Archive for February, 2007

New Software Records Streaming Audio and Flash

February 28th, 2007 No Comments

Relatively unknown software company Applian Technologies announced the release of new software that can record Flash and streaming audio. The software, called Replay Media Catcher, lets anyone capture content from sites like MySpace and YouTube.

What’s the legality of this? It’s pretty sketchy. I think that a content provider or digital media company will try to settle this with an injunction and a lawsuit. But the legislative process can take a while. And Applian seems to have a whole suite of products that do this, and they’re not out of business yet.
I haven’t tried it yet. But I will soon. It’s for Windows only and costs $39.95. And yes, there’s a free demo. If you’ve tried this out, please let me know.

From the press release: “Replay Media Catcher is the first-ever production software to be able to capture RTMP Streaming Flash streams used by many of the top-tier content sites,” said Bill Dettering, CEO of Applian Technologies. “These unprotected, unencrypted files have been previously impossible to record for your personal use, and now Replay Media Catcher makes it possible to archive and enjoy more great online video without having to be connected to the Internet.”

Posted in Internet video, Online movies, Online music, Streaming media

iTunes to Surpass RealPlayer

February 28th, 2007 No Comments

Well ho-hum. News is spreading around the blogosphere that iTunes will surpass RealPlayer in terms of unique users later in 2007. That’s no surprise.

RealPlayer is one of the most hated applications on the Internet. Ever. Many people still believe it’s some sort of spyware.

According to a web market firm (Ok, go here for the link), iTunes grew by 47.5 % last year, while RealPlayer grew only 9.1%, QuickTime by 8.7%, and Windows Media Player grew by just 2%. The company used data from Nielsen/Netratings and extrapolated this analysis.

Unfortunately, comparing iTunes to Real or Windows Media isn’t a good comparison. iTunes is mostly a media player and isn’t really used for streaming audio or video. Sure, iTunes can tune into podcasts and some Internet radio stations, but it’s not made for that.

Windows Media and RealPlayer both are streaming media players. For live and on-demand audio and video. And yes, they also work as jukeboxes or media players.

Nevertheless, it’s somewhat interesting to note Real’s downfall.

Posted in Apple, Internet video, Online music, Streaming media, research

Fox To Sell TV Shows on Affiliate Websites

February 28th, 2007 No Comments

Fox said that it will start streaming and selling its TV shows on the websites of its affiliates. Currently Fox has about 200 affiliates and this is the first time that local stations will offer network TV shows for viewing and for sale.

I’ve spent a few hours online watching TV shows on the web.  I watched the first six shows of Lost on ABC.com. Overall, my experience was good, but it wasn’t great. For starters, there were too many commercials–about three commercials every show. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you’re watching TV on your computer, 30 seconds is very slow.

I also had problems with streaming the shows a few times. Once, the stream from ABC.com just stopped in the middle of one episode of Lost. (Ugh, when does that ever happen with TVs? How about never.) So I had to re-load the page and fast forward to where I left off.

So this deal by Fox is interesting. It’s great that Fox is helping out its affiliates, but I’d rather go to Fox.com to watch a Fox show. Not my local Fox affiliate, whoever that is.
Apparently, affiliates will stream and sell local ads, as well as selling shows for download. Affiliates will share revenues with the Fox broadcast network.

Shows that will be sold include hits like 24, Prison Break, and Bones. Single episodes will cost $1.99 and full seasons for $30-40.

Previously, Fox sold “24″ on MySpace then switched to iTunes. Fox said it will start streaming to affiliate sites by the end of March.

Posted in TV

AnyStream Gets $7 Million

February 21st, 2007 No Comments

Anystream, a provider of streaming video technology, announced that it closed $7 million in its third round of financing. The round was led by SoftBank Capital and SCP Partners. and the company will use the money to increase sales in the media and education sectors.

Anystream said it is working with major universities such as the University of Pennsylvania and Temple, to provide online lectures.

In October 2006, Anystream announced its Apreso Coursecaster a hardware appliance that can capture rich media lectures for on-demand viewing.

Posted in Streaming media

YouTube Video Foils School Attack

February 17th, 2007 No Comments

A 16-year old high school junior was charged with making bombs in a plan to target his school classmates, in a plot uncovered after a video was posted on YouTube.

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Frank Fechteler, of Newington, Connecticut, was arraigned on Thursday on two counts of making bombs and ordered held on $500,000 bond. A quote from the story on WNBC in New York:

Police said they seized weapons from his home on Tuesday after receiving a tip from a Canton parent whose son had seen a disturbing video on YouTube that showed acquaintances firing weapons and igniting explosive devices, police said. It was unclear Thursday who had made the video.

Police searched Fechteler’s home and found “explosive devices and weapons, including several rifle.” They also found a hit list of potential victums with at least 20 names. The Hartford Courant writes:

“Investigators were tipped off Monday by parents in Canton whose child saw the student and other teens on a YouTube video that showed the youths firing weapons and igniting explosive devices. The Canton teenager, who had received the video in an Internet message from a second Canton teenager, recognized those in the video as acquaintances and was concerned, authorities said. The teen’s parents were then alerted.”

Apparently, teens seen in the video said that the suspect was plotting to attack classmates with guns and explosives.

There’s no word about the YouTube video, but it is likely down at this point.

Posted in Internet video, Streaming media

Internet Video Pays $13,000 For One Producer

February 17th, 2007 No Comments

An article by the New York Times discusses what video producers earn by posting their videos online–and the results are shocking. One person, a magician called Magic Roy, posted 30 short videos on MetaCafe and has earned over $13,000 so far. His videos of card tricks have been seen 1.4 million times.

MetaCafe pays producers $100 when their video has been viewed 20,000 times, and $5 for every 1,000 additional views.

Some other examples from the story:

Kent Nichols, aka Ask a Ninja, said he earned over $20,000 last year on Revver.

Ahree Lee, a graphic designer in San Francisco, earned “a couple of thousand dollars” in 2006 when a short film she had made became a hit on AtomFilms.com. It featured a fast-paced succession of still photographs she had taken of her face over several years, set to music composed by her husband.

Two people who mixed together Diet Coke and mentos and posted the video on the Internet have earned about $35,000.

Joe Eigo, a martial arts expert, has made $25,000 from videos of him showing his moves.

Posted in Internet video, Streaming media

IP Set-Top Box Market to Grow to 19 Million by 2010

February 17th, 2007 No Comments

According to research company In-Stat, the IP set-top box market will hit 19 million units in 2010, up from 4.3 million in 2006.  I believe that this is the global market, since currently there are few IP STB deployments in the U.S.

In-Stat says that the consolidation of Motorola and Kreatel, Cisco and Scientific Atlanta, as well as Linksys and KiSS, are key growth drivers.

The growing deployments of IPTV around the world will help as well. IPTV is being seen as a great way for countries to utilize their telephone lines for delivering TV services, especially  in countries without a cable infrastructure. China is one growing market.

Posted in IPTV, research

U.S. Broadband Penetration to Reach 50% in 2007

February 16th, 2007 No Comments

A new report from Parks Associates estimates that U.S. residential broadband penetration will exceed 50% in 2007. In 2006, it was at 20% so this is a major increase.
Parks says that by the end of 2007, broadband will account for 55% of all U.S. households.

The reason why Internet video was popular in the last few years is the growth of broadband. After all, broadband means better quality video or faster downloads. This growth in broadband also will account for an increase in other products like home networking gear, digital video recorders, game systems and more.

Still, the bigger news is that many people are still clinging to dial-up. Is it because they are satisfied with the speeds? Is it the high price of broadband? Is it the perceived complexity of setting up a home network? Do they not feel a need for broadband?

What do you think?

Posted in Internet video, Streaming media, research

Blu-Ray and HD DVD Protection Cracked

February 15th, 2007 No Comments

Well, it was just a matter of time. The AACS digital rights management (DRM) technology from Blu-ray and HD-DVD has been cracked

The hack was posted Doom9.org by someone calling themselves Arnezami. According to Wired news, the AACS is looking into this.

“The AACS is investigating the claims right regarding of the hack,” AACS spokesperson Jacqueline Price told Wired News. “It is going to take a appropriate action if it can be verified.”

In December 2006, another hacker managed to crack Blu-Ray using the BackupHDDVD. It decrypts and dismantles AACS on a Windows PC.

What will the DVD companies do now? Can they go back and re-engineer the DRM? Can they update it so that the crack tool is rendered useless?

For regular DVDs, cracks have existed for some time. There was a cat and mouse game played, where when hackers broke into the DVD DRM, the movie studios released a modified version that couldn’t be cracked. But of course, hackers broke that one too. Will this game ever end?

Posted in DVDs, Uncategorized

Nielsen Analyzing Data From Set-Top Boxes

February 14th, 2007 No Comments

NielsenLogo

The battle between Nielsen and Tivo are heating up. Last month, Tivo announced that it was starting its DVR rating service. And on Monday, Nielsen announced it was starting a new service to analyze information from television set top boxes calling it Nielsen DigitalPlus.

Nielsen will gather data from cable system operators (MSOs) and satellite providers but didn’t say anything about other boxes, like DVRs.
Among the services to be offered are:

Bringing insights on advertising effectiveness through very granular reporting of commercial activity.

That’s what Tivo announced when it started its DVR rating service–very granular, minute by minute analysis.

Nielsen pointed out that it has worked with Comcast to analyze their Video On Demand server data. It also teamed up with TiVo to create a panel of TiVo subscribers whose STB were analyzed daily.

Posted in Uncategorized
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