YouTube

Speaking at the Reuters Media and Technology Summit yesterday, YouTube chief Salar Kamangar talked about the video service’s desire to include subscription-based offerings that would possibly rival traditional cable channels. Reuters explained:

Cable channels with smaller audiences will in the future migrate to the Web and become available on an “a la carte” basis, Kamangar said at the Reuters Media and Technology Summit on Thursday… Some of those channels, which Kamangar said receive little or no affiliate fees from cable distributors, could be one of the viable offerings for Google-owned YouTube as it weighs selling subscriptions to some of the hundreds of millions of people who watch videos on the website every month.

The report also noted YouTube is thinking about charging a fee for access to some of its recently launched partner content channels:

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Hangouts on Google+ are often touted as one of the social networks flagship features, which is why it is not too surprising that Google has now integrated YouTube into the feature. Available through a “YouTube” link at the top of the Hangouts screen, after users have allowed access to the app, members of the hangout can add videos for everyone to view in a familiar YouTube playlist on the right. The playing video airs in the large part of the screen above the active members, while everyone sees and can edit the same videos or playlist. Google explained:

Everyone can add videos in the Hangout through a search tool in the app, or remove the videos you don’t like. All your friends in the Hangout can drag and drop videos to sort the order in the playlist, or skip forward or backward to play the next one. Click the “Push to talk” button to chat with the group to give props to the best curator, or to hand out reprimands to the friend who keeps adding the 10-hour Nyan Cat video.

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For those looking to watch this year’s Olympic games, but do not have a cable subscription or just like the feel of YouTube a little better, the International Olympic Committee has you covered. AP reported that the IOC would live-stream over 2,200 hours of the Olympics on to YouTube for those across Asian and in Africa. According to the report, the streaming is primarily for countries that the IOC does not have rights to broadcast in, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Thailand, and Singapore. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. London time with 10 streams of different events. Viewers in 64 territories can check the games out on the Olympics channel when they begin July 27.

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Mega-agent Ari Emanuel (you know—the conceited big shot who Jeremy Piven played in the hit HBO show “Entourage“) just wrote an open response to Google asking for the company, along with Silicon Valley and Hollywood, to join forces and develop a solution to the country’s piracy and copyright issues.

Emanuel appeared at the AllThingsD D10 Conference with hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on Wednesday, where he called out Google and YouTube during the interview for filtering child pornography, but allowing pirated media content.

In lieu of Emanuel’s assertions, Mossberg asked Google’s advertising head Susan Wojcicki today why the search engine does not find and filter copyrighted material. She called Emanuel “very misinformed,” and then said the problem with filtering content is not technical, but rather a complicated business problem.

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Two Google senior vice presidents appeared on stage at the AllThingsD D10 Conference yesterday to discuss all things YouTube and Chrome with co-host Walt Mossberg.

Mossberg asked Google’s ad wizard Susan Wojcicki why the search engine does not find and filter copyrighted material. The topic came in leiu of Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel’s assertions from Wednesday, while at the conference, when he claimed YouTube filtered child pornography, but allowed pirated media content.

“The problem is identifying which copyright belongs to who… is very complicated,” said Wojcicki, while mentioning that filtering copyrighted content is not technical, but rather a complicated business issue. “At the end of the day, in order to know what to do with that content, we need to hear from the copyright owner.”

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And war has begun: Facebook slammed Google’s Chrome browser today with the above unsupported web browser message [cache], which recommended Opera, among others, as a better alternative for viewing the social network.

FavBrowser first discovered the change and noted Facebook’s rumored plans to acquire Opera. This is noteworthy, because Google+ is Facebook’s direct competitor. The infant Google service is tackling Facebook head-on with its executives consistently criticizing Facebook, like when CEO Larry Page accused Facebook of holding users hostage last week. Only now it appears the back-talking has turned into actions, because Facebook no longer recommends Chrome to its nearly 1 billion active users.

According to StatCounter, Chrome passed Internet Explorer during the week of May 14 to May 20 to become the most popular browser in the world. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still has a commanding lead in the United States, but growth for Chrome is steadily increasing in regions like South America, India, and Europe. The browser also surpassed Internet Explorer, although for just a day, in March. These statistics indicate that Chrome is too large for Facebook to ignore.

Meanwhile, Google’s CEO Larry Page said in a statement to investors in April that the company’s own social network Google+ now has more than 100 million active users, which is up from 90 million total users in January. To him, the network is an integral product that will help Google bring the next generation of search to life. Despite these bold goals, Facebook still reins king in the social network market with its nearly 10 times larger userbase.

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As noted by Google’s chief Internet evangelist Vint Cerf on the Official Google blog, Google has recently applied for .google, .youtube, and .lol, and other generic top-level domains. ICANN plans o publish a list of applied-for domains on June 13. Today is the deadline for submitting applications.

In 2008, ICANN announced a program to expand the number of generic TLDs (think .com, .org, .edu), developed through its bottom-up, multi-stakeholder process, in which we participate. Given this expansion process, we decided to submit applications for new TLDs, which generally fall into four categories

Cerf continued by giving examples of the domains Google is requesting:

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According to a report from The New York Post, Google’s CEO Larry Page is considering extending the company’s relationship with label-backed music-video service Vevo by possibly buying an equity stake in the venture. The report claimed that Facebook is also considering making an investment in Vevo, which is reportedly currently valued at $1 billion and run by major labels including Universal Music Group and Sony Music.

Both Google CEO Larry Page and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg are exploring an investment in Vevo as part of a broader partnership with the music-video service, The Post has learned.

Vevo already has a deal with Google to host its content on YouTube, but the report noted that agreement lasts only through the remainder of 2012. Vevo is reportedly negotiating with YouTube to accept lower than the two-thirds of ad-revenue it currently receives from the Vevo content that it hosts. As The Post pointed out, recent stats from comScore listed Vevo as YouTube’s top partner channel in April with 48 million unique viewers during the month.

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Google’s Vice President of Corporate Development David Lawee sat down with MG Siegler today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City to discuss the search engine’s history with acquisitions including yesterday’s buyout of Motorola Mobility. 

The entire interview is above (part 2 is below-soon), but the main point of discussion concerns the nugget that Google acquires 20 to 30 companies a year, with an additional 20 or more related to patents, but Lawee said two-thirds of all Google’s acquisitions have been successful. Lawee attributes the success rate to Google’s initiative to only recruit endeavors that will benefit from being a part of Google, rather than to continue existing on their own.

The VP further said each acquisition has its own metrics to determine whether it is successful, while he then mentioned DoubleClick and AdMob as two of Google’s most successful acquisitions. Slide, on the other hand, is one of Google’s failures.

“Sometimes executing on strategy leads other things to fail. […] 85 percent of that team ended up working for YouTube and they’ve done quite well there,” Lawee explained.

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Google’s CEO Larry Page made headlines again this morning: He just officially announced Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, while confirming the joined companies will soon create the next generation of mobile devices.

The chief executive took to the official Google Blog to reveal the news:

It’s why I’m excited to announce today that our Motorola Mobility deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile revolution, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation, including the creation of the first cell phone. We all remember Motorola’s StarTAC, which at the time seemed tiny and showed the real potential of these devices. And as a company who made a big, early bet on Android, Motorola has become an incredibly valuable partner to Google.

Page appointed Googler Dennis Woodside as CEO of the newly acquired business, and claimed he has known the exec for over a decade, while adding, “He’s been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on some of Google’s biggest bets.”

The post is quick and to-the-point. The most important aspect to it, however, is the last line: “[…] I’m confident Dennis and the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come.”

That’s right. Google is now a hardware company.

Google made headway on the $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition late last week when China finally gave the merger a go-ahead. Motorola promptly filed an 8-K form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that specified the deal’s transaction would likely close today.

Check out the full announcement below—or jump over to Google’s blog. 

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Following recently signing MGM and Paramount Pictures to add over 1,000 new movies for rent, Google is once again investing in content for YouTube. Today AllThingsD reported the company is about to invest in Machinima, a network featuring videos about videogames that is pulling in about a billion views monthly.

People familiar with the round tell me it should end up raising more than $30 million, and will value the company at around $190 million, post-funding. No comment from Google or Machinima.

The report explained, unlike its past deals with content creators where it recoups over $100 million in investments through ad sales, the Machinima deal would be the first time Google takes an equity stake in a YouTube content provider:

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Google launched Hangouts On Air last year to select broadcasters, which allows recorded or live conversations with friends to broadcast, but today the search engine made the popular feature available to Google+ users worldwide.

Engineering Director Chee Chew explained the option’s functions on the Official Google Blog:

Today we’re excited to launch Hangouts On Air to Google+ users worldwide. So if you have something to say—as an aspiring artist, a global celebrity, or a concerned citizen—you can now go live in front of a global audience. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to:

• Broadcast publicly. By checking “Enable Hangouts On Air,” you can broadcast your live hangout—from the Google+ stream, your YouTube channel or your website—to the entire world.
• See how many viewers you’ve got. During your broadcast, you can look inside the hangout to see how many people are watching live.
• Record and re-share. Once you’re off the air, we’ll upload a public recording to your YouTube channel, and to your original Google+ post. This way it’s easy to share and discuss your broadcast after it’s over.

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YouTube, in conjunction with Dell, is streaming music from the Jazz Fest in New Orleans all weekend.

 The broadcast will combine live music from across the next three days with pre-recorded highlights from last weekend.

It may be Jazz Fest by name, but it’s not entirely jazz by nature. The diverse lineup this weekend includes Bon Iver, Tom Petty, Trombone Shorty, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, My Morning Jacket and many more. We’re adding artists all the time, so check-out the official Jazz Fest channel for the latest schedule.

The stream begins at 12pm PT today and runs through 6pm this Sunday. Enjoy!

Head there now.
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/2lpLGb1WW8E]

Samsung just unveiled the Galaxy S III in London and has already posted its first television advertisement for the smartphone on YouTube. A few official images for the device were also included on Facebook—check them out:

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Verizon’s “Droid Does” campaign is back, but now the carrier has ditched the tentacle robot arm and synthesized automaton voice for a wholesome commercial that features a soothing voiceover with cute and giggly kids in the introduction, which is soon followed by panning scenes of hard-working and cheeky folks, who find Droid devices ever-so useful in their pleasant, daily lives.

The original “Droid Does” campaign launched Motorola’s first Droid and helped move Android into America’s mainstream vernacular in 2009. Check out the latest advertisement above for the Droid 4, Droid Razr, and Droid Razr Maxx, and then compare it to the old plugs hosted on this YouTube playlist (videos also below).

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