According to a new report from network management and video optimization firm Bytemobile, mobile video now accounts for between 40% to 60% of the total mobile data traffic on operators' networks. Half of the video consumed comes from laptop computers, iPhones, iPads and Android devices, the company found.
But here's an interesting side note to that data: When broken down by device, iPhone users see more video data traffic than those on Android, or even on laptops.
Despite all the hullabaloo about the ascendancy of Web video and predictions about the demise of cable, Americans still watch a lot of television. Those are the findings, at least, from the latest study by Nielsen. And even with all the various ways people can now consume video, Americans' intake of "traditional" TV is still the dominant source for most viewers. Furthermore, this viewership has increased by 22 minutes per month per person over the last year.
That being said, mobile video continues to see substantial increases in viewership, up over 41% from last year and more than 100% since 2009. Internet video streaming is also on the rise.
The video and voice calling service Skype is coming to a TV near you, thanks to a new partnership with Comcast, a leading provider of cable TV services here in the U.S. This morning, the two companies formally announced a deal that will allow Comcast customers to use Skype's HD video calling on their HD television sets, made available through a Comcast-provided adapter box which works in conjunction with an HD video camera.
Customer trials of the new service will begin in "the coming months," but no exact date was given for the service's wider launch, only that more details will be made available "later this year."
The video-sharing app ShowYou is continuing to roll out improvements to its platform, with couple of new features today including the ability to view it on more screens - thanks to a new browser version of the app.
The Web version is similar to the iPad and iPhone app. You can scroll through and view the videos that are in your social streams - shared by you and your Twitter followers, Facebook friends, YouTube network and so on.
Do you know this man? The folks at Lost Films hope that you do and that you can identify the name of the film from which the still was taken. Archivists know it's a German film, and they believe it was made in the 1930s. And they're asking for anyone with more information to help.
First, 3D came to the movie theater. Then companies like Samsung started to make 3D televisions to bring the experience home. Tablets and phones like the Motorola Xoom and some Android devices from LG took 3D mobile.
Now, YouTube, Firefox and Nvidia are trying to bring 3D to the Web. Firefox 4 is using HTML5 and WebM to bring thousands of 3D YouTube videos to the Web while wearing Nvidia 3D Vision Hardware. The Web has been lacking 3D because it is a fundamentally different platform than the others, which are either distribution channels or specific devices. It is worth it to go get some Nvidia glasses to cruise YouTube in 3D?
How big is YouTube? It's biiiiig - 3 billion views per day big. On this, YouTube's sixth birthday, the Google-owned video sharing service released a few impressive stats (via infographic, of course), detailing its impressive numbers. Today, users upload more than 48 hours - yes, two days worth! - of videos every minute. This represents a 37% increase in the number of uploads over the last six months and a 100% increase over last year.
It appears that power users who "root" (take administrative control over) their Android devices will not have access to Google's newly launched movie rental service. The restriction has to do with "requirements related to copyright protection," according to this Android Market support article. Users with rooted devices will instead see an error message dubbed "error 49" when they attempt to play a movie.
So much for "open," laugh Android naysayers. Do you agree?
As people begin to consume more and more video content via their mobile devices, expect to hear about more and more startups tackling the space. The latest is Plizy which releases its iPad app today, aiming to provide users with personalized video recommendations.
Like ShowYou which launched last month, Plizy pulls from your social graph to be able to offer video recommendations. It also looks at other factors, including your Twitter interests and your viewing history, in its recommendation algorithm.
As a tech journalist who travels a lot, I often find myself sitting next to someone at the airport or on an airplane who wants my advice on whether they should buy an iPad or which apps they should download. (Note to self: start carrying print books again in lieu of gadgets to avoid these sorts of conversations.) Lately, when it comes to showcasing the iPad's wow-factor, I've shown people Showyou.
The video-browsing app launched last month to great praise, much of it comparing Showyou's reinvention of consuming videos on the iPad to Flipboard's reinvention of consuming blogs, tweets, and RSS feeds. The enthusiasm for the app doesn't just come from the tech press. Since its launch, Showyou says it's already fetched over 10 million videos from its users' Facebook and Twitter feeds, and the startup says that users watch, on average, more than 4 videos every time they open the app.
