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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday May 10 2016, @11:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the let-the-skirmishes-begin dept.

Amazon unveiled a service that allows users to post videos and earn royalties from them, putting a big bulls eye on Alphabet's YouTube.

The service, called Amazon Video Direct, will make the uploaded videos available to rent or own, to view free with ads, or be packaged together and offered as an add-on subscription.

Amazon will pay content creators 50% of the revenue earned from rental receipts or sale of the videos, according to the company's license agreement. For ad-supported videos, the creators will get half of the net ad receipts.

Amazon's fast-growing Prime loyalty program already offers original TV programming and access to digital entertainment products such as Prime Music and Prime Video, as well as one-hour delivery of purchases, for an annual fee of $99.

YouTube offers a free, ad-supported service as well as a $10-per-month subscription option called YouTube Red. Amazon, though, has a long way to go to catch up with YouTube, the go-to venue for video on the internet since 2005.

Users of Amazon's service will be able to make their videos available in the US, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom. and Japan. The company has also signed up several partners for the service, including Conde Nast, the Guardian, Mashable and toymaker Mattel.

Amazon can throw a lot of money behind their new Video Direct service, but I don't know how well it will do. YouTube is pretty well thoroughly entrenched in the online video space.


Original Submission

Related Stories

Mattel Shelves "Aristotle" AI Baby Monitor After Privacy Outcry 18 comments

Mattel will not sell an all-in-one voice-controlled smart hub / baby monitor, setting back the state of parenting by decades or even millennia:

Toymaker Mattel has shelved plans to build an "all-in-one voice-controlled smart baby monitor," after complaints about the device were raised by privacy advocates and child psychologists. According to a report from The Washington Post, the company said in a statement that the device, named Aristotle, did not "fully align with Mattel's new technology strategy" and would not be "[brought] to the marketplace."

Aristotle was unveiled back in January this year by Mattel's Nabi brand. It combined the smart speaker and digital assistant functionality of Amazon's Echo with a connected camera that acted as a baby monitor. But the Aristotle was intended to be a much more active presence in children's lives than an Echo speaker, with Mattel claiming it would read them bedtime stories, soothe them if they cried in the night, and even teach them their ABCs.

Mattel also appointed a new chief financial officer.

Also at Ars Technica and MSPoweruser.

Related: Amazon Declares War on YouTube by Launching Amazon Video Direct
Barbie Typewriter Toys Had a Secret Ability to Encrypt Messages — but They Didn't Think Girls Would
Amazon Dominates Voice-Controlled Speaker Market


Original Submission

Amazon Plans to Remove Google's Nest Products After Acquisition of Ring 13 comments

Amazon will stop selling Nest products once its current stock of them runs out:

The impending disappearance of Nest from Amazon marks just the latest development in the acrimonious, anti-consumer feud between Amazon and Google. Nest was absorbed back into Google last month after spending three years as a standalone Alphabet subsidiary. (Google tipped off Nest that Amazon had decided against selling its latest hardware while the companies were still separate.) Amazon has steadfastly refused to sell some Google-branded products like the Google Home voice assistant speaker and the company's Pixel smartphones. In December, the online retailer said it would restart sales of the Chromecast streaming device, but it's been three months and you still can't buy it. Last summer, Amazon launched a Prime Video app for Android, but has yet to add support for streaming its content with a Chromecast.

For its part in this ugly falling out, Google has removed YouTube from Amazon's Fire TV streaming products and the Echo Show / Spot, claiming that Amazon has violated its terms of service with those implementations of the YouTube app. There were once signs that the companies were mending the scorched bridge between them, but that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.

Related:
Amazon Declares War on YouTube by Launching Amazon Video Direct
Google Pulls YouTube off of the Amazon Echo Show
Google's "Manhattan" to Compete With Amazon's Echo Show
Amazon Wants to Deliver Purchases into Your Home
Google Pulls YouTube Off of More Amazon Devices
Google Absorbs Nest, Nest Co-Founder Quits
Amazon Acquires Ring, Maker of Internet-Connected Doorbells and Cameras, for Over $1 Billion


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Valkor on Tuesday May 10 2016, @11:42PM

    by Valkor (4253) on Tuesday May 10 2016, @11:42PM (#344462)

    People use Youtube because it is free and has low/nonexistent barriers of entry. This Amazon product is the exact opposite of that. Dead before it left the cloud.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by anubi on Wednesday May 11 2016, @03:02AM

      by anubi (2828) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @03:02AM (#344497) Journal

      I clicked on the "Amazon Video Direct" link.

      First thing it wanted was for me to create an account.

      When I enter YouTube, the home page shows me all sorts of stuff and offers to search for more specific stuff. Right away Amazon is asking for personal info.

      The barrier to entry is too high for me... What I really wanted to know is if I could download to file - as my end runs at the speed of AT&T and not fast enough for video. I am not about to create an account hoping they have something.

      What is this? Faith-based computing?

      Looks to me like a MAFIAA honeypot. Trying to catch me watching something they did not give the OK to.

      I closed the window.

      Back to YouTube.

      Thanks...

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by AndyTheAbsurd on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:19PM

        by AndyTheAbsurd (3958) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:19PM (#344559) Journal

        I had the same question...but I also already have an Amazon account. So I clicked on the link and got to the landing page and ALSO got the "Create your free account" message. There's a link to sign in using an existing account, which I clicked on and provided my Amazon.com username and password, then clicked login...just to end up back on the page I'd started on where it asked me to create an account.

        WTF, Amazon? I know you have enough money to hire programmers that know what they're doing. Why didn't you use them for this project?

        --
        Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.
        • (Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday May 11 2016, @02:58PM

          by TheGratefulNet (659) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @02:58PM (#344634)

          the amazon programmers are still crying by their desk. give them some more time...

          (best joke I heard about that NYT review, where amazon employees were said to be so torn apart after typical meetings that they'd go back to their desks and cry. the joke goes 'no, its not true. amazon employees do not cry at their desks. there are special rooms setup expressly for that purpose.') ;)

          --
          "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
        • (Score: 2) by N3Roaster on Wednesday May 11 2016, @06:33PM

          by N3Roaster (3860) <roaster@wilsonscoffee.com> on Wednesday May 11 2016, @06:33PM (#344798) Homepage Journal

          I got a little bit farther. My most popular video on YouTube [youtu.be] (instructional video on coffee product development, probably not interesting unless you roast professionally) doesn't have anything in it that would be problematic to also distribute through Amazon, I already had captions done for it, I put together the required key art and am able to get all of the info in but when I try to upload the video the progress bar periodically resets itself to 0 until producing the "Your files could not be uploaded at this time. Please try again" error message. Maybe copying from S3 works better but I'm not an AWS customer so I can't test that.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:03PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:03PM (#344570)

        First thing it wanted was for me to create an account.
        When I enter YouTube, the home page shows me all sorts of stuff and offers to search for more specific stuff. Right away Amazon is asking for personal info.
        The barrier to entry is too high for me...

        Agreed, but here's how this will play out:
        - Sign in with your existing Amazon account
        - Sign in with Facebook
        - Sign in with your Google Account
        And that's only if you delete cookies, because if you don't, then you're automatically signed in with whatever cookie that dumb site finds on your device.

        And the idiots will just click 'OK'... and the world keeps turning

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:46PM (#344715)

      Firephone is back!

  • (Score: 2) by Gravis on Tuesday May 10 2016, @11:59PM

    by Gravis (4596) on Tuesday May 10 2016, @11:59PM (#344465)

    why would anyone upload a video to Amazon when chances are only people who subscribe to Amazon Prime will be able to view it? if we're being honest, that's where Amazon is going with this.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:37AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:37AM (#344471)

      Maybe they can corner the cat video market.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:48AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:48AM (#344475)

        Seriously, they will indeed probably have to find a niche if they want this to grow. They will otherwise flunk the general-video exam.

        • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:05AM

          by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:05AM (#344477) Journal

          Niche? Expensive cat videos?
          Pay-per-view cat videos?

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:07PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:07PM (#344572)

            Cat House videos?

            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:19PM

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:19PM (#344579) Journal

              Desperate Housecats, rather.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:22PM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:22PM (#344582) Journal

            Certainly not nyan cats, those flew away quite a long ago.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday May 11 2016, @10:39AM

      by TheRaven (270) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @10:39AM (#344535) Journal

      Because neither YouTube nor Amazon's offering requires an exclusive license to the content. If you want to make money, then you'll put it on both. If you notice that you're getting more money per view from Amazon, then you'll start putting it on there a week earlier and encouraging people to use it. If you're getting the majority of your money from Amazon, then you'll stop posting to YouTube.

      Oh, and if you haven't noticed, when you go to YouTube now it pops up a thing requiring you to agree to their new 'privacy' policy before you can watch anything. It sets a tracking cookie, so you don't see it again if you have the cookie (but you do have one more thing for Google to track).

      --
      sudo mod me up
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:44PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:44PM (#344562)

        Oh, and if you haven't noticed, when you go to YouTube now it pops up a thing requiring you to agree to their new 'privacy' policy before you can watch anything. It sets a tracking cookie, so you don't see it again if you have the cookie (but you do have one more thing for Google to track).

        Never noticed as it's never happened for me. Maybe it's another thing that Adblock takes care of, I didn't even know that YouTube videos had ads in them for years until I used someone else's computer.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:05PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:05PM (#344571)

        You have not heard of youtube-dl? How odd...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @08:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @08:17PM (#344851)

      The compensation model isn't a bad idea. I don't trust Amazon but this concept isn't bad. What is bad is Prime Video - it is already barely tolerable at all and if they fill it up with even more nearly worthless content it won't be usable. Though probably better than Hulu which isn't even worth free.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Appalbarry on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:07AM

    by Appalbarry (66) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:07AM (#344478) Journal

    Users of Amazon's service will be able to make their videos available in the US, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom. and Japan.

    And yet again content is only available to people living within the right imaginary lines, as identified by IP address.

    We actually don't mind paying (a reasonable price) for the content that we consume. But in order to do that, you have to actually allow us to buy what you're selling!

    I swear to God that stupid, pointless geographical restrictions are what drive a large part of the pirate market.

    If you refuse to let me watch it on Netflix or Youtube, and refuse to sell me a download or DVD, and won't let me watch it live when broadcast, then I damn well WILL go to Pirate Bay and download it.

    Preventing customers in country A or B from buying what you sell - especially a digital product that doesn't even have a manufacturing and shipping cost - is just idiotic to the extent of poking yourself in the eye with a fork.

  • (Score: 2) by bitstream on Wednesday May 11 2016, @03:19AM

    by bitstream (6144) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @03:19AM (#344504) Journal

    So which videos will be deemed unsuitable?
    All services seems to have hangups depending on the belief of their owner and particular in which country they have their headquarters.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:57AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:57AM (#344517)

    did anyone see that stupid fucking commerical with a dancing stack of cardboard boxes to form a human like shape?

    someone needs to put the crack pipe down.

    sing it! "More to Priiiiiiiiiiiime! More to Priiiiiime!"

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by zugedneb on Wednesday May 11 2016, @07:09AM

    by zugedneb (4556) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @07:09AM (#344525)

    ...but a lot of older murican movies have niggas playin basket in the hoods...
    is this still going on, or have even the niggas left for pirating and youtube?

    --
    old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
  • (Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:20PM

    by iWantToKeepAnon (686) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @01:20PM (#344580) Homepage Journal

    Moss: I bet he declares war on something. He loves declaring wars.

    I Am Declaring War on STRESS! Denholm The IT Crowd [youtube.com]

    --
    "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:00PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:00PM (#344667) Journal
    When I first learned about Kindle (years ago) I was excited. And it runs Linux. Cool hardware. I could imagine lots of possibilities. But no. It is only designed to sell you stuff. Stuff that you don't even own and can be disappeared. And not just disappeared due to it being mistakenly released, but for example a Disney film you 'bought' but that later Disney has exclusively licensed only for some other use and suddenly Amazon disappears your purchase. And many other stories.

    When the fire phone was unveiled, I was excited. The phone had some cool tech. I am already an Android fan, and have dabbled with fairly serious development, but nothing ever put in the play store. As I watched the presentation, this realization gradually came over me -- every single feature they were touting so loudly was about selling something.

    Hey Amazon: here is a newsflash. People buy smartphones to IMPROVE THEIR LIVES. Not to serve as your advertising billboard. Not to be an in-your-pocket constant high-pressure salesman trying to con me into buying something I don't want or need, to solve a problem I didn't even know I even had.

    Then also recently: Amazon drops all non-Kindle Fire video devices. Goodbye chromecast. And other set top boxes from the amazon store.

    Really Amazon? I used to trust you as a source to shop for stuff. I would go to Amazon first (but now to Google first). I would just assume that if I was looking for something that Amazon would show me just about every possible option under the sun. This sets a precedent that Amazon will exclude competing products as though they don't even exist.

    And ironically, Amazon still can't get this firestick to take off. And from what I've seen from a friend's firestick -- it crashes frequently. Now writing this, I seem to suddenly realize, that he must have quit using it because we always use his Roku or other device. So Amazon, you've destroyed my trust in your entire business for the same of a business unit that is not succeeding. Brilliant! Some executive should get a fat bonus!

    Really OT: I also got a Roku recently. Gave up hope on Android TV ever being a thing. (Now we'll see what comes out next week...) And you know what's great? Roku doesn't seem to have any direct interest in competing with any of the 'channels' it carries. So it has everything. Amazon. Netflix. Hulu. YouTube. HBO. PBS. The wastelands of CBS/NBC/ABC. Etc.

    I already subscribe to Amazon Prime. But Amazon destroyed my trust in looking at their site first for shopping, in order to prop up a device (fire stick) that I have no need for, and from what I see, doesn't even work well.
    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @05:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @05:07PM (#344732)

      Our corporate friends are overjoyed to have such outreach capabilities, this close and personal device as our phones & tablets.
      They deem themselves very important and therefore find it acceptable to intrude, advise, or judge & solve our problemed lives.

      I like your rant.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:36PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:36PM (#344708) Homepage Journal

    they keep offering to fly me to really nice places just for my interview, then I would have my choice of their coding shop locations at which to work.

    Even if I didn't get a job, for a homeless person to get a free plane ride and two nights in a luxury hotel would have been pretty nice.

    If you don't understand why, look at Amazon's supreme court victory vs. its warehouse pickers, also what Jeff Bezos personally did to the staff of the Washington Post.

    I expect it would suffice to blackhole the server's IP in my hosts file.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Wednesday May 11 2016, @07:44PM

      by PizzaRollPlinkett (4512) on Wednesday May 11 2016, @07:44PM (#344832)

      Me too. They troll linkedin like nobody's business. It's like a pulse that beats every few months.

      From the little bit of research I did about them, they're strictly churn-and-burn with high turnover, so they have to look under every rock they can for anyone who knows Android. There aren't many.

      What hacks me off about Amazon is they use third parties to recruit. They want you to go, on your own dime, to a third party at a hotel in some city (like a bad Hong Kong bespoke suit measuring event) and beg them not for a job, but for a chance to beg Amazon for a job. The recruiter screens you first, then Amazon. I think enough people said no thanks to that nonsense that they had to stop. Why do I have to prove myself to some screener just to talk to Amazon? They see my linkedin profile. I'm an Android developer. I'm not warm blooded and never see sunlight, but otherwise I'm what they want, and they can't be picky.

      --
      (E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by EvilSS on Wednesday May 11 2016, @05:37PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 11 2016, @05:37PM (#344762)

    This isn't designed to compete with 90% of what YouTube does. This is designed to be a self publishing platform, but for video instead of books. For example, Amazon requires subtitles for videos. Loud youtube kid isn't going to do that for his game play videos, and neither would the vast majority of people who upload to Youtube. This is a platform for indie movie/tv creators to use and it gives them a way to monetize without relying solely on ads. Honestly hope Netflix follows suit and does something similar. This type of platform could be a boon for small independent film and TV projects.