Redbox Instant Details Leaked

Earlier this year, we mentioned that Verizon and Redbox are working on a new video service that could possibly rival Netflix. Well, after Verizon and Redbox announced its official name in July, we’re finally beginning to learn more about Redbox Instant. According to GigaOM, who managed to acquire details of the service, Redbox Instant subscriptions will start around $6 per month while VOD rentals and sales of newer titles is set at $0.99. There’s also an $8 per month Redbox Instant membership that will add four credits to the streaming package which can be redeemed for Redbox DVD rentals.

GigaOM adds that the video catalog of the new service is much smaller than Netflix’s and that it also includes some titles offered by the rival. Redbox Instant will be made available on the following platforms – web, Android, iOS, Xbox 360, and selected TVs and Blu-ray players. There’s no word about its official launch, however beta testers are saying that they won’t be able to “access the DVDs included in their subscriptions at some kiosks until December 17.”

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This music video was made entirely by Instagram photos

While Instagram is a great app to take photos with, who would have thought that it could be used to help with the making of an entire music video? Before you run off and check your Instagram app to see if there was some hidden video recording function – stop because while Instagram did help with the making of this music video, it was done by piecing together hundreds of Instagram photos to help create the stop-motion effect.

The music video was for a song called Invasión by the band The Plastics Revolution, and according to its creator, “This is the very first music video done entirely on Instagram without any third party alterations. Every single frame of this music video is an actual picture that we ran through Instagram. We never shot any video. We only shot still photography. All 1905 pictures went through the normal Instagram process on an iPhone. We hope you like it!” We’re not sure if this genre of music will appeal to you, but if want to see the results of its creator’s efforts, check out the video above.

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YouTube Auto-Captions Now Supports 6 European Languages

YouTube users, especially our beloved readers in France, will be thrilled to find out that Google’s video streaming service is now supporting six European Languages. The news follows after Google updated the service to support Japanese, Spanish, and Korean languages. Today’s update adds support to German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Dutch. This means that automatic caption support for YouTube videos are now available for the said languages. To utilize the nifty feature, simply click the closed caption button on any video.

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Hulu launches new channel for video game trailers

Ever wished you can view all your favorite video game trailers in one place? Well, Hulu has heard your prayers and is now launching a new video gaming channel or hub that promises to “feed the game trailer addiction” in you. The video games hub on Hulu basically contains HD trailers, game play videos, and reviews for the latest games. Hulu is also pairing it up with a nifty set of release information for the games, so that viewers can keep track on the latest release dates.

Hulu’s video games hub is currently available on PC, but the company adds that it will be rolling out to all Hulu Plus enabled devices in the coming months. Talking about its future plans, Hulu had this to say: “Soon, we’ll showcase the next generation of video games with the release of the Nintendo Wii U, which brings us game fanatics titles such as New Super Mario Bros U , Nintendo Land, and SiNG Party to your living room. Even our favorite mouse Mickey is joining the party with Epic Mickey 2.” You can check it out here.

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TED Talks reaches 1 billion views

Now here’s a story “worth spreading.” TED, short for technology, entertainment and design, is announcing that it has reached one billion views on Tuesday, November 12th. The announcement is of course humbling, considering that in 2006, TED first started out by launching six videos, with a small team and with some help from partners. To celebrate the milestone, TED curator Chris Anderson asked some of the industry’s most influential people to make a playlist of their favorite TED talks.

Big names include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and American actor and film director Ben Affleck. TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event. It was not until the year 1990 when TED started its famous annual conference. “On Tuesday, Nov. 12, we’re celebrating a billion views across TED.com, YouTube, Netflix, iTunes, YouKu, radio and many more platforms. We may never know who watched the billionth TED Talk. It might have been you,” the company said.

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Google TV update brings Voice Search and new PrimeTime app

Google’s recent YouTube for Android app update allowed users to stream videos directly on Google TVs. But that obviously wasn’t enough, as Google is now announcing a slew of updates that should “make finding whatever you want on Google TV even faster and easier.” The slew of updates, which will begin rolling out this week to LG devices, includes Voice Search and PrimeTime. As the name of the feature suggests, Voice Search lets users control their Google TVs with their voice. Voice Search works with TV shows and movies, YouTube videos, applications, websites, and more importantly, Google Search.

“Say ‘CNN’ to go right to the channel, or say ‘Homeland’ to see all the live and streaming options to watch the show. You can even say ‘how to tie a bow tie’ to watch an instructional YouTube video. Try ‘search movies with Jeff Bridges’ and see results in our new, more visual search results page,” Google said. On the other hand, the PrimeTime feature is actually a new name for the TV & Movies app. But apart from being just a new name, Google says that finding content has never been easier. LG devices are the first in line to receive the updates. The rest will follow in the coming months.

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Vimeo launches pay-to-view beta together with 6 new movies

Vimeo is announcing the preview phase of its incoming pay-to-view service by releasing six movies. The six movies, which includes “We Are Legion: The Story of Hacktivists,” a documentary about the culture and history of Anonymous, are Vimeo’s attempt to showcase its flexible suite of features for creators to sell their films directly to their audiences with control over pricing, viewing periods, release geography, and bonus content features. Users who avail the pay-to-view feature will find their movies automatically downloaded into their “Watch Later” list.

Users can view the video content on their smarphones, tablets, and TVs with Vimeo apps. Other movies worth checking are Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony, Shut Up and Play the Hits, Jeremy Jones’ Further, Beauty is Embarrassing, and an action sports film called Sunny. Vimeo is also announcing the launching of TipJar, which allows video creators to crowd source revenue directly from their viewers. Vimeo’s pay-to-view service is expected to be available for all Pro members early next year.

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Amazon Prime now offering a monthly subscription plan of $7.99? [Rumor]

Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping on millions of Amazon items, no minimum order size, unlimited instant streaming of movies and TV shows, and a Kindle book to borrow every month for free. For $79 a year, it’s a pretty good offer. But the deal could get even better. That’s because a few Amazon users are now beginning to see a new pricing scheme for an Amazon Prime subscription. Instead of $79 per year, some Amazon customers are seeing a $7.99 monthly subscription pricing scheme that offers the same perks.

If the reports are true, then Amazon must be reconsidering its strategy in order to compete against Netflix and Hulu. In case you didn’t know, both Netflix and Hulu also has a $8 per month subscription plan of their own. The new pricing scheme is more expensive when combined annually, as it amounts to $95.88 per year all in all. So, if you’re not really for it, you might as well grab the $79 per year plan. It’s important to note that Amazon has yet to announce the new pricing scheme, assuming that the rumors are true. For now, let’s take it with a grain of salt.

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Polycom New Solutions: RealPresence CloudAxis, New User Interface, RealPresence Desktop 2.0, Virtual Edge Executive Desktop

Updated Polycom RealPresence Desktop 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 software with a completely redesigned UI

Today, Polycom released a number of new video conferencing solutions and updates to its RealPresence platform, including RealPresence CloudAxis, a new user interface, RealPresence Desktop 2.0, RealPresence Mobile 2.0, VirtualEdge Executive Desktop (ultra-slim 27” PC display- photo in the full article). Enhancements of the RealPresence Platform include 3x HD video capacity via SVC (open standards-based video codec), and new RealPresence Collaboration Server 800s, Virtual Edition.

Read the complete article for more details on each new product.

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iPad mini mock-up appears in a new video

Apple has been fairly secretive about its products. But a lot of details about iPhone 5 trickled out before the actual launch of the device and most of these details turned out to be quite true too. It appears that the same is the case with Apple’s iPad mini.

We don’t know yet if the device even exists but we have seen mock-up photos as well as reports about a launch event soon. Whether or not these speculations are true, we don’t know. Nonetheless, the Japanese Apple blog Macotakara has now come up with a video which shows a mock-up of iPad mini. (more…)

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