ZeroPaid.com » tvu

70% of the US regularly watch online videos

soulxtc — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:29:15 +0000

In a sign of things to come, nearly 123 million people in the US, some 70% of the total online population, watched an online video of some sort in the month of January.

The duo behind Joost correctly surmised some time ago that the future of television will really be the internet via online streaming. People want to watch what they want, where they want, and when they want. It’s that simple.

With our lives increasingly filled with such a wide array of entertainment choices to choose from, be it videos games, music, movies, you name it, the TV is forced to compete for precious time just like anything else.

Well, comScore, a “leader in digital media measurement,” recently released a report detailing the US streaming video market from its Video Metrix service.

In January of this year, nearly 123 million people in the US, some 70% of the total online population, viewed more than 7.2 billion online videos. The average person streamed some 59 total videos, nearly 2 a day. Most of them are apparently of the YouTube variety as the average viewing time per video is 2.6 minutes.

Google Sites was ranked as the top streaming video host, as measured by “…total unique streamers (54.7 million) and total video streams initiated (1.167 billion).” Of the sites which Google owns and maintains, YouTube, of course, was by far the largest as it accounted for some 992 million of the total number of video streams initiated.

In another piece of interesting data to note, the “primetime” hours for video streaming activity occurred between 5 and 8 p.m.. Considering that traditional TV primetime hours occur between 8 and 11 p.m. there is a huge potential for broadcasters to be able to essentially DOUBLE their primetime viewer ship and marketing audience.

Some networks, particularly ABC which was the first to do so, have started to embrace online streaming of their primetime shows, and this data now proves just how savvy the decision was after all. The data shows that not only is there an established demand for streaming content but, that more than an amazing 2/3 of the country now make up this new and emerging market. I guess this ends all the doubts people may have had about Joost once and for all.

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SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”

Peering into Video’s Future

soulxtc — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:54:20 +0000

The Internet is about to drown in digital video. Hui Zhang thinks peer-to-peer networks could come to the rescue.

Ted Stevens, the 83-year-old senior senator from Alaska, was widely ridiculed last year for a speech in which he described the Internet as "a series of tubes." Yet clumsy as his metaphor may have been, Stevens was struggling to make a reasonable point: the tubes can get clogged. And that may happen sooner than expected, thanks to the exploding popularity of digital video.

TV shows, YouTube clips, animations, and other video applications already account for more than 60 percent of Internet traffic, says CacheLogic, a Cambridge, England, company that sells media delivery systems to content owners and Internet service providers (ISPs). "I imagine that within two years it will be 98 percent," adds Hui Zhang, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. And that will mean slower downloads for everyone.

Zhang believes help could come from an unexpected quarter: peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution technology. Of course, there’s no better playground for piracy, and millions have used P2P networks such as Gnutella, Kazaa, and BitTorrent to help themselves to copyrighted content. But Zhang thinks this black-sheep technology can be reformed and put to work helping legitimate content owners and Internet-backbone operators deliver more video without overloading the network.

READ REST OF ARTICLE….

SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”

Coming soon to Bittorrent: Girls in Bikinis?

soulxtc — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:39:21 +0000

Azureus just announced a deal with Bennet Media Woldwide that will allow them to distribute HD shows via their Zudeo.com P2P download platform. From their news release:

“Among the Bennett Media original productions to be featured in HD on Zudeo include Bikini Destinations, The Wild Side, The Extremists, Xotic Xtreme and Snowology. Bennett Media content will be available on Azureus later this year.”

No word yet on the costs of the content. The shows are pretty much the same ones that were licensed to Guba.com for distribution “on a pay-per-view, download-to-own and ad-supported basis” late last year, so that might be an indicator for what Azureus could do with them.

Obviously paying for a show like Bikini Destinations might not be that compelling to the average Azureus user. After all, there is lots of this stuff available for free on your average porn tracker sites like Mariposahd.tv.

The Venice Project gets “Joost” up

soulxtc — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:05:54 +0000

Today marks the official launch of the global broadband television service as well as the debut of it’s new name — "Joost."

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the two Scandinavian entrepreneurs behind KaZaA and Skype, which shook up the music and telephone industry respectively, have formally launched their latest salvo at the television industry.

Previously known under the code name "The Venice Project," today it has been revealed that it’s official name will be "Joost." The announcement marks the formal launching of the new on-demand broadband television service

As previously described, "Joost", as it is now called, enables users to watch content whenever and wherever they want, giving people complete viewing freedom and control.

Powered by a secure, efficient, piracy-proof internet platform, Joost enables a high-quality video experience based on premium content, while guaranteeing copyright protection for content owners and creators.

"People are looking for increased choice and flexibility in their TV experience, while the entertainment industry needs to retain control over their content," said Fredrik de Wahl, chief executive officer of Joost. "With Joost, we’ve married that consumer desire with the industry’s interests."

Joost is the first global TV distribution platform, bringing together advertisers, content owners and viewers in an interactive, community-driven environment. Joost can be accessed with a broadband Internet connection and offers broadcast-quality content to viewers for free.

"We’ve received positive and constructive feedback from our early beta-testers and are now at a stage where we’re ready to reveal our true brand," said de Wahl. "The Joost name has global appeal, embodies fun and energy, and will come to define the ‘best of TV and the best of the Internet."

Here’s some more screenshots.

"Joost" still isn’t available to the public but, you can sign up to be a BETA tester and get a chance to take a look at it sooner rather than later.

Looking for more stuff to read, watch or download?
"The Venice Project:" a sneak peek with a BETA tester
TVU, Free P2P Cable TV
Watch The Simpsons, The Office, Jackass, South Park, Lost, X-Men, and More On-Demand For Free
vNES: play Nintendo games in your internet browser
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
Watch Tons of Your Favorite Movies On-Demand for FREE
Azureus – A Beginner’s Guide to BitTorrent Downloading
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading

SOULXTC: "walkin’ the streets of P2P"

“The Venice Project:” a sneak peek with a BETA tester

soulxtc — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:03:42 +0000

I have a slew of screen shots and the inside scoop on the cool new creation from the geniuses behind KaZaA and Skype. The Venice Project has begun secretly doling out BETA Tester invites, and I have been fortunate enough to be among them.

Skype and KaZaA co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are at it again. After first shaking up the the music and telephone industries, the pair is taking on the television networks with their latest creation, “The Venice Project.”

The fact that you watch clips at your own pace and your own discretion is what sets it apart from current streaming platforms like TVUPlayer, or sites like TVLinks and Pick and Watch. The only drawback is that the content right now is for the most part lame and limited in variety and selection.

It’s mainly music oriented, and has no well-known or popular content, the “World’s Strongest Man” of ESPN fame and the old-school black and white “Lassie” being the only ones I had ever even heard of before.

After agreeing to the usual stuff………

“She” loads up and starts playing one of the channels at random.

Here’s a shot of the “Fifth Gear” channel, which caters to fans of sports cars, speed, and racing.

To get an idea of what the controls are like, you can see them here in the image below. Starting on the upper left, you have, in order: minimize, full-screen vs half-screen toggle, and main menu.

The arrows that you see on the bottom left-hand side allow you to scroll through and within channels.

Every couple of show or so that you watch bring up a quick commercial advertisement to watch. They’re not too bad and only last about 5 seconds.

Going to the main menu, we’ll take a look at some of the channels available to watch.

As you can see, yes that’s right, they have a “Paris Hilton channel.”

To get a better look, by selecting the channel you can get up close and personal with this lady of partying and video fame. Here’s a view from a clip called “Making the Album.” So for those of you who bought her album and couldn’t get enough, here’s the “backstory” behind it.

So what are all the channels available you ask?

Here’s a rundown of them all”
Fifth Gear
Warner Bros. Records
Green Day
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Paris Hilton
Explora Channel
MTV Staying Alive
World Strongest Man
Jizzy TV
What’s Popular
The Roger Sisters
VOY TV
Critical Shorts
BoomChicago
Off the Fence – Docs on Demand
Lazy TV
Havoc Action Sports TV
Wildlight
Beyond the Pit
The Diddy Channel
Atlantic Street
MusicNation
Live @ Muc
Hot & Wet
Nettwerk
Lassie

The “Hot & Wet” channel is one of the more interesting ones, offering “water-balloon dodgeball matches” and “beach hot-bod bikini contests.”

As for the “Diddy Channel,” I think the name says it all.

Overall, The Venice Project is pretty cool, though the content offerings were kind of a disappointment. But, considering it’s still in BETA and the fact that it could potentially change the face of television, they get a lot of leeway in my book with these first few baby steps.

I think in the future that content production companies will see the potential of a platform that can carry their programming straight to the consumer without any of the associated payments for distribution, region rights, etc.. Perhaps even shows that may otherwise have never made the cut in the cutthroat world of Primetime TV could find a home here. Revenues could be derived from commercial and the chance for advertisers to reach a larger or otherwise untapped audience.

The Venice Project. Are we seeing the dawn of a new era for TV viewing? Time will tell, but so far it looks quite promising.

Looking for more stuff to read, watch or download?
TVU, Free P2P Cable TV
vNES: play Nintendo games in your internet browser
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
Watch Tons of Your Favorite Movies On-Demand for FREE
Azureus – A Beginner’s Guide to BitTorrent Downloading
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading

SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”

TVU Player gives you FREE Cable TV

soulxtc — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:36:55 +0000

Looking for a cheap and easy way to watch TV from your home PC? Can’t afford cable? Well TVU and the TVU Player offers free P2P streaming of many of your favorite cable TV channels.

From FOX to the USA network, from Comedy Central to the Cartoon Network, it has all the “pillars” of cable TV without all the bills.

TVU uses a central server to stream all the TV broadcasts, but also relies on the TVU client program to redistribute it to other PCs.

“But unlike BitTorrent,” PCMag writes, “…there is no real indicator pointing to where TVU’s streams originate, and thus no real way of telling whether TVU is simply offering a tool to distribute multimedia content or actively breaking copyright laws. Several of the channels use TVU’s logo instead of the channel logo, however.”

Technology semantics aside, its FREE CABLE TV and it works like a charm.

TVU currently offers the following TV channels:

Sports

ESPN, ESPN (ASIA), ESPN 2, MLB, Star Sports, CCTV 5, Telecapri (Italy), NBA TV

General

ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, USA Network, Comedy Central, Disney, Animal Planet, CW, Cartoon Network, TV Land, NASA TV, TeleMundo, Phoenix CN, Star TV

News

CNBC, CNN (low), CNN 1, Class News(Italy), Phoenix Info, CBN, Al Jazeera

Movies

Hollywood, CCTV 8

Lifestyle

Fashion

Music

LC2, Channel V, Music+, All Music, OnTop TV

*UPDATE* They are currently rotating TNT and HBO on the Test Channel 10134

Now for some of the channels the stand alone TVU Player won’t have all the channels listed, like FOX for example, so you have to use its sister site, Vidoo.com instead. Vidoo still uses the TVU client but, has it embedded in the page rather than as a stand alone. Also to note, Vidoo doesn’t work in Firefox and must be opened in Internet Explorer for it to run TVU properly.

Here’s what the TVU Player looks like…….

(CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

…and here’s a picture of Vidoo. Notice that this where some of the additional channels like FOX are to be found that aren’t listed in the TVU Player.

TVU plans to offer “pay content” in the future as well, like pay-per-view events and premium channels. Considering their drastically reduced broadcast distribution costs, it ought to be pretty cheap compared to the alternative of ones monopolistic local cable TV provider.

To check out and try TVU, start by clicking on the download bar below.

SOULXTC: “walkin’ the streets of P2P”