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Microsoft's soapbox: TheirTube
Microsoft is planning a YouTube clone to crop up soon, oddly enough on the MSN brand instead of Windows Live spaces. It looks from the screenshot that the service will be part of MSN videos. I can see why Microsoft would want a piece of the action, since YouTube is so wildly popular. I love the name, which for once isn't a particularly bad one, but I can just see Microsoft inspiring a "people-up-on-flimsy-boxes-yelling" revolution. The internal beta is still going on, and no word on release date yet. We'll keep you posted, quite literally I suppose.
- Upload videos in almost any format-like from your video or digital camera (maximum file size is currently 100MB)
- Tag and categorize your videos to make it easy for other people to find them
- Watch original videos and browse for new ones at the same time
- Set up your own personal RSS feeds for videos you're interested in
- Use your Windows Live Spaces profile with Soapbox on MSN Video
- Embed a video on your Web site or blog
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsClaudiu SpulberSep 11th 2006 8:00AM
You forgot one feature: get sued for uploading videos where you dance listening to copyrighted music.
AvatarSep 11th 2006 3:10PM
The reason for it launching as MSN initiative is because several MS international partnerships that will make it less global if it launched as a Live initiative from the let go and becuase it will use several tools for shopping, and groups,in still to be revamped as live like msn groups and msn shopping.
About what format it will use, it is a secret, but i only got rumors that i will somehow surprise....i am baffled too, by whatever that means.
MustangSep 14th 2006 11:29PM
As usual Microsoft is a day late and a dollar short. Have they heard of this thing that is called youtube?
Mark KingsSep 19th 2006 10:25AM
To me one of the big problems of you tube is that the flv format they use reduces considerably the original quality of the uploaded video. Simply put, most youtube videos and similar sites that recompress to flv don't have acceptable quality even in 640x480 size aside from those such as humor, etc where quality is not an important factor.
I would pay a reasonable, low annual fee if they gave the option of keeping the format and quality.
Is MS addressing this issue with the soap box??
For what I see in the beta site the flv stays or at least the Flash container.
mattSep 19th 2006 8:16PM
right, and once there is one of something, there is never any need to strive for innovation in the same direction. thats why we all drive ford cars and use computers the size of houses.
deezySep 19th 2006 8:16PM
^ lol @ matt! cheers to Microsoft for guaranteeing that we'll see some great things coming from the video sharing/broadcasting world!
Vic CampbellSep 20th 2006 6:46AM
Soapbox, Youtube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Blip.tv ... and many more. MS may have the similar pockets to pull it off with greater slickness than Google, more options than youtube. Google is moving towards a way to monetize video/movie downloads for some and that is a good thing too. There will be some fallout, but what I'd really like to see happen is more coherent access to topics by region and subject matter ... with some kind of virtual channel selectivity. I'd love to be in on some of the early thinking on how to form this thing into a real service similar to public access tv, but with the flexibility of the web. How to sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Hey, microsoft, give me a call!
bobSep 20th 2006 8:43AM
They better come up with something which works.
http://soapbox.msn.com/betaplayer.aspx?vid=c1b72697-d9aa-41eb-a72f-a71812096b8e
That video is so G.A.Y