Ustream.tv, the website that hopes to do for live video broadcasts over the Internet what YouTube has done for the recorded variety, is on the verge of releasing the latest version of its technology, offering new interactive features for both viewers and broadcasters.

Regarding the former, it hopes that The Shout Meter and Live Polls will be a key differentiator over its rivals in the interactive value of its live video feeds, offering viewers the chance to influence broadcasts by conveying their thoughts and feelings as they progress:

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Niklas Zennström, the co-founder of Skype and Kazaa, claimed today that Joost, the IPTV start-up hatched by himself and Janus Friis, has lured over 1 million users since its beta launch in 2006.

This ties in with the lesser-known MyWaves, a cellular video service, which has just announced it has reached 1 million subscribers in a similar time period. Maybe the two companies should hold a joint party and invite me.

The figure was revealed by Zennström at a recent Skype press conference in Tallinn, Estonia, and is the first time that audience figures for the business, formerly codenamed ‘The Venice Project’, have been divulged.

Joost’s aim is to provide a free YouTube-esque video sharing experience to its users, but with fully authorised content, backing from advertisers and delivery via a P2P model, the latter of has been a central part in both of the entrepreneurs’ previous web-based ventures.

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Mywaves, the world’s fastest growing, carrier-independent mobile media company has announced today that over a million users worldwide have signed up to its service, which delivers a wide variety of easily accessible video content to wireless handsets.

Once users have signed up, they are able to browse and share media from over 100,000 premium, private and user-generated video channels, with favourites automatically updated and delivered to their phones.

Since launching in December 2006, mywaves has secured partnerships with major entertainment partners such as CNN, MTV, Discovery and Comedy Central, with rights to deliver each stations’ offerings.

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As promised back in May this year, ABC.com has launched its high-definition video player in beta - the first network site to broadcast online in 1280 x 720 resolution.

Also as expected, the crystal clear offerings are a little thin on the ground at present, with only single episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy available to whet your appetite before the new autumn season of programming.

According to Multichannel News, however, the station is guaranteeing a “more robust” HD line-up of shows in time for this September.

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When a video has been uploaded to mutliple video sharing sites it can be a daunting task to measure its success, but the fellows over at TubeMogul aim to change all that with the aid of their clever web-based tools.

As the world’s first online video analytics and distribution company, TubeMogul serves both large scale and independent firms with information about the performance of their online videos. Over to TubeMogul:

“TubeMogul’s analytic technology aggregates video-viewing data from multiple sources to give publishers improved understanding of when, where and how often videos are watched, track and compare what’s hot and what’s not, measure the impact of marketing campaigns, gather competitive intelligence, and share the data with colleagues or friends.”

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Online television is growing at a seemingly exponential rate, and the channel formats are quickly becoming the fastest and most creative areas for new media.

Becoming an expert or at least having a good knowledge base of this new direction for the media may be one of the best investments you could make for your future communication skills.

Among the many emerging web TV channel, a few are attacking uncharted waters by providing alternative news, counter information and issues which the traditional media outlets often ignore.

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AT&T, the sole U.S. service provider for Apple’s first phone, said it activated 146,000 iPhone subscribers in the first two days after launch on June 29. Apparently, this was well below analysts expectations for the device, resulting in over a 6% drop for Apple’ stock price in one day.

The much hyped iPhone is supposed to revolutionize the cellular market, providing easy access to online video through YouTube and the iTunes video store. I am surprised that the iPhone did not meet analysts expectations in light of the intense marketing campaign and non-stop press coverage.

By all accounts, iPhones were selling out throughout the U.S. on the weekend of its release. I wonder how many of those sales were by people looking to make a quick buck on Ebay, similar to the release of the Sony Playstation 3. A quick look on Ebay shows iPhones being sold for over $1,000. Ouch!

One interesting side note to the Apple story is that the stock price for AT&T, Apple’s partner with the iPhone, was up for the day.