Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ streaming service is available on so many devices now it’s probably easier to list those that don’t carry it. The PS3 is the latest to join the ranks. And ‘Watch Instantly’ is now such a huge part of the service that it’s surely here to stay, and inevitably grow in the future.

From Mail To The Web

In the 12 years since Netflix launched as a purely by-mail DVD rental company, the world has changed considerably, particularly with the Internet becoming the distribution method of choice for all kinds of media, including of course television and movies.

So it’s no wonder that the company decided to introduce a streaming video service as part of its subscription package a few years ago. And the way things are going, it’s that part of the business which provides the future direction for Netflix.

Continue Reading…

Although live streaming is already big business, there has so far been a dearth of options for the professional Webcaster who wants to stream live events without paying a fortune for a traditional broadcast truck and satellite signal. But no longer, as Livestream has launched Livepack.

Livestream Livepack Goes Live

Livestream, formerly known as Mogulus, is one of several live streaming companies which offer everyone the chance to be the star of their own television channel. It’s a competitive sector, with Ustream and Justin.tv the other big contenders.

But yesterday saw Livestream launch a new service which could mark it out against its competitors. Livepack is “the world’s first solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality,” and the hardware which makes that possible fits in a specially designed backpack.

Continue Reading…

DeliTV is a Yahoo Pipe created by Tony Hirst, a lecturer at The Open University in the UK.

This pipe allows anyone to program their own online TV channel from Boxee by bookmarking pages on Delicious with the tag “delitv”.

• Yahoo Pipes is a tool that aggregates and manipulates all sorts of content from the web.
• Boxee is free software that streams content from sites like MLB, Netflix, Pandora, Last.fm, and Flickr on a laptop or connected to a TV.

DeliTV supports:

• BBC iPlayer category feeds
• podcast feeds
• Youtube videos
• Youtube Playlists
• Youtube channels
• another DeliTV playlist
• an MP3 file

Continue Reading…

The set-top box and over-the-top online video sector is already a very crowded one. There is Apple TV, the Roku box, Vudu, Netflix, and Amazon already competing in the space to name but a few. And ZillionTV hopes to achieve the unthinkable and make space for itself.

Still Emerging From The Gloom

For what is still considered an emerging market which isn’t likely to reach its full potential for many years to come online video is certainly offering consumers a range of options. The number of ways of watching video and television content over the Internet is numerous and growing all the time.

While online video sites on the Web are a niche unto themselves (although just as crowded), there are also a number of options for people who want to consumer video and television in their living rooms using an Broadband connection and either a set-top box or other Internet-enabled device.

Continue Reading…

Boxee is a tech startup with zero revenue and few plans for where revenue will come from. But that hasn’t stopped it drawing another $6 million in funding just a matter of months after securing $4 million. Do these investors know something we don’t?

Boxee Is…

Boxee is a cross-platform, open-source media center which allows computer users to access a wide range of online video from one central location.

Designed to work with both PC and Mac, the free software enables Web video to be viewed on a large television, thus blurring the line between computers and the living room.

Continue Reading…

Barely a month goes by where one of the big name competitors in the live video streaming sector doesn’t introduce a new feature, unveil a redesign, or evolve in another way. Justin.tv is currently doing all those and more in an effort to forge ahead of its rivals.

Live Video Streaming

The live video streaming sector is one of the most competitive across the whole online video market. Big names such as Justin.tv, Ustream, and Mogulus continue to evolve and improve in their efforts to become the number one brand and recognized in the same breath as Google, eBay, Amazon, and YouTube.

Mogulus recently rebranded itself to LiveStream, buying the frankly worth its weight in gold domain name to go with it. While Ustream underwent a radical redesign this time last year and then again in April of this year. Now, Justin.tv, the current traffic leader, has done the same. As well as a complete redesign of the site there are also a number of new features being added to the mix.

Continue Reading…

Video, like every other form is media, is stringently controlled and kept compartmentalized by the broadcaster or organization which owns the rights to it. With that in mind, can Wikipedia do the same for online video as it has done for the creation and sharing of information?

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a Web site which, like Google and eBay, has become famous enough to be known even by those who have never visited it. It’s an online encyclopedia which offers (mostly) accurate and relevant information on a full range of subject matters.

However, Wikipedia is mainly based on text, with a few, but not a great deal, of photos punctuating each page. There are even a few video clips embedded throughout the site but they’re currently few and far between.

Wikivideo

Until now, or at least some time in the next few months. According to Technology Review, Wikipedia plans to launch an editable online video encyclopedia which is being designed to enhance and embellish the world-renowned text one. The hope is to both evolve Wikipedia to the next level and persuade more content owners to place their video into the public domain.

Continue Reading…