BlueNosedDog

Bopaboo is a new startup company which allows you to upload your MP3 files and, if you’re American at least, excercise your right of first sale.

This service allows you to set your own prices, but of course takes its own cut. How they prevent you from selling multiple copies of the same song has yet to be seen, as has whether the service will be alive much longer than a week.

Personally I feel this is simply baiting the music industry into taking action, how it was decided that this service is a good idea I just don’t know. You’d have hoped that those starting up websites such as this would have thought about all future legal possibilities - but it seems in this case that all those in charge of the site are after is a quick buck. If anything this service is doing more harm to the case of DRM free music than anything else.

Via

Featured, Online, Software Bopaboo, DRM, First-sale doctrine, MP3, Startup company

Although I’ve been venting my spleen recently at YouTube, it looks like they may have just implemented a change for the better.

On those few videos which don’t have bars down either side, and which used to have “watch in high quality” links, YouTube has changed the links to “watch Hi-Def”.

Now I haven’t had the chance to see whether it truly is a hi-def image, but I’ve got to admit the quality took even me by surprise.

More of the same please YouTube, and I may stop using your competitors.

Online YouTube

Not content with making it’s onsite video’s fugly, by adding black bars to non widescreen uploads YouTube are at it again, this time adding a ludicrously useful (ummm?) search bar to the top of off-site embedded videos.

Many are of the opinion this is Googles way of getting even more data off its users for its main business (selling you ads). They may be right there, but again the calls are coming in pointing out that YouTubes better quality competitors, DailyMotion and Vimeo f.ex don’t do this sort of crap.

Sorry for getting a little angy, but youtube isn’s what it once was.

Featured, Online Dailymotion, Entertainment, Google, Shopping, Uploading and downloading, Video, Videos and DVDs, Vimeo, Widescreen, YouTube

We thought that we should tell you , because Amazon don’t seem to be, but Amazon UK has now launched the same MP3 service that our friends over the pond have been getting the benefits of for the last few months. Singles start at 59p, albums at £3 and there are over 3,000,000 tracks available right now. Oh and did we mention they’re DRM free MP3’s encoded at 256kbps - and that Amazon allow you to download directly into your iTunes library. Sexy eh?

Featured, Online, Software Album, Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Brazil, MP3, MySpace

The very impressive startup, animoto, has just launched a new Christmas themed link n their website which allows you to turn your animated picture slideshows into Christmassy animated picture slideshows. It does this by giving you a choice of backgrounds and intro / outro sequences. You still need to come up with the relevent imagery and music though.

For those that don’t know, animoto is a little site which was funded by amazon (for an undisclosed fee) which creates clever little animations out of your pictures. It makes montages so easy and professional looking that it’s almost worth the $30 a year fee. See below for both a demonstration of the site (which is permanently in my favourites) along with the new Christmas skinning.

http://animoto.com/play/LwttyHU4ME8mqFN5LUtp8g/greetings/holidays2008

Featured, Online animoto, Christmas, Holidays, Image, People and Society, Website

Raven Zachary over at radar.oreilly.com reports something of a milestone for Apple which I didn’t even know they were close to hitting.  AppShopper and 148Apps, 2 services which track the App Store, have totted up over 10,000 individual apps for sale. Now the actual number currently up for sale is a little lower than this due to dicontinued products, and those which were pulled for various reasons, but it’s still a pretty high number given how long the service has been alive.

Techcrunch have also covered this story in much more detail

Online, Software app store, apple, AppStore, iPhone, ipod, milestone

YouTube has decided that for the vast majority of us black bars are the next big thing. Thats right, not only do we have to put up with poor “high quality” compared to most other online video providers, but they have decided to make those videos widescreen.

For some this will be a bit of a boon. The sale of widescreen video cameras is accelerating for example, so all of those NOT uploading happy slapper videos from their mobile will be well serviced. Yet the cynical in me is screaming that there may be another reason for YouTube going widescreen. Now the home of some movies, and a growing number of promo videos (read ads) maybe YouTube going widescreen has more to do with advertising dollars than user needs.

Now I know that YouTube is massively popular, but the lack of “optional” widescreen and the proliferation of tacky advertising, alongside the lack of real “high quality” and no live streaming - and that’s before considering the attitude of most of the regular commentators - surely some, if not most, semi-serious video bloggers (f.ex) will be moving away from them and onto other platforms, such as blip.tv, justin.tv and my personal favourite mogulus.com?

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Featured, Online Advertising, Shopping, Uploading and downloading, Video, Video camera, Video clip, Widescreen, YouTube