by Carlos García Moreno-Torres

Ever since Avatar came out 3D seems to be the magical word that makes any movie a blockbuster. All of a sudden, the audiovisual entertainment industry (films, TV and videogames) has been trying to convince us that a 2D world doesn’t make sense anymore, releasing all kind of 3D products, from movies to Television sets & TV channels, videogames, cameras and photography books.

Steve Jobs recently said that users don’t want to see amateur clips, that they “want Hollywood movies and TV shows (…) they want professional content and everything in HD”. Of course this is not necessarily true (although some of his thousands of fans might take his word as gospel), but the truth is that big feature films are now easily reachable online (HULU, Netflix, Apple TV…) and the times of terrible quality pirate videos seems to be on its way out. So, no matter if the competition is Youtube or professional content, the truth now is that you can have good movies in HD and even decent popcorn at home.

In this era of the movie theater at home, the film industry needed something to get people back to the cinema, to enhance the experience and add something you can’t have from the comfort of your living room (besides avoiding the costs, the queues, the car ride, the parking…), and they decided it would be 3D.

After a year where the motto seemed to be you just need to make it 3D to make it a success, it looks like theaters won’t be able to hold the exclusive on 3D for as long as they would like. 3DTVs and cameras keep coming onto the market, PS3 and XBOX360 support 3D, and the Nintendo 3DS is coming out soon, with a 3D screen that doesn’t need glasses. Nevertheless, the evolution seems a little slower for the screens we spend more time on, that are our main window to the online world: phones and computers.
But, is it just a matter of time until we replace all screens for glasses-less 3D screens? Will we experience real 3D interfaces and websites anytime soon? In my opinion this doesn’t seem likely. As for online video, things are different.

Over a year ago YouTube quietly added 3D support. No big Apple-style announcement, just a new feature developed out of the endlessly productive 20% time free that all google engineers have to work on the projects that they’re passionate about (same 20% that gave birth to Gmail and Orkut). The solution, simple and elegant, has been evolving all these months, and allows you to select the 3D technology you’re using (different kinds of glasses, 3DTV or none at all to see both 2D views next to each other). Some of the other biggest online video sites like Vimeo also supports 3D.

This just shows how online video doesn’t necessarily stay in the “amateur hours” of Youtube and the artsy clips of Vimeo, but keeps and eye on the industry, not forgetting about 3D and the growing community of 3D creators that work and share their expertise online.

Interestingly, in a time when 3D is the big hype, it has been growing quietly in the guts of online video, and although most users don’t seem to notice it now (only about 5000 3D videos on Youtube!), the structure is being built so it will be ready and available when 3D screens invade the computer market.

If that finally happens (and according to the current industry tendency, it seems inevitable), Hollywood will have to find a new way to get people to theaters. Maybe they should try making good movies, that always worked.

by Carlos García Moreno-Torres

In a time when access to information, and more specifically video, is constant and immediate, and when the new content that becomes available daily easily tops the time users could spend in a month with their sight focused on a screen, content providers have started a war for that precious treasure: the attention and time of users.

It is in this state of affairs that we see the all-mighty Apple renewing a forgotten product like AppleTV, and rumours revealing that the giant Google (also owner of YouTube, and still trying to make it a lucrative business) will release its contender for the big pie of living room online video with GoogleTV being developed together with Sony. On this battlefield it seems like there are no small players in this war…but is this true?

Other smaller companies who were creative enough to carve out some space for themselves in the market, like Boxee (soon to release Boxee Box) or Netflix, are trying to find their own ways to move their services from Mobile phones and laptops to both the big screens, and other domestic screens, that everybody has been buying and vying for.

Below, an interesting article about this subject, regarding YouTube’s quest for screen superiority:
Written by Maggie Shiels, Technology reporter for BBC News (Original article here)

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YouTube Bids for screen dominance

Can YouTube make the jump to rule the roost in the living room?
The world’s biggest video site wants to dominate every screen where
content can be viewed and created.

YouTube is already a leader online and in mobile and has firmly set
its sights on the living room.

The company charted its course during the launch of a new product
called Leanback, described by some as web video for couch potatoes.

It also unveiled upgrades for its mobile site which has over 100
million playbacks a day.

“You can start to break down the mental picture of ‘these are the
videos I watch on my computer, on my tv or on my phone,’” Hunter Walk,
director of product management told BBC News.

“Now you just say ‘these are the videos I watch and I watch them
wherever I happen to be, or whoever I happen to be with’. We are going
to have a world where people increasingly expect their content to be
available to them on anything with a screen, whether that be a
computer, a phone or a tv. That is the vision,” said Mr Walk.

‘Opportunity’

With 24 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute, YouTube is
already the world’s biggest video website.

And with Leanback, YouTube is now vying for the attention of the user
in the living room.

People watch 2 billion videos a day on YouTube
“This really is where the opportunity is biggest for YouTube right
now,” said Kuan Yong, senior product manager for Leanback.

“We are looking at five hours of tv that users are watching every day
in the US versus 15 minutes of YouTube video, so there is a huge
opportunity for us to bring YouTube into the living room and at the
same time bring some of the tv experience to YouTube.”

The technology picks out high-definition clips and automatically
serves up a constant stream of one video after another. As it learns
more about the viewers’ likes and dislikes, this diet of video becomes
more personalised.

The aim is to ensure users do not have to think about what they want
to see next or click on the website every few minutes.

“We want to remove the ‘What next?’ question for viewers,” said Mr Yong.

‘Channel of you’

Mr Walk said Leanback marked the emergence of a single channel world.

“This is about the ‘Channel of You’. You become the programmer of the
content you want to see as opposed to someone sitting in the corner of
a room that doesn’t know you. This is about knowing about your
interests to pull content to you.

Leanback is in beta and expected to launch in the autumn
“And the challenge is all about making it effortless for you to get a
stream of constant videos that are going to be interesting and
relevant and targeted at you based on what your interests are and what
your friends are watching,” said Mr Walk.

Leanback is seen as part of the company’s effort to grow from a
website into a “video operating system” that is as ubiquitous and easy
to use as television.

It is also regarded as a product that will dovetail seamlessly with
Google’s tv ambitions, which aim to change the way consumers watch
television. Back in May, the search giant announced its plans for an
internet-focused tv in partnership with Sony, Intel, Dish Network and
Logitech.

The Sony made sets are due to go on sale in the autumn.

“Whenever you think of video, YouTube wants you to think of them,” Ben
Parr, co-editor of news website Mashable.com told the BBC.

“By making video available from the smallest screen to the biggest no
matter where you are, they can succeed in that goal. Whether they can
win in the living room is the billion dollar question. It is just
unclear if people want to watch YouTube video after YouTube video
versus professionally made shows on the networks,” he said.

Mobile changes

YouTube also upgraded its mobile website to make watching video on the
move more convenient and quality driven at a time when more and more
consumers reach the internet over smartphones.

The mobile update comes amid an explosion of smartphone sales
“YouTube consumption on mobile devices has grown considerably,” said
Andrey Doronichev, mobile product manager.

“Playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. The world is
heading mobile and we want to move with it.”

The updated site promises faster speeds along with the ability to
create playlists, designate favourite videos and receive search query
suggestions.

And with the upgrade, YouTube appeared to be aiming to steer iPhone
users away from the application that comes preinstalled on the Apple
smartphone.

In a blog post, the company said “As we make improvements to
Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike
native apps which are not updated as frequently.”