iTunes for video?With Sony clamoring about an iTunes like service for video, it looks like Google has quietly snuck into the same realm with their Video Upload Program.?The FAQ has some very interesting information; content owners can choose to distribute their masterpieces for free or charge for the download. It seems likely that Google will be taking a cut of royalties generated but it is unclear as to what the arrangement for free videos will be. Besides soliciting indy-video makers, there is also a link to television stations to submit content. Video requirements are quite stringent and it looks like Google is striving for high quality content rather than just volume:
Here are?[Google's] preferred video specs:
NTSC (4:3) size and framerate, deinterlaced
Video Codec: MPEG2 or MPEG4 (MPEG4 preferred)
Video Bitrate: at least 260Kbps (750kbps preferred)
Audio Codec: MP3 vbr
Audio Bitrate: at least 70Kbps (128 Kbps preferred)
Besides competing with Sony in the video realm, this is also an indirect challenge to Yahoo and Flickr which relies on end user submitting and tagging their content. It looks like Google is attempting something similar but with a vested commercial interest with video. This sounds like it will have a lot of potential as I would love to get a European MotoGP feed for example but I do not necessarily want to pay to subscribe for a satellite channel that I'll likely only watch 17 times a year.?
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