VEOH TV Bills Itself as a DVR for the Internet

Just what I need more of....



Veoh TV's new (beta, beta, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, ... yes, there are other ancient greek letters too, people) software lets you watch and record Internet video from thousands of video sources from the get-go. You can immerse yourself in full-length episodes from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and what goes for entertainment on YouTube, MySpace, Google, Yahoo, and your corner store video sharing service.

Finding your shows and clips is super easy with the TV-style guide, or via keyword search. You can even use a remote control. (Which one(s)? As you watch it learns what you like and automatically recommends videos to you. Creeps ... make sure your computer is out of sight when your significant other is there or mom is visiting!

Can't wait to lay your eyes on it? Get an invite here.

(It is currently in an invitation only beta, beta, beta.)

P.S. Looks like this outfit never sleeps - and they don't want you too either!

Me.TV Wants You

To start your own .TV website, for only $24.95. And 19.95 for 10 email accounts a year. Not bad! They've also made it as simple as possible these days. You begin by registering the domain name of your choice with them. However, It'd better be your name (full, if you are lucky and it's still available), or, most likely shortened, abbreviated, or contorted into something awful. Whatever is still available, because the best personal and business domain names are gone with the cyber wind. So to speak. You can search for expired domain names here.

They do offer some nifty features though. You can:

• Link all your profiles from other sites, like MySpace or YouTube, on one, easy to remember site name - your own
• Add your favorite videos and photos
• Write a blog. How many blogs can you write???
• And the obligatory social network thing: Invite friends, family and new people, if you're really, REALLY desperate. Just kidding....



Notwithstanding all of the above, I've decided not to use the the site for now. Primarily because our domain registrar, Network Solutions, is having a special deal going till the end of July: $19 to register any domain name extensions, including .tv. First time ever you can get this extension so cheap anywhere. As our hosting plan is good for unlimited domains and corresponding email service, there is no benefit for us to go with Me.TV.

Also, it's not clear at all who is your domain name registrar. Me.tv? Their partner, Whois Privacy Protection, Inc., providing "ID Protect" service for $4.95/year if you decide to use them? What happens if you want to move to another registrar or hosting company? Too many loose ends for my taste ... and pocketbook.

Welcome to Our Latest .TV Domains

We're on a roll, having just acquied 7 more premier .tv domains for our up-and-coming Intenet TV network coglomerate (Google-YouTube, Viacom, Fox Interactive, etc, etc, beware!):

after8.tv - 70ies.tv - 80ies.tv - 90ies.tv - BroadwayHit.tv - StarChef.tv - TeenLove.tv,

in addition to the ones we've already had:

Culinart.tv - LoveYou.tv - MillionDollarWeb.tv - OffBroadway.tv - SciFiWorld.tv - Studio13.tv, and TimeSquare.tv.

Any one of you interested in investing or co-developing these properties? Leave us a comment. If you are new to this business, here is what Matt Smith, founder of DomainersEdge with a very successful domain porfolio, says about investing in domain names:





Broadcast credit: Google Video (yesss siree, they are still around....)

EveryZing Doesn't Zing Everything

EveryZing has launched a search engine that it hopes will change the way people search for video and audio online. Formerly known as PodZinger, a podcast search engine, EveryZing is leveraging speech systems developed by technology company BBN that converts spoken words into searchable text with about 80 percent accuracy.



I did a video search on Million Dollar Web TV and the pilot episode of Love Show by June. Results were far off! While we have not done PR or marketing for either site, the pilot episode of "Love Show by June" has garnered over 6,300 views on YouTube and 15,490 views on its own site.

Like most others, they promise to monetize your content. The kicker is that they would connect your creations with advertisers automatically. Interesting concept if it works and, especially if it allows you to choose whom you go with. Coming the fall of 2007....

MillionDollarWebTV.com Is Going HDTV

June, one of my partners in charge of marketing, showed the rest of us ignoramuses the latest statistics about high definition tv (yes, HDTV) and computer monitor sales some three months (eons?) ago. She was intoning, with a missionary's zeal:

"Digital convergence is now combining the functions of HDTV and computer monitors into one device, in the 16:9 screen dimensional ratio. Sales of these HDTV monitors are climbing fast, making the single function computer monitor obsolete. Here, watch what Robin Heron and Patrick Norton of Digital Life TV, affectionately known in geekdom as DL.TV have to say about everything HDTV:





So. What are YOU going to do about it???" she demanded to know.

We squirmed. (Not really.) "Good question. What do YOU propose we do about it???????" Million Dollar Web TV will be operational for 10+ years. What are we to do about it? We could / should / might / may:

1. Change the home station page ad grid layout to 1250 x 800 pixels.
2. Redesign the other pages to conform to this ratio.

So we have. Our developers outdid themselves - all in midstream of building the site. They probably - surely? - call me a slave driver. If that's what it takes… I can handle that… especially from thousands of miles away….

Broadcast credit: Google Video

The Birth and Death of the Universe

This gorgeous video is from the Hubble Space Telescope DVD, titled "15 Years of Discovery, Chapter 8, BIRTH AND DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE." There are 85 videos like that on a new channel from SpaceTelescope.org, via VEOH.





The Universe is gloriously transparent to visible light over journeys lasting billions of years. However, in the last few microseconds before light arrives at telescope mirrors on Earth it must travel through our turbulent atmosphere and the fine cosmic details become blurred. It is this same atmospheric turbulence that makes the stars appear to twinkle on a dark night.

Putting a telescope in space is one way of evading this problem. In addition to collecting visible light from its orbit high above the atmosphere, the Hubble Space Telescope also observes the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths that are completely filtered out by the atmosphere.

Hubble, a collaboration between NASA and ESA, has made some of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of astronomy. From its vantage point 360 miles above the Earth, it can detect light with 'eyes' 5 times sharper than the best ground-based telescopes, and looks deep into space where some of the most profound mysteries are still buried in the mists of time.

Way to go, NASA and ESA!

Broadcast credit: VEOH

Business "YouTube" from Business Week?

This from Mediaweek's newsletter:

"Business Week is mulling the idea of a 'business YouTube' to allow would-be moguls to pitch ideas to the paper's readers. They would vote on a winner, who will receive $500,000 in venture-capital funding. Speaking at a conference in Miami, John Byrne, the acting editor-in-chief for Businessweek.com, said the company was looking to purchase a new technology platform to help create the interactive competition.

Unfortunately, their videos are not embeddable. So here is one on this subject, showing the winners in the latest Canadian Venture Forum, courtesy of YouTube:






Byrne said the idea behind the move is to both widen the site's audience and boost repeat visits among existing users. Like a reality show, the idea's success hinges on quality production and editing. It simply won't do having camera-shy tech geeks outline their ideas in a monotone. Most likely, this kind of project would require a host, and filtering out the particularly bad stuff. Otherwise, you may only get a few VCs-which are a small portion of the BW audience--to watch. Make no mistake, this is content, which means it has to be solid to fly, or advertisers won't care."

It's gratifying to know you will need to spend some serious money to create a professional pitch ... especially since there is already another player, vator.tv, which does not penalize us "camera-shy tech geeks." (They don't have to "monetize" their content, thank God.)

Broadcast credit: YouTube (Isn't that a riot?)

The New, Improved "All-in-One" Real Video Player

Real Networks' (remember them?) new RealPlayer, in beta this month, will allow you to download Internet video instantly from YouTube, Yahoo and virtually anywhere else on the Web. Build a library for full-screen playback on your PC; better yet, stream it from your PC directly to your TV with Apple TV; or burn it to disc.





I checked RealPlayer's home and was treated to an earful: "Your nephew's first steps. The speech that moves you. The hilarious clip your co-worker forwarded. With the new RealPlayer , you'll be able to download them all to your personal video playlist. Grab videos from thousands of Web sites with just one click. Watch them any time, create a video playlist or even burn your greatest hits to DVD. Find the Web video you want- and Real it in."





Hype notwithstanding, the free player does enable you to download or record non DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected videos from multiple formats - including not only Real, but Windows Media, Quicktime and even Flash. (I'll wait to see how that works in the final version before giving you my take.) You can also burn your videos to disc - to DVDs with the RealPlayer Plus pay version and to CDs in Video-CD format with the free version. Transfer to your mobile entertainment / communication device of choice - iPod? (not likely) ; iPhone (ditto); Zune (possibly); etc. will be available in the future, says Real.

Are you being realed in?

KipKay Says: Double Your Gas Mileage 2X ....

Or "The secret gas companies and car manufacturers don't want you to know."

Now here is a lighthearted Sunday afternoon treatment of a currently VERY expensive proposition: driving your vehicle of choice. Let me give you some statistics about its popularity, straight from Metacafe, where Kipkay's creation plays to a very appreciative (gullable?) crowd:

Views: 295,345 - Great
Rating: 4.51 stars - Nice
Producer Rewards: This video has earned $1,477 - Cool!





Before you get carried away, a disclaimer: I do NOT approve, condone, or suggest you should try the acetone treatment ... the rest is up to you.

Broadcast credit: Metacafe

Gift Certificates for Dads & Grads

From iTunes, so they can download and enjoy their favorite movie, tv show, music video, and who knows what else.





Can't wait to play them on my iPhone ... if it comes out on time. Only one month. Apple - are you tuned in here?