video services

Hulu's owners have decided to take the online video service off the auction block.

The owners--Walt Disney, News Corp., Comcast, and equity firm Providence Equity Partners--announced today that they decided to terminate the sales process.

"Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success," Hulu owners said in a statement. "Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the … Read more

It seems like every day there's a new app and/or service to help put all your digital detritus in one interface. Squrl does it for Web video, and while it's not new, its free iOS app just got an update to improve the iPad experience. But even if you don't have an iPad (or iPhone), the browser version of it works well, too.

The site and the app are fairly easy to use. You just sign up for a free account (name and e-mail address) and head to a supported provider (pictured above). Find something you want to watch later and you can either e-mail it to your queue using a provided @squrl.it address, tweet it @squrlit, or drag and drop a one-click button onto your browser; app users get a little acorn icon to click.

There's a social aspect to the service, too. Sure, you can use Twitter and Facebook to share videos, but there's also the Squrl community. Users, called curators, can build video galleries and collections and then share them with others and you can see what others are collecting and watching and view their profiles. … Read more

Valentine's Day is this coming Monday. I tend to forget such things or put them off to the last minute, which makes sites like Animoto pretty great to have around.

Basically, Animoto takes your photos and video clips, edits them together with some music--theirs or yours--and produces a finished video for sharing. A recent site redesign makes the process easier and shortens your "time to video."

I detailed the ins and outs of the site in the slideshow below, but it's really pretty straightforward. Animoto lets you create movies up to 30 seconds long at a … Read more

Samsung announced on Wednesday that on-demand video services from Blockbuster and Amazon are coming to some of its home entertainment products.

Blockbuster OnDemand, which allows people to rent or purchase video content on a one-off basis, is now available on some of Samsung's high-definition TVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems.

According to Samsung, the service will be offered on its Series 650 and above LCD and plasma HDTVs, as well as its Series 7000 and above LED HDTVs. Blockbuster OnDemand will be available to owners of the Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as the … Read more

Finally, Joost is going to correct the error that badly hobbled the Web video service many once considered to be a serious YouTube competitor.

Currently available for Windows and Mac, Joost is planning to launch a test version of its new site later this month that will feature a browser-based plug-in and will no longer require users to watch via the company's much maligned desktop client. In a not so surprising move, users will be able to embed Joost's videos.

CEO Mike Volpi acknowledged in an interview with CNET that the desktop client was one of the company'… Read more

Sony has just confirmed the rumor we all heard back in April: video downloads will be available on the PS3 this summer. Details right now are scarce, but we do know the service will first be rolled out in the United States, followed by Japan and Europe later in the year. As we mentioned before, we would like to see a service tied in with Netflix since everybody and their mother seems to use the service, or even a Hulu type service, which offers TV shows from Fox and NBC, broken up by short 15-second ads. Our best guess though: … Read more

Although it's barely creeping into the mainstream consciousness, I'm a big fan of music subscription services. All you can eat for less than the price of your average CD--what's not to like? Sadly, the average music listener usually has trouble reconciling the concept of "renting" with the music medium.

The same is not true when it comes to video services, which is why Vongo has the right idea. Pay a monthly fee of $9.99--less than the cost of your average DVD--for unlimited online access to a growing digital movie library. And if you happen … Read more