The Obamas head to Europe

[Reuters video via The Huffington Post]

Disney Will Make Short Videos Available on YouTube

Walt Disney Television became the latest media company to make a distribution deal with YouTube on Monday, saying that it would share short-form content with the world’s largest video Web site.

[via The New York Times]

DirecTV lets you control your DVR

The DirecTV app for iPhone basically lets you control your DVR from anywhere.

Full features:

-- You can search for any television show up to 14 days in advance.

-- Browse programs by channel or date time.

-- Access program information instantly, including description, length and rating.

-- Set to record shows by a single episode or entire series.

-- Program Pay Per View movies to be recorded and ready to watch any time.

-- Record to any DIRECTV DVR in your home.

[via ZDNet ]

Pupil TV habits concern teachers

Ninety per cent of teachers say some pupils are imitating the language and behaviour of reality television stars, a survey for a teaching union suggests, reports the BBC.

Three quarters also think pupils are behaving more aggressively as a consequence, the survey found.

Reality TV show Big Brother was singled out as a bad example by two thirds of teachers questioned by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

More teachers thought that television had a greater influence on children's behaviour than computers and video games.

The Pirate Bay heads to Facebook

The Pirate Bay has added a 'Share on Facebook' button on its website, allowing faster file sharing between friends via the leading social network. TechRadar reports.

Soon you may be seeing links to download copies of Star Wars or the newest Britney Spears album pop up your Facebook news feed," claims Mashable's Ben Parr, "because The Pirate Bay… now allows you to share links to download these files right from your Facebook profile."

While we await the final outcome of the recent The Pirate Bay court case over in Sweden, with the Judge set to deliver his final verdict later in April, this latest news from the torrent-sharing site seems to confirm that the organisation is seemingly determined to test the limits and patience of the mainstream record industry and the likes of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the IFPI.

Facebook: 40% of Videos Are Webcam Uploads

This is wild. According to Liz Gannes over at NewTeeVee, 40 percent 37 percent of Facebook video uploads come from webcams.

Facebook's Software engineer Chris Putnam, the lead video developer for the site, told Liz Gannes last week that Facebook receives some 260,000 video uploads per day, with an additional 155,000 of them daily video uploads directly from webcams.

CBS Uses Apple App Store To Promote New Show

CBS mobile will launch a free Harper’s Island application on the App Store to promote its new show, Harpers Island. MocoNews.net reports.

The show is a murder mystery where not even the cast know what is going to happen the following week, and the app is designed to get people to interact with the show.

The pre-launch version of the application provides iPhone and iPod touch users with details on the terrifying history of Harper’s Island, as well as preview clips from the show.

The show premieres in two weeks, at which point the app will get updated so viewers can participate in the mystery.

The Conficker Worm: What Happens Next?

One of the most dangerous computer worms known as "Conficker" is spreading through the Internet. By some estimates, 10 million computers have been infected worldwide.

60 Minutes reports on the Conficker worm.

Japan Baby Coke Comerical

Just for fun. Spotted on Japan Probe, a commercial for "baby coke".

Warner Bros. 'Archive' Brings Obscure Films to DVD On-demand

Warner Bros has just launched Warner Archive, a web portal where film aficionados can surf over and locate niche titles to be placed on a DVD and shipped out.

[via Switched]

Japanese Movie Companies Stream Classic Films to TVs

"Maru Maru Eiga" is a new service to deliver Japanese classic films on Japanese television.

The five companies are Kadokawa Pictures Inc, Shochiku Co Ltd, Toei Co Ltd, Toho Co Ltd and Nikkatsu Corp. They will select classic and hit films from a total of about 12,000 movies that they own and deliver six of them every month. Each film is available for purchase for six months.

[via Tech-On]

Higher Education for All

YouTube has announced the launch of YouTube EDU, a hub for videos from over 100 of our leading university and college partners. Think campus tours, news about cutting-edge research, and lectures by professors and world-renowned thought leaders. There are also 200 full (and free!) courses, in a range of subjects, from some of the world's most prestigious universities, including IIT/IISc, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Yale.

There are over 20,000 videos on YouTube EDU and growing.

[via YouTube Blog]

Special YouTube Ads Earn Nonprofit $10,000 In A Single Day

Earlier this week YouTube launched a new feature for non-profit organizations called “Call to Action”, allowing these organizations to place special overlay ads on their videos free of charge. TechCrunch reports.

These overlays can direct viewers to the non-profits’ homepage, where users can elect to donate money, sign up for mailing lists, and interact with other members in the community. And unlike typical ads on YouTube (which video uploaders don’t generally have control over), non-profits can specifiy exactly which page they’d like to redirect to.

To pilot test the feature, YouTube placed a video supporting charity:water on its homepage last Sunday, featuring an overlay encouraging YouTube users to donate money to the cause. In that one day, charity:water received a whopping $10,000 from YouTube viewers. Granted, the fact that the video was featured on the homepage clearly had a huge impact on the turnout, but the success of the new Call-to-Action ads is likely going to be a boon for many non-profits.

China: YouTube Again Accessible

The Chinese government has lifted its block of YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site run by Google, reports The New York Times.

China is reported to have blocked the YouTube video-sharing website because it has been carrying video of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans.

Anti-Brown speech gets 1.1m views

More than a million people have watched internet footage of a South East England MEP verbally attacking the Prime Minister over the economy, reports the BBC.

Tory politician Daniel Hannan told Gordon Brown he was the "devalued prime minister of a devalued government" at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

In the clip of Tuesday's speech, footage shows Mr Brown smiling and making notes during the verbal attack.

Writing on his blog for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the Conservative politician said: "The internet has changed politics - changed it utterly and forever.

"What caught their attention? To be honest, I'm slightly perplexed. I have been making similar speeches every week and posting them on YouTube for the past seven months."

More than 7,500 people have commented on the clip, including many from the US.

Google Aims to Connect Ads for TV, YouTube

According to the WSJ, Google is developing technology to connect its TV-ad brokering business to YouTube and eventually video on other Web sites, as it struggles to lure bigger advertisers to both services.

Google's director of television ads, Michael Steib, said in an interview that the company is working on technology that allows advertisers to buy ads across Google TV, which sells on-air commercials; YouTube; and video on other Web sites through the same interface. Google is testing the service, called Google TV Ads Online, with a small group of advertisers, he said. People familiar with the matter say the service -- which would leverage Google TV's targeting technology -- is likely to be introduced in the coming months.

Research Report: Youngsters Not Abandoning Live TV

A $3.5 billion one year research study into where and how Americans out video, reveals today that the extent to which young people are abandoning live television for new media has been by overestimated. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

According to the Video Consumer Mapping Study, people aged between 18-24 watched only 5.5 minutes of ‘computer video,’ daily compared with 209.9 minutes of live television. DVR playback accounted for 17.2 minutes a day. Across all ages groups, live television still accounted for 309.1 minutes of viewing a day compared to only 14.6 minutes of playback TV and 2.4 minutes daily spent watching online video.

Read full article.

Abortion ads could be allowed on UK TV

Abortion advice could be advertised on television and radio for the first time under a major shake-up of rules in the UK, reports Ananova.

Rules restricting the advertising of condoms on TV could also be relaxed under proposals put forward in an effort to halt high rates of teenage pregnancy.

Adverts for pregnancy advisory services could be allowed in prime-time evening slots on the major channels and radio following consultation by advertising watchdogs.

But advertisers must stipulate if the service does not refer women directly for abortion under the new proposals.

Obama to Answer Online Questions

The President introduces a new tool on WhiteHouse.gov, "Open for Questions," which will allow you to submit your questions on the economy and vote on those submitted by others.

A video of Mr. Obama (above) was posted at the site to solicit questions, which he said should focus on the economy. The categories listed alongside the questions section range from jobs to financial stability to health care reform.

At the time of publishing this post, 66,301 people have submitted 71,496 questions and cast 2,719,498 votes

It’s unclear how often President Obama will answer questions posed to him at the new site. It’s also unclear for now what will happen to all of those he can’t answer in an hour. (An awful lot of people will probably be disappointed.)

[via The New York Times Caucus Blog]

Streaming TV Episodes Coming to Blackberry

RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA. The service is part of RIM’s effort to turn itself into an attractive multimedia option for non iPhone users. The streaming videos would most certainly coincide with the release of Blackberry App World.

[via GigaOM]

Pirate Bay Announces IPREDATOR Global Anonymity Service

Soon the The Pirate Bay team will introduce iPREDATOR, a service that promises to make global Internet users more anonymous than with existing VPN services. This type of service hinders outsiders from finding the identity of an individual behind an IP address, while helping Internet users effectively side-step laws which may prove inconvenient or unpalatable in their home country.

[via TorrentFreak]

Apple turns on Genius sidebar for movies/TV

iTunes' Genius sidebar feature now works with TV shows and movies in addition to music. The feature will be able to provide you with video recommendations based on what other customers have bought, assuming it has enough data to work from.

Like the Genius sidebar for music, Genius sidebar for TV and movies makes recommendations on what you should watch based on what you have already bought.

[via ars technica]

Kiwis get reprieve from new anti-piracy law

New Zealand has withdrawn a controversial law which could have forced firms to disconnect internet users accused of illegal use of material such as music or films. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Copyright Amendment Act would have put the onus on internet service providers (ISPs) to ban users accused of copyright breaches, even if allegations were unproven.

"Section 92a is not going to come into force as originally written. We have now asked the minister of commerce to start work on a replacement section," Prime Minister John Key told reporters.

The new law was due to come into effect in late February but it was postponed for a month following widespread protests from internet users.

Related:

-- AT&T first to test RIAA antipiracy plan

-- France's Sarkozy move to punish illegal downloaders sparks liberties row

-- UK Anti-piracy plan to make ISPs liable for illegal downloads

Blockbuster and TiVo Join to Deliver Digital Movies

According to The New York Times, Blockbuster will announce a partnership with TiVo on Wednesday to deliver Blockbuster’s digital movie library over the Internet directly to the televisions of people with TiVo digital video recorders.

As with similar deals TiVo has struck to make digital video services from Amazon and Netflix accessible from its set-top boxes, no money will change hands between the companies. But Blockbuster also said it would sell TiVos at many of its 4,000 stores in the United States, taking a typical retailer’s cut of sales. The two companies plan a joint marketing campaign to promote the new service, which will start in the second half of the year.

Chinese YouTube Rival Adopts US Firm's Copyright Filter

Chinese video streaming Web site 56.com began full use of a filter for copyrighted content designed by U.S. startup Vobile, the companies said Tuesday, marking progress in an industry plagued by intellectual property issues.

The move places 56.com a step ahead of its biggest Chinese rivals in combating the upload of copyrighted content by users. But as Vobile's software makes 56.com a more law-abiding Web site, the software could hurt it against rivals less stringent with copyrights.

Vobile's product automatically checks videos uploaded to 56.com against a registry of copyrighted material and flags infringing clips for staff to remove.

Asian youths can't live without TV, Web: poll

A 2008 survey revealed that most of Asia's youth spends on average 10 hours a day watching TV, on the Internet, reading magazines or listening to the radio. Reuters reports.

... Nearly a third of young Asians said they plan their day around their favorite TV programs, hoping to catch every episode, the Synovate Young Asians survey revealed.

Up to a quarter said they could not live without the Internet, and two-thirds said they must listen to music daily.

Koreans spent over 13 hours a day -- the longest in the region -- consuming some form of media, followed by Hong Kong youth and Singaporeans.

Synovate found that 35 percent of youths had increased their Internet usage in the past year. Close to a quarter had spent more time watching TV while 34 percent said that they had devoted more time to listening to music.

The survey covers 12 countries across Asia, including Vietnam and Japan for the first time.

China 'blocks YouTube video site'

China is reported to have blocked the YouTube video-sharing website because it has been carrying video of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans, reports BBC.

The date and location of the footage, posted by a Tibetan exile group, cannot be ascertained.

On Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China "is not afraid of the internet". However, he was unable to confirm if YouTube had been blocked.

Convert YouTube Videos to MP3s

Want to hear your YouTube favorites offline? Free Web service Video 2 MP3 converts them into MP3s for easy downloading. The Washington Post reports.

Just copy and paste the URL from the video's YouTube page and click Convert. Then be prepared to wait a few minutes.

Google Boosts Video Analytics on YouTube

To what was a very basic tool, Google has added such features as the ability to take a look at the YouTube community's comments and ratings about a video and to drill down on feedback to a particular country or region in the world. [via Intelligent Enterprise]

The first iteration ofYouTube Insight, launched about a year ago, was a "very, very basic product," providing statistics on the number of views per day, where those viewers are in the world, and how a video compares in popularity to other videos in a given time period.

The new features, launched last week, go a step or two further by taking a look at the YouTube community's comments and ratings about a video, providing the ability to drill down on feedback to a particular country or region in the world. Insight also provides the ability to see traffic from sites outside of YouTube that have embedded video in pages.

Dropping TVs Down Drains

Philips gets the point across on how thin their flat screen really is with an award winning ad campaign entitled “Careful Bringing It Home”.

[via TrendHunter]