Google’s YouTube today announced plans to add around 3,000 movies for on-demand rental on its service, effectively declaring its intention to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. While YouTube has largely been known for quirky independent fare, the new content will include well-known flicks from major studios, including classics like Caddyshack and new releases like […]
Google is about to launch a premium video on demand service through YouTube that will directly challenge iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and even cable TV. In the past YouTube tested video rentals (and has continued to do so) but the titles were limited and the results have been muted. The new service appears to be called […]
Google TV, the company’s much-hyped “Connected TV” effort that brought together Sony, Logitech and Dish Networks, has failed to deliver on its promise — at least so far. While sales figures haven’t been released the public isn’t biting, it would appear. Google TV (the product) may ultimately join the ranks of Google Wave as an […]
It would appear that Amazon is becoming Google’s best frenemy. The company launched its well designed Android app store last week and yesterday surprised a lot of people by introducing Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. No, it apparently doesn’t work on Apple devices. Beating Google Music to market it offers music storage and streaming […]
Video watching was down on YouTube during February, but it still holds a seemingly unsurmountable lead in viewers, video views, and time spent per viewer. According to the latest comScore video stats, which cover February 2010, Google sites — i.e., primarily YouTube — saw a 2.1% drop in unique viewers 4.3% drop in viewing sessions […]
Looking to stream movies or television content from the internet to your TV? There are a variety of streaming media players on the market. The chart below provides an at-a-glance look at how the leaders — Roku, Apple TV, Boxee Box and Google TV — measure up against each other.
When I first saw Google TV at the Google developer conference in May I was impressed. Google appeared to have created a powerful new combination of TV and web — and a new market for itself — built on the Android OS. But since that time the company has very publicly stumbled, getting blocked by […]
Using search engines is the second most common online activity among all age groups, according to the new Generations 2010 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. E-mail is the most popular online activity among each age group. According to the Pew study, 87% of all US adults who use the Internet also […]
I’ve been looking at various internet-to-TV devices as part of my Life With Google TV series. I’ve covered Google TV, Roku & Boxee Box so far. Time for Apple TV! If you buy a lot with iTunes or have an iPhone or iPad, this is a great device. Amazing, in some ways. But the lack […]
Last week, the Roku player gained support for Hulu Plus. I’ve been trying out the combo for the past few days, and it’s pretty awesome. It further fulfills the promise of streaming TV content from the internet and back to your TV in the way that Google TV hasn’t.
GTVHub reports that Google TV is now being blocked by Viacom. Shows such on popular networks such as Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon are not viewable via the Google TV. Previously, ABC, CBS and NBC blocked Google TV and so did Fox many of those channels returned to Google TV soon after. Viacom, which […]
Hulu Plus, the ad-reduced subscription service from Hulu, just dropped its price to $7.99 from $9.99. It just launched on the Roku box as well. It’s also on the iPad and a range of TVs. The company plans to push distribution to a wide range of devices, reportedly including Google TV. That would circumvent some […]
Is the future of “internet TV” those little boxes that are appearing everywhere? No, says Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone, who also busted a number of other net-to-TV myths, from his perspective. Lanzone gave a short address at the Web 2.0 Summit today. He oversees Clicker, which is a guide to television, movie and select other […]
As part of my Life With Google TV series, I’ve been looking at other internet-to-TV devices. Previously, I reviewed Roku. Next up? The Boxee Box. If you’re already a fan of the Boxee software service, the device might be worth it. However, it left me underwhelmed. That may improve when Netflix & Hulu Plus support […]
Until recently, I’d never heard of Roku, a little box that makes it easy to download TV shows and movies through the internet, for viewing on your TV. But as part of my Life With Google TV series, I’m looking at other internet-to-TV devices. Roku is pretty cool, and a no brainer for anyone who […]
My Life With Google TV series continues. Yesterday’s test: how well could Google TV locate free (and legitimate) episodes of Caprica on the web? Answer: not very well. But once I found them the old fashioned way, Google TV did make it pretty easy to watch them on the “big” screen of my TV, versus […]
After less than a week since its release, three of America’s largest television networks have started blocking Google TV users from watching video content on their web sites. Sort of. While ABC and CBS keep Google TV viewers out, as does Hulu, NBC actually still seems to let them in. Below, a visual look at […]
TV is changing for better or worse. And perhaps sensing that their control over audiences and distribution is further slipping away and that their expensive programming is being reduced to mere “content,” the major broadcast networks are blocking access from Google TV. According to a story this afternoon in the Wall Street Journal: Full-length episodes […]
Google TV has finally arrived, not just for pre-order but as an actual device you can get in a retail store. And so I did, hitting Best Buy yesterday and walking out with a Sony Blu-ray player that is Google TV-capable. Here are my impressions, after my first day — well, first evening — with […]
Today at YouTube, I had a chance to play briefly with YouTube Leanback, best described as a way to channel surf YouTube on your regular TV. It was pretty cool. Here’s my quick impressions and a short video of it in action. I tested out Leanback on one of the new Sony televisions that are […]
While many people are focused on the recent launch of Google TV, there are a range of existing alternatives for people who want more than just TV on their TVs — or who may what to “cut the (cable) cord” entirely. The chart below offers a short overview and comparison of the major providers and […]
The Internet is buzzing about the latest Google announcement about Google TV. Google shared with us their content partners for Google TV and their new web site for Google TV at google.com/tv. The content partners and providers include Twitter, Netflix, the New York Times and USA Today, VEVO, Pandora and Napster, blip.tv and their very […]
Social TV guide Clicker, also sometimes called “TV Guide for the internet,” launched its iPhone app this morning. An iPad app is on the way. It’s cool and useful and it contains some, but not all content, available on the Clicker.com site. Here’s the list of the app’s content and features per the Clicker Blog: […]
The label, “TV Guide for the internet,” doesn’t fully capture the intent or the extent of Clicker. We first wrote about the site when it appeared at the TechCrunch50 event. It was then in a closed beta. However today, a mere 58 days later, the site launches to the public with a number of new […]
Our love affair with celebrity continues, as evidenced by news today from Yahoo that it served about five million streams of the Michael Jackson Memorial ceremony. That makes it the most streamed event in Yahoo’s history, surpassing the inauguration of President Obama in January, when Yahoo served 1.8 million streams. While watching the event online, […]
Online video watching jumped by 16% in April according to comScore, with YouTube getting “a significant increase in video viewing” during the month. Overall, comScore says U.S. Internet users watched almost 17 billion online videos in April, up 16% from March. YouTube’s share of that increase was about 900 million additional video views. Despite the […]
Google remains the dominant player in the online video space, but Hulu is on the rise. It’s now the number three video property according to the latest comScore numbers out today. According to comScore, Hulu has passed Yahoo properties and moved into the third spot with 2.6% of all videos viewed during March. Yahoo dropped […]
YouTube is clearly evolving before our eyes — from a site that was largely about viral, user-generated content (UGC) to a premium content destination that may one day be a viable replacement for cable TV. First the news. Google/YouTube has signed deals with more studios to expand the range of full-length TV and movies content […]
Google continues to pull back the reins on some of its product and service offerings, today announcing that they’re shutting down Google Audio Ads and Google Radio Automation. In a post on the Google Traditional Media blog, Google’s Susan Wojcicki explains the service wasn’t as successful as they hoped: In 2006, we launched Google Audio […]
Almost since its mainstream introduction in the 1940s and 1950s, television has been the dominant mass medium. Today, television ad revenues in the US are estimated to be between $60 and $70 billion. But the internet, like cable TV and DVRs before it, is shaking up the industry and fundamentally changing consumer behavior. There are […]
Sony has announced a deal to provide Google’s YouTube five-minute clips of some of their most popular TV shows. Some of those shows include “Married With Children” and “Newsradio,” but they plan on adding more shows and even original content in the future. Viacom has agreed to provide videos for distribution on Dailymotion, GoFish, iMeem, […]
The UK’s Guardian reports that Google is planning some sort of new TV/online video venture with Simon Fuller, the creator of the UK’s Pop Idol, the precursor of the US’s American Idol show.
TechCrunch and Techmeme offer lots of discussion and long posts about the NBC Universal and News Corporation joint video venture and challenge to YouTube: Hulu. The site is not yet open to the public but many of the videos it will be streaming can be seen today on distribution partner AOL. There are both full-length […]
MySpace, Chasing YouTube, Upgrades Its Offerings from the New York Times reports that MySpace will be launching MySpace TV tomorrow, to better compete against Google’s YouTube. MySpace TV will be an independent site and will not require a user to have a MySpace ID. There will be integration between MySpace and MySpace TV, enabling MySpace […]