Slowly but surely, the entertainment industry is grasping the fact that the Internet is the most important promotional tool they’ll ever have. Shows like South Park and Jackass already have websites on which fans can see full episodes for free; now, something similar is planned for Saturday Night Live.

According to Broadcasting & Cable, SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are planning to develop an on-demand Web site that will feature clips from the popular show. Nothing is certain at this early stage, but it seems that they’re planning to offer clips taken from the show instead of full episodes, as well as previously unaired bloopers and rehearsal clips.

What prompted NBC to try this approach was the immense (surprise, surprise) success of SNL episodes on Hulu. However, B&C reports that monetizing this project is one of the biggest obstacles for NBC. I’d say that controlling the content yourself instead of having people share it somewhere else on their own is a good enough reward.

—Related Articles at Mashable | All That’s New on the Web:Hulu to Live Stream Presidential Debates and Offer Video ArchiveWindows Live Offers Web ID Authentication: Will this Hurt OpenID?The Daily Poll: What’s Your Level of Interest in Lifecasting?Conan O’Brien to Stream on NBC.comMTV and MySpace Launch the Media Circus DebatesApple iPod Ads Are The New HitmakersCrackle’s New Channel is a SNL Wannabe

Source:Mashable!

Live video streaming service Stickam is expanding into mobile, announcing today that users will now be able to stream videos to their account with a cell phone. Similar to services like Qik and Flixwagon – who offer mobile video streaming exclusively - the service is initially being offered with Nokia N95 and S60 series phones.

Like other Stickam videos, mobile streams can be embedded elsewhere with copy and paste code, so live streamers can place their videos on their own websites and blogs. Broadcasters will also be able to view stats like the number of people watching as well as their chat room from the Stickam Mobile application. For users looking to view Stickam mobile video streams, they can be found under a new “Mobile” section that has been added to the “Live Streams” section of the site.

The addition of live streaming by Stickam poses the age old question: is this a business or a feature? While services like Qik and Flixwagon are trying to build communities exclusively around mobile streaming video, Stickam has simply added it as a feature to what is already a relatively popular video site. Broadcasters will flow where the audience is, and for now, Stickam would appear to have a significant edge on the upstarts:

Meanwhile, if some of the bigger fish in the space like YouTube and UStream add mobile video streaming, the opportunity will get even smaller for the likes of Stickam, Qik, and Flixwagon. For its part, Stickam does offer a somewhat unique business model - the “pay-per-live” program it rolled out earlier this year.

—Related Articles at Mashable | All That’s New on the Web:Stickam’s Webcam Facebook AppStickam Launches Stickam ListingsCuStickam - Stickam Profile EditorMashMeet LA Caught on Tape!fix8 Signs Deal with StickamStickam, YouTube, SecondLife do the SundanceAT&T Video Share Marries Live Streaming with Voice Calls

Qik has announced that its video streaming software will come pre-installed on Nokia’s just-launched 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone - the first deal of its kind for the still-young startup. The deal marks a big win for Qik, as it will expose the company to a wide audience while removing its biggest barrier to entry (many mobile phone users are reluctant to download and install new software).

Qik allows users to stream live video recordings directly from their phones over Wi-Fi or high-speed data networks, effectively turning the phone into a “mobile television studio”. These videos can be viewed live on Qik’s homepage or in embeddable players scattered across the web (all videos are archived for future reference). The software is available for a variety of phone models (you can see the full list here), including jailbroken versions for the iPhone, though Apple has yet to allow any video apps on the App Store.

Just when I thought we had the video sharing spectrum covered with applications like Qik, 12seconds and Seesmic, along comes Viddler’s entry into the fray with 15seconds. Viddler’s 15seconds is a video micro-sharing service that connects to Twitter for you, so that you can leave your friends and associates the video equivalent of a 140 character note.

12seconds is the closest to the Viddler version of video micro-sharing, but Viddler already takes the win here right out of the starting gate. The reason for this is that Viddler’s 15seconds makes it easier than 12seconds to share your micro video with your Twitter friends. As already proven by the unbridled success of Twitter itself, people love “easy” and instant gratification. Do one thing, but make it simple to use and share with others, and you get our immediate attention.

12seconds uses the “Share This” plug-in to send your 12seconds mini video to various social bookmarking sites, but Twitter is not listed. Twitter is the main focus of the online social movement right now. Not having Twitter integration these days can be a deal breaker for the success of an application. Viddler’s integration with Twitter is a major asset.

In keeping with the Viddler brand and making it competitive with Qik and Seesmic for a quick video note, 15seconds includes a way to leave comments on the mini videos. Interactive videos have proven a huge hit with various services, including Qik, Seesmic, and even YouTube. With both comments and Twitter streaming, this should be a real contender against other services.

15seconds also integrates your @usernames from Twitter, as well as #hashtags. The #hashtags integration will be popular to many, though it doesn’t help me much (I seem to always get a 404 when using hashtags, but that’s a story for another post). It’s the embedded @ replies that are really useful to the truly Twitter involved though. To be able to carry on a full conversation with a Twitter friend in video while getting comments from others should be well received.

Overall, I think Viddler conceived of a nice service to compliment its existing videos. I personally see myself continuing to use Qik from my phone, a service which also posts simultaneously to Twitter and Seesmic, and Seesmic from my office for the longer video length and use of my existing Seesmic network, but I think many people will flock to this Viddler solution as a unique way to micro converse online.

Update 9/10: My apologies to the folks at 12seconds and my thanks to the sharp Mashable reader base. It seems between the time I checked out 12seconds a while back and now they have indeed included Twitter streaming, making it more of a direct head to head issue right down to the similar names.

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YourScreen is a new service that is announcing its upcoming beta today, and it’s set out to enable you to turn a television into a start page of sorts. Designed for use within schools, companies, and at events, YourScreen is a custom option for displaying your content on televisions. So what type of content can you post on these televisions?

Built on Adobe AIR, YourScreen comes with some ready-made content, like weather and a stock ticker, with more plug-ins on the way. You can use these plug-ins in conjunction with your own content or simply stream the content you’d like to display. This could be a live video of a speaker or an interview, an image slide show of companies presenting at a particular event, or other pertinent information regarding your company that you’d like to convey to your employees. So far, YourScreen doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of differentiating features that you couldn’t already take advantage of with a closed-circuit television system.

But as YourScreen grows, its aim is to provide a Web-based platform for easily managing content that is displayed across this television system. So you will be able to use the YourScreen Web interface to determine what content is shown in which screen. There are also tools for helping you create content, so you won’t have to rely entirely on third-party services to create a slide show. For instance, YourScreen can turn your collection of still shots and videos into a stream that can be broadcast across multiple television screens.

In targeting schools, businesses and events, I think YourScreen would also do well to partner with, or add integrated support for a wide array of content imports and compatibility. Services like Mogulus and Kyte offer platforms for creating content that is likely to be ideal for broadcast on custom systems like YourScreen, and also offer a good amount of tools for making multimedia content on the fly. Catering to users that may start with next to nothing when streaming with YourScreen as well as those that have already begun creating content with other Web apps would be a broader strategy for appealing to multiple types of users when promoting the YourScreen service. If you’re interested in the upcoming beta, see here for more details.

Source:Mashable!

Looking forward to spicing up your Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 installation with social goodness? Me.dium, a self-described social software company, will be standing aside the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, and eBay for Microsoft’s newest browser launch today. Me.dium’s role is essentially to, among other things, deliver a “crowd-powered” discover-share mechanism first touted at Microsoft’s MIX08 conference earlier this year.

Indeed, Me.dium is no freshman to IE8 or the broader Web browser market. Mashable’s Kristen Nicole made mention of the company’s participation in the IE8 Beta 1 push, as well as the debut of a Firefox 3 download. At that time, a number of the features in Me.dium’s plugin were already being promoted. The What’s Hot Webslice, for instance, is a recommendation component that offers users a quick glimpse of things deemed interesting by the collective mob. And the so-called Discovery Accelerator, which finds content deemed interesting via keywords gleaned from virtually any webpage, takes the recommendation concept further still.

The more personally social aspects of Search software are the toolbar’s “follow” feature and integration with Facebook. Also, a portion dubbed visual search, made possible by IE8, builds on a move made by Me.dium early last month, done in light of Yahoo’s launch of its BOSS platform (short for Build Your Own Search Engine) that, along with the standard display of news, reviews, pictures and videos, shows a certain hierarchy in various links’ popularity, albeit one that is eminently susceptible to change in behavior of the search crowd.

Me.dium CEO Kimball Musk makes a fairly convincing argument to Me.dium’s utility in the browser environment, and IE8 Betas 1 and 2 by natural association. Altogether, its social search feature set allows for users to keep better apprised of the often fast-shifting Web environment, particularly with concern for breaking news and viral oddities. And bridging the crowd’s tendencies with friend-enhanced extensions really just helps better fill the proverbial picture. Granted, there is a leap or two (or more) that the user must take to fully involve him/herself in these processes, but as is the life of most any people-powered invention of good repute.

The way in which such inventions have lasting impact is really a matter of how the give-take arrangement between a service and those its serves is balanced. Me.dium appears a generously worthwhile effort in that respect.

—Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Me.dium Holding 5-Day Online Music FestivalMe.dium Adds Support For Songbird Media Player, Firefox 3Me.dium to Host Live Chat During Edwards MTV/MySpace AppearanceMe.dium’s Role Reversal: NeighborhoodsMe.dium Offers a Social Browsing Widget, and MoreMe.dium to Host Online Mosh PitMe.dium Chosen to Showcase IE8 Social Discovery

Source:Mashable!

As much as the public exercises its venomous fangs when offering its review of political commentary issued by the likes of CNN, MSNBC, FOX News Channel, and other 24-hour news channels, it stays its attention on those outlets. It tends to avoid that other outpost, C-SPAN, even though it boasts a less loudmouthist take on the Washingtonian class. Well, this election season C-SPAN is making sure to throw its hat into the ring for a few cool credits of its own. At least as cool as the political game and the stiff suits that pull the strings can be, anyway.

As a good number of Web users are already aware, C-SPAN unveiled a set of online media services for political junkies as the DNC’s week-long infestation (I kid) of Denver was in its migratory pattern. The Convention Hub is the name given to its main data tube, and it boasts video taken within and outside of the Pepsi Center through use of services from Qik and YouTube. It is keeping a close eye on the Twittering masses as well.

Now, it should first be said that C-SPAN videos delivered through YouTube and its coverage of Twitter talk are, looking back on the last two days of memories good and bad of happenings in Colorado’s capital city, the best it has to offer. Material pushed via Qik is, well, for the most devoted of viewers. YouTube is naturally where C-SPAN deposits records of speeches and so forth. The type of content it normally has in store, more or less.

If you’re interested in catching the latest conversation taking place and viewing the goods in a nicely streamlined and fairly comprehensive view, a page dubbed DNC08 Twitter Coverage is where you’ll want to send your browser.

The way this particular aspect of the C-SPAN new-media recipe operates is very simple. Anything and everything with the tag #DNCO8 in the body is pasted to the message roll. And if you’d liked to see which among the many happen to be the biggest yappers of the bunch, you can refer to the rank of most active users positioned directly beside the Twitter coverage. The top five are naturally politically-specific accounts, but if nothing else, it gives you a quick glimpse at just how busy the convention is turning out to be. Unfortunately, C-SPAN’s inbox isn’t one enhanced by an auto-refresh feature of Twitter Search styling. But no matter. Purists will find the link to “more Twitter coverage” soon enough and simply feed their heads from Twitter HQ.

Keep in mind, C-SPAN’s Convention Hub carries over to the following week, when the Red Man Group sweeps a frenzy in Minneapolis-St Paul. This is a two-stage marathon, as it were, and though the DNC is screaming loudest right now, the RNC will soon enough have a spot front and center at C-SPAN, online and off. So stay tuned. This one’s a biggie.

—Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Twitter Mobile InterfaceQuick Fix For Twitter TroublesDon’t Send Bac’n: Use TwitterSearchMosio Uses Twitter For Mobile Q&ATwitter Adds GMail Contacts ImportHow Messed Up Is Twitter For You Right Now? [Poll]30Boxes Brings Us Power Twitter

Live video streaming service Qik has announced that they have cracked the iPhone 3G and you can now record live video on your iPhone. This will only work on jailbroken iPhone devices - that means if you are a good little boy or girl, this won’t work for you.

Back in June, Qik announced live iPhone video streaming support for the first generation iPhone. We were first to report on competitor Flixwagon launching live iPhone video streaming support earlier that day.

Here’s Michael at Qik explaining how the new video streaming support works:

Of course there’s also that little issue of iPhone 3G battery life to deal with.

More CN Coverage:
– Docstoc
– Scribd
– Twitter

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

STARTUP DETAILS:

Company Name: CoNotes

20 word description: CoNotes is the place to find startup jobs.

CEO’s Pitch: CoNotes aims to solve two problems:

1) People have a tough time finding cool startups that are hiring

2) Startups have a tough time finding the right people

To solve these two problems, CoNotes centralizes job openings in startups in one location, and at the same time provides startups exposure by distributing those job openings to appropriate partner organizations. Some of CoNotes’ other unique features include a company recommendation engine and integration with users’ LinkedIn networks.

Mashable’s Take: CoNotes is designed as a marketplace of sorts, matching startups with job seekers so each party can find their perfect match. The actual format of CoNotes, however, is much more of a directory of startups, similar to Startup Search but with a larger focus on startups. CoNotes moves beyond Web-based companies and features content on companies that don’t even have current job openings.

For each company that has a profile on the site, there is also a section for comments, questions, and related news. The comments and questions are interactive, meaning users can peruse and contribute towards these sections, while the news section appears to be a mini feed of recent activity relevant to that company’s overall industry. The job search itself, however, is rather basic and doesn’t give in-depth search results or an easy-to-manage process for filtering.

As a registered CoNotes member, you can add descriptive tags to a company profile, add a company to your favorites, and take notes. If you are a job seeker using CoNotes, you can also take advantage of the service’s recommendation engine, which offers three companies you may be interested in, based on your profile information. The more complete your profile information, the more CoNotes has to work with. As the profile data is still limited to things like age, gender, years of work experience and your website, it seems that CoNotes can only do so much towards recommending potentially interesting companies. The service offers only three results at a time with no explanation as to why each company may be of interest to the user, which leaves something to be desired for CoNotes’ recommendation features.

There are other things that CoNotes does well, however, such as linking you and companies’ LinkedIn data to CoNotes’ accounts. If you see a company you’re interested in, you can see how many employees it has with LinkedIn profiles, and subsequently reach out to them or learn more information about the company through LinkedIn’s dedicated professional network. This particular feature offers a familiar course of action for a job seeker and aids CoNotes in its ability to extend resources through its network without having to establish an entirely new set of data or wait for users to populate its site directly.

Sponsored by Sun Startup Essentials

Source:Mashable!

Flixwagon has launched an application for streaming live video from iPhone, a product they first demoed last month. At the moment, the application only works on jailbroken original model iPhones (running firmware 1.1.4), but the company says it is currently working on a version for the iPhone 3G.

The app can be installed by navigating to m.flixwagon.com/iphone on your device, or by following the instructions detailed here. Most of Flixwagon’s features are included in the application - you can assign each video stream its own privacy settings, edit the meta data, and set the video resolution. For now, Flixwagon recommends streaming via WiFi. Here’s a brief demo of how the application works:

Flixwagon competitor Qik also demoed their own streaming video application for iPhone last month, but it would appear that Flixwagon has beaten them to the punch in getting theirs out the door. Qik’s product is expected to launch soon.

Adding support for iPhones and their early adopter customer base is obviously hugely important for both Flixwagon and Qik to make their technology accessible to more people. Prior to today’s launch, Flixwagon only offered support for Nokia Series 60 devices. The first company to offer a version for the iPhone 3G could be the real winner though, given the device’s lower cost and access to 3G networks.

Some screenshots of the Flixwagon iPhone app are included after the jump.

—Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Qik Demos iPhone Video Streaming ServiceFlixwagon Shows Off Homebrew iPhone Video CaptureReal-Time Video Streaming Service Next2Friends LaunchesFlixwagon’s FliXee Widget, and Direct YouTube UploadsA Quick Conversation with Mefeedia’s Frank SintonHow to Live Stream Your Life: 20+ Tools and ResourcescomScore Releases Video Streaming Study

Can a phone kill an industry? What’s Qik offering, now that they’re in public beta? These are the questions we tackle on today’s Mashable Conversations.  Sean and I were both intrigued by the fervor and discussion generated around my recent editorial on whether I thought the iPhone would kill terrestrial radio. The response to the article was thunderous and inconclusive.  Just as many folks thought that I was right as thought that terrestrial radio has done a decent enough job of killing itself.

It’s a popular topic, too.  This weekend’s Elite Tech News show focused on this topic as well for a good portion of the program, and most of the panel disagreed with me on my hypothesis, though for a number of reasons ranging from Louis Gray’s opinion that no technology ever truly kills another to Steven Hodson’s proposition that mobile smartphone technology will never be truly ubiquitous.

Sean and I spend a good deal of time hashing out the various thesii put forth here and there before taking some time out to speak with Qik co-founder Bhaskar Roy about today’s launch of Qik into open beta status.

He told us about a number of new upgrades that come out with this version of the service, including what was most exciting to us, a number of new distribution partners.  As we’ve talked about before, CoverItLive now supports Qik (amongst a number of other live streaming services), but Qik is now partnered also with Facebook, MySpace and Orkut.

For the full scoop on all this, watch the podcast below, download the MP4 to your device, or subscribe to the feed.

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—Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:World’s Simplest iPhone AppiPhone to Launch in Germany on T-Mobile3G iPhone Confirmed for 2008Mundu Optimizes Multi-Client Chat Tool for the iPhoneApple Making a Directory for iPhone Apps?