IBM Cloud Video
 | |
Type of site | Video streaming |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Korean |
| Owner | IBM |
| URL | ibm |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | March 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
| Native client(s) on | iOS,Android |
IBM Watson Media(formerlyUstreamandIBM Cloud Video) is an Americanvirtual events platformcompany which is a division ofIBM.Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. Ustream had received $11.1 million inSeries A fundingfor new product development from Doll Capital Management (DCM) and investors Labrador Ventures andBand of Angels.[1]
Since 2016, it has been a division ofIBM.On April 1, 2018, two years after its purchase, Ustream changed its name to IBM Cloud Video to reflect its new ownership, but rapidly changed that name to IBM Watson Media to reflect the embedded artificial intelligence capabilities of IBM's Watson.
History
[edit]Ustream was launched when the founders (John Ham,Brad Hunstableand Gyula Fehér) wanted a way for their friends in the US Army, who were deployed overseas in theIraq War,to be able to communicate with their families. A product like Ustream would provide them with a way to talk to all of their relatives at once when free time in the war zone was limited.[2]
Acquisition
[edit]Early investors includedDCM VenturesandSoftbank,the latter of which invested $20 million in 2010 with an option to invest additional capital.[3][4]On January 21, 2016,IBMacquired Ustream for up to $150 million.[5]It was combined withAspera,Clearleap, andCleversafeto form IBM's Cloud Video [IBM Watson Media] unit. IBM envisioned the use of its technology as part of an enterprise video offering.[6]
Notable users
[edit]IBM Cloud Video was used by politicians such asHillary Clinton,Barack Obama,John Edwards,[7]to video game streamers, to artists such asKanye West,Linkin Park,Tori Amos,Deadmau5and thePlain White T's.[8][9]Lifecasterssuch asiJustineand E-TARD The LifeCaster[10]have also used IBM Cloud Video. Notable companies/universities/other who have used IBM Cloud Video includeSalesforce,University of Pennsylvania Wharton,Herman Miller,Mazda,U.S. Open,Fox Sports (United States)World Cup,USA Network:Mr. Robot,Sonyfor thePlayStation 4,University of Georgia,Grohe,a California superior court andRoland Corporation.[11]
Plans
[edit]The plans for IBM Cloud Video are, from cheapest to most expensive, Silver, Gold and Platinum. IBM offers a 30-day free trial for IBM Cloud Video which includes all the features of Silver/Gold/Platinum, phone and chat support with a live monitoring console and a single admin and user seat. Here is a comparison table of features including Silver, Gold and Platinum. Other features not included due to being the same in all plans includeHDtranscoding,phoneandchatsupport with a live monitoring console, video embed control andAPIaccess, channel branding,passwordsand a registration gate, a chat,Q&A,polling and clickable video overlays, an automatic archive with AIclosed captions,and simulated live and playlists.[12]
| Silver | Gold | Platinum |
|---|---|---|
| 100 viewer hours | 2000 viewer hours | 5000 viewer hours |
| 5 channels | 10 channels | 20 channels |
| 1 TB storage | 2 TB storage | 3 TB storage |
Automatic content blocking
[edit]IBM Watson Media uses a copyright enforcement service provided by Vobile, which uses a proprietaryfingerprintingsystem to automatically detect copyrighted content.[13][14]This system has been known to generatefalse positives,blocking content that should fall underfair use,or which has been specifically licensed by the stream originator. In one such incident, the official livecast of the 2012Hugo Awardceremony was terminated because it incorporated authorized clips of nominated television shows and movies, causing "a flood of livid Twitter messages". The following day, Ustream apologized for the incident and temporarily disabled automatic blocking while they adjusted the system to "better balance the needs of broadcasters, viewers, and copyright holders".[15][16]
References
[edit]- ^Cynopsis: Digital. April 14, 2008.
- ^WebWare,Merry Christmas, Mom: Ustream links soldiers with homeArchived2008-12-01 at theWayback Machine,December 14, 2007
- ^"IBM acquires Ustream".Variety.21 January 2016.
- ^"Softbank pays $20 million for stake in Ustream".
- ^Konrad, Alex."IBM Confirms Ustream Acquisition As Part Of Cloud Video [IBM Watson Media] Unit Targeting" $105 Billion Opportunity "".Forbes.Retrieved2017-08-21.
- ^"IBM Confirms Acquisition Of UStream, Forms New Cloud Video [IBM Watson Media] Unit".TechCrunch.21 January 2016.Retrieved21 January2016.
- ^Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins (2007-11-26)."YouTube and UStream Go Political".Mashable.Retrieved2010-08-23.
- ^Brad Hunstable, Founder (2007-11-16)."The Ustream.TV Blog » Blog Archive » Plain White T's Event Serves 130,000".Ustream.tv. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-04-10.Retrieved2010-08-23.
- ^Vilas-boas, Eric (2010-08-09)."Kanye Hits Ustream, Talks New Album".SPIN.Retrieved2022-09-08.
- ^"E-TARD The 24/7 LifeCaster".E-TARD.TV. September 5, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon September 17, 2012.RetrievedNovember 4,2015.
- ^"Virtual Event Case Studies | IBM".ibm.Retrieved2024-08-14.
- ^"IBM Video Streaming - Pricing".ibm.Retrieved2024-08-14.
- ^Hunstable, Brad(2010-07-16)."Launch of Improved Measures to Protect Copyright Holders and Vobile Integration".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-02-04.Retrieved2012-09-03.
- ^"Vobile Core Technology".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-08-05.Retrieved2012-09-03.
- ^Ha, Anthony (September 3, 2012),"Ustream Apologizes For Shutting Down The Hugo Awards Livestream, Says It Will 'Recalibrate'",TechCrunch
- ^Gross, Doug (September 4, 2012),Ustream apologizes for killing Hugo Awards webcast,CNN
External links
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