Video

Skype said today that it now handles 2 billion minutes of connections each day.

That's an impressive milestone for any company, and it highlights that Skype remains a major player when it comes to the communications game.

That tally doesn't account for Internet phone calls solely; it also includes video calls, group chats, and instant messages. The service, a unit of Microsoft, likely is poised to grow with the Redmond, Wash., giant, which is eager to integrate it into more platforms, such as Windows Phone.

The company made its name on free Skype-to-Skype calls. It then expanded to … Read more

Twitter has taken down eight Vine videos associated with the artist Prince, after his record label sent a letter warning of copyright infringement.

The notice, posted on Chilling Effects last week and noticed by The Next Web today, described the Vines in question as "unauthorized recordings" and "unauthorized synchronizations." The label, NPG Records, requested that Twitter immediately remove the Vines and any future Vines featuring Prince. The Vine is a mobile service that allows people to create and share short, looping videos.

The links to the Vines in the request no longer work. A Twitter spokesman … Read more

Straight out of the box, the LG Optimus G Pro looks like it's going to be a crowd pleaser. With its 13-megapixel camera, spare battery, and charger, "quad-beat" earbuds, and cute Korean comic book manual, Jeff can't help but hear "Dream Weaver" in his head when gazing into its gorgeous display. It's even big enough to live up to Molly's phablet standards. Plus, the LG Optimus G Pro sports a sparkly back that, once again, prompts our hosts to reference "The Matrix."

The Sony Xperia Z, which made a surprise … Read more

The premium cable channel Epix can now be found on the PlayStation 3.

Epix today launched an app on Sony's video game console, allowing viewers to access more than 3,000 movie titles, including "The Avengers" and "Skyfall." Epix's library of comedy, music, and sports events will also be available. The premium cable channel also plans to launch a separate app for the PlayStation Vita in the coming weeks.

The app will require an authentication code from a cable, telecom, or satellite-television provider, so consumers who don't already subscribe to Epix won't … Read more

After weeks of clawing and scratching, we were finally able to get the perpetually delayed HTC One to "unbox" here in San Francisco (with a ding in the back, no less!). Fresh out of the envelope from our guys in New York, it only took a matter of seconds for Jeff to start with the Matrix jokes. The One...

As corny as Jeff's jokes are, we think HTC's Neo might have indeed taken the red pill and left our humble dream world, because we've been begging for it for months and it's still not … Read more

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley used a YouTube prank to promote a new video-sharing service today, sparking speculation over whether or not he's taking us all for fools.

"Since @YouTube is ending, we're launching a new video site... Welcome to http://MixBit.com! @MixBitApp This time it's not a contest!" he tweeted today.

Since @youtube is ending, we're launching a new video site... Welcome to MixBit.com! @mixbitapp This time it's not a contest!

The tweet plays off YouTube's prank for April Fools' Day. The company declared … Read more

The upstart live-TV streaming service Aereo is said to be in partnership talks with AT&T and Dish Network, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Aereo's antenna/DVR technology allows consumers to watch live, local over-the-air broadcast television on certain Internet-connected devices for a fee. If it partners with television and Internet providers it could greatly increase its reach.

This news is likely to be much to the chagrin for several major broadcasters, which are suing the company for copyright violation. ABC, CBS (the parent of CNET), Fox, NBC Universal, and Telemundo, all alleged in a lawsuit filed … Read more

Always On's last gig in Barcelona veers away from Mobile World Congress and lands Molly and Jeff in the streets of Barcelona with only their BlackBerry Z10s to guide them. While an Amazing Race-style mission involving lunch under the famous Arc de Triomf and a Spanish ragtime band at La Catedral should have had our hosts overflowing with enthusiasm, the BlackBerry Z10 had other plans.

Whether it was an inability to map the crew a half-mile east, wacky gesture control, or wildly imbalanced NFC photo exchange rate, BlackBerry's comeback kid left us lost in a strange land. Never … Read more

Vine, the 6-second video-clip service from Twitter, is today partially branching out beyond its walled garden with the release of Web embeds, a tool that finally gives people a way to share their own funky vids and others' machinations anywhere they'd like.

Vine is the 2-month-old video application owned by Twitter. The iPhone-only app lets people weave together supersmall clips to make 6-second movies that can be shared and viewed on Twitter.

Friday, Vine added support for Web embeds, which means anyone can now copy and paste a little code to embed the clips on Web pages.

The new … Read more