Pre-loaded iPods

Your video iPod just got a lot closer to your TV.

Let’s say you bought the box DVD set of “Dark Angel”, but you can’t figure out how to get the shows onto your iPod. Even if you know how to do it, you probably don’t want to take the time to find the DVD-ripping shareware, rip the hour-long shows, convert the files and load them onto their iPod. That’s HOURS of work. Ughhh!

But the Boston startup, TVMyPod, will do it for you.

TVMyPod will sell you a DVD (from their wide selection) and will pre-load that content on your iPod. They then ship the iPod and the DVDs to you.

“At TVMyPod we hope to fill this void for our customers and allow them to watch their favorite TV shows or movies whenever and wherever they want,” said company co-founder Raghavan.

Sweet! That means walkiing the treadmill could be a lot more appealing with Jessica Alba keeping me company.

The company also plans to offer the service to users who have already purchased iPods, and is exploring a subscription service to provide iPod users with periodically updated video content.

Interesting footnote: The company changed their name to Load ‘N Go Video, presumably because they heard from Apple regarding their use of the word “pod”.

Galacticast -- a lo-fi sci-fi videoblog

Galacticast -- a lo-fi sci-fi videoblog

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Prepare to be possessed by an Internet TV show!

Galacticast is a weekly lo-fi, sci-fi videoblog that's a kick to watch. Produced by and starring Casey McKinnon and Rudy Jahchan of Montreal, Galacticast began broadcasting in early May 2006.

Casey and Rudy parody the many worlds of geekdom, often combining them in strange ways --they mix Dr. Phil with Dr. Who in one episode! All I can reveal here is that Casey's character marries a robot!

Casey previously produced KitKast, a weekly videoblog covering the world of sex (which she hosted while dressed in lingerie); but she yearned for something more and wanted to express her inner nerd.

The couple wanted to produce a show that was more collaborative; so Galacticast was born. They just posted their latest show: “Rudy’s Baby”, a tribute to "Rosemary's Baby".

Click on the movie icon above and check out the interview I did with the fun couple at Vloggercon earlier this month. One piece of breaking news they revealed: Galacticast will soon broadcast twice a week, with one episode a parody and the other a sci-fi news show.

PodGrunt -- great new podcast

PodGrunt -- great new podcast

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Since video blogging and podcasting are so new, it's a real pleasure when I discover a show that really takes advantage of the medium.

That's certainly the case with the shows that Craig Syverson and his new company Grunt Media are producing. These 5-min tutorials pack an amazing amount of information into a short format.

Craig's first podcast series was VideoGrunt, which covers the basics of video production. With the positive response he received on that, he recently launched PodGrunt, which covers the basics of podcasting.

Watching the first episdoe of PodGrunt, I'm struck by how clean and focused the shows are. Craig's flair for graphics allows him to convey relatively complex subjects quickly. Moreover, his shows are designed specifically for the very small screen. Sure, the shows look great on my computer screen; but when I viewed them on a video ipod... wow!

I met Craig recently at the Vloggercon convention in San Francisco. We spent a fair amount of time talking over the course of two days and he impressed me with his passion for this new medium and his plans for the future of his company.

I've included my interview with Craig on vloggercon.

Jeff Pulver moving into Internet TV

Jeff Pulver, the 43-year old pioneer of VOIP, or Internet telephone, is turning his sights on Internet TV. Two days ago, the Wall Street Journal (subscription) had an article on his latest venture:

Jeff Pulver, the self-described futurist and entrepreneur who started the company that was Vonage's predecessor... is creating his own Internet TV show, which he is modeling on Rocketboom. He is considering launching a broader Internet TV subsidiary and investing in several emerging Internet video companies, though he won't name them.

Pulver says that "the same DNA that disrupted the telecom industry is well on its way to totally revolutionizing the way the TV, film, and broadcast industry is going to be," adding that he's now looking for "the Vonage of Internet video." The revolution this time, he says, isn't coming from small upstarts, as was the case with
Internet calling, but primarily from established media and tech giants. He points to a variety of developments, ranging from Google Inc.'s video service, which provides easy online access to content from a range of providers, to Walt Disney Co.'s decision to offer Internet downloads of some of its most popular shows.

Jeff is a smart guy. He wouldn't make another big step outside of his comfort zone unless he felt like it was gamble worth making. Welcome to the Vlogosphere, Jeff.

Markus Sandy Interview at Vloggercon

Markus Sandy Interview at Vloggercon

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I caught up with Markus on Saturday at Vloggercan. He sat down with me to discuss the origin and mission of Node101.

Google obsession admitted...

This entry is off-topic, but very revealing of my persona. I'm obsessed with Google.

I believe their search engine is vastly superior to any other site. I just recently migrated to Gmail, Google's web-based email system. While it suffers from bugs, it's still better than my desk-based Outlook.

The main advantage is that I can load my contact list into Gmail and access if from work or on the road or from my phone. My email never has to be forwarded, it's always right at my fingertips. Since Google always throws a large amount of brainpower at any problem, you know they'll eventually have the best spam filter.

And it's free. How do they do it? Simple... Ads.

For example, the ads in their email program are context-oriented (based on key words in your email messages) and that makes them very useful. I haven't clicked on an ad yet, but evenually one will offer a solution to a problem I've encountered and I'll click. And I'll be grateful.

But Google is just getting started. Last week they announced the beta launch of their new web-based spreadsheet. I haven't used the program; but if it's buggy, I know Google will fix it until it works perfectly.

This is a company with a laser-like focus on becoming the provider of ALL the information services you will need... from anywhere. From search to phone to TV to music to research to personal assistants, Google will provide a bubble of information & entertainment to consumers.

But to be that omnipresent, the company has to grow. Fast.

And that's what's happing. Google is growing faster than any than any previous company! The sheer velocity of growth from Google is staggering. I believe it is the fastest-growing company (in terms of revenue) in the country right now. They are building huge computing farms TWICE the size of a football field... in over 100 locations around the world! It's like the Borg have tapped into world economy.

Yeah, I know I got a little sci-fi there, but MY GOD, this company is moving so far beyond the competition; it will be difficult for even a well-funded company like Microsoft to catch up.

Consider this: Google is one of largest consumers of electricty in the country.

And when Google develops proprietary cold-fusion electricity to power their server farms, then they will truly be unbeatable. Because they will have built a barrier-to-entry that's so large, no company (and few countries) can overcome it.

But we won't care, we the consumer will be getting our super-fast, highly-interactive infotainment and be blissfully unconcerned. The Borg will have consumed us.

TV Short Film Contest -- including vlogs!

NAPTE, one of the 2 big non-profit orgs for the TV industry is sponsoring a short film competition to find "emerging talent".

Submissions are in the form of short videos between one and six-minutes and will be accepted in the areas of animation, documentary,drama, lifestyle, comedy and personal POV or vlog. Interestingly,videos produced by broadcast and cable networks are NOT eligible. Sounds like they truly are looking for material that's non-mainstream.

The deadline is June 22. Get more info at NextGenTVFest.com

Vloggercon Revolution

This past weekend, San Francisco was again host to a social revolution. The video blogging crowd came together for Vloggercon 2006. This experiment in participatory media gained both clarity and strength as it celebrated its unofficial 1 year anniversary. I’m calling it the Woodstock of Video Blogging, or “Vidstock”! (I checked and yes… the domain name is already taken).

The conference rooms and hallways were filled with energy, excitement, conflict and cooperation as every stripe of video blogger came together to celebrate the movement’s successes and frustrations.

From the humorous personal journals of the RichardShow, to the grassroots political action of EchoChamberProject, to the edgy exploratory docu-episodes of American King to the blatantly exploitive FrenchMade TV, we were a diverse group; but we found unity in celebrating our young community. The euphoria and energy were palpable.

But amid the celebration, conflict did occasionally erupt. At times the room would divide into two camps: the grassroots activists and the commerce-oriented show producers. The activists would accuse the producers of selling out to big media. The show producers would shrug and say, “we’re trying to make money”.

But the conflicts were infrequent and, when they did erupt, would soon dissolve when someone pointed out that the diversity of the group was, in fact, its strength.

Several corporations were in attendance. Some were high profile (like Yahoo and Intel) with sponsorships to promote their brand, while others had execs attending in stealth mode, cruising the halls and quizzing vloggers to get a sense of where the movement was going.

Being the conference commando that I am, I attended with a list of people (mostly fellow show producers) who I wanted to meet. I researched them ahead of time with the helpful Vloggercon attendee list. I met all but one of the people on my list -- Robert Scoble, who scored the biggest headlines of the weekend. I will be posting insights from my conversations over the next few weeks.

I recorded some interviews which I hope to post soon. That will of course, turn this blog into a vlog. Converting me from an observer into a participant, which is the point of this nascent revolution.

Groundbreaking event for Videoblogging

It's a groundbreaking event in the young history of videoblogging. Check out TVWeek’s story about Tivo Videoblog Project, which will “broadcasting” (right word?) Internet TV shows to users.

While Tivo is starting slowly with mainstream providers like CNET, the NY Times and the NBA, they’ll also be featuring a couple true videoblogging superstars like Rocketboom.com.

Their press release suggests that this is just the beginning.

"The range and quality of broadband video is exploding on the Web, but it's not TV until it is on the TV," TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement. "With the TiVoCast service, we are once again transforming the television experience by bringing the rapidly expanding array of video content on the Internet into the living room."

TiVo seems to be heavily invested in making videoblogs accessible on TV. Their site requests that you contact them if you have a videoblog or are interested in participating.

In another article, (which I can’t find now), I recall that Tivo plans to insert advertising on the videoblogs and share the revenue with videoblog providers.

Ask The Ninja is deadly funny

If you’ve read my profile (in the right-column), you know I’m developing an Internet TV show. I hesitate to call this project a video blog, because I’m planning it as a fully conceived and hosted comedy show.

But since I’m not a major studio, it’s not a “Hollywood” TV show either. It’s something in the middle. I call it an Internet TV show. Sounds kinda bland, but until someone comes up with a better label, it’ll have to do.

One of the goals of this site profile these Internet TV shows.

There are a few content providers who are producing these kinds of shows. The previously mentioned Rocketboom is probably the most famous. And while I’m a big fan of the 6-episode TallGuy, ShortGuy, it hasn’t yet caught the mainstream attention.

Today’s featured show is Ask A Ninja. Launched in Nov 2005, this weekly show features a ninja (either live action or animated) who answers viewer’s questions with hilariously over-the-top Ninja responses.

In the popular Santa Claus episode, Ninja informs us that Santa is actually a ninja who kills little children who awake too early on Christmas Day. If they see Santa before he has time to leave, he has to kill them because of the ninja code. That’s why his coat is red – it’s actually covered in the blood of unfortunate kiddies. Not your usual network sitcom, to be sure, but enormously popular on the Net.

The show is professionally done, it’s funny and it has regularly-scheduled episodes posted on the site. While all that is commendable, what really impresses me is their approach to the financial model. They have a store, they sell ringtones, and they’re soliciting ads on their site. As their interview with Business Week makes clear, they have a clear plan to market themselves and develop multiple income streams.

Since they’re based in LA, I hope to interview them in the near future and get more details. Stay tuned.

Tall Guy, Short Guy

My favorite Net TV show of the day is a very funny series of shorts titled Tall Guy, Short Guy about 2 comedy writers trying to break into Hollywood... "Tall Guy Short Guy, together they're 12-ft 2!"

Half of the team, Josh Paul, will be at Vloggercon, so I'll get answers to the burning question of the day: "Is the show autobiographical?"

Would Walt Disney do a mashup?

I recently came across John Sviokla's blog and read his outstanding essay on Walt Disney. He believes that the legendary animation pioneer would be running studio Disney very differently (by innovating and remixing) if he were alive today.

John’s comments point out how deeply studio Disney misunderstands the concept of innovation. In their efforts to go for the Big Idea, they consistently crush users trying to create the big idea for them (mostly through Disney's zealous – and misguided – enforcement of copyright protection). Can Disney ever learn to love Open Source? Your comments are welcome.