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Netflix Prize has been won
But who by? 27 July 2009 9:42 GMT
Netflix, for several years, has been running a competition to try and improve the accuracy of its prediction algorithm. Teams have been competing to improve its movie recommendations by 10%. If reports are accurate, then the prize appears to have been won.

But...
Microsoft closing Soapbox
One-time YouTube rival getting shut down in August 22 July 2009 10:12 GMT
Further to the news that the company was planning to scale the service down, its now been revealed that Microsoft is to completely close its Soapbox site. Soapbox, launched in 2006, was Microsoft's answer to YouTube and launched as a rival, or alternative, to the Google...
BT Vision adds online dating
Gets cuddly with Match.com 15 July 2009 15:11 GMT
BT has announced a partnership with Match.com on its BT Vision service that will mean that singles will be able to find love on their telly.

The company says that finding a partner through online dating is as common as meeting someone through work. If you fancy...
Samsung to offer Blockbuster OnDemand movies
Connected electronics getting downloadable movies 14 July 2009 16:20 GMT
In the States, it's been announced that Blockbuster's "OnDemand" movie rental service will be integrated into Samsung electronics.

An expansion for Blockbuster from its retail stores, the digital service will come as standard on future internet-connected televisions,...
Sony announces Netflix for Bravia web TVs
New partner announced for Internet Video Platform in the US 9 July 2009 16:59 GMT
Thanks to a just announced team-up with Netflix, from autumn 2009 American consumers will be able to watch more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes on Sony BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs and on BRAVIA models compatible with Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video Link module.
BBC reveals interactive Glastonbury stats
Most popular ever Red Button event 9 July 2009 14:17 GMT
As with the recent record-breaking Wimbledon stats revealed by the Beeb, record numbers of people watched this year's Glastonbury Festival on-demand through the BBC Glastonbury website or the BBC Red Button function.

The BBC's festival website, with highlights...
BBC says Wimbledon broke online live video records
Over 16 million requests for streamed content 6 July 2009 17:19 GMT
The BBC has announced that its online coverage of Wimbledon has broken its previous records for the most popular live video streams of a sporting event.

The BBC says during this year's Wimbledon its Sport website has seen more users than ever logging on to follow...
UK online video views up 47% in a year
4.7 billion clips watched online in April 2009 6 July 2009 16:16 GMT
We've got a stat-attack for you with the news that the number of videos viewed online in the UK has increased nearly 50% from April 2008 to April this year.

comScore has released data from its Video Metrix service, revealing that the total number of videos...
BT Vision launches community channel
Partnership between BT and the Football Foundation 3 July 2009 10:27 GMT
BT has announced a partnership with the Football Foundation that it hopes will reach out to people who are "not confident with technology", and help them learn about the digital world.

Based in football clubs across the UK, "Communicating for Success" will fund...
UK is "number one priority" for Hulu
Popular US video site confirms interest in Britain 1 July 2009 15:04 GMT
We've previously brought you whispers that online video site Hulu is said to be due a UK launch around September, but a senior VP of the company has announced at a London event that the "UK is our number one priority".

Speaking at the IEA's Future of Broadcasting...
YouTube launches "Reporters' Center"
Encourages citizen journalism 29 June 2009 17:52 GMT
YouTube has launched a new channel called the "YouTube Reporters' Center" in an attempt to build up the citizen journalism aspect of the video sharing site.

Included on the site are interviews with CBS News' Katie Couric on how to conduct a good interview, as...
Pirate Bay launches Video Bay
Currently just in beta 29 June 2009 10:11 GMT
2 years ago, when the copyright issues surrounding YouTube first started to surface, the Pirate Bay announced that it was working on a video sharing site to rival Google's, where content wouldn't be taken down.

Well, over the weekend, The Video Bay finally winked...
Virgin Media to offer Universal Pictures' "PictureBox"
More video-on-demand 29 June 2009 9:18 GMT
Virgin Media has announced it is extending its video-on-demand offerings with the launch of PictureBox, in association with Universal Pictures.

From July, the PictureBox service will be available for £5 per month and provide a selection of recent and library...
VIDEO: YouTube to roll out new channels
"Sweet!" 25 June 2009 17:33 GMT
YouTube has announced changes to how its channels will look - and work - in the future.

Following on from a beta that's seen some YouTubers trialling the new look channels (including The White House) the Google-owned site now plans to roll out the new look...
RealPlayer SP lets you watch internet video offline
Who says you have to be connected? 24 June 2009 17:29 GMT
RealNetworks, the company behind the RealPlayer, has announced a new software package that will allow users to convert and transfer video from the web directly onto portable devices to view offline.

Called Realplayer SP (the SP stands for Social and Portable)...
Citizentube blog launches to support YouTube channel
"Chronicling the way that people are using video to change the world" 17 June 2009 14:33 GMT
Topical, considering the political situation in Iran and the importance in being placed on Web 2.0 tools as a means of communication, Google has announced that YouTube has gone live with a new blog to support its "Citizentube" video channel.

Citizentube is...
VIDEO: BBC demos iPlayer on Nokia N95
"Really excited" 11 June 2009 15:44 GMT
The BBC has released a video giving a quick walk-through tour of how its catch-up-on-demand service, the iPlayer, works on the popular Nokia N95.

Mark Kortekaas, the recently appointed future media controller of audio and music and mobile and David Madden,...
YouTube streams top 1 billion per day
One video for every internet user every day 9 June 2009 13:13 GMT
YouTube has now topped more than 1 billion video streams served per day, according to sources within Google, who run the sharing site.

It also matches up nicely with the current best estimates for the population of the internet, also pegged at 1 billion. That...
All Channel 4 content to be free online
Including archive material from way back when 9 June 2009 10:11 GMT
Channel 4 has announced it is set to become the first UK broadcaster to make all its archived programming available on its website completely free of charge, beating the BBC's popular iPlayer service to such an announcement.

From July archived content will...
YouTube XL announced for big screens
New version of site optimised for large displays 4 June 2009 14:18 GMT
A recent launch from YouTube sees the video on demand site now catering to those with the smallest screens available, right up to the biggest.

Just as there is a version of YouTube optimised for watching on mobile phones, the company has now launched a version...
Dougas Coupland's jPod exclusive to Virgin Media
UK premier via on demand library this summer 2 June 2009 15:30 GMT
Virgin Media has announced a brand new TV show due to be available on its TV on demand platform - comedy-drama jPod - based on the novel of the same name by everyone's favourite geek author Douglas Coupland.

All thirteen episodes of jPod will be available in...
Xbox LIVE: Last.fm, HD Zune Video, LIVE Party
New entertainment options for Microsoft gamers 1 June 2009 20:53 GMT
Microsoft has announced new Xbox LIVE features that are designed to make the Xbox 360 the central focus of your living room entertainment set-up.

Flinging itself headlong into the streaming music market, Last.fm will offer Xbox LIVE subscribers access to...
BBC Earth YouTube channel launches
Bringing the Beeb's natural history content to an international audience 1 June 2009 10:27 GMT
The BBC has launched a dedicated channel on YouTube under the name BBC Earth, which is the BBC Worldwide's new international brand for all the BBC's natural history content.

The BBC Earth channel will initially launch with 50 clips including, for the first time...
YouTube in porn attack
Hundreds of adult clips disguised as kid's content uploaded 22 May 2009 9:09 GMT
YouTube has been the subject of a planned attack that's seen hundreds of pornographic videos uploaded, many of which have been disguised to appear as content suitable for children.

The BBC reports that the adult material was uploaded under names of teen celebs...
BBC Worldwide and YouTube renew partnership
New channels incoming 21 May 2009 12:54 GMT
Rather than news about content being pulled from YouTube, we're pleased to report that BBC Worldwide and YouTube have announced they have renewed their global partnership for BBC Worldwide YouTube channels and short videos.

This extension means that the BBC's...