Tag: ONLINEVIDEO

On Tuesday, the FCC and the Department of Justice finally approved a major merger between Comcast and NBC, after more than a year of debate and what federal regulators called the most acute scrutiny a media merger had ever faced. The deal gives Comcast control over NBC Universal's TV and movie subsidiaries, in exchange for about $13.75 billion in cash and assets. Comcast will own 51-percent of ...

Honestly, we just don't have the patience to watch those 15- to 30-second ads that play before some YouTube videos. But, as one Lifehacker reader points out, you can skip the ads and get straight to watching the video by simply hitting the refresh button on your browser. After doing so, the video will load minus the ad. It's a simple way to save yourself time and prevent annoyance. Enjoy this ...

The days of YouTube's 10-minute upload limit are officially over, as the site has decided to give users a chance at a real 15 minutes of fame. In a recent blog post, YouTube explained that the move to extend the time limit of non-partner videos came as a response to overwhelming user demand. It was only after the site was able to better refine its ContentID copyright protection system, though, ...

Those little vending machines-cum-movie dispensers seen at local grocery stores and corner shops have a virtual future. Redbox is developing an online platform, which aims to put one more nail in Blockbuster's coffin by following in Netflix's footsteps. When asked about the company's expansion to offer an online service, Redbox President Mitch Lowe said, "The way we look at it is, how can it help ...

As online video has exploded over the past decade, one group has been left behind: the hearing impaired. According to The New York Times, advocates like deaf actress Marlee Matlin are pushing to make closed-captioning mandatory for online video providers. In the 1990s, Congress mandated that all TV sets and TV shows have closed-captioning technology. But, legislation hasn't kept pace with ...

Today, videos are about as synonymous with the Internet as apple pie is with America. It should come as no surprise that a major slice of the online populous flocks to the Web to consume video media -- we all knew it had officially entered the mainstream when our moms began compulsively sharing YouTube dancing weddings with our grandmas. But a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life ...

During 2009's Iranian protests, viral technology suddenly found itself center stage of the global political theater, thanks to both Twitter, and, perhaps more importantly, some powerful video footage that resonated with international audiences. Now, nearly a year after the world was exposed to the gruesome clip of Neda Agha-Soltan's brutal murder in Iran, the moving image is at the forefront of ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Apple maintains a constant and conspicuous media presence for a seemingly infinite array of reasons. Yesterday at the All Things Digital D8 conference, Steve Jobs addressed an assortment of current topics, and Engadget is supplying video highlights. The Apple chief discusses -- among other things -- the company's fight with Flash, ...

Thanks to the inclusion of Flash, some intrepid users have figured out how to watch Hulu on the latest edition of Android. Of course, Froyo isn't officially available yet, and, even if it were, it wouldn't be of any help to non-Android owners. But while Hulu drags its feet on entering the mobile space, Bitbop, a Fox-backed streaming TV service, is landing on handsets now with a beta version of an ...

Browsing content-packed sites like Hulu can be a frustrating task if you're doing it on a TV screen. According to The New York Times, however, the video search engine Clicker unveiled a tv-optimized verison of its site Wednesday at Google's I/O conference that makes it easier for users to browse its library on their TVs. Rather than index videos with small thumbnails, Clicker.tv -- still in beta ...

If you've ever wondered what the people who create weird posts on Craigslist might be like, now you can find out without having to meet them in person. According to Social Times, the online classifieds site recently launched Craigslist TV, which is a weekly Web series that highlights users and their insane posts. Back in March, Los Angeles area users who posted to the site were asked to ...

While HTML5 might be the the future of the Web, Hulu says it isn't ready to climb aboard just yet. Business Insider reports that Hulu announced (and later removed its blog post [Ed. Note. and now reposted it]) that it is sticking exclusively with Adobe's Flash Player to play its content. That's bad news for iPad and iPhone users who hoped HTML5 would finally allow them to watch the ad-supported ...

Because watching HD TV on an actual TV is so last decade, Netflix has reportedly begun streaming over half of its HD collection for both PC and Mac users. As HackingNetflix explains, all you have to do in order to find out which titles are currently available for HD streaming is roll your mouse over a given movie or show, and look for the 'HD available' tag that pops up at the bottom of the ...

Renting movies via YouTube is still a relatively new idea, but Google is hoping to expand its business (and lessen its reliance on advertising revenue) by allowing users to charge rental fees for uploaded videos. Hunter Walk, head of product management at YouTube, told MediaPost that the company was working on self-service video rentals for individual creators. This will offer yet another way ...

Sources inside Hulu have told the Los Angeles Times that the video streaming service is moving forward with plans to charge a subscription fee for a premium version. Under the rumored plan, users would be able to watch the most recent five episodes of their favorite shows for free, while access to deeper archives, called Hulu Plus, would cost $9.95 a month. In two short years, Hulu has grown ...