Online Video | featured news

Hulu, the online-video site owned by three large media companies, is exploring an initial public offering.

Watching video on the vast majority of websites has become possible on a mass market phone. The world's most popular video system, Adobe Flash, can now be played on the HTC Desire.

'Baby' versus 'Bad Romance.'
Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have beef. The two pop stars are currently duking it out on the internet, with tween king Justin Bieber recently usurping the crown for most-watched YouTube video from Lady Gaga.

Online video site Hulu could begin testing a paid subscription service as early as later this month, according to people briefed on the plans, a high-profile test of whether consumers will pay to watch television shows online.

Google Inc.'s YouTube video-sharing website didn't infringe copyrights owned by movie and television producer Viacom Inc., a judge ruled. US District Judge Louis Stanton in New York today ...

One minute you're chatting via webcam with a mom of two from Montauk, N.Y. -- and the next you're staring at a stark-naked man in Bangkok. Such is virtual life on Chatroulette, an "extreme social networking" Web site that connects users with a limitless number of "random strangers" from around the globe.

YouTube's movie rental service is still in its infancy, and it still only offers a small selection of films, but that could change quickly. YouTube exec Hunter Walk told MediaPost that the site will soon offer its users the ability to charge rental fees for their uploaded videos.

In our early testing, iLounge has learned that some video delivery applications act differently over the 3G network than they do on Wi-Fi. The iPad's built-in YouTube application strips both standard and HD videos to a dramatically lower resolution over the cellular data connection, something that iTunes Store video previews notably do not do, instead staying at a higher quality and consuming a greater amount of data.

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs kicked the debate about the need for Flash into high gear, especially for Web video.

Hulu reportedly will introduce a subscription plan as soon as May 24, which would cost $10 per month for access to anything older than the last five episodes of popular TV shows, according to the Los Angeles Times.