Video

AOL rolls out 15 original Web series of its own

It seems like the new trend these days is to create an original Web series. We have Yahoo, Netflix, and Hulu doing it, and now AOL is also giving more of a push to its online programming with 15 new shows.

The company announced Tuesday that it has enlisted A-list celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jonathan Adler to either host or star in original Web series. AOL plans to debut all of the shows on its AOL On Network, which is the company's video platform, and across its 1,700 partner sites. The series themes range … Read more

YouTube goes to Washington

Google's popular video channel and its public policy group have teamed up to provide members of Congress with feature-enhanced video channels today.

Citing an increase in public interest in streaming video from their elected representatives, Google has offered to improve the YouTube channels of all 535 members of Congress for free. They will be able to share via YouTube, e-mail, and social media live-streamed and archived videos such as the first hour of the recent Rand Paul filibuster, embedded above.

Google's content partnerships head honcho Robert Kyncl and vice president of Public Policy and Government Relations Susan Molinari … Read more

Netflix said to eliminate hundreds of classic titles

It appears to be expiration time again for certain movies on Netflix streaming, according to Slate. This time around, hundreds of classic titles from Warner Bros., MGM, and Universal will allegedly disappear from Instant queues on May 1.

That means goodbye Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories," "10 to Midnight" starring Charles Bronson, the James Bond hits "Dr. No" and "Goldfinger," and many more.

While this news may disappoint some users, streaming titles on Netflix tend to come and go. The video service often licenses TV shows and movies on an exclusive basis … Read more

Vine adds front-facing camera functionality

Twitter said today that it has updated its stand-alone Vine mobile app to allow users to shoot video with both their front- and rear-facing cameras.

In a blog post, Twitter also said that Vine users now can tag someone in a post, meaning that people can, for example, shoot a video with a friend and add that person's name, or Twitter handle, in the post.

With the old version, users could only use the rear-facing cameras on their iPhones. Also, while it was possible to enter someone's name or Twitter ID in the associated text of a Vine … Read more

Yahoo's bid for Dailymotion reportedly axed by French pol

Yahoo's bid to take a controlling stake in French video-sharing site Dailymotion has reportedly been killed by the French government.

Dailymotion, which is owned by France-Telecom, was in talks to sell a 75 percent stake to Yahoo, according to a report last month by The Wall Street Journal. The deal was expected to give Yahoo a much-needed boost in the overseas video-sharing space, which is mainly dominated by services like Google's YouTube.

While Marissa Mayer purchased a recommendations startup late last year to fortify Yahoo's presence on mobile, Dailymotion would be her first big acquisition since she … Read more

MLB brings live game streaming to YouTube, but not in U.S.

Major League Baseball is about to begin live streaming America's pastime to fans on YouTube for free, but there is a catch: The arrangement will pass over fans in the U.S. and a handful of other countries where the sport is already dug in.

YouTube announced on Monday that fans in countries other than the U.S., Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan will be able to view two live games per day during the regular season on the video-sharing site. Fans in all countries will be able to view game highlights "about a day or two&… Read more

Amazon to release set-top box for Internet video, report says

Amazon plans to release a set-top box this fall that streams Internet-based video into consumers' homes, Bloomberg reported, making the e-commerce giant the latest company to target the TV market.

The device will plug into TVs and will give users access to Amazon's video catalog, including its Video on Demand store and Instant Video service, Bloomberg said, citing sources. Amazon's Lab126 division, based in Cupertino, Calif., is developing the product, the news service said, with Malachy Moynihan running the project. Moynihan is a former vice president of emerging products at Cisco as well as a former Apple employee. … Read more

Always On: Season 3 Bloopers

Whether our bountiful screw-ups come by way of gibberish, bubble baths, or fart jokes (yes, we're very mature), they seem to snowball as the months of filming pile up. While these moments of humiliation have collected dust as the season flew by, we're shamefully happy to dedicate a full episode to our blooper-ridden endeavors. Sure, we've done blooper segments in the past, but nothing quite like this.

We've got a plethora of outtakes to show you the true blood, sweat, and tears we put into the show each week. Sometimes, just putting your face in front … Read more

Psy's 'Gentleman' tops YouTube charts with 38M views in one day

With the same searing beat, ridiculous lyrics, and tongue-in-cheek antics, South Korea's Internet phenomenon Psy is breaking charts again with his new single "Gentleman."

YouTube announced Monday that "Gentleman" is giving "Gangnam Style" a run for its money by setting the record for getting the most views in one day ever. On April 14, "Gentleman" hit more than 38 million views. And, after only being up for about a week, the video has a total of nearly 204 million views.

"From a stats perspective, it's one of the biggest … Read more