Thursday, June 17
Tips on using Flip-Kodak-iPhone
The BBC offers some simple tips on using Flip Cams, Kodaks, or iPhones here.
YouTube Video Editing Tool
YouTube plans to release an editing tool aimed at those who know little about editing videos. The tool will have editing features that allow people to trim videos and remove background noise, replacing the hum or buzz with music. That's for starters. The free YouTube Video Editor tool will not require people to download complex software. The tool becomes perfect for those who take a quick video, find the first five seconds jumbled up, and want to trim it off quickly. Video Editor will use the Audio Swap library of tracks, so people can add them for free. Replacing the background noise with music will allow people to choose from a library of tunes that YouTube made available for free, too.
The ability to splice and remove a piece of the video and move it to another location in the clip is not available today, but that could come in time based on member feedback.
Read more at Media-Post.
The ability to splice and remove a piece of the video and move it to another location in the clip is not available today, but that could come in time based on member feedback.
Read more at Media-Post.
Wednesday, June 16
New iPhone 4 lets users shoot, edit and transmit HD video
Apple’s new iPhone 4 boasts HD video recording and a suite of multimedia editing features that could transform how video footage is obtained by news operations. The key new feature on the iPhone 4 is a five-megapixel autofocus camera that can capture video at 720p HD resolution. As for editing, the iPhone includes a much faster processor that allows for more advanced editing software. Apple said it would release a new iMovie video editing application for the iPhone, priced at $4.99. The app will allow users to edit video clips, polish videos with dynamic themes and transitions, add voice, music beds and still photos and then share the video to the outside world. All of this is done from the phone itself. Finished video can be transmitted via MMS, or published on Apple’s MobileMe gallery or YouTube. A new feature called Facetime allows users to establish instant two-way conversations over WiFi networks. The phone has a second camera facing the user for this purpose.
Alfred Hermida, a professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, said the new iPhone has the potential to put multimedia production in the hands of all journalists. He said his students had been experimenting with several software applications for the iPhone, and he was impressed with the flexibility.
Third-party applications like UStream can capture the iPhone video for broadcast and Web use. The company’s Watershed technology will enable audience members to capture and send breaking news, thoughts and opinions in real time to news organizations. It can also provide in-the-field reporters with the ability to broadcast live with a laptop and an Internet connection.
Read more at Broadcast Engineering.
Alfred Hermida, a professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, said the new iPhone has the potential to put multimedia production in the hands of all journalists. He said his students had been experimenting with several software applications for the iPhone, and he was impressed with the flexibility.
Third-party applications like UStream can capture the iPhone video for broadcast and Web use. The company’s Watershed technology will enable audience members to capture and send breaking news, thoughts and opinions in real time to news organizations. It can also provide in-the-field reporters with the ability to broadcast live with a laptop and an Internet connection.
Read more at Broadcast Engineering.
Iceland’s New Media Laws
The Icelandic parliament has voted unanimously to create what are intended to be the strongest media freedom laws in the world. And Iceland intends these measures to have international impact, by creating a safe haven for publishers worldwide — and their servers. The proposal, known as the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, requires changes to Icelandic law to strengthen journalistic source protection, freedom of speech, and government transparency.
Wikileaks says that it routes all submissions through Sweden, where investigations into the identity of an anonymous source are illegal. Wikileaks was heavily involved in drafting and promoting the Icelandic package, and whatever your opinion of their current controversies, they’ve proven remarkably immune to legal prosecution in their short history. Conceivably, other journalism organizations could gain some measure of legal protection for anonymous sources if all communications were routed through Iceland.
All of which is to say that issues of press censorship have long since passed the point of globalization. When an aggrieved party in country A can sue a publisher in country B through the courts of country C (as in these examples), press freedom must be understood — and fought for — at an international level.
But it will be some time before the full repercussions of Iceland’s move are felt. For a start, the new laws are not yet written. And then it may be further years before we understand, from case law, exactly what an “offshore freedom of expression haven” means to journalists worldwide.
Read more at The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
Wikileaks says that it routes all submissions through Sweden, where investigations into the identity of an anonymous source are illegal. Wikileaks was heavily involved in drafting and promoting the Icelandic package, and whatever your opinion of their current controversies, they’ve proven remarkably immune to legal prosecution in their short history. Conceivably, other journalism organizations could gain some measure of legal protection for anonymous sources if all communications were routed through Iceland.
All of which is to say that issues of press censorship have long since passed the point of globalization. When an aggrieved party in country A can sue a publisher in country B through the courts of country C (as in these examples), press freedom must be understood — and fought for — at an international level.
But it will be some time before the full repercussions of Iceland’s move are felt. For a start, the new laws are not yet written. And then it may be further years before we understand, from case law, exactly what an “offshore freedom of expression haven” means to journalists worldwide.
Read more at The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
Tuesday, June 15
The Future of the Tablet Computer
Will the iPad’s success trigger explosive growth for other sorts of “tablet” computers? If the proliferation of tablets at Computex, a trade show held this week in Taiwan, is anything to judge by. The exhibition floor was teeming with prototypes, especially from Taiwanese firms such as Acer and Asustek. Dell, an American rival, had unveiled its offering, Streak, a few days earlier. Even Google and One Laptop per Child, a charity, have tablets in the works.
Tellingly, most of the new devices will not hit the stores before the end of the year, if not later. It is still unclear what people will use tablets for, says Jeff Orr of ABI Research. They are unlikely to edge out established devices such as televisions, personal computers, games consoles and smart-phones. Most buyers so far have been habitual early-adopters of new gadgets. But tablets may find a niche, he believes, as portable video players and magazine racks.
Much will depend on price. Another barrier: To maximise their usefulness, tablets need a fast wireless-internet connection. But so far only a third of American households have Wi-Fi, reckons ABI Research. And mobile-data services are not getting cheaper, at least for heavy users.
Some of the most muscular players in the industry are still in the locker room. Hewlett-Packard is said to have killed the Slate, which was to be based on Microsoft’s Windows, and is now reportedly working on a tablet using an operating system from Palm, the smart-phone maker that HP recently bought. Microsoft will certainly re-enter the fray, although none of its operating systems seems a good fit for tablets. Nokia, too, has yet to unveil its plans.
Read more at The Economist.
Tellingly, most of the new devices will not hit the stores before the end of the year, if not later. It is still unclear what people will use tablets for, says Jeff Orr of ABI Research. They are unlikely to edge out established devices such as televisions, personal computers, games consoles and smart-phones. Most buyers so far have been habitual early-adopters of new gadgets. But tablets may find a niche, he believes, as portable video players and magazine racks.
Much will depend on price. Another barrier: To maximise their usefulness, tablets need a fast wireless-internet connection. But so far only a third of American households have Wi-Fi, reckons ABI Research. And mobile-data services are not getting cheaper, at least for heavy users.
Some of the most muscular players in the industry are still in the locker room. Hewlett-Packard is said to have killed the Slate, which was to be based on Microsoft’s Windows, and is now reportedly working on a tablet using an operating system from Palm, the smart-phone maker that HP recently bought. Microsoft will certainly re-enter the fray, although none of its operating systems seems a good fit for tablets. Nokia, too, has yet to unveil its plans.
Read more at The Economist.
Virgin Group Takes on Game Site
Virgin Group is getting into the Internet video game tournament business, which is legal in all but 11 states because the video games are considered games of skill, not chance. The new Virgin Gaming Web site gives console video game players the chance to win large cash prizes for beating others at well-known PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games like Halo 3 and FIFA 10. Virgin Gaming, and its competitors like BringIt.com and Galaxy4Gamers.com, are careful not to describe their activities as “gambling” or “betting.” To stay on the right side of the law, they offer games of skill, as opposed to games of chance. Players wager sums, described as “transactions” and “challenges,” against one another, and not the house. The companies make money by taking service fees, a percentage of the winnings off the top. In Virgin Gaming’s case, it is 12 percent of the amount wagered. Industry observers say they expect similar offerings to soon be available on portable devices.
Read more at the New York Times.
Read more at the New York Times.
1/3 of Internet Users Watching TV
A third of adult U.S. Internet users will watch full-length television shows online this year on a monthly basis, according to new data from market research firm eMarketer. That proportion is expected to grow to 39% next year as watching TV online increasingly becomes a mainstream activity. That growth has been steady over the last few years, with a quarter of Internet users watching TV online in 2008 and nearly 30% in 2009.
Hulu ranked second only to YouTube in overall streams viewed in April, according to comScore, and among the top 10 Web video properties with an audience of 38.7 million monthly unique visitors. The increase in Internet-enabled TV sets and other viewing devices such as tablet computers should also boost the trend.
Hulu ranked second only to YouTube in overall streams viewed in April, according to comScore, and among the top 10 Web video properties with an audience of 38.7 million monthly unique visitors. The increase in Internet-enabled TV sets and other viewing devices such as tablet computers should also boost the trend.
Read more here.
SNL Kagan Forecasts Ad Recovery
TV stations' ad growth will rocket up double-digit increases this year. Radio stations will also point upwards, but less than half the rate of TV. SNL Kagan says TV stations will climb 14.3% in 2010 to $19.8 billion -- rising from $17.3 billion in 2009, the lowest TV ad revenue total in 15 years. Radio will also make gains -- some 6.4% to $17.1 billion.
Read more at Media Post.
Read more at Media Post.
Monday, June 14
News Corp Makes Bets on Journalism Ventures
News Corp. says it is buying Skiff LLC, a company started by magazine and newspaper publisher Hearst Corp. to create a technology platform for e-readers. News Corp. is also making an investment in Journalism Online LLC, which is developing technology to help publishers collect payments from readers for online material.
Read more at AP.
Read more at AP.
Government Takes On Journalism’s Next Chapter
The Federal Trade Commission has set out on the somewhat quixotic journey of trying to identify ways to save journalism as we know it from possible extinction. Through a series of public forums, the last of which will take place in Washington on Tuesday, the commission has been gathering and analyzing an array of suggestions to help make the business of gathering and reporting news profitable again. The commission is expected to produce a final study late this year.
Susan S. DeSanti, director of the commission’s office of policy planning and the person overseeing the “reinvention of journalism” study, as it is known, said that coming up with a set of suggestions now could be premature, given the state of flux in the news business.
Steven Brill, who ran a news media watchdog publication and is now developing a system for newspapers to charge readers for access online, said journalists should find it uncomfortable that the government is considering ways to subsidize their work.
Mr. Brill, like others who have been following the commission’s work, doubts there will be any significant policy changes recommended, in large part because there is no public appetite for government intervention to save the news media.
Read more at the New York Times.
Susan S. DeSanti, director of the commission’s office of policy planning and the person overseeing the “reinvention of journalism” study, as it is known, said that coming up with a set of suggestions now could be premature, given the state of flux in the news business.
Steven Brill, who ran a news media watchdog publication and is now developing a system for newspapers to charge readers for access online, said journalists should find it uncomfortable that the government is considering ways to subsidize their work.
Mr. Brill, like others who have been following the commission’s work, doubts there will be any significant policy changes recommended, in large part because there is no public appetite for government intervention to save the news media.
Read more at the New York Times.
Greatest Bandwidth Demand Ever for News Sites
Excitement over the 2010 World Cup appears to be testing the Web's limits. Indeed, network operator Akamai is reporting the greatest bandwidth demand ever for news sites, notes Beet.TV. There are presently some 11 million visitor requests per minute to its network -- up 233% from the normal demand at this time.
According to Beet, the previous record for most video requests was the inauguration of President Barack Obama. "While Akamai does not report on the world's total Internet demand, it carries many of the world's biggest news organizations including the BBC, CNN, and NBC."
Read more here.
According to Beet, the previous record for most video requests was the inauguration of President Barack Obama. "While Akamai does not report on the world's total Internet demand, it carries many of the world's biggest news organizations including the BBC, CNN, and NBC."
Read more here.
Vevo Passes Hulu
When it launched with much fanfare last December, Vevo was billed as the Hulu for music videos -- the major music labels' answer to the premium video hub by NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment and ABC Inc. Seven months later, Vevo has surpassed Hulu's audience and similarly attracted dozens of blue-chip brands with a lineup of star-laden, professionally produced videos. Unlike Hulu, Vevo -- the joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media Co. -- has used its partnership with YouTube as a booster rocket to build traffic quickly.
Vevo in April drew 43.6 million U.S. unique viewers, equal to a quarter of the total U.S. video audience and making it the fourth-biggest video property behind Google, Yahoo and MySpace. Hulu was No. 8, with 38.7 million.
But of Vevo's audience, only about 10% -- or 4.3 million -- comes from Vevo.com, with the balance coming mostly from the Vevo's YouTube channel.
Read more at Media Post
Vevo in April drew 43.6 million U.S. unique viewers, equal to a quarter of the total U.S. video audience and making it the fourth-biggest video property behind Google, Yahoo and MySpace. Hulu was No. 8, with 38.7 million.
But of Vevo's audience, only about 10% -- or 4.3 million -- comes from Vevo.com, with the balance coming mostly from the Vevo's YouTube channel.
Read more at Media Post
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