Video

Nook Media signs up for more Hollywood content

The Nook is stocking up on video.

Barnes & Noble subsidiary Nook Media this morning announced new content licensing partnerships with Hollywood studios and content providers including Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Relativity Media, National Geographic, Little Pim, and Film Buff.

The partnerships will provide Nook users with the choice of "thousands" of additional movies and TV shows including "The Hunger Games," the Twilight movies, "Skyfall," "Rocky," "Mad Men," and "Amazing Planet," the company said.

With the news, Nook Media is playing up the high-resolution screens of its 7-inch … Read more

'Sesame Street' tops 1 billion YouTube views, the Count celebrates

You're famed PBS kids show "Sesame Street." You've just topped 1 billion views for your videos on YouTube since you joined in 2006. How do you celebrate? With the Count, of course!

The Count (whose full name is Count von Count) took to YouTube to display his singing and counting skills in a video tribute to "Sesame Street" reaching the 1 billion mark, the first time a nonprofit has topped that milestone, according to YouTube. "Gangnam Style," however, got there much more quickly.

A count of all the views individually would take an untold amount of time, so the Count decided instead to tackle the task of counting all the "you's" in "YouTube," which only takes a few minutes to accomplish.… Read more

Amazon greenlights pilot for original children's series

Amazon is giving the green light to a test pilot for an original children's series, adding to its Prime video service library at a time when exclusive content is becoming more important.

The company's movie and series production arm, Amazon Studios, today said the new show, called "Sara Solves It" will be co-developed by WGBH and Out of the Blue Enterprises. It's created by Emmy Award winner Carol Greenwald, who has worked on "Curious George" and "Arthur," and Emmy nominee Angela Santomero of "Blue Clues" and other shows.

The … Read more

Episode 29: Hot phones in cold Barcelona

Barcelona is the place to be, and not just for the cafe con leche, the jamon iberico, or the incredible melted-stone facades of such Gaudi creations as the Sagrada Familia or the Casa Mila. Forget all that nonsense. It's all about the phones.

Mobile World Congress just wrapped in Barcelona, and with it came a bevy of new product announcements, ranging from Ubuntu and Firefox operating systems to new Samsung tablets, new phablets from LG and ZTE, a new Wi-Fi coffee-maker from Qualcomm, and...well, no, no Samsung Galaxy S4. That's next week. But this week's episode … Read more

The Pirate Bay is relocating to North Korea?

Even though North Korea is known to have extremely limited Internet service, the Web-based bittorrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced today that it relocated to this closed-off and highly censored country.

"The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information. Today, a new chapter is written in the history of the movement, as well as the history of the internets," The Pirate Bay wrote in a blog post. "Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of … Read more

Amazon nabs Food Network, Travel Channel for Instant Video

Now that it's wooed CBS for a whole slew of content, Amazon's moved on to Scripps and its popular Food Network and Travel Channel shows.

The online retail giant has struck a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive to stream past seasons of Scripps' most popular programming on Amazon's Prime Instant Video service.

This is the first time Scripps has partnered with a subscription service to stream its shows, according to a press release. Scripps' networks include HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. The shows include "Rachael Ray's Week in a Day,&… Read more

Koozoo pitches surveillance for the masses via smartphones

If Koozoo CEO Drew Sechrist has his way, cameras will record every move you make in public -- and make your life better for it.

The San Francisco startup wants smartphone owners to deploy a network of streaming smartphone cameras that are accessible by anyone within the Koozoo network at any time. The network launches on iOS today in San Francisco and Austin, Texas, with plans to expand in the coming months.

Users can participate by posting recorded snippets -- these are a few minutes long -- to the network or to social media like Facebook and Twitter. Or, they … Read more

Viddy doubles length of clips, adds video enhancement tools

Social video startup video has released an updated iOS app with a bevy of new features to help people enhance their videos and to stave off Twitter's upstart video-sharing app, Vine.

Debuting this evening in Apple's App Store, the updated app doubles the length of videos that people can upload from 15 seconds to 30 seconds, as well as adding the Vine-like ability to pause recording to splice together segments into a single clip. The app also adds 15 new video filters, licensed music tracks from popular artists that can be added to videos, and stop-motion functionality that … Read more

Meet Rep. Mark Takano, the frosh congressman who Vines

California Democrat Mark Takano, a freshman congressman, today released a Vine and a YouTube video showcasing milestone achievements in his nascent legislative career.

Takano used a Vine to show the process of submitting his first piece of legislation, and also released a YouTube video showing his first speech on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Takano's use of Twitter's new video service is the latest in a string of people utilizing Vine for what might be considered emergent purposes. One reporter created a (much-derided) resume on Vine, while the service has also already become a new way … Read more