Online Video Networks
An overview of the players providing access to online video.
Compiled by Wired at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.05/networks.html
Online Video Directory
Akimbo www.akimbo.com Connect a $200 Akimbo box or a Media Center PC to your TV set and, for $10 a month, you can watch everything, from network shows to vlogs, on demand.
blinkx TV
www.blinkx.tv
Speech recognition and visual analysis are the active ingredients in this video search engine. Configure your own Net channel for a seamless TV-like experience.
Democracy
www.getdemocracy.com
Want to see the future of Net video? Download the open source Democracy Player from the Participatory Culture Foundation, a renegade nonprofit code shop. The app lets you subscribe to RSS channels, download in the background via BitTorrent, and view most video formats in full-screen resolution. (The companion site, Video Bomb, offers RSS feeds for tons of clips.) With Democracy, a well-stocked BitTorrent tracker, and a little RSS fu, who needs a TiVo?
FireAnt
fireant.tv
This app-site combo lets you subscribe to RSS channels, download via BitTorrent, and view nearly any video format - like Democracy, but not open source.
Google Video
video.google.com
The launch was anemic, but Google's vid search is improving, along with its variety of commercial downloads (usually $2 to $4, Windows only).
iFilm
www.ifilm.com
One of the original vid sites, iFilm has a slick user interface and a decent selection of clips. But beware: Owner Viacom is turning it into an outlet for movie trailers and MTV hits.
iTunes
Click the Videos button for thousands of downloads at $2 each. The free stuff is mixed in with the audio podcasts.
Machinima.com
www.machinima.com
This pioneering site is the primo source for animations "filmed" in a videogame graphics engine.
MobiTV
www.mobitv.com
For $10 per month, MobiTV streams 30-plus channels to your cell phone at an eye-catching 20 frames per second. It's like carrying a TV in your pocket.
Newgrounds
www.newgrounds.com
The largest collection of Flash animation on the Net, Newgrounds hosts nearly 80 animated serials, hundreds of cartoons, and dozens of themed collections.
Public Domain Torrents
www.publicdomaintorrents.com
Thank goodness copyright doesn't last forever. This site offers Hollywood gems like the 1937 A Star Is Born and dirt clods like Zontar: The Thing From Venus. Many come formatted for iPod and PSP.
Revver
www.revver.com
A clip warehouse with a kickback: Users who upload viral vids get half the take from ads the service appends to the files. Sweet!
subMedia
www.submedia.tv/index.html
Culture-jamming is the agenda behind this broadside of mashed-up news and radical commentary. Who says the revolution will not be televised?
Undergroundfilm.org
www.undergroundfilm.org
Sure, everyone and their IT guy are making silly phonecam clips, but there must be a place on the Web for serious filmmakers. This is it.
VlogMap.org
www.vlogmap.org
Google Earth fans have studded the big blue marble with local vlogs. The result: a one-stop global Web-vid spree.
YouTube
www.youtube.com
Users upload jillions of clips to this mac daddy of aggregators. YouTube's lax attitude toward copyright is bound to attract the MPAA (et al.) before long. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Video Sharing Services
From a list by the New York Times, at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/27/technology/circuits/27share.html?
Amongst the services usually mentioned are:
BLIP.TV Service for users who want to integrate video clips into their blogs. www.blip.tv
CLIPSHACK Basic, simple user interface. Limit of 50 megabytes of storage. www.clipshack.com
GOOGLE VIDEO Accepts clips of unlimited length and makes them searchable. video.google.com
OURMEDIA.ORG Stores videos in the Internet Archive, which is intended to be a permanent online trove. www.ourmedia.org
PHANFARE $6.95 monthly fee covers unlimited video posting, but individual videos may not exceed 10 megabytes. www.phanfare.com
VIMEO Circles of friends and family members can easily keep up with and comment on one another's clips. www.vimeo.com
YOUTUBE Site keeps track of most-viewed, most-discussed and best-rated videos; organizes similar clips into "channels," like sports or humor. www.youtube.com