YouTube embraces Google+ Hangouts for live streaming

YouTube is closely integrating Google’s Hangouts group video chat platform with its live streaming in an effort to make video watching more social. The site has already quietly begun to make live video feeds available to Hangouts users, and will eventually add tools to improve discovery of live streams both within Hangouts and on YouTube.com, I was told by YouTube Live Product Manager Brandon Badger this week.

Hangouts has been joined at the hip with YouTube ever since the chat platform launched as part of Google+ at the end of June. Hangouts users can launch YouTube videos right from within the group video chat, and up to ten participants can watch the same video simultaneously.

How to watch YouTube Live in Hangouts:Start a Hangouts session in Google+ and invite your contacts to join you.In a separate browser tab, head over to YouTube.com/Live and select a live stream of your choiceCopy the YouTube video I.D. of the selected live stream. Not sure how to find it? Just click on the share link below the video. You’ll get to see a link like http://youtu.be/XXXXXXXX – the cryptic code after the slash is the video I.D.Switch back to hangouts, open the video tab and search for the I.D.Click play, and you’re all set.

So far, only recorded videos have been featured within Hangouts, but Badger is going to officially reveal at Vidcon in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon that users can easily watch live streams together as well (check out a step-by-step guide in the box on the right if you want to try this yourself).

The current method of manually searching for live video feeds is somewhat cumbersome, but YouTube is actively working on a much closer integration. Soon, it will feature ongoing live streams within the YouTube tab of Hangouts. The next step after that will be to directly integrate Hangouts into YouTube pages for live streams. “We would show you some of the available public Hangouts,” Badger told me during a phone conversation, adding that these Hangouts would be featured right next to a live stream.

A final component will be personalization: Imagine you’re going to watch a soccer game live on YouTube.com, and you can immediately see which of your friends have joined up in a Hangout to watch the same game. Badger couldn’t give me any time line for the integration of these features, but he assured me: “It’s something we’ve been working on.”

Live streaming providers have long experimented with audience participation, and a number of platforms now offer integration of Facebook and Twitter live feeds during events that are broadcasted live online. YouTube has in the past experimented with this as well, and Badger said live streams regularly provoke more commenting than prerecorded YouTube videos.

The face-to-face interaction of Hangouts takes this type of interaction one step further. Users are able to talk to each other in real time while watching a sports game, a concert or a newscast, much as if they were sitting on the couch together. The limited nature of Hangouts — only ten users can chat with each other at a given time — also adds a sense of intimacy that’s lacking from a Twitter or Facebook feed.

However, the ten-person-limit has also been a point of contention, especially around popular Hangouts. Some users have already taken matters into their own hands to circumvent the limit. When musician Daria Musk had her first Hangouts concert two weeks ago, users simply daisy-chained multiple Hangouts to offer more than ten people to join in on the fun.

Musk’s second concert was streamed live on Hangoutparty.com, a site that has since been offering live screencasts of other Hangouts as well. Badger didn’t have any specifics to share about similar options offered by YouTube itself, but he said his team is certainly aware of the phenomenon: “We have definitely seen lot of demand to live stream Hangouts.”

Image courtesy of Flickr user kevindooley.

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BSkyB shows how streaming could be the future of pay TV

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As DVD sales decline, Walmart.com adds Vudu streaming

Online video rental store Vudu has seen massive growth lately, driven mostly by getting embedded on an ever-growing number of connected TVs and other devices. But the streaming video on demand service is about to get a big boost, as it’s being integrated with the website of parent company Walmart, potentially introducing millions of shoppers to the joy of online video.

It’s been about 18 months since Walmart bought Vudu, but as demand for physical media declines, the big box retailer is finally marrying the online video service with its website. By doing so, it’s hoping to introduce its customers to a new way of watching movies and getting them to spend money on digital copies instead of buying the DVD.

Steve Nave, SVP and general manager of Walmart.com, said the decision to buy Vudu was made as the retailer realized that there was a rapid shift in consumer behavior from purchasing physical media to streaming content online. The acquisition was made to help better position Walmart and its web property as this shift occurred.

The result of that purchase can now be seen at Walmart.com. Users shopping online for DVDs and Blu-ray discs on the site will now also have the option of buying or renting digital copies of titles that are available as part of the Vudu streaming library. Once purchased, those movies can then be accessed either through the Walmart website, Vudu.com or on any of the 300-plus connected devices that the Vudu streaming service is available on.

The move to add the service to Walmart.com comes just a few months after Vudu introduced its own browser-based streaming option. But it’s not just the Vudu service on a Walmart URL: The integration keeps the same look and feel of the retailer’s website, while introducing a wide new range of streaming content. Existing Walmart.com customers will be able to link their accounts with the Vudu service and seamlessly purchase movie titles without having to switch logins or change sites.

Now for the bad news: For those that want to stream videos in HD, they’ll have to watch the movie on one of Vudu’s supported devices. The Walmart.com site, along with Vudu.com, only stream videos in standard definition. While many purists will only want the highest quality video, for many Walmart shoppers new to streaming movies online, that might not be a big deal.

Adding the Vudu service to its website also comes as the retailer is experimenting with new ways to get its users to try out the service. That includes the introduction of new digital movie cards that users can purchase from Walmart stores and use to redeem streaming movies later. The company has also been working with Hollywood studios to enable customers to buy a physical copy of a DVD and be able to stream it from Vudu on supported devices.

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Now you must choose: Netflix splits DVD and streaming plans

Netflix announced changes to its service plans Tuesday, with a move that effectively unbundles its unlimited streaming plan from its DVD-by-mail service.

As we reported last week, Netflix quietly released a new service plan focused entirely on DVD usage. Now the company is taking that as step further, with new service plans designed to give users the choice between streaming or DVDs at $7.99 each. As a result, the company is doing away with the “discount” that had come with subscribing to both services. While previously its streaming-plus-DVD plan cost $9.99, it will now cost $15.98, or the price of both services combined.

In a blog post, Netflix VP of Marketing Jessie Becker announced the new plans and the reasons for the change. According to Becker, when the company began offering its $7.99 streaming-only plan, it didn’t anticipate the DVD-only service. But continuing demand for DVD-by-mail plans meant that asking $2 more for the add-on didn’t make financial sense. So it broke that offering out as its own service.

In addition to the change in plans, Netflix is making a change in its organizational structure: the company is creating a separate team devoted just to the DVD-by-mail service, which will be led by Chief Service and Operations Officer Andy Rendich.

According to the blog post, the change in service plans go into effect immediately for new users, but pricing for existing users will go into effect after September 1, 2011.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Scott Feldstein

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