New stats we’ve just been shown by video measurement company TubeMogul show that Twitter is quickly growing as a top referrer for web video traffic, far outpacing Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Bing. Further, when it comes to getting users to watch videos, users who discovered a video via Twitter tend to stay around longer, too. In fact, these users will view a video for an average of just over two minutes. In a quick Twitter poll, we tried to ascertain the reasons for Twitter’s emergence as a video-sharing tool. From what we can tell, people are using Twitter to connect not just to their real-world friends, but also to specific interests. Hence, they’re finding content that’s directly related to those interests, content that is more personally relevant and, for the individual, more watchable. Simply put, for video discovery, Twitter is “more tuned to my tastes,” in the words of one user. It might also have something to do with the sheer volume of content and the ease of spreading that content around via retweets. One user said most of his video recommendations were via Twitter, and another said he was less likely to tune out a video if multiple friends retweeted it. However you want to slice it, though, Twitter is a huge referral source for online video. Video blogging pioneer Steve Garfield , who literally wrote the book on web video, told us, “Twitter is my #1 recomendation engine for finding videos.” Do you tend to find good videos from your Twitter stream? Are they more interesting or more relevant to you than the videos you’d find on Facebook or from random browsing elsewhere online? For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: ONLINE VIDEO , twitter , youtube
As Apple’s “Get a Mac” ad campaign comes to a close , it’s the end of an era for a series that not only became Adweek’s “ Ad Campaign of the Decade ,” but also became part of the public consciousness. Whether you’re a right clicka, or a MacBook flippa, we think you’ll enjoy our humorous collection of the best spoofs spawned from the four-year ad campaign. Let’s just hope Apple’s next Mac-verts are as ripe with humor as this series was. We’ve already rounded up the best of the Apple-produced ads and brought you a tribute . Here’s a look at the best parodies and spoofs. 1. Novell “Get a Mac Spoof” Novell created three spoofs for its BrainShare conference back in 2007 and introduced a third character: The smart, attractive and — gasp! — female Linux, to the mix. 2. “South Park Mac vs PC” Created as the final project for a multimedia production class at California State University Northridge using South Park-ified versions of the ad characters, this amusing spoof has racked up a whopping 15 million YouTube views. Hit play to see why. 3. Mac Spoof: “OS” This video from the TrueNuff comedy group is part of a series of sketches on the “Get a Mac” theme, taking a look at the darker side of computer ownership — in this instance, a Mac’s lack of “upgradability.” 4. “I Hate Mac” Ads Another twist on the original here with some funny animation (Mac: “I’m the cool one, PC’s the dumb one”) in which we learn Macs are better because they’re shinier. Choice quotes include PC’s great line: “Stop looking at me with your stupid face.” 5. “Mac or PC” Rap Music Video The Pantless Knights do here what they do best — comedic songs — with a musical take on Apple’s ad format. Genius lyrics and a catchy tune make this an instant classic in the ages-old Mac versus PC war. “No fight gets bigga,” apparently. 6. “Hi. I’m a Mac.” Greenpeace Apple Parody While some of the claims are almost certainly outdated now, it was a clever move for Greenpeace to use Apple’s own ad format to raise awareness of the nasties that go into computer manufacturing. 7. “Apple Mac vs PC” Spoof Ad NeoFight also created a mini-series of “Get a Mac” parodies with this installment highlighting PC’s stronger productivity skills and gaming abilities. Well, it was made in 2006. 8. PC vs Mac — “Money” PC comes out on top in this spoof which sees Mac as a hip but dumb guy who can be easily fooled by a little bit of spreadsheet manipulation. 9. “Mac Vs PC Overdub” This super-simple clip uses footage from the original ads and delivers the message that “computers suck” regardless of OS. Maybe they’ve got a point… 10. “PC vs Mac Fight” This doesn’t follow the format of the ads, but it uses the characters, and it’s so funny we thought we could get away with including it. Mac and PC battle away, video game style, with some brilliant OS icon weaponry. It’s worth watching if just for the clever character selection at the start. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More YouTube resources from Mashable: –
Viel mehr als das unten eingebettete Youtube-Video gibt es von TouchRetouch momentan leider noch nicht zu zeigen. Die jetzt angekündigte iPhone-Applikation sieht jedoch spannend aus und erinnert uns an die Anfang Februar vorgestellte, intelligente App zur Bild-Skalierung “Liquid Scale” (AppStore-Link). TouchRetouch wartet zur Zeit noch auf die AppStore-Freigabe, verspricht dann jedoch die einfache Entfernung ausgewählter Weiterlesen…
In zwei gut 10 Minuten langen Youtube-Clips hat das Smartphone-Magazin PocketNow Geschwindigkeit und Seitenaufbau des iPhones mit der Performance des auf der Google I/O-Konferenz vorgestellten Froyo-Betriebssystems der aktuellen Android-Version verglichen. Google selbst hatte den im Froyo OS integrierten Browser als schnellsten mobilen Web-Browser der Welt bezeichnet und bereits auf der Keynote der I/O-Konferenz gegen das iPad Weiterlesen…
Animator Simon Cottee has created an 11-minute documentary , called Pixel , about the pixel art phenomenon and posted it on YouTube . In the video, Cottee interviews notable pixel artists like the creator of the brilliant art-house video game Passage and mixes those interviews with glimpses of some gorgeous works in the currently-niche-but-growing movement. The practitioners of pixel art turn the digital art clock back 20 years by electing to use only a palette of colored pixels — the same limitations that technology imposed on early digital artists who made (among other things) 8-bit and 16-bit video games in the ’80s and ’90s. The movement has a cousin in a musical genre called chiptunes, whose musicians employ the same chip boards that are used to synthesize sounds on video game consoles to make music. Both the pixel art and chiptunes movements rely strongly on nostalgia, but while that reliance could be the basis for unfavorable criticism, Pixel points out that childhood nostalgia has played a part in the works of many respected traditional artists. The documentary also shows that artistic movements that favor a medium or aesthetic’s most basic elements have popped up time and time again, so pixel art is not unprecedented. Pixel art and chiptunes music have been popping up all over the place lately. Animator Patrick Jean created a viral video depicting pixelated monsters destroying New York City , two lovebirds made 8-bit wedding invitations , an annual chiptunes music festival called Blipfest draws big crowds and even (comparatively) well-known electronic music artists like Crystal Castles have adopted the chiptunes aural aesthetic. Watch the documentary below, then check out the other examples of pixel art and chiptunes that we’ve included. Pixel — A Pixel Art Documentary Rule by Simon Cottee Passage : Gameplay Walkthrough Crystal Castles – “Crimewave” Blipfest 2007: “Nullsleep” The Incredible Adventure : 8-Bit Wedding Invitation PIXELS by Patrick Jean (New York Gets Destroyed) [via Boing Boing ] For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: art , blipfest , chiptunes , music , pixel , pixel art , pixels , simon cottee , video , video games , youtube
Engadget decided to give the Android faithful a head to head video showing Flash 10.1 versus Flash Lite. In one corner we have a Nexus One running Android 2.2 with Flash 10.1 installed. In the other corner, we have an HTC Desire running Flash Lite in the browser. With nearly equal hardware, will there be much of a difference in performance? Well, can’t spoil things for you so you’ll have to watch. Might We Suggest… Fast-Acting Hacker Makes Nexus One More ‘Desire’-able Paul O’Brien, founder of MoDaCo, has been a busy little boy. In what feels like only a matter of hours, he’s been able to flash an unofficial ROM from the HTC Desire onto a Nexus One. And just to pr…
If you’ve been in “Get a Mac” withdrawal since the ad campaign bit the proverbial dust last week, you’re not alone. One More Thing Podcast has created a rather lengthy tribute video to the campaign of the decade . More than 100,000 people have already taken solace in this little vid, so if you’re among the bereft, cease with the shakes: Just plug in your headphones and let the iconic, repetitive strains of this spot’s classic background music envelope you for the next four-ish minutes. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: apple , mac , MARKETING , pc , video
Android 2.2 supports Flash , but if you hoped to watch Hulu on your brand new Android device, you’re out of luck, since Hulu doesn’t have arrangements with the content producers to cover mobile phones . However, there’s a nifty trick to make Hulu run on your Android 2.2 device; all you need to do is trick Hulu into thinking it’s running on a desktop browser. According to Absolutely Android , the procedure is as follows: open the web browser on your Android device, type about:debug into the address bar and press Go. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and select UAString; now change the setting to Desktop, and enjoy Hulu on your Android device. This trick has been tested on Google’s Nexus One. Unfortunately, it comes with certain drawbacks; you get the desktop version of Hulu instead of one optimized for mobile devices; furthermore, it will likely get blocked by Hulu very soon. Still, it warms our hearts to see that watching Hulu on an Android, although through unofficial means, is indeed very possible. For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: android , Flash , hulu , video
Bislang mit Preisen zwischen 2€ und 3€ ausgezeichnet steht das Breakout- Spiel “Jet Ball” (AppStore-Link) kurzfristig zum kostenlosen Download im AppStore bereit. Version 1.4.2 des Spiels wiegt knapp 10MB, bietet dafür jedoch mehr als 60 – regelmäßig aktualisierte – Level, drei Schwierigkeitsstufen, 60 Stein-Typen und mehr als 20 Power-Ups. Gespielt werden kann sowohl zur eigenen Weiterlesen…
Mit zwei Screenshots widmet sich die amerikanische Webseite “The Boy Genius Report” noch mal den bereits zur Genüge durchgekauten Gerüchten um eine Video-Chat Option in der anstehenden iPhone-Generation. So will das Onlinemagazin die unten hinterlegten Bilder einer iPhone Testsoftware aus Apple-internen Kreise zugespielt bekommen haben, und sieht in der Video-Chat Test-Software die endgültige Bestätigung für Weiterlesen…
