video

YouCams: Video chat + social networking

We saw a lot of work and business tools for conferencing and collaboration come out of Under the Radar last week, but what about when you want to have fun? YouCams is a slick little embeddable video, voice, and text-chatting tool that's a mix of fun and business. The entire app runs in Flash, and users can jump in and join a discussion without the need for registration. The tool is aimed at social network users (mainly the MySpace crowd) as a way to communicate and interact with one another. Something that will likely get them blocked from the service, like what happened to competitor Stickam.

If you've used Stickam before, the Webcam functionality is a little similar. And by a little I'm being generous, because YouCams is much more full featured. There are two tiers of service, both free and paid. Basic registration is fairly generous, giving you voice, text, and video broadcasting privileges. Upgrading to the premium level turns YouCams into a full-on conferencing tool, allowing you to video chat with three other users at the same time, and own a personalized URL with the option to host your own conferencing room.

An interesting addition to YouCams is integration with YouTube, and a large variety of widgets. These float around on the interface, and require no extra installation. It feels a little bit like YourMinis. The Space Invaders widget in particular nearly kept me from finishing this post. Likewise the YouTube integration is well done. Video links pop up in a conversation bubble, and won't start until you click on them. Like the widgets, they float around and can be resized on an ad-hoc basis.

There's also a social networking component integrated in the service. Users trade 'stars,' which act as credits to buy into various features. It's an interesting take on user involvement, although I'm not sure it'll catch on until users have a real reason to get involved. Maybe giving them access to premium content like music or movie downloads would be a good hook. In the meantime, casual chatters will likely get a kick out of YouCams for its slick interface and ease of use.

I've embedded a YouCams module after the jump. It might not run if you're using Firefox. We've been in contact with the YouCams team about this, and they're on it.… Read more

Spring video game fling

The spring thaw has begun, and with that, video game publishers make their annual pilgrimages out to the East Coast to show off the latest builds of upcoming games. We got a chance to get hands-on with several high-profile titles (and some fairly obscure ones) that are sure to eat up many hours of your leisure time later this year.

John Woo's Stranglehold, from Midway, is a buzz-heavy game, bringing together the talents of not just the famed Hong Kong director, but also his action star muse Chow Yun-Fat. It's full of HK-style slow-motion gunfights and is reminiscent, … Read more

Microsoft temporarily closes video site

Microsoft is closing its video-sharing site, Soapbox, to new users for up to two months so it can create better safeguards against pirated content.

The software giant, which agreed earlier Thursday to distribute movies and TV shows for big media companies, has seen Soapbox fill up with unauthorized clips since a test version of the site launched last month.

No new subscribers will be accepted, but anyone who has already signed up for Soapbox can continue to access the site, said Adam Sohn, a director in Microsoft's online-services group.

Microsoft stood to be embarrassed by the existence of pirated work on Soapbox. There was a real possibility that the company could have found itself distributing video from News Corp. and NBC Universal, at the same time another one of its units was hosting material stolen from those same companies.

Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo have agreed to be part of a new online joint venture of media conglomerates that also includes NBC Universal and News Corp. The new video network, scheduled to debut this summer, will feature full-length programming, movies, and clips from at least a dozen television networks and two major film studios. … Read more

Joost scores a dance partner

Sure, the Internet is abuzz with news about the "YouTube killer" that several major media companies just announced yesterday, but let's not forget that other supposed YouTube killer, Joost. The broadband video start-up from the founders of Skype and Kazaa, which announced a major content partnership with Viacom last month, has a new deal that's sure to excite the party animal and nightclubbing crowd.

Joost, which is still in private beta, announced Friday that it's partnering with dance music hub Ministry of Sound's broadband video division, Ministry of Sound TV (MoSTV). When Joost launches … Read more

YouTube Awards 2006: better late than never

YouTube has launched the first ever YouTube Awards with 70 videos in seven categories. This week viewers can vote to pick their favorites of 2006. It's kind of like the Oscars, but for user-generated video clips such as Lonelygirl15 and Ask a Ninja. As of right now, there's nothing on the awards page but a bunch of comments from confused users who have made their way to the site to find nothing to vote on. Digging deeper, clicking on playlist shows a full listing of clips. We're assuming there will be a voting system similar to the … Read more

Justin.tv goes live

Justin.tv-- the live helmet-video blogging site we wrote about last month--went live this morning. The site combines a live video feed, public chat room, and head blogger Justin Kan's daily schedule--which loosely resembles a content programming guide. Entertaining bits of content are archived for later viewing, complete with a blog post with context for what's going on. The entire production is run through Kan's backpack, which holds a laptop hooked up to an EV-DO card.

Chatters can discuss what's happening on the show with other viewers (using Lingr, the live updating chat service … Read more

Security cams for the paranoid on a budget

We're not so paranoid that we need technologies that can tell who's spying on us, honest. All we want to do is conduct constant surveillance around our perimeter at all times, so we can dispatch the guard dogs as necessary. (Until we finish filling the moat, anyway.)

The problem, however, is that we're cheap--and surveillance equipment often isn't. But something like the "Mini-Air Watch4" system might just work. For a relatively reasonable $275, Gadgetizer says the system comes with four wireless color security cameras and a video receiver that can work from 100 to … Read more

'Bling Player' tries to live up to name

It seems strangely appropriate that an item named the "Bling Player" would be found on a site called Shiny Shiny. Or maybe it's just redundant. Either way, we're suckers for all that glitters so here it is.

The self-proclaimed "iced-out" player from MediaReady tries to live up to its moniker with a skull-and-crossbones design encrusted with crystals (how original). But like the Average Joe who tries to compensate for his shortcomings with expensive clothes, the $200 Bling is rather ordinary inside with 2GB of memory, an FM tuner and voice recorder to go along … Read more

Fit 'The Office' in your pocket

You can soon view Pam and Jim's "will they, won't they" dance on your cell phone as NBC announced Wednesday it will offer full-length mobile versions of its prime-time TV shows on demand. Shows like The Office and Heroes will be streamed to your phone by MobiTV. Prices start at $1.99 each for a 24-hour viewing period.

You won't be able to store the shows on your phone, which is disappointing. Even worse, it's unclear what types of phones can pause shows and resume watching later. I'm guessing you'll need a … Read more

Vlip launches

Vlogging social network Vlip launched this morning, providing users with a way to record and share video messages with others using their Webcams. Vlip has incorporated a system similar to YouTube's, allowing Vlip users to post a video response to another user's video. Both the video and its responses can be viewed from embedded Vlip clips on social networking profiles, blogs, and Web sites (similar to the dynamically updating embeds on SplashCast and Searchles.) Posting and browsing the site requires no registration.

What's also neat is the ability to add a response from any embed on other … Read more