video

One million beta testers for Joost, but have they stuck around?

The founders of online television start-up Joost, who also count Skype and Kazaa as bullet points on their resumes, have announced that the service now has one million users. Still in beta and technically invite-only (though invitations are now easy to find), Joost was one of the most-talked-about tech products of last year. Originally known by the Bond-worthy codename "The Venice Project," Joost was widely touted as a "YouTube killer" before people really knew what it was--in truth, the service is a slick interface for free, ad-supported video content on-demand. No cat videos there.

Joost co-founder … Read more

Convert movies for your iPhone (or iPod)

I'm not sure how you people can watch movies and TV shows on those little screens, but you sure are doing it! Every time I turn around on the bus or in the airport, somebody is watching video on her iPod. (If she's supercool, she's watching it on her new iPhone.)

It's easy to buy videos designed to view on those little screens, of course, but if you want to get your own DVDs and Web movies onto your iPod or iPhone, you'll have to dive into the wide world of video converters.… Read more

AT&T Video Share now available in 160 cities

After months of waiting, AT&T has finally made its Video Share service available nationwide. It launched the service in three cities back in June--San Antonio, Atlanta, and Dallas--but it is now available in 160 cities across the country. The video-calling service is pretty limited for now--it only supports one-way video streaming--but it's still a first in the country. The service is supported on only a few handsets: the LG CU500V, the Samsung Sync, the Samsung A717, and the Samsung A727. Also note that both the sender and the recipient will have to have 3G phones on a … Read more

AT&T video sharing service hits 160 markets

AT&T's Video Share service has gone nationwide.

The service, which the company launched last month, lets cell phone users send one-way video clips during a conversation. The service costs $4.99 a month for 25 minutes of video sharing usage or $9.99 for 60 minutes of sharing. The company also offers a pay as you go plan for 35 cents per minute.

Starting Monday the service is now available in 160 markets around the country. And eventually, AT&T says it will be integrated with AT&T's TV service called U-Verse.

Video Share … Read more

Minisodes: For those who find 30-minute sitcoms too deep and drawn out

The average half hour sitcom runs about 22 minutes, but for some people that's simply too long. Most successful web videos average between 2 and 5 minutes, and the folks at Sony Pictures Television have found a new way to deliver classic television to this shortened-attention-span set. As highlighted in a recent story by CNN, The The Minisode Network is presented on Myspace and offers a swath of retro television episodes that have been carefully edited down to five minutes in an effort to update the old shows for the post millennium web format.

The network offers a variety of programming from Dilbert to Diff'rent Strokes, but is something lost in translation as the video editors slice and dice everything from the original that is considered not essential? Are these mostly ancient sitcoms even worth watching today in either form? While I can't be certain whether it's a result of the hack jobs or the dated material, most of the mini-episodes I watched felt incomplete and not really worth watching. The editing was clean and seamless, but the stories lacked any real development (something that's already a problem with the sitcom genre). The jokes were still there and the punchlines were also kept intact, but the timing was wrong and the humor was all but lost on me.

YouTube users take on the Democratic presidential candidates

The questions in presidential debates have traditionally been determined by whatever media outlet happened to be running the show. CNN and YouTube are looking to change that tonight. As you may know, YouTube is working with CNN to hold a presidential debate where all of the questions will asked through YouTube videos that have been submitted since early June.

Even though users can submit their own questions, CNN is ultimately in charge of picking the questions that are going to be asked. Still, this is a promising development. According to an article on CNN.com, there is a small committee … Read more

Colbert swaps imaginary iPhone for real one

He whined, he groused, and finally he flat-out begged, but at last Stephen Colbert is an iPhone owner.

"Guess what folks," Colbert told the audience this week during the The Colbert Report. "I gots me one!"

"I've been using this nonstop," continued Colbert. "I've been making calls. I've been petting it. All the things you dream of doing with a phone."

In June, Colbert was steamed at Apple and CEO Steve Jobs. He noted that the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USAToday had reviewed the handset. … Read more

Photos: RCA Opal

We've had an influx of inexpensive RCA MP3 players lately. Jasmine posted her reviews of the RCA Jet and the RCA Pearl last week. Now we've got the RCA Opal, which is probably the most unique player RCA has released. It has a great list of features, including support for DRM WMA and Audible formats. I thought the user interface was a little confusing--not helped by the fact that the control pad is a little slanted.

The claim to fame here is that the Opal supports photo and video playback for under $70. If you're interested, click … Read more

MySpace in potential deal with 'Blood Diamond' creators

Yahoo, take notes.

MySpace has quietly licensed a new series of original programming called QuarterLife from Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, the Hollywood duo behind such films as "Blood Diamond," according to a source familiar with the deal. The social network, which recently launched MySpace TV for original Web video from The New York Times and others, is expected to broadcast the series online by early next year, according to the source who asked to remain anonymous.

The deal could still fall through and has yet to be confirmed by either party. But if it happens, it would … Read more

A video player as jewelry, sort of

It's a funny thing: Jewelry that pays homage to technology can work just fine, but it seems to make less sense when it actually functions. Why, for example, would one need to carry a computer peripheral around one's neck?

Case in point: The oval-shaped video MP3 player from X-Micro, which is designed to be worn as a pendant. As Chip Chick rightly points out, watching videos chained to the neck doesn't seem like an optimum viewing experience, especially on a screen that's so small. Nor does it look quite like anything under glass at Tiffany's.… Read more