There’s also a “From TV” channel for content pulled from broadcast. Each channel gets a new-style page, with easier access to playlists and individual videos. It’s also possible to subscribe to channels with a single click, while pressing up or down on your remote scrolls through related videos or other titles from the same user.

Mid-playback, meanwhile, scrolling up or down shifts through the video information dialog, overlaid on top of the clip. This supports the usual thumbs up/thumbs down rating system, along with add-to-playlist and the comments dialog; that’s when having a QWERTY remote like those supplied with the second-gen Sony Google TV hardware would come in handy.

Overall, the app is meant to be faster and less glitchy, both of which are vital is Google is to corner the smart TV market in 2012. The new YouTube app is a free download for Google TV users.

And he documented it all on video so he could post it on YouTube for all to see. And so far it has received nearly 2.9 million views. In the video, the angry dad reveals he saw a ‘hidden’ wall post on her daughter’s Facebook account while he was upgrading her computer. “Since you want to hide it from everyone, I’m going to share it with everybody,” the dad, Tommy Jordan, said. He then goes on to read her tirade about how she dislikes her chores and all the other stuff most teenagers have to deal with.

Apparently this isn’t the first time she’s used Facebook to vent her frustrations with her life at home. “You don’t have that hard a life, but you’re about to. I warned you months ago about what would happen if you did something like this on Facebook again,” he continues. And then, the piece of resistance – he shoots his daughter’s laptop nine times. The video, as you would expect, has drawn reactions from both people who approve and disapprove. What do you think? Watch the video for yourself.

[via MSNBC]

Amazon is still very much the new kid on the block when it comes to streaming. Even though a year of Amazon Prime is cheaper than a year of Netflix, and the volume of movies and TV shows is comparable, it’s tough to compete against the well defined leader in the market. So these new job postings on Amazon.com are pretty interesting. Specifically, the jobs are for Amazon’s “People Production Company.”

One of the listings is for a VP of Series Development, which lists responsibilities like asessing pilot proposals, working with writers and artists, staffing and casting new projects, and supervising series production. This idea of original content is also starting to break out in Netflix, as well as sponsored content on YouTube. Apparently, Amazon paid more than $2.5 million to develop potential pilots in 2011, but nothing made it to distribution. At least not yet.

[via GigaOM]

Google announced that it wanted to launch more than 100 new channels over the next several months that include brand new, exclusive content to YouTube. The idea is to make the site’s visitor loyalty a more known quantity. That is to say, if new episodes for an online show are uploaded to YouTube every week or every day, it would encourage users to visit the site on a regular basis as opposed to just every now and then when work is boring or you need to play that Bee Gees song that’s stuck in your head.

Creating these targeted, niche channels also opens up attractive advertising opportunities. Instead of advertisers trying to navigate the swath of random content on YouTube, creating tailored ads for an automotive-themed channel, for example, makes a lot more sense. This is also part of Google’s ambition to have a better monetization system in place for YouTube, which gets more than three billion video views every day but still remains full of untapped potential.

[via Wired]

YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar was at the D:Dive Into Media conference and was quoted as saying it is possible that the site might start allowing copyright holders to offer channels that require users to pay a monthly fee. “We’re a media platform want to be biz model than media partners demand,” he said.

Kamangar rolled off some statistics about the video industry as a whole, including online and offline content. He said 20% of revenue comes from the actual sale or rental of a specific title, while 40% comes from advertising and another 40% comes from subscription fees. Clearly YouTube is only engaging in one part of that pie right now, but even so it’s not exactly hurting for revenue. The thought of punching in a credit card to watch a video on YouTube seems almost un-American. It would be interesting to see if Google could pull it off.

[via GigaOM]

It was a rather stark and perhaps ironic discussion place for the bill. After all, Obama is the most technologically-active president the United States has ever seen. Tonight’s event, at the behest of the president, was broadcast on YouTube, a site that by its own admission would be forced to shut down the day that SOPA was put into effect, should that day ever come. As such, even though he is a master of political statements, it was pretty obvious what Obama’s true sentiments were about the proposed law.

“I think that it’s going to be possible for us” to go a different route for battling online piracy. It doesn’t have to be SOPA, Obama said. “What I’ve suggested is that both sides–the content side and the server side–come together and work with us to create a system where there are strong protections in place.” In the last few weeks, there have only been lawmakers who were in support of the bill who now oppose it. There have been no Congressmen who had the reverse change of heart.

[via Cnet]

The White House only joined Google+ on January 20, last Friday, but has already accrued around 17,000 +1′s at time of writing. It has also gathered a fair number of comments, both positive and negative, and we can see Obama’s online interview being a hotly-discussed event.

That the administration has decided to use Google+ is quite the coup for Google, which is still facing questions around antitrust behavior after integrating results from the social network into general search. Google+ broke the 90m user mark last week, a figure which is likely to increase rapidly since the search giant is now pushing sign-ups for all new users.

If you’re keen to ask a question, you’ll need to have it submitted by the end of the day on Saturday, January 28 – that’s this coming Saturday – and hope that it gets sufficient votes to filter up to Obama’s attention. Some of those picked to have their questions answered will also be invited to join the president in the Google+ hangout.

The new figures suggest the video sharing site has seen dramatic growth over the past year. Back in May 2011, Google announced that YouTube was handling around 48 hours of new video uploaded per minute.

However, the site is also looking at other, more professional sources of video to bolster its viewership. In November 2011, Google announced a deal with Disney and Pixar to offer pay-per-view streaming of titles.

Meanwhile, there are various tweaks and improvements being added to the site, including competitive YouTube Slam head-to-head footage with a leaderboard for the most popular clips. Perhaps more useful is the new social integration and channels, which attempt to make actually finding a video from the rapidly-growing selection more straightforward.

This update will bring you improved information banners so you’ll know even more about the things you should be paying attention to instead of reading, and you’ll now get multi-room streaming on top of it all. This is for you rich folks with your TiVo boxes in multiple rooms, of course. This feature was not available for early adopters, but like the rest of the updates, is available for all users now.

You’ll be getting additional updates this spring including a fully refreshed set of apps for YouTube and Netflix, not to mention Parental Controls in your HD menus! The update you’re dealing with right now goes by the code-name 20.2, and if you’re wise, you’ll be able to wait for it to come down on you in due time, hopefully sometime across the weekend hours. Otherwise you can be crafty and try to force the update with TiVo mind magic. Stay safe, folks, just wait for it!

[via TiVo]

Recording video is, as you may have guessed, very similar to YourTube in that you get the same interface, more or less, you working with whatever webcam you’ve got connected to your computer at the time of tapping. Sharing then has the video embedded into your share box where you can add or subtract people at will. The video then appears in a box not unlike what you’d see for a YouTube video, minus the extra embedding options and link out to a separate YouTube page.

This is an interesting approach from the folks at Google, and it wouldn’t be surprising if in the near future all of these videos were cross-posted to YouTube in one way or another. Of course the privacy issue would still be there, but heck, they already look the same, right? Will you be using Google+ now instead of YouTube?

[via Shana Gitnick]

That little creature is finding his way into everything this season, Android here and Android there, Android everywhere. This Samsung device isn’t the first and isn’t the last to use a heavily skinned version of the Google mobile OS, with other examples existing inside the same show we got to see this device in! How about that?

You just connect this device to your television with a single HDMI cable and wham, you’re well on your way to creating a chatting station for you, your son or daughter, and your grandmother. This device will go on sale in March and will be priced at the low low spot of $199.99. Sounds like a fabulous deal of a grab to us, especially since it comes with such a radical remote control as well!

Samsung throws in a QWERTY remote control for operating the inTouch, navigating its menu and your Skype contacts list, and searching for URLs and YouTube videos. Still image recording is supported, and there’s weather information and Google News too.

A USB port allows you to hook up a digital camera or memory card, and view photos stored on that too; alternatively you can upload them, through the inTouch, to YouTube, Flickr and other sites. Connectivity with a TV is via a single HDMI cable.

The Samsung inTouch SNH-5010N will go on sale in March, priced at $199.99. Considering how much Cisco was asking for its Umi system, that seems like something of a bargain to us.

Slam pits two videos against each other and allows the users to vote for which video they think is the best in several categories. Slam has several categories of videos including comedy, cute, music, bizarre, and dance. Whoever the ultimate winner of the Slam turns out to be is featured on the leader board. The system also lets the voters earn points for predicting which video will be the most popular with the hoard.

At the end of the week, players will be able to see how they measure up to the other people predicting the most popular videos. Users can subscribe to the Slam channels. This is something that YouTube cooked up with the help of Google Research.

Some musicians got together and recorded Mega Song in support of MegaUpload and Universal Music has been trying to force YouTube to remove its video for a while. The catch is that Universal doesn’t own the copyright to Mega Song. A new court filing from Universal that hints it has a deal with YouTube that allows it to request the takedown of anything it doesn’t like on the video service. The key paragraph in the filing reads:

Your letter could be read to suggest that UMG’s rights to use the YouTube “Content Management System” with respect to certain user-posted videos are limited to instances in which UMG asserts a claim that a user-posted video contains material that infringes a UMG copyright. As you know, UMG’s rights in this regard are not limited to copyright infringement, as set forth more completely in the March 31, 2009 Video License Agreement for UGC Video Service Providers, including without limitation Paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g) thereof.

What exactly those paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g) say are unknown, but the clear indication is that those paragraphs give Universal the right to request takedowns of content they do not have copyright to. The implications if Google agreed to this sort of deal are very disturbing. What do you think?

[via BoingBoing]

The newly added video services for the Xbox 360 console can be downloaded now via the Apps Marketplace in Xbox Live. Verizon FiOS TV is available to users in the US, while Rogers on Demand is available for those in Canada. Other entertainment services include iHeartRadio and MSNBC.com for US users only, while TMZ is available in both US and Canada.

There are also video services available now for users outside of North America, including SBS On Demand for Australia, Blinkbox for the UK, RTVE for Spain, and MUZU TV for several European countries. Other services expected to roll out include Comcast and HBO Go, but they’ll likely turn up in late December or early 2012.

[via Engadget]

RightsFlow, which already has a 30-million-song database, has been at the forefront in handling the complex licensing business to ensure proper copyrighting and payment to artists and labels. With this acquisition, Google will have a dedicated team to help accelerate the growth of its own licensing and premium content offerings.

Google has had to fight copyright infringement claims in the past for unauthorized content distributed through YouTube and has also had difficulty securing licensing deals for its Google Music service, reportedly due to labels’ concerns over Google’s ability to control piracy. With RightsFlow in-house, momentum should be strong for Google music and video content going forward.

[via PCMag]

The new design focuses on channel subscriptions that are listed in the left-hand column, with Google+ and Facebook feeds listed at the top that when clicked show videos shared by any of your friends or circles. This column also features other ways to filter your feed, curated feeds, suchas Trending channels, and also lets you pin any specific channel subscriptions to the list.

When a subscription or filter in the left column is clicked on, the corresponding videos show up in the center column, with the latest videos from the feed showing up first. The right column then features recommendations and ads. This layout is similar to what we’ve seen in both Google+ and Facebook.

Additionally, YouTube introduced new templates for these homepages, including Blogger, Creator, Network, and Everything templates that let you customize your page to best present your video content. YouTube will likely be introducing more social features that will further enhance discovery options and possibly even tighter integration with Google+.

[via TechCrunch]

YouTube has been available on BRAVIA smart TVs for some time now, but this new update boosts quality support to HD where available. Sony’s existing image processing tech is also retained, further massaging footage.

Meanwhile, the company has released a version of its Remote Keyboard Lite app for non-Sony laptops, allowing them to be used to enter URLs in the Opera-based browser, search for streaming content and navigate through the menus. You’ll need a Windows 7 computer, however, which means those with older laptops – or, indeed, Macs – are left out in the cold.

The new Sony BRAVIA 2011 firmware should be pushed out automatically to sets, as long as you’ve got it hooked up to an internet connection.

Starting off, the deal brings only a few titles to YouTube, such as the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “Cars” and “Cars 2″, but Google says that hundreds more are on the way. Animated classics such as Alice in Wonderland as well as the newly envisioned Winnie the Pooh are also available today. Extras and behind-the-scenes clips will also be featured.

The new Disney and Pixar titles add to YouTube’s existing collection of over 6,000 titles, including the 3,000 movies from NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. The movies can be rented and watched online via your computer or through the YouTube app on Google TV. Rental prices range from $1 to $4 and must be watched within 24 to 48 hours. You can find more details on YouTube’s movie rental service here.

[via BusinessInsider]

With the current war on Flash being driven by another technology company, Google themselves hasn’t entirely killed off Flash on YouTube, however. Some significant changes introduced today for the YouTube flash player includes buffer-free playback and seamless transitions between different video-quality settings. These settings haven’t been pushed out to all videos yet, but expect them to be very soon in the coming time.

This is great news for companies who have embraced HTML5 rich content on the internet, and, well, not so good for Adobe, which recently just for their mobile flash player. And full-on 1080P support on the HTMl5 player is yet another thorn in the side of Flash development ans sustainment in general. SlashGear readers, have you transitioned from the Flash to the HTML player on YouTube already? Leave your answers and thoughts in the comment section below.

[via The Verge]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Google+ is going to be my hub for basically everything I need to access during the day, and a whole lot of other bits and pieces (like Beavis and Butthead videos) that I definitely DON’T need to be checking out all day. To access such a thing, on the other hand, you’ve only to locate the tiny slip of paper in the upper right-hand corner of your Google+ interface and mouse-over it. It’ll pop out and you’ll be able to enter a few keywords. Press play and a playlist (like what you see above) will pop up in a new window. You can control the videos from there or from the slide-out controller that still sits in the window you where in in the first place.

In addition to this, you can still share YouTube videos in your Circles as you’ve always been able to do, but now people will be able to see a related list of videos that looks rather nice like, again, the list you see above. Looks rather nice, yes?

Next there’s a couple of Chrome extensions which you can grab for your Chrome browser here that’ll add a Google+ Notifications button and a Google+ button to your toolbar. You can also get these extensions via a slightly less appealing add-on toolbar for Internet Explorer or Firefox. Have a peek now!

Of course this week we’ve also heard reports that Google has complied with the vast majority of takedown requests on user data over the past year, but today is different in its apparent – and I do once again note that this is not CONFIRMED, but seems quite OBVIOUS to your humble narrator – nature.

The connection comes in the form of THREE quotes from Google. The first is in a post on Google’s Enterprise blog:

More than 4 million businesses and 40 million users trust us with the data they store in Google Apps. We work to be responsible stewards of that data, and transparency is one important aspect of that. Last year, we posted a Transparency Report to provide the Internet community with more insight about how often governments ask for user data. Earlier this week, we published an update to the report. For the first time, we’re not only disclosing the number of requests for user data, but we’re showing the number of users or accounts that are specified in those requests, too.

The “update to the report” included the following, as posted on the Official Google blog:

Today we’re updating the Government Requests tool with numbers for requests that we received from January to June 2011. For the first time, we’re not only disclosing the number of requests for user data, but we’re showing the number of users or accounts that are specified in those requests too. We also recently released the raw data behind the requests. Interested developers and researchers can now take this data and revisualize it in different ways, or mash it up with information from other organizations to test and draw up new hypotheses about government behaviors online.

We believe that providing this level of detail highlights the need to modernize laws like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which regulates government access to user information and was written 25 years ago—long before the average person had ever heard of email. Yet at the end of the day, the information that we’re disclosing offers only a limited snapshot. We hope others join us in the effort to provide more transparency, so we’ll be better able to see the bigger picture of how regulatory environments affect the entire web.

The two quotes below, both published on the 27th of October, show that the quote below, though it sits inside a Google transparency report that shows a report on the first half of 2011, shows that Google has and continues to keep this stance on the subject at hand:

“We received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove YouTube videos of police brutality, which we did not remove. Separately, we received requests from a different local law enforcement agency for removal of videos allegedly defaming law enforcement officials. We did not comply with those requests, which we have categorized in this Report as defamation requests.”

I must remind you once more that this paragraph is connected to the first half of this year, but that because of Googles promotion of this report this week, and the fact that it appears that NONE of the videos from Occupy Oakland with Police Brutality in them have been removed (to this author’s knowledge), that Google has refused all requests (that may or may not have been made) to take them down. Your narrator here happened upon this connection in an article on Read Write Web – as you’ll see in the comments, Jon Mitchell answered your humble narrator’s request to clarify the issue as it was first written, this then also resulting in the post you are now reading.

And what about the video / videos in question?

Here’s just a few of them. Lemme know what you think about them and the possibility that Google has both had requests to take them down by local police institutions and has refused those requests:

YouTube is also looking to make video channels on its site and according to people familiar with the matter; the video streaming site is “close” to announcing the video channels. The source claims that the video channels could be announced as early as next week and that several partnerships for content on the channels are in place with media outlets and well-known personalities.

The WSJ reports that some of the partners that are expected to be supplying content for the channels include IAC/InterActiveCorp Electus, FreemantleMedia Ltd, and ShineRevellie. Other personalities said to be supplying the channel include Tony Hawk, Anthony Zuiker (the creator of CSI) and more. Google is reportedly spending $100 million in advances to get the content for the channels into production. Once the content is in place, the YouTube site is expected to be reorganized into a channel centric layout.

[via WSJ]

Movie fans in the UK can now join fans in the US and Canada in watching films like The Dark Knight, Reservoir Dogs, and new flicks like Hanna, Fast Five and Red Riding Hood. British classics like Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are offered along with other films. UK fans can hit Youtube.com/movies to see what is available to watch.

Fans can also check out YouTube Movie Extras with behind the scenes video for free. Other content includes cast interviews, parodies, clips, remixes and more. If you are a movie fan in the UK, you can start streaming the flicks today.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the original greatest fan-film for Mortal Kombat in the short, short history of fan films for said video game is going to be a major motion picture. It’s the two Warner Bros. units that are coming together on this one, New Line Cinema for the film portion and Burbank studios’ video game unit Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. For those of you that do not know, Warner Bros attained the rights to the Mortal Kombat series by buying Midway Games out of bankruptcy in 2009 to the tune of $49 million. Since then they’ve created one of the most wildly successful installments in the Mortal Kombat series, Mortal Kombat 9. The new film installment, though having a little bit to do with the game, will follow a more true-to-life storyline with special effects kept somewhat to a minimum.

It’s the original viral video above that inspired the folks at Warner to allow the duo to create an extended series of the short, complete with the full cast: Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White as Jax, Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage, Lateef Crowder as Baraka, and Ian Anthony Dale as Scorpion. These same actors (and more) then move on to work on the rest of the viral video series made alongside the video game release (relatively, that is.)

The series that Warner eventually agreed on at first was a 9-part mini released by Machinima, a site centered around gaming and media video streaming, it called Mortal Kombat: Legacy. You can view the whole series through this first episode – once you get to the end, you can move on to the next, then to the next, etc. It is unclear at this point whether or not this series will be the jumping off point for the movie, or if the movie will simply be a complete reboot:

Either way, we’re pretty pumped up about this. Mortal Kombat is already a film series from the 1990s, one that only lasted two films and, though they did not age well AT ALL, remains a part of the kitsch-pop culture your humble narrator constantly feels the need to preserve. One thing is certain, this newest film will have nothing to do with the first two other than coming from the same greater lore.

Look like a good film to you? We’ll see inside 2012 if all goes well!

[via LA Times]

The study was published recently in Current Biology. The study had the participants in an MRI machine for hours at a time watching YouTube videos. The data gathered by the MRI machine was used to create a computer model that matched the features of the video like colors, shapes, and movements with the brain activity.

The video was recreated by looking at slight changes in blood flow to visual areas of the brain were used to predict what was on the screen at the time. The team thinks that one day the tech could be used to broadcast imagery that plays in the mind independent from vision. What they mean is that eventually you may actually be able to watch your day dreams.

[via ABC News]

Strange, isn’t it, that such a reality has come to pass. It was barely science fiction when this couple of kids were first thinking about using a telephone, speaking now through video that, due to the awesome “viral” tradition of the internet, has seen thousands and millions of viewers in only a few days. “Why won’t it take a picture?” says Esther Huffman, attempting to make her and her husband’s computer activate a still-image function by mistake. It reminds your humble narrator of the slew of “falling asleep” videos on the tube, seeing something so candid and so very innocent being captured here in the tiniest of cams.

They use the opportunity, or Mr. Huffman does at least, to poke at his face and lament “I’m so sad, Esther, I’m so sad. Look at all the wrinkles up there, the cracks in my head – I could be Mrs Doubtfire.” Mrs. Huffman responds with a lovely giggle that, if I may be so bold, echoes through the few short loving years they’ve enjoyed one another – they only having been married, believe it or not, just 7 and a half years thus far, or so they tell their interviewers below. They continue to attempt taking a photo, and sure enough Mrs. Huffman does note that she’s done it before, good golly, but Mr. Huffman just isn’t sure “I don’t know dear – *BELCH* – pardon me”.

Mr. Huffman notes how pretty his wife’s hair is, how she aught to drop her dress a little bit, maybe that’d work, but “I don’t know what I’m recording, shucks,” notes Mrs. Huffman, “Maybe it just recorded us,” realizes Mr. Huffman.

Truly it did, Mr. Huffman, truly it did.

ABC affiliate KATU caught up with the couple just yesterday and asked them what they thought of the video being quite the sensation. As it happens, they’re pretty much alright with the whole thing.

“When I was 8 years old, my uncle paid me five cents if I’d make a monkey face and I’ve been working on it all these years. I never knew it’d make me famous. He’s up in heaven and he’d be amazed at what’s going on right here, right now.” – Bruce Huffman, Internet Sensation

The video itself was uploaded by their granddaughter who was also the one they were speaking about in the video, she having taught them the ways of the CPU. Well done, young lady! You’ve made quite a lot of people have a fabulous afternoon!

[via KATU]

The new video editing capability can be found under the “Edit Video” button and already uploaded videos can now be edited and still retain the same address or be saved as a new video. There are a total of 14 filters at the moment, including Black and White, Cross Process, Lomo-ish, Thermal, and Cartoon effects.

Additionally, any changes made to a video are non-destructive, meaning you can easily flip back to the original. Copyrighted videos or videos with over a thousand views can be edited as well, but must be saved as a new video. The feature is expected to roll out globally over the course of this evening.

[via YouTube]

We first heard reports of Hulu’s decision to sell when it began shopping itself around to the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo among others back in July. However, Microsoft has dropped out of the bidding early on, leaving Yahoo, Amazon, and the Dish Network still seriously vying for the purchase. All three are expected to offer between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for Hulu in exchange for the site, its subscription service, and the rights to its exclusive content for at least two years.

However, Google’s offer, the details of which have not been confirmed, is said to ask for more than what Hulu has put on the table, possibly involving greater access to more content and for longer periods of time. The acquisition of premium content would help Google’s YouTube as well as the struggling Google TV. And for this, the company is willing to spend big, which isn’t too shocking now considering its recent $12.5 billion sweep for Motorola Mobility.

But we should note that Hulu is a joint venture between NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney, in an effort that was largely to prevent rival YouTube from completely taking over the web video space. So, it will be interesting to see if Google’s offer is large enough to sway Hulu’s owners.

[via AllThingsD]

Yes indeed, it’s been the bane of those adopting the 3D platform since its re-introduction over the past few years that content creators aren’t quite traveling at the same speed as hardware creators – with this update and connection to YouTube’s 3D library, you’ve got an ever-expanding collection. It’s the way mobile devices are working now as well, offering one piece of the puzzle for free while the main bit of hardware costs a pretty penny.

What Samsung is doing here is making you want to also pick up a 3D-capable recording device so that, without more than the bare minimum of effort, will be able to view your own 3D content on a gigantic display. As Kyungsik Kevin Lee, vice president of Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics says,

“Samsung Smart TV is an ideal platform for YouTube to convey the beautifully visual user interface and 3D experience that consumers will now have at their fingertips for watching and sharing of 3D content worldwide-this partnership will contribute to the continued growth of both the 3D and Smart TV industries.” -Kyungsik Kevin Lee

Again I must ask – is it enough for you? Let the Samsung Smart TV brand wash over you!

Google obviously realizes that people get a kick out of seeing new notifications come in, and so the little red counter that clocks up how many updates are waiting for your attention is now animated. Rather than discretely appearing, it spins round like the social networking equivalent of a slot machine wheel. You’ll see more of it, too, since the top black and grey Google menu bars now follow your scrolling down the screen, though the engineers have been clever about it and, if you’re browsing on a smaller display, one or both bars remain fixed so as to give you maximum room to read.

Collaborative YouTube video watching seems likely to only be the start of Google+ integration with the streaming service. We’re expecting to see direct YouTube recording added sometime soon, too, allowing you to quickly create a video record of conversations for later review and/or sharing.

The Nexus Contraptions game involves bouncing Google apps into a Nexus S handset. The Google apps are represented as balls that get released one at a time from the top of the screen. You are supplied with a variety of tools including rubber bands and propellers that you can place and angle in order to get the balls to bounce into a funnel to obtain a new Nexus S.

Obstacles include blocks of wood and shelving so you’ll have to get creative in how you setup your contraption to get your balls into the funnel. Plus, you’re timed so you have to think fast. The slick graphics and animation make it a game that we’d love to see as an app. Go check it out here.

Gone is the boring YouTube blob, replaced by a colorful mini Nyan Cat scampering across the screen. In a way, it’s a metaphor for the passing of time and the transition of our lives, though of course only if you also have a tail and are only rendered in 8-bit graphics.

If the custom time bar doesn’t show up below, you can find the official video here. We now return you – inescapable tune stuck inside your head – to your regular gadget coverage.

Microsoft announced many features that will be coming soon such as YouTube, full Kinect support with Bing and more. One thing they mentioned more than a few times was: TV is more amazing when you’re the controller. Microsoft and Kinect aims to replace the remote in living rooms across the country and world. From choosing the channel or movie you want to watch, Netflix, launch a game in Xbox Live, or search YouTube for videos all by your voice, no remote required.

All of these exciting and new changes will be coming this fall. You’ll be able to say things as simple as “Xbox bing Call of Duty” to bring up everything related to Call of Duty from games, clips, pictures and more. Same thing works for movies and everything else you can imagine. Microsoft is moving fast and there is much more coming. So keep checking back at our E3 2011 Portal.

The move was made in part to support the numerous available 3D camcorders that are on the market today. To view the 3D video the user has to have a 3D Vision compatible computer and be running the latest version of Firefox. The YouTube website allows the users to choose the style of glasses they are using and what sort of 3D tech their screen supports.

“Firefox with 3D Vision creates a stunning and smooth 3D video experience using HTML5 video based on open standards,” said Jay Sullivan, VP of Products at Mozilla. “3D Vision from NVIDIA is a great example of the rich, innovative experiences that are being built on top of the speed and graphics power that Firefox delivers to the Web.” This is really good news and if you are using NVIDIA 3D vision, let us know how the video looks from YouTube.

That’s an upload increase of 100-percent over the past 12 months, and a viewing increase of 50-percent in the same period. In fact, it’s the equivalent of nearly half the world’s population watching a YouTube video each day, the site points out.

YouTube’s first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005 – and is still there now – while the site was initially opened to beta testers in May 2005. October 2006 saw the site acquired by Google for $1.65bn in stock.

We have talked about kits that let you get your mess on with these two snacks before. Back in 2007 a kit surfaced that kept the Mentos out of the soda until you (and your face) were at a safe distance. That was how to do it right. A couple guys have just uploaded a video to YouTube that shows how to do it wrong, funny as hell, but wrong.

I was expecting the bald dude messing with the bottle to take the brunt of the explosion. I did think it was funny that while baldy was laughing it up the cameraperson is on the ground moaning. Check out the video below. Fess up in the comments if you flinched or not.

[via BuzzFeed]

The new movies will begin rolling out today with titles being added throughout the week. They will include several of the most recent releases including Inception, The King’s Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet, and Despicable Me as well as cult classics such as Caddyshack, Goodfellas, Scarface, and Taxi Driver. Rental pricing will be based on industry standard of $4 except for new releases which will cost an additional dollar. The movies can be watched from your YouTube account on any computer and can be found at youtube.com/movies.

This development could help bolster the revamp of Google TV by bringing more quality content and make YouTube a better contender in the online movie streaming market.

Google offered the following YouTube Movies FAQ:

Q. What are some of the new studios you’re partnering with?
A. NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers.

Q. How many films have you added and how many total movies are now available on YouTube?
A. We have added a total of approximately 3,000 new titles including catalog and new releases from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, NBCUniversal, Lionsgate Films and many great independent studios. This brings the total number of movie titles available to rent on YouTube to over 6,000.

Q. Where and when will the additional movie titles begin appearing on YouTube?
A. Movies for rent will be available at www.youtube.com/movies and new titles will begin appearing to users today and be added throughout the week.

Q. Where are the new movies located and when will they be available on the site?
A. The new movies are located at www.youtube.com/movies and will start appearing at that destination throughout the day.

Q. How many total studios are now represented at YouTube.com/movies and what are they?
A. Studio partners include Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate Films, Starz, The Weinstein Company, and Magnolia Pictures, among others.

Q. How much will the movies for rent cost?
A. Movies are set at industry standard pricing (i.e. most new releases start at $3.99 and library start at $2.99).

Q. How long will a consumer have a movie once he or she has purchased it?
A. For most movies, viewers will have 30 days to begin watching their rental. Once they start watching the movie they will typically have 24 hours to finish.

Q. What transaction service are you using?
A. The service accepts all major credit cards.

Q. Will movies for rent be available at the same time as DVD releases?
A. It’s always up to the content owner, however, many movies will be available at the same time as DVD releases.

Q. Is this a subscription service?
A. No, this is a transaction offering.

Q. Are the movies downloaded, or streamed?
A. Streamed.

Q. Is this global?
A. No. This service is available to US YouTube users only.

Q. Do you need a YouTube account to purchase a movie for rent?
A. Yes.

Q. Will YouTube movies for rent be available on Google TV?
A. Yes, these will be available via the browser (www.youtube.com) on Google TV.

Q. Can rented movies be shared or embedded into other sites including blogs, Facebook and Twitter?
A. Users can embed movies on other sites. If a user who has not rented the movie views the embedded video, the embedded player will show the movie’s trailer along with an overlay that users can click on to rent the full movie.

Q. Is the content in HD?
A. YouTube supports video in up to 4k resolution, however, it is up to our partners to specify what video quality they provide. Most movies for rent will be available in standard definition.

Q. What is unique about the YouTube Movie experience?
A. Movies on YouTube are about providing a complete movie experience. With YouTube Movie Extras movie fans can get more into their favorite films through cast interviews, clips, alternate movie endings and other highly produced content from talented YouTube partners. YouTube reaches one of the largest and most engaged online audiences in the world, with hundreds of millions of views a day in the US alone.

[via TechCrunch]

The online video platform has been around for six years now and is fast becoming a place where its original made-for-web and personal videos can co-exist with the content of traditional media partners. The platform is now available on 350 million devices and folks are tuning in 2 billion views per day. But on average people are spending just 15 minutes per day on the platform and spending five hours a day on watching TV. YouTube wants to change this.

YouTube’s movie rental service has been around for over a year now, but has gained little traction and consists of a meager selection of mainly independent flicks. The 3,000 new movie titles for rent could mean a huge step forward and indicates that the company must have successfully struck deals with the big movie studios.

This development could pit YouTube against other major movie streaming platforms such as iTunes and Netflix. But the additional home-grown original content that YouTube offers, could give them a unique edge. They intend to also increase their support and investment in the content created by its over 20,000 channel partners that include several YouTube stars that command TV-size audiences.

[via TechCrunch]

I guess I don’t fit into the TV-less group, but my TV is just a screen that makes it easier for me to watch, as I would prefer not to watch on my laptop. I have no plans to get cable or a satellite dish anytime soon. Just not interested. Anything I really want to watch, I can do it online, and not having cable means I’m less likely to spend hours watching TV and am more selective about what my family watches. I suspect that point of view is unlikely to become mainstream, but I do think that the group of people who are willing to pay a premium price for cable is likely to shrink, especially as more and more content is available online, and is available immediately. Also, the rise of Smart TVs and set top boxes like the Boxee Box, Apple TV, and the Roku make watching internet content easier and more accessible (you don’t have to hunch in front of your laptop).

Nielsen is now looking at including internet video in their surveys, something that I think is already overdue. According to the report:

“While Nielsen data demonstrates that consumers are viewing more video content across all platforms — rather than replacing one medium with another — a small subset of younger, urban consumers seem to be going without paid TV subscriptions for the time being. The long-term effects of this are still unclear, as it is undetermined if this is also an economic issue that will see these individuals entering the TV marketplace once they have the means, or the beginning of a larger shift to online viewing.”

To further gauge interest in streaming, we have a poll running right now asking our readers their opinions on Smart TVs.

The vast majority, 46%, say they have no plans to buy one. Only 11% say that they have a Smart TV and use all the features. This is not really surprising, since most Smart TVs come with a premium price. Vincent Nguyen just reviewed the Samsung D8000, which sells for around $3500. It’s a beautiful TV with a great picture and amazing features, but priced out of the range of many. There are cheaper options, like the Sony Google TV for $999, and if you go the set-top box route, the cost is much lower, starting at $59 for the lowest-end Roku.

Kristine at Katharses.org has an interesting perspective, as after she got a $170 cable bill, stated weighing the cost of cable vs. the cost of cutting the cord and going with a Roku player. She found that she would save about $740 per year by dumping cable, which was enough to justify the switch, and even allowed for some extra purchases renting movies on Amazon.

I don’t see people giving up their TVs, the TV is still the center of the American living room, and TV ownership is well over 90% in the U.S. and likely to stay that way. But I can definitely see cable subscribership declining, and more people cutting the cord and watching via streaming. Paying for cable, or even satellite, is going to start making less sense as more options pop up for getting what you want when you want it, and for less. With Netflix now getting original content, and seemingly everyone getting into the content streaming game, namely Amazon Prime, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Epix HD, possibly Facebook, and most recently Warner Brothers, there is no question that online streaming is where content delivery is headed.

If Nielsen wants to stay relevant, they had best start studying internet TV viewing sooner rather than later, and if cable networks want to stay in business, they will need to step up their efforts to work with streaming companies like Netflix and others instead of trying to oppose them. I’m quite happy with my Roku and my Netflix subscription, and even with small kids, I don’t feel that I need Nickelodeon. My kids are fine with their DVDs, and watching the shows that are available via Netflix streaming. And I am happy with the choices I have watching on the Roku or on DVD. The one thing my husband and I sometimes miss is being able to watch live sports, especially football. But that isn’t enough for us to justify paying for cable. If I was more of a dedicated TV watcher, though, I might feel differently. So what do you think? Have you cut the cord yet? Would you? Or if you really love having cable, why would you hate to give it up?