Brightcove (+ AOL + Barry Diller): Illuminating More Online Video Distribution (Great Flash too)

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No time to write this up this AM, but my “video-video” juices are flowing… (FYI, I produced two videos about the desktop video revolution in the ’90’s). The announcement today of AOL and Barry Diller’s deals with a start up called Brightcove of Cambridge, MA, lead me to their site and their excellent Flash presentation on why online distribution of video is the next wave. It’s EXCELLENT and highly recommended. From what I can tell, these guys very much have it together. Check it out at Brightcove.com.

Way Too Cheery, But Good Flash-Phone Integration

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And for another kind of convergence… Cheerioke! I’ve been enjoying my Gizmo Project software phone (see below). Voice over IP rules. But I’m also impressed with the way that the Cheerioke Flash application for an old time advertiser (General Mills) integrates telephone recording seamlessly into an interactive singing thingy. Listen to me if you dare, of visit Cheerioke.com.

Tivo Makes a Convergence Connection with iPods and Sony PSP to Play Video

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The promise of digital video providing a convergence of all kinds of video sources has remained mostly that, a promise. But, finally, with Tivo’s announcement today that it will be providing customers with the ability to playback programs recorded on it’s devices on Apple iPod and Sony PSP portable video players, maybe we’re finally starting to see real video convergence… Stay tuned.

Search is a 2-Way Street: “Google Base” Breaks Posting Barrier

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I know it’s starting to look like I’m a bit obsessed with Google. Maybe so. But, I also think that I know a true innovator when I see one. This time I salute Google for creating a new kind of interactivity via Google Base. This new service enables anyone (meaning folks without the slightest technical ability) to publish content, from recipes to want ads, you name it, for free. And, of course, because they are Google, they are making all of this new, easy-to-post content searchable, or as they describe it, Google Base is “a place where you can add all types of information that we’ll host and make searchable online.” Thus, now, anyone anywhere can add content to the global information database without needing to know how to post to a blog or how to build a web page. With user-friendly categories and more users, this new “channel” could become quite powerful. As this analysis agrees, look out Craig’s List, Amazon and EBay… Stay tuned…

Another Google Disruption: Free Site Statistics

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A visit to one of the top website traffic statistic packages, Urchin and urchin.com, now delivers this logo, “Google Analytics” and an auto-forward to http://www.google.com/analytics/. Further, to make their acquisition of Urchin even more disruptive, Google is now offering this top package (which we use at ComBridges) for that magic Internet four-letter word: FREE.

Read the Information Week story, “Google Offers Web Analytics for Free”

An Emmy for the Leading Role in Mobile Video (cell phones, iPods, etc.)

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I dunno. Seems kinda early to me, but I guess a trend is a trend and the National Academy of Televison Arts & Sciences wants to be part of it. NY Times reports: “And the Emmy for Best Actor on iPods Goes to …”

Warner Brothers Diggin’ Digital for Development of Music Talent

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Before I could even draft my post about major “disruptive” technologies, a major record company announced its new initiative to “validate” talent via Internet marketing. You gotta love that it’s a psychedelic relic, Jac Holzman, who’s master-minding this effort. Doesn’t it make you think twice when one of the big boys is ” trying to use the Internet to produce and distribute music in ways that circumvent the usual channels…” ?

To quote Holzman from the Washington Post, “‘Physical product has its place in the world,’ but using the Internet is a faster and cheaper way of searching for and validating talent, said Holzman, a longtime proponent of independent music who made it big by signing the Doors on the Elektra music label in 1966.” Maybe these old guys will finally “get it” after all. 😉

Washington Post: Warner Music Turns to Web

Bush Meets Dalai Lama Despite China’s Objections

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Way to go, George! 😉

Read the Reuters report

Video Blog = “vlog” or video webcasting for the rest of us

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As someone who has been writing about and even producing videos about the democratization of media and the infinite possibilities for grassroots media & video for over ten years now, Apple’s new ipod combined with the blogger’s self-publishing and self-syndication platforms… not to mention podcasting… had to lead to video blogs. I was just wondering what they’d be called. Well, they’re here. They’re called “vlogs” (pronounced like “blogs” but with a “v”) and it couldn’t be anymore democratic.

For example, FreeVLog.org is brought to you by the smiling faces shown here (Ryanne Hodson & Michael Verdi). Their site has tutorials on how to distribute your personal videos (or vlog) via the Internet and Blogger etc. and even the offer of free tech support via help@freevlog.org.

Their preferred “platform” includes what claims to be the “first video aggregator… and the best place to find video made by real people,” Mefedia.

To get you into the spirit, not to mention the attitude, here’s FreeVLog.org’s definition and explanation of why you might want a vlog: “A vlog is a videoblog and you want one because, let’s face it, they’re not going to put you on TV. Besides, not playing that game is what makes this so much fun. You can do whatever you want.” Get it?

If so, you might also want to link up with vlogdir.com, a vlog log or directory; VlogMap.org, which uses Google Maps and Google Earth to display vloggers worldwide; and/or videobloggers.org, another free hosting service and vlogosphere content aggregator.

NYTimes Gets Inside Google’s Economic Impact & Yahoo’s Community Strategies

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Getting inside the dynamics of the many ways that Google and the democratization of the world’s information are changing “everything” is not easy for most folks, so I appreciate a well-written article like Just Googling It Is Striking Fear Into Companies from the front page of this past Sunday’s New York Times.

Likewise, I recommend NYT’s “Techno Files” commentary (from the business section of the same issue), A Journey to the Center of Yahoo for anyone seeking a better understanding of what Yahoo is up to as the Web continues to grow in importance to our lives and for our businesses.