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Multimedia content

Gawker shakes up blog format, sales department

Web publisher Gawker Media plans to drastically change the way users interact with its network of sites with a redesign launching next year that lets users jump through stories and interactive advertising akin to using an RSS reader.

The new design was unveiled earlier today by Gawker founder Nick Denton as being the "most significant change in the Gawker model since the launch of Gizmodo and Gawker in 2002," and something that "represents some convergence of blog, magazine and television."

What that means to end users is that they'll be able to cycle through news … Read more

HBO not streaming on Netflix anytime soon

If you were hoping to see HBO's content show up on Netflix's streaming service, things aren't looking too good for you.

In an interview with Bloomberg, HBO Co-President Eric Kessler went on the record as saying "there is a value in exclusivity," and that people would "pay a premium" for it.

That exclusivity comes in the form of HBO's own online streaming service called HBO Go, which the company launched in February.

Unlike Netflix and competitor Redbox, which are having to wait nearly a month to release some new films via their … Read more

Vimeo gets Flash-HTML5 hybrid player

Video host Vimeo put out a new version of its player on Tuesday that can detect the hardware of the end user and spit out either an Adobe Flash or HTML5 video player, as well as a proper video stream based on connection.

The feature was designed for compatibility on mobile devices--something Vimeo began working on late last year, though mainly for its paying pro members and for a handful of its featured content channels.

The new player works just the same as the old one, and the embed code itself is the same for both player technologies. The change … Read more

ABC taps YouTube Direct for local video curation

As rumored last month, YouTube this week unveiled its latest partnership: a collaboration with ABC's local Bay Area news station that makes it easier for users to upload relevant local content they've snapped on their cell phone or other mobile video device.

On YouTube's blog, YouTube's news manager Olivia Ma says that ABC will then choose uploaded videos to run as part of local TV news coverage as well as on ABC7's Web site.

Alongside video content it's already received, or curated from known local YouTube users, ABC is encouraging users to go out … Read more

Scenios puts video collaboration in the cloud

Scenios is a new video host launching Monday that hopes to find the sweet spot between traditional storage services and high-end digital asset management software. In many ways it's not so different from the former, except that it's entirely dedicated to video files and the collaborative video-creation process.

To get files onto the service, users need to upload from their browser. There is no desktop or mobile component yet, though Scenios CEO Mark Davis, whom CNET chatted with last week, says a piece of desktop software is on the way. It will sync up local files with their … Read more

Hulu improves its player, commits to Flash

If you've been holding your breath for Hulu to offer an HTML5 video player, your skin's about to get purpler.

Eugene Wei, Hulu's VP of product, posted a missive on the popular video site's company blog that goes over various improvements while adding a decisive note about sticking with Adobe's Flash technology over using an HTML5 video player. At least for the time being.

"We continue to monitor developments on HTML5, but as of now it doesn't yet meet all of our customers' needs," Wei said. "Our player doesn't just … Read more

YouTube gets useful 'unlisted' video option

YouTube is now offering a third level of privacy for users to implement on their videos, one that makes it easier to share clips privately without actually having to set the video to private.

The new "unlisted" option lets anyone with a link to the video watch it, however it won't show up in YouTube's search results, channels pages, or on user profiles. And unlike YouTube's current private video option, the user who created unlisted video doesn't need to set up permissions for who can watch his or her video, just like the watcher … Read more

Broadcasts Monitor puts 25 video streams in a tab

In my never-ending search for frivolous Firefox add-ons, I've discovered Broadcasts Monitor, a unique twist on the idea of watching live video streams. Hang on to your hat here, because this add-on lets you slap up to 25 live video streams onto a single browser tab.

Why you'd ever want to go all the way to 25 is beyond me, but sticking with the default of four proved to be quite useful in my go with it. It supports a handful of services like Justin.tv, Ustream, Livestream, and BlogTV. Advanced users can also plug in motion JPEG … Read more

Weekend Webware: Dailymotion video slideshows

Video host Dailymotion has quietly added a new feature for users who want to blend their digital photographs into slick-looking video slideshows.

The company has partnered with Stupeflix, a standalone media mash-up tool, to let users upload up to 30 photos, as well as an audio track that is turned into a video. This is distinctly different from companies like Animoto, that curate and maintain a collection of ready-to-go music tracks that can be used as the background music.

As for creating these slideshows, there's very little control over order and duration of the slides. Some might find this … Read more

YouTube brings auto-captioning to everyone

On Thursday Google announced that YouTube is turning on its auto-captioning technology to all users--a move it hopes will make videos both easier to watch and find in its search engine.

The company is trying to make the service more accessible to everyone. At a press conference at YouTube's San Bruno, Calif., headquarters, the company touted the feature as useful to not only viewers who are hearing-impaired but also to people who are learning English as a second language.

Video providers are now able to apply for machine transcription on their own videos. And for videos that have not … Read more