Sling.com review: Hulu with a Sling box
November 13, 2008
I gave the sling.com beta a run today and found a site that, while not differentiated from many other Hulu ride-alongs, has the potential to break out from the pack. I’ll admit, I’m not a Sling box fanatic (I never seem to meet mere users, just fanatics) but more of an Orb user.
The summary review is this: it’s Hulu with a connection to your Sling box. For Sling box users it makes sense to have sling.com as their main Web entertainment site. For others, I the advantage over just using Hulu did not jump out.
That said, I would imagine Sling.com already knows this and either 1) they would be happy with the growing base of Sling box users; or 2) they have more tricks up their sleeve. I’m sure the rumor mill will let us know soon enough.
(disclosure: the writer works with a large Web video company)
PlayOn puts Web TV back on the TV
September 29, 2008
What do people really want? Not TV on the Web, but TV on demand. The Web is just the only place to get it. Sure, Hulu’s grown in popularity. But ask the average person why they watch it so much versus television and you’ll likely get the answer “because I can only find that content on demand on Hulu.”
One day it’s quite likely you’ll hook a set top box to your TV (or just plug the cable card in) and be able to watch a Hulu-like ranges of shows on demand (with similar advertising). That day can now be tested with PlayOn.
Game Trailers from E3
July 16, 2008
Dailymotion just posted new game trailers from E3 at http://www.dailymotion.com/Gametrailers. Even if you don’t like video games, the quality is amazing. If you’re a fan of CG animated movies, you’ll see how the line between movie entertainment and video games grows thinner every day.
Here’s what they have so far:
- Lord of the Rings: Conquest - E3 2008 interview
- Final Fantasy XIII - E3 2008 Trailer
- Gears of War 2 - E3 2008 Trailer
- Resident Evil 5 - E3 2008 Trailer
- The Last Remnant - E3 2008 Trailer
- Fallout 3 - E3 2008 Perfect Life Trailer
(disclosure: Dailymotion is a client of one of our main sponsors).
With Netflix Deal, XBox Prepares to Own Your TV
July 15, 2008
This week’s announcement that XBox would stream movies from Netflix was a significant step in Microsoft’s bid to own the digital living subscription and, potentially, marketing dollars. In the Netflix deal, Microsoft got more than a movie partner, they got a brand. For consumers that have trouble seeing the XBox as a movie box, the Netflix association should help quite a bit.
Picapps offers celebrity photos - will this help the ad-supported model take off?
July 10, 2008
For bloggers and other online media publishers wanting to photos without worrying about royalties, PicApp has been a great tool with an ad supported photo bank.
Now Picapp has announced a partnership with Splash News to deliver celebrity photos. Given the numerous personal and professional (but without photo budget) blogs out there devoted to celebrity news, it’s a sizable market. Two sites already noted for using the images are B5’s Lohan Group blog and Gossip Girl.
Google Ad Planner - Initial Impressions
July 6, 2008
We received our beta invitation to the Google Ad Planner and quickly gave it a test run. Our first impression? Intuitive, fast and easy. Once again, Google shows that while they are an engineering and advertising driven company, they know how to design and interface that keeps us productive (not frustrated). That leads to a fast learning curve and an increase in usage.
What are Families Looking for Online? A Compete.com Pro Review and Example
July 4, 2008
We’ve been testing Compete.com’s new pro search analytics. Among the more interesting functions is the ability to see the top search words for behavioral interests. We took a look at family interest and were surprised at the results. While they may not represent all family interests, as the topics lean toward online activities for children, they do show a solid trend in the popularity of children’s online entertainment brands.
Plink Brings Social Media into Media
July 2, 2008
Imagine there was a way to know what people are thinking while they’re looking at online media like pictures and videos. Think about how useful that information could be for data mining, or even for creating highly-targeted advertising campaigns. While a tool with that kind of power may be difficult to conceive of, Entertainment Media Works (EMW) Plink is a step in that direction.
Sony PS3 to deliver video…get ready to create your own channel
June 27, 2008
Sony has confirmed that the Playstation 3 will deliver downloaded movies and TV. This is probably no surprise to PS3 owners who have had an empty video store sitting on their consoles. But while everyone can assume the best (DVDs die) or worst (the store stays limited to Sony movies), the implication of this store may be much broader. If users do start seeing the store as a video download machine, then the PS3 Web browser may be the next stop for streaming videos. Read more
Zoho Show Adds New Media Features
June 26, 2008
Zoho Show, part of the Zoho suite of web applications, has updated its tool set for Web collaboration and presentations. There are several key new features for professionals using it to market in digital media format.
- Export to PPT, PPS, PDF, ODP
- Picasa Integration - Like many, I use Picasa to store photos from work. This makes it a lot easier to simply pick out the ones I want while working on presentations.
- Embed Enhancements for embedding in a blog or website. Embedded presentations are great digital content for marketing, educational and other types of online content.
You can read more here.
