Tag Archives: YouTube

Google gets a makeover

News, Technology, , , , , , , , , , ,

You can call it Exteme Makeover: Google Edition. Over the past few weeks Google has been rolling out a new look across many of their services, including the Google homepage, Gmail, Google Calendar, and YouTube. “The way people use and experience the web is evolving, and our goal is to give you a more seamless and consistent online experience—one that works no matter which Google product you’re using or what device you’re using it on,” explains Google. In a word they’re simply streamlining all their intertwined experiences, and the changes are ” founded on three key design principles: focus, elasticity and effortlessness.”

At Google‘s homepage you’ll surely notice the new black strip located across the top; the colorful logo is smaller and centered, the Search and Lucky buttons have a new hue, and the About, Privacy, and Advertising links have been moved to the bottom left-hand corner of the page. In Gmail and Calendar everything is bolder and more roomier to match the new homepage aesthetic. Design cues were certainly carried over from Google+. Google’s also experimenting with YouTube’s look; Cosmic Panda is the codename for the video player’s new sheen. YouTube is positively sleek in its new coat of paint.

Google’s homepage and Calendar changes have been rolling out to users automatically. To experience Gmail and YouTube’s new flairs you must enable it manually. In Gmail, select “Preview” and “Preview (Dense)” themes in the Themes tab in Gmail Settings; to play around with Cosmic Panda head over to this YouTube portal and click “Try it out.” Since Google’s still testing it out and awaiting customer feedback, you can revert back to the classic look at any time.

It will take time for every Google service to fall in line aesthetically with the new homepage, but there’s no denying that Google’s first wave of cosmetic changes is simply delightful and, well, downright sexy.

YouTube adds 3,000 movies from major Hollywood studios to its stable

Movies, News, Technology, , , , , , , , , , ,

YouTube’s been offering movies to rent since 2009, but the streaming service never really popped due to lack of popular content. Things are about to change. Thanks to super-duper partnerships with major Hollywood studios like NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. the collection of rentable movies from YouTube just got a whole lot more exciting. In a press release, YouTube says that customers can expect classic films such as Caddyshack, Goodfellas, Scarface, and Taxi Driver to blockbuster new releases like Inception, The King’s Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet and Despicable Me to start making their way into the video store shortly. New titles will continually be added to the library every week. The renting process is simple and works similarly to competitors out there (read: Apple TV, etc.). Sign into your YouTube account, browse the movies library, and rent a movie with your credit card. Pricing ranges from $2.99 to $3.99 depending on SD/HD resolutions and new releases vs. older selections. Interestingly the press release notes that the site supports video in up to 4k resolution, but I don’t see studios uploading that kind of quality in the foreseeable future. Once a movie is rented, customers will have 30 days to begin watching and once the movie is played it will vanish from existence in 24 hours. Note that movies are strictly streamed over the Internet and not downloaded locally. They are viewable on PCs and Google TVs only for the time being. YouTube is trying to differentiate itself by including “YouTube Movie Extras,” free behind-the-scenes videos, cast interviews, parodies, clips and remixes from YouTube’s unique community of content creators alongside the rentable movies.

Head over to youtube.com/movies to check out the new and highly improved movie selection. Full PR with FAQ after the break.

[Via YouTube 1, 2] Continue reading YouTube adds 3,000 movies from major Hollywood studios to its stable →

April Fools, 2011 edition: Google kicks things off with Gmail Motion [Update: And oh so much more]

Hilarity, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just signed out of Gmail and was prompted to check out a new feature in beta called Gmail Motion.

Gmail Motion uses your computer’s built-in webcam and Google’s patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.

Head over to the elaborately detailed website Google has dedicated to this fun prank. There you’ll find more information about the technology behind Gmail Motion and hear what a “paralanguage expert” and “movement specialist” have to say about it. In due time, the search company plans to expand Motion into Google Docs (creating a pie chart is a riot).

Update: Looks like Google’s pulling a handful of pranks this year. Hop after the break to see what they’re all about. Continue reading April Fools, 2011 edition: Google kicks things off with Gmail Motion [Update: And oh so much more] →

YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27

Movies, News, Video, , , , ,

Remember that crowd-sourced documentary film attached to filmmakers Kevin Macdonald and Ridley Scott I was telling you about back in early July?  Well it’s almost complete and ready for us to enjoy!  Here’s a quick refresher if you need it.  Life in a Day is described as “a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on Earth.”  Director Macdonald and producer Scott asked people all around the world to film their day on July 24, 2010.  Over 80,000 video clips of people’s lives were submitted (over 4500 hours of footage), and a team of editors managed to whittle it all down into a 90 minute documentary film “that gives an honest and inspiring glimpse of our world.”  Of the 80,000 clips originally submitted, 1,125 of them made it into the final cut.  One of these chosen clips is embedded above; the beautifully shot clip called “Slim Up” was shot by by Toniu Xou and Patricia Martinez del Hoyoa of Spain and features a young girl climbing a human castle in the small town of San Jaume dels Domenys in the Spanish province of Tarragona.  This is just a sneak peak into what the film will encompass.  The film “really gives you a flavor of what it was like to be alive on 24th July 2010,” says Macdonald.

Life in a Day will premiere January 27 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and it will be broadcasted live on YouTube for everyone to see that day at 8PM EST.  Following the premiere the director of the Festival will conduct an interactive interview with Macdonald and the 20 top contributors of the film.  Starting Monday, January 24 you can submit questions and maybe yours will get picked when the interview is streamed after the film.

Bookmark the Life in a Day YouTube channel and check back there on the 27th at 8PM to watch what promises to be an exciting and curious look into a single day of humanity.  Look after the break to watch a recent and informative interview with Macdonald and editor Joe Walker.

Update: National Geographic has partnered up with YouTube to acquire the rights to bring the doc to the States. If you missed Life in a Day when it streamed online, it’s expected that Nat Geo will release it in theatres on July 24, 2011; yes, that is exactly one year after all the footage was shot.  A DVD release with bonus content will follow.

[Via YouTubeBlog; Deadline] Continue reading YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27 →

How the world searched, tweeted, and YouTube’d in 2010

Image cache, News, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ah 2010, what a year it has been.  What’s the best way to find out what was on everyone’s minds over the course of the past year?  By looking at the top Google searches, top Twitter trends, and most watched YouTube videos, duh!  The search giant has gone all out this year with their public Google Zeitgeist 2010.  What were this year’s hottest search terms?  Well, just look in the bar graph above!  The creepy video chat service Chatroulette took the top prize as the fastest rising query, and the rest of the list includes celebrities Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Apple’s iPad, game portals Friv and GameZer, ringtone maker Myxer, and social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.  Click here to browse the entire Google Zeitgeist report.  Search terms are categorized subject matter and region, and Google also put together some snazzy interactive maps to support the data analytics.

Look after the break to learn about the most popular Twitter trends and the most watched YouTube videos of 2010. Continue reading How the world searched, tweeted, and YouTube’d in 2010 →

Control YouTube Leanback with YouTube Remote app using Android device

News, Technology, , , , , ,

Ya’ll remember the introduction to YouTube Leanback, the minimalistic way of browsing and watching YouTube videos on the desktop?  Well now that YouTube and the Leanback viewing experience has found a second home on the television through Google TV, the search giant has decided to create and disseminate a YouTube Remote app for Android users (sorry, iPhoners) that allows you to control Leanback using your phone.  Setup is simple.  You “pair” your phone to your television (or PC) by logging into your YouTube account on both screens and boom!  Now you can “find and queue up videos to watch, send them all to Leanback with a single tap…[and] play, pause, skip forward and back and even control the sound volume.”  The power of YouTube user control lies in the palm of your hand.  The free Android app is available for download today.

[Via YouTubeBlog]

Jump into interactive 8-Bit Glee

Music, Television, Video, , , , ,

Glee just got 8-bit’d.  From The Station and Doctor Octoroc, the guy who brought us Dr. Horrible in 8-bits, comes a new YouTube interactive game starring your favorite Glee club New Directions.  You’ll recognize the music, the characters, and the locations in this Pokemon-style video collection.  Once you watch this first video all the way through, you will be prompted at the end to choose where to go next.  Mash play and give it a go!

[Via NYMag]

YouTube live streaming tested today and tomorrow, don’t miss it!

News, Technology, , , , , , , ,

You’ve heard of UStream?  Well Google is looking to add similar functionality to their popular video site.  Today and tomorrow YouTube will be testing a live streaming platform with four content partners: Howcast, Next New Networks, Rocketboom and Young Hollywood.  The platform seemlessly integrates live streaming into a YouTube channel page.  All they require of selected broadcasters is a webcam or external USB/FireWire camera.  Easy peesy, right?  A “Live Comments” module sits to the right of the live video stream; this gives viewers and broadcasters the ability to communicate with one another.  Remember this is only a two-day trial only for the specified content partners; Google promises to “evaluate rolling out the platform more broadly to our partners worldwide” at an undisclosed date.  So don’t think you can broadcast live your own keyboard cat doing his thing for the world to see…yet.  Click the links provided above (or scrub through the interactive embedded YouTube TV-mabob) to catch live content before time runs out.

[Via YouTubeBlog; Engadget]

VEVO brings its music video library to the iPhone

News, Technology, , , , , , ,

VEVO, the vast and growing music video portal on YouTube, is now available in app form.  Besides containing over 20,000 music videos from more than 7,000 artists the VEVO app also brings with it:

  • Enjoy special features including exclusive videos, premieres, top charts, top playlists, artists on tour and VEVO original music programming.
  • Create and save custom playlists for easy on-demand playback of favorite videos.
  • Easily discover what videos are being watched around your location right now using Location Services/GPS.
  • Stay up to date on video premieres and special events with push notification alerts.
  • Have fun with music trivia before watching each video.
  • Optimized for iPhone 4.0 high resolution Retina Display.
  • Share any video easily with friends via Twitter, Facebook and via Email.
  • Download music from each video within the iTunes Store.

    • The VEVO app is only available in the U.S. and Canada.  iPad and Android versions are coming soon.  Download it for free here.

    [Via VEVOBlog; Gizmodo]

    YouTube increases upload limit to 15 minutes, lets us play Snake during buffer periods

    News, Technology, , , , , , , ,

    Since its inception way back in 2005 YouTube limited video upload length to 10 minutes.  After reviewing their most requested features, YouTube has decided to increase that limit by 50 percent to 15 minutes.  Up to this point only revenue-sharing “parterns” have been allowed to upload video longer than 10 minutes, but now good ‘ol regular users can get in on the fun.  I’m not so sure if I need to witness an extra 5 minutes of “double rainbow all the way” (OK, maybe I do), but this increase will definitely help out those users who upload lengthy tutorials; now you might notice a smaller amount of videos being broken up in “parts” thanks to the increase time limit.  Take heed: “If you’re uploading a video that was previously rejected for being too long, you’ll have to go into “My Videos” and delete it before attempting to upload it again.”

    In other YouTube news… do you remember the super simple but classic and highly addicting game called Snake?  It was preloaded onto many early Nokia dumbphones back in the day.  It’s the one where you take the form of a snake and your goal is to collect small food pellets the pop up in different areas on the screen; every time you eat a pellet the snake grows longer.  You lose when you tie yourself up and make the snake’s head run into a part of its body or run into the edges of the screen.  Anyway…YouTube has incorporated the game into all of its videos as an easter egg.  While you’re waiting for a video to start streaming (or if it gets stuck buffering) start mashing the left arrow key on your keyboard to turn the video loading circle icon into a snake; play with the directional keys.  If you want to give it a try but have fast Internet speeds, trying loading an intensive HD 1080p or better yet a 4K resolution video.  Happy trails.

    [Via YouTubeBlog; Engadget, here & here]

    Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project

    News, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , ,

    Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.

    Life in a Day, a YouTube compilation video to be largely edited by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and executive produced by director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner), will attempt to tell such a story.  It’s being hailed as a “historic cinematic experiment” that relies on you (yes, you) to contribute to the short film.  If you want to participate in the effort, all you have to is capture events that happen in your own life on July 24 and upload your video to the Life in a Day channel by July 31.  Here are some suggestions from Google: “You can film the ordinary — a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary — a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.”  Head over to the channel for other ideas that may inspire you.  So here’s the deal: If your footage is selected to be put into the film, you’ll be credited as co-director and if you’re lucky you’ll get to attend the premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with 19 others.  If you don’t make the final cut, Google reminds you that your submitted footage will live forever on the channel “as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.”  Sappy, but it’s true!  It’s so easy to do these days, you might as well give it a shot.  On the 24th, whip out your Flip cam and take your dog for a walk.  Who knows, maybe you and Scrappy will make it big.  Need some words of encouragement?  Look after the break for a pep talk from Ridley Scott; the Nike shout-out aside, it should get some creative juices flowing.

    [Via YouTubeBlog] Continue reading Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project →

    YouTube intros Leanback; supports 4K video; updates mobile site

    News, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , , , ,

    Over the course of the last few days Google made a number of exciting announcements concerning its popular video site YouTube.  Read on for all the juicy details.  And make sure to peek after the break where you’ll find two brief videos that outline Leanback and YouTube Mobile with the help of visuals.

    YouTube Leanback: Leanback is a new way to watch videos on YouTube.  It makes the whole experience of watching Internet video feel more like you’re watching television.  Here’s how.  When you head over to  www.youtube.com/leanback, you are asked to login to your YouTube account.  Once that’s done, you enter the Leanback portal which instantly promotes minimalism.  A video instantly begins to play from a folder called “Your Feed.”  The videos found in this group are all based on your YouTube account settings, preferences, subscriptions, and previously watched videos.  And if you happen to have your YouTube account connected to your Facebook account, videos your friends are watching and sharing will find a home there too.  In addition to “Your Feed”, you can also browse all of the popular YouTube categories that include Comedy, Education, Entertainment, Music, News & Politics, and more.  If you have any uploaded videos in your account, they will show up at the end of this list.  Videos will automatically stream at their highest quality (HD if available).  Everything in Leanback is controlled with the four arrow keys, the space bar, and the enter button on your keyboard.  For now, mouse control is not supported.  The lowest level of the UI is the content categories I just described.  If you click the up arrow, the usual playback controls pop up (play/pause, rewind/fast-forward, previous/next).  If you click the up arrow once more, a search bar appears.  When you search a term, all related content will show up in its own folder next to “Your Feed” down below.  And that’s it, really.  Leanback is all about video playback first, control second.  The concept is neat; login to your account and presto–video (that should be) tailored for you begins to play and you can quickly and easily scrub through it.  Google calls it “effortless viewing.”  So watcha waiting for?  Have at it!

    4K video support: Chew on this: “At 4096 x 2304 pixels, 4K is over four times the size of 1080p.”  So if you thought HD was good, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  Anyway, now YouTube supports “original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4K.”  When a 4K video is played, you will have the option to select “original video” to view it at its highest quality.  But don’t get too excited just yet.  You need the proper monitor to view such high grade video; even Google claims that the ideal screen size to view 4K content is 25 feet.  Watching 4K footage also requires extremely fast bandwidth.  Since 4K camcorders and projectors are very expensive they have yet to make it into the mainstream.  But you know what?  I think it’s a great move on Google’s part to start supporting it today in preparation for tomorrow.  Feel free to check out some of the first 4K videos to hit the site.  Just beware of the bandwidth limitations and the fact that you most likely cannot view these videos at their proper resolution just yet.

    YouTube Mobile: The mobile version of YouTube (http://m.youtube.com) was launched back in 2007.  Since then, we have become more reliant on cell phones and other portable devices, and users are demanding a more broader YouTube experience when they’re on the go.  That was Google’s cue to revamp the mobile site with updates too appease their most loyal fans.  Let’s run down the most important updates, shall we?  It’s speedier; the user interface incorporates more touch-friendly elements; many features from the .com site have transferred over including search query suggestions, the options to create playlists, and the ability to designate “favorite,” “like” or “unlike” videos; and unlike YouTube apps (ie. iPhone’s YouTube portal), the mobile site will see improvements on a more constant, regular basis.  Click here from your device to check out all the new features and options now available at your fingertips.

    [Via YouTubeBlog, here, here & here]   Continue reading YouTube intros Leanback; supports 4K video; updates mobile site →