Two topics that have been burning up our newsroom lately have been Facebook privacy and Twitter advertising. In the light of public and media scrutiny — and growing user frustration — Facebook has decided to roll out a simplified suite of privacy settings starting tomorrow. The company is also holding a briefing for Congressional staffers to explain what these changes mean and what the new tools will do in a way that both legislators and the citizens they represent can understand. But Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore isn’t certain that Facebook’s current measures will adequately address people’s concerns. More changes to Facebook’s “buttons and levers” might be just another complication for users to navigate. Meanwhile, back at the Twitter ranch, the powers that be made the decision to ban advertisements from third-party apps . The move proved less than popular among most developers, some of whom had built Twitter-based ad networks that were rendered essentially useless with the new ban. Twitter said they wanted to “protect the integrity of the stream;” Cashmore said the truth is that Twitter will be building their own ad network. Have a look at this quick news brief from Cashmore on Bloomberg, and as always, let us know your opinions in the comments. Reviews: Facebook , Twitter Tags: ads , Bloomberg , cashmore , facebook , privacy , twitter
MTV is using a novel approach to generate buzz for their upcoming new television series The Hard Times of RJ Berger : the company is launching a casual game that will tie into the show via episodic content. The “Chain of Thought” game centers on the theme that it’s “difficult to talk to one’s crush.” Players get points and level up by completing “conversation challenges” in which objects must be connected in the correct order to produce a sentence that elicits a positive response from the crush character. The game introduces new users to the show about an unpopular 15-year-old boy who deals with a sudden influx of newfound popularity at school and wants to figure out how to talk to his object of affection, Jenny. The title also features a “build mode” that brings in an aspect of user-generated content. Players are invited to set up their own conversation challenges along with positive or negative responses, and see them played out in a level of their own creation. The idea is to help break the ice with an actual crush or at least have fun with a friend who knows about the situation — and MTV hopes that aspect of the game will encourage players to virally share it with their friends. We spoke with VP of MTV Digital Colin Helm and Supervising Producer at MTV Digital Tom Akel about the project and wanted to know what led to the idea behind introducing a game before the series launch. Early on the team was looking for a way to “raise awareness outside of what we normally do.” As one of the first scripted shows that MTV has produced in some time, they had the benefit of a longer lead time with available assets including visuals and scripts. Using a viral casual game to promote a television series seemed like a timely play in the context of interactive digital entertainment. As the TV show progresses, new “episodes” of the game will be unveiled as well, featuring actual dialogue and plot themes from the series. This type of tight integration between a television show and its companion game is a novel approach to episodic content, and we’ll be interested to see how much repeat interest is generated from the series to the game and vice versa. The game itself is live now, so if you have a chance to check it out on MTV.com be sure to let us know what you think in the comments. The Hard Times of RJ Berger series itself premieres on June 6 at 11 p.m., and you can check out a trailer to get a sense of the show as well. For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: casual games , facebook , games , Hard Times of RJ Berger , mtv , MTV Digital , tv
Happy Towel Day ! This universal holiday, which honors the life and work of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, is being celebrated by his fans the world over today. To show reverence for Adams and his extensive and delightful tomes on interstellar travel, fans carry around a towel, which, in the books, is described as the single most “massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” And of course, where there are silly, worldwide happenings, there are Flickr and YouTube uploads. Here’s a Köln, Germany, flashmob reenacting a bit of the literature: And here are some Swedes celebrating Towel Day at a pub: At an office in Amsterdam, a cubicle-dweller reminds us of the Guide ’s motto: There’s this charming after school special on the usefulness of a towel: And here’s a more thorough, canonical look at why a towel is the most useful item in the universe: Towel Day events are taking place all over the world today, from a flashmob in Columbia to a Vogon poetry slam in Portland. Let us know if you plan to celebrate Towel Day, and, for now… So long, and thanks for all the fish. [img credit: darkmere , maartenq ,
The Lazarus Effect, a new documentary presented by (RED) — the organization that is working the help eliminate AIDS in Africa — is debuting tonight on HBO, Channel 4 in the UK and YouTube. Directed by Lance Bangs and produced by Spike Jonze, the thirty-minute film follows four people in Africa whose lives were saved thanks to antiretroviral drugs. The film will first air on HBO and 9:00 p.m. EDT and at 11 p.m. GMT on Channel 4 in the UK. Then at 9:30 p.m., the film will air on YouTube , where it will available globally and remain online for the rest of the year. This is the first time that an HBO film is getting this kind of global distribution and the film is the centerpiece of (RED)’s digital campaign for the coming year. Check out this trailer to see what the film is all about: The iPad, Facebook and Twitter In addition to being available on YouTube, (RED) will release a free iPad app tomorrow in conjunction with the film. The app will contain the full-length film, as well as additional information about how antiretroviral drugs work and photos of the transformative effect that ARVs have had in Africa. The app will also include ways for users to take action by joining (RED) or lobbying governments. We think that having an iPad app is a really cool part of the campaign — especially since the device’s design makes it a great way to watch a film and then dive into more details about the people, the issues and the potential solutions. Facebook and Twitter are also both going to be used to promote the film and its overall message. (RED) is asking that users tweet and post status updates with the #lazaruseffect hashtag to spread the word about the cause — including facts like “40 cents a day in Africa = 2 lifesaving pills.” HBO also built a special Lazarus Effect Facebook page that users can use to send pre-formatted messages to Twitter or Facebook. Social Media Meets Global Need We’ve written a lot about the role that social media and new technologies are playing in campaigns for the global good. As we’ve seen with the Red Cross’s efforts in Haiti, social media can be a powerful tool to get a message across to lots of people all over the world. The overall message of the film — that HIV/AIDS is preventable and treatable, and that access to treatment is a fundamental part of helping eradicate the disease — is one I fully support. Check out the film, whether you watch on HBO, YouTube or the iPad and then get the word out about what we all can do to help. For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: hbo , ipad apps , lazarus effect , outreach , Red , youtube
Tonight is the series finale of Lost and ABC is going all out, dedicating four hours of programming to the finale. The action isn’t just taking place on television, the network is getting into the live fanchat action too. Starting at 6:30 pm EDT and running until 3:00 am EDT, Lost fans can chat with other fans live at http://abc.go.com/shows/lost/live-chat-intro . The chat, which starts just thirty-minutes before the east coast broadcast of the Lost retrospective special, will be accessible using your Facebook, Twitter or MySpace accounts. For a show that has had such a strong online following, we think this is a pretty shrewd move on ABC’s part. Keep in mind that if you join in the chat after 9pm eastern time, it’s possible you could catch some spoilers regarding the finale, so west coast fans, it’s probably better to get offline at 6pm until the finale starts on your end. On Facebook, ABC has created an event for the Lost Series Finale that includes a full schedule of the television events. Earlier today, the Lost producers posted a link to a special musical tribute montage created and edited by Alex Levy, the music editor for the show. Will you be chatting about Lost online tonight? What are your plans for staying spoiler-free? Let us know! For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: fan chat , lost , lost finale , televisiont , tv
For many of us, the most exciting part of Google I/O today was the announcement of Google TV . Google and its partners are trying to make the connected living room a success and bridge the gap between the computer and the television at long last. Jolie O’Dell has already given us a run-down of what Google TV is , but what does Google TV mean for existing players in this space and the future of connected devices? How does Google TV impact companies like Apple, Boxee, PopBox and others? Potential to Bring Connected TV to the Mainstream In its demonstration — which was notably marred by technical problems — nothing presented by Google really blew us away. That isn’t to say that the ideas and technology behind Google TV aren’t impressive — they are — it’s just that other products have been on the market for years that offer the same capabilities. For instance, with the exception of the stand-alone web browser, practically every feature displayed in Google TV can also be found in the latest TiVo. Now, TiVo isn’t as sexy as it was a decade ago, and the company and its execution have lots of problems. But when you consider that features like viewing photos, streaming music and searching for upcoming programming were possible on TiVo back in 2003, and that viewing content from Amazon Video-On Demand, YouTube and Netflix has been possible since 2006 or 2007, we kind of wanted to see something that was a bit more impressive. But maybe impressive isn’t the point. Maybe the point is to finally bring this technology — which until very, very recently existed only in the niches of the consumer electronics industry — to the mainstream. I recognize that just because I invested a summer into meticulously and methodically turning my Mac mini into the ultimate home theater PC doesn’t mean that the average person cares all that much. Google TV offers up lots of potential for users who want a connected entertainment experience. While I still want to see some technical details on how well Google TV will work alongside set-top boxes from various cable companies (does on-demand work, for instance?), the fact that a box can be integrated into an existing set-up and provide one integrated, controllable experience is pretty compelling. This Is a Competitive Space Google may have been working on Google TV for two and a half years , but it is entering a very competitive space. It’s great that Sony is on board to bring the Google TV experience to some of its Bravia HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but let’s not forget that Samsung, LG and Panasonic consistently outsell Sony in the LCD TV space and that they all have their own IPTV solutions and partners in the works. LG partnered with DivX earlier this year to bring DivX TV to its Blu-ray players, Samsung and Yahoo have partnered together with Internet@TV, and Panasonic has its Viera Cast system. Now, this isn’t to say that any of those options are as compelling or complete as Google TV — but if we have learned anything from TiVo, it’s that best features don’t always win, especially if something is included for free. This is before we even address competing set-top box products like Boxee, PopBox, Roku and others. Boxee, for example, has already established a base of users via its computer and Apple TV platform. When the Boxee Box is released, it has the potential to bring even more users into the fold. While Boxee doesn’t integrate into the live TV experience like Google TV, it does support third-party apps, can do regular web browsing and also seamlessly links to existing media libraries. And don’t forget about the cable companies! If Google can convince more service providers to follow the Dish Network lead and partner with Google, it could be a tremendous game changer, but cable companies haven’t made their move into connected TV yet. That doesn’t mean they won’t. Again, just as cable company DVRs snuffed out much of TiVo’s fire, it could be a big challenge to any connected TV platform — including Google TV. Hulu: The Elephant in the Room While Hulu was shown in the Google TV demo, Hulu was not ever mentioned by name, nor was its programming ever accessed. When Ben Parr asked about Hulu support today, Google dodged the question by saying that it was technically feasible but ultimately up to the content provider. We find it extremely unlikely that Hulu will openly support Google TV. While we do expect Hulu to come to television sets in a supported way, we imagine it will be through its own set-top box or a licensed software it sells to TV manufacturers or cable companies. The power of Hulu should not be underestimated; as great as the idea of a connected living room is, the reality is that we care less about watching YouTube videos on the big screen than we do with watching the most recent episode of The Simpsons or a classic episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or NewsRadio . A lack of Hulu support doesn’t portend disaster for Google TV, but it still leaves an opening — especially in the U.S. — for whichever company can manage to get Hulu onto their connected TV platform first. Usability and Reliability Will Matter While some of the technical problems in today’s Google TV demonstration could be blamed on the fact that Wi-Fi in the building wasn’t great and that so many BlueTooth devices were conflicting with the product — a product, we must add, that isn’t complete — the fact that there were so many problems in that demonstration made attendees very nervous. As one of the Googlers said in the demo, one of the key aspects of television is that it “just works.” For connected TV to work — whether it be from Google or someone else — it has to be reliable, usable and consistent. I can deal with rebooting my computer if it starts acting weird. I don’t feel the same way about my television set. As it stands, I already curse my cable company provided HD-DVR box for being finicky and having performance issues; if I have to reboot my entire entertainment system because an Internet video gets out of control, I’m not going to be very happy. I also have no desire to have to play tech support for my family when the TV stops working. Not having had any hands-on time with Google TV, I can’t speak for how well it works compared to the competition — but this is an area that Google needs to absolutely have at 100% at launch. Release early and often may work on the web, but users don’t want to have to troubleshoot their devices in the living room. Learn From Apple and Microsoft’s Mistakes Both Apple and Microsoft have tried their hand at the connected TV space, with MSN TV (née Web TV) and Apple TV respectively. Both efforts failed. While Apple continues to sell the Apple TV product, the company still says in conference calls that it considers the product “a hobby.” That’s Apple-speak for “we don’t sell that many.” MSN TV was an idea that was too ambitious for its time. Dial-up Internet access over the television just wasn’t fun and digital cable was still emerging, which limited web-to-television interaction. Apple TV’s biggest problem has always been that it is just too closed. While you can make your Apple TV really slick by putting Boxee or XBMC on it, the default set-up is just too limited for most users, especially when practically every Blu-ray player on the market is both wireless and supports Netflix. Hopefully Google and its partners will learn from Apple and Microsoft’s mistakes by not trying to push the market beyond its own readiness and by not limiting its uses. For the latter, it looks like Google has that under control. Google TV runs on a version of Android and will run on third-party applications. Google is also already encouraging developers to optimize their websites and web apps for Google TV. Whether it becomes the future of TV or not, the company has the financial power and brand recognition to really help sell connected TV. What do you think Google TV means for the future of IPTV as a whole? Let us know in the comments. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Android , Blu , Bluetooth , Boxee , Facebook , Google , Hulu , Internet , Twitter , XBMC , YouTube Tags: boxee , connected tv , google tv , internet tv , iptv , popbox , television
Google officially unveiled Google TV at its Google I/O conference today. We’ve heard lots of rumblings about Google TV over the last few months, but today the product was demonstrated before a live audience. Google is teaming up with Intel, Sony and Logitech for Google TV. The device is not designed to replace your cable or satellite box, but work alongside it: The goal is to be able to view web content and television content side-by-side from the same interface. This concept is not new; companies like TiVo and Boxee have been attacking this space for quite some time. Google’s approach isn’t dissimilar to what TiVo is doing with TiVo Premiere , but Google has the brand-recognition and capital to potentially make mainstream adoption a reality. What do you think of Google TV? Let us know! For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Boxee , Facebook , Google , Twitter Tags: Google , google tv
When Google announced the new WebM video platform at Google I/O this morning, it wasn’t just browser makers who were standing behind Google; many of the big players in web video have also pledged their support for the V8 codec, including Brightcove , Encoding.com , Telestream , Sorenson , Broadcom , MIPS and Qualcomm . Even Microsoft, a company that previously said it would only support H.264-encoded content in HTML5 playback in Internet Explorer 9, has clarified that if a codec for VP8 video is installed on a user’s computer, IE9 will support it. The strong support from software, hardware and middleware providers for VP8 suggests a strong start for the WebM platform. H.264 has become the dominant codec in the world of web video for many reasons, but the primary reason is that, in addition to being of high quality, H.264 enjoys plenty of support on both the software and hardware side. Web video services like YouTube, Brightcove, and Vimeo encode in H.264 as one of their defaults and hardware acceleration for H.264 playback and/or recording is supported in a cavalcade of devices. Practically every consumer electronics device that supports video playback in any way includes support for H.264. Because the codec is highly versatile, it can be used when recording video from Flip cameras and it can also be used to encode feature length content to Blu-ray discs. One of the problems that other open standard video formats like Ogg Theora have had in the past has been limited support from hardware and software creators. Already, VP8 has support from some of the biggest embedded chipset makers — Qualcomm, Broadcom and MIPS — which means that many future consumer electronics devices will include support for VP8 playback at the hardware level. On the software side, Brightcove and Encoding.com will both be offering WebM support for their users. I spoke with Jeff Malkin, the president of Encoding.com, earlier this afternoon and he told me that his company will have WebM support as an easily selectable preset in the coming weeks. This means that Encoding.com users will be able to select WebM as one of their codec presets, just as they can with the iPhone or iPad so that the video they embed is automatically playable on browsers or devices that support the format. In fact, looking at the number of supporters, practically everyone in the entire video industry has expressed some level of support for VP8/WebM with one glaring exception: Apple. While Apple has made its support for HTML5 and H.264 clear, we’ll have to wait and see how the company plans to address VP8 in its desktop products and in future mobile devices. As of right now, this isn’t an either/or battle. Almost every company that has aligned with VP8/WebM is also a supporter of H.264. It will be interesting to see how Apple and the MPEG-LA respond to this announcement. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: brightcove , encoding.com , h.264 , HTML5 , sorenson , vp8 , web video , webm
A new web-based application called Clicker.tv will connect you to a database of 650,000 online TV episodes, and it will do so with an interface viewable from 10 feet away and workable with a remote control — the same experience you’d have with software that runs on a set-top box. Clicker is a search engine and database for people who want to watch television online; it indexes professionally produced content from Hulu , network TV show video sites, Netflix , YouTube and numerous other sources, then arranges them with tags, categories, playlists and other sorting mechanisms. The site’s existing interface is designed for mouse-and-keyboard users on a laptop or desktop computer, but Clicker.tv serves all the same content and features in an interface that’s easily usable on your living room TV. Here’s what’s really special about this, though: It’s entirely web-based, so it will work on devices that have web browsers with HTML5 support. While some videos will play inside of Clicker.tv’s main interface (YouTube content, for example), you’ll sometimes be sent outside the Clicker website to watch. You can press one button to get back where you were, though, and Clicker CEO Jim Lazone says the at some point the team plans to add a toolbar that will stick around when you navigate away. When we asked what this means for Clicker’s plans to launch native apps (as it already has on Boxee and Popbox), Lanzone confirmed that launching this new application doesn’t mean the company won’t offer native software solutions when needed for certain devices, but he said “more devices moved towards the open web instead of the artificial portals.” He also noted that Clicker.tv’s advantage is that it’s not artificially constrained to the features or interface of any given device. Granted, some content won’t play on some devices; Hulu needs Adobe Flash to work, for example, so you won’t be able to watch Hulu videos if your device doesn’t support it. Regional restrictions also apply, of course. But the strategy of using a universal platform like HTML5 to offer Clicker’s features on as many devices as possible makes a lot of sense in a space that has few agreed-upon standards. Clicker has already taken a stab at curating only content supported by a specific device, too. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: clicker , clicker.tv , google io , hulu , netflix , search engine , video , video search , web television , Web TV , youtube
Blip.tv announced today that it has raised $10.1 million in its third round of institutional funding. Led by Canaan Partners and existing investors Bain Capital Venture, this new round comes as blip.tv approaches its fifth birthday. We spoke with co-founder and CEO Mike Hudack about what the new investment capital will mean for blip.tv and why blip.tv has continued to grow in such a crowded and competitive industry. Hudack told us that when blip.tv was founded in 2005, the idea was simply “to change the entertainment industry by making independent show production sustainable and scalable.” Hudack told us that a core part of blip.tv’s mission over the last five years has been to bridge the gap between the computer and the television and to bring quality online content everywhere. Blip.tv debuted at the very beginning of the web video boom. Along with services like YouTube, blip.tv was one of the earliest places that users could upload their own content to then serve via their own sites. So why has blip.tv not only survived, but continued to grow when so many others have either had to scale back or have folded to competitive pressures? Hudack told us there are a couple of reasons for blip.tv’s success: blip.tv has zeroed in its focus on cultivating quality content creators and taking a larger role in ensuring the success of that content. blip.tv has been very bullish in the connected TV space, signing deals with companies like Roku, Boxee, TiVo and Sony Bravia to bring blip.tv content to those devices. Increased Focus on Internal Ad Sales In the last year, blip.tv has expanded its internal sales force from just a few people to include offices all over the world, including a new sales office in London. At this point, 85% of the advertising on blip.tv programming (revenues are split 50/50 between content creators and blip.tv) is a result of direct-sold ads with brands like Pepsi, Samsung, Starbucks and AT&T. By taking a larger role in creating these advertising partnerships, blip.tv is better able to pair appropriate advertising with the shows it hosts on its network and is also able to better leverage the overall size of its network. The average length of a blip.tv program is a little over 14 minutes. As Hudack points out, this is closing in on the 22-minute (well, really more like 20.5-minute) length of a traditional television show. With content this long, selling advertising space and integrating ad breaks into content becomes less of a struggle than with content that is, say, under five minutes in length. Blip.tv doesn’t create content itself; instead it provides content creators with tools for distribution, advertising management, promotion and statistical analysis. The latest funding round will be used to help continue to shore up its advertising teams, help create new and better tools for content creators and to help get blip.tv programs more exposure and syndication deals across more networks and devices. Betting Big on Connected TV Blip.tv is unique in the hosted video space for its focus on integrating with connected TV solutions. Like YouTube, you can find blip.tv programming and applications on television sets, set-top boxes and media center software. Hudack told us that blip.tv intends to continue to invest in the expansion of these projects, which in turn raises the exposure for its content creators and can feed into better advertising deals. By being bullish on connected devices, blip.tv is anticipating what we are already starting to see across the greater consumer landscape; the convergence between the traditional media space is at long last, finally taking place. Consumers don’t want to have to segment how they view programming, rather online programming and traditional broadcasting should be able to exist side-by-side no matter what device the user is watching. A key difference between blip.tv and many of the other players in this space is that the focus is not just on the computer screen, but on all types of consumer screens. Mobile, HTML5 and the Future Blip.tv isn’t investing in mobile as heavily as it is in greater advertising and the connected television space, but mobile is definitely part of blip.tv now and part of its future. The iPhone and iPad both have optimized blip.tv home pages and most embedded blip.tv content can be played back on either device. Android support is planned in the future, but no specific date was given in our interview. Hudack told us that there are plans to better integrate HTML5 and HTTP streaming for advertisements across its network, which will mean big things for future mobile devices in the future. As we were ending our call, Hudack gave me this takeaway: “When we started blip.tv, the idea was to imagine what the first television network would be like if it was created in 2005, rather than in 1939. Just five years later, the landscape for broadcast and online content has evolved even further. If 2005 was 1939, I would liken 2010 to 1951/1952 and the mainstream adoption of TV and the innovations of pre-recorded television and the 3-camera setup pioneered by I Love Lucy .” Internet content has come a long way in just half a decade; we can’t wait to see it evolve over the next five years. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: blip.tv , connected tv , funding , itv , ONLINE VIDEO , television , tv
