Google Hangouts, HD video chat, VP8, WebRTC

Google Hangouts upgrading to HD video chat, switching to VP8 and WebRTC | Ars Technica: "Google Hangouts is in the process of switching to 720p HD video, and a select group of users may already have access. GigaOM has gotten Google to spill the beans on the latest Google Hangouts upgrade, which switches several protocols to more open standards so that Hangouts can eventually morph into a plugin-free chat service. For video, Google is dropping the royalty-encumbered H.264 codec for its own VP8. VP8 was acquired and open sourced by Google in 2010 with the purchase of On2 Technologies. Google says the codec swap will require much less processing power, which will enable most computers to handle 10 720p video streams at once. It should also enable higher-quality, lower-bit-rate streams across the board. The H.264 plugin will still be supported for browsers that do not support VP8: IE (of course), Safari, and older mobile clients." (read more at link above)

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Mozilla developers demonstrate screen-sharing using WebRTC

Mozilla developers demonstrate screen-sharing using WebRTC. | MIT Technology Review: " . . . there is an easier way: an open standard for delivering real-time communications, like a pipe directly from a browser to another computer. That technology is called WebRTC. . . . Programmers will be free to implement it on their sites and use it to transmit live video and audio; the quality of the stream will adapt to the speed of an Internet connection in real-time—perfect for mobiles devices. The video (above) shows a Mozilla demonstration of a shared browsing experience. Notice how the video stream is not bound to a single page, and how you can drop browser tabs and documents to a friend while you explore together. Google is leading the charge on WebRTC development—probably because it will play heavily in the forthcoming HTML5 app economy, which Google is also pushing—but it’s the W3C that will decide what goes into the final spec in late 2013. In fact, WebRTC has already been implemented, in its current form, in Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Ericsson was first to release a mobile WebRTC-enabled browser called Bowser, which has been available on iOS and Android since last year. . . . "

Nielsen Agrees to Expand Definition of TV Viewing: " . . . . By September 2013, when the next TV season begins, Nielsen expects to have in place new hardware and software tools in the nearly 23,000 TV homes it samples. Those measurement systems will capture viewership not just from the 75 percent of homes that rely on cable, satellite and over the air broadcasts but also viewing via devices that deliver video from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, from so-called over-the-top services and from TV enabled game systems like the X-Box and PlayStation. While some use of iPads and other tablets that receive broadband in the home will be included in the first phase of measurement improvements, a second phase is envisioned to include such devices in a more comprehensive fashion. The second phase is envisioned to roll out on a slower timetable, according to sources, will the overall goal to attempt to capture video viewing of any kind from any source. Nielsen is said to have an internal goal of being able to measure video viewing on an iPad by the end of this year, a process in which the company will work closely with its clients. . . ."


House of Cards: Netflix subscribers say the series will make them less likely to cancel.: " . . . some data supporting my hypothesis that House of Cards is a ploy by Netflix to prop up its new brand identity as a quasi-network. According to a survey by Cowen and Co. released last week, 86 percent of Netflix subscribers said having the access to watch House of Cards makes them less likely to cancel their subscriptions. One important caveat is that a majority of subscribers surveyed also said they'd cancel their Netflix subscriptions if Netflix raised its current $7.99/month price. So Netflix can buy brand loyalty, but it comes at a (lower) price. . . ."



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Disney and Google Build Find Your Way to Oz

Disney and Google Build an Amazing Interactive Circus to Hype Oz | Gadget Lab | Wired.com: "Disney and Google have built something that’s beautiful and fun and points the way toward the future of web technology and marketing to come: Find Your Way to Oz, a Chrome Experiment that is essentially an interactive circus in your web browser. This stunning bit of entertainment, which promotes Disney’s forthcoming movie, Oz the Great and Powerful, went live Tuesday. At first blush, it’s simply slick online marketing. Look beyond that, though, and you’ll see a successful experiment built by Google, Disney and U.K. app and web developer Unit 9, that shows off the sort of immersive experiences possible when using web technologies such as WebGL, CSS3, WebAudio, WebRTC and other HTML5 tools. Hollywood marketing machine meets tech evangelism in the future of online storytelling. “It’s a really cool, very emotional experience,” Alex Komoroske, a Chrome product manager, told Wired. “And for us, this is really about inspiring people. Even a couple years ago, or a year ago, this type of experience wouldn’t have even been possible on a web platform.” While Google has built plenty of Chrome Experiments to show off creative ways to use new web tech — most notably an interactive collaboration with Arcade Fire — none of its past projects have been so gorgeously detailed. Navigating around the Kansas circus, you see tents with different attractions. . . ."

Google’s changes to mobile advertising could fix company’s major problem - The Washington Post: "There are a couple of reasons that mobile advertising is such a challenge. First, it’s hard to deliver a good, but not intrusive, ad on a smaller screen. Second, it has traditionally been difficult to get a mobile ad campaign going. In the past, Google’s AdWords program has required companies to submit separate campaigns for different devices, locations and times — a labor-intensive process that often results in companies running hundreds of simultaneous, similar campaigns. With the changes, however, advertisers will be able to control several branches of a single campaign, with options to control customized mobile and desktop ads for different locations and times from a single place."

Google to buy marketing services company for $125 million | Reuters: "Channel Intelligence helps retailers, manufacturers and other advertisers make their products and services easier for consumers to find and buy online and in local stores. ICG said it will get $60.5 million for its stake in Channel Intelligence. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013."


Yahoo reveals 'non-exclusive' ads deal with Google | ZDNet: " . . . However, there was no mention of Yahoo's advertising relationship with Microsoft. Yahoo didn't provide a ton of additional details, but here's a snippet with a little more of the nitty-gritty from today's blog post announcing the agreement:

By adding Google to our list of world-class contextual ads partners, we’ll be able to expand our network, which means we can serve users with ads that are even more meaningful. For our users, there won’t be a noticeable difference in how or where ads appear. More options simply mean greater flexibility. We look forward to working with all of our contextual ads partners to ensure we’re delivering the right ad to the right user at the right time.

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