid.

The move towards live streaming is a big step for YouTube and will put it in competition with more established streaming services like Ustream and Justin.tv. It also gels well with the news that YouTube is planning to offer dedicated channels … Continue Reading

Larry Page reorgs Google, ties bonuses to social success

New Google CEO Larry Page, who took up the position on Monday, isn’t wasting any time. He completed a major management reorganization yesterday that put select executives in charge of their business divisions, reports the LA Times. He has also tied 25 percent of employee bonuses to the success of Google’s new social strategy, according to Business Insider.

Both moves have similar goals: Page wants Google to be innovative and hungry again. The management changes … Continue Reading