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Time for an update on what's been going on at Overlay.TV. A few months ago we launched a new platform called Overlay.TV for Retail. At the time, the focus on our site was split between user-generated content and our new eCommerce video platform, but it became clear in the months that followed that interest in the UGC side was dwindling and that our energies would be better spent if we concentrated solely on our retail platform. It wasn't an easy decision to make as we had some very loyal users, but we felt that the new platform needed all of our love and attention, especially in these early stages, in order to deliver the best possible product  to all of our clients. Check out the revamped site to see how our focus has changed and to find out more about Overlay.TV for Retail.

So, with our sites set on making Overlay.TV for Retail the most widely used eCommerce video platform, we thought it was time to have a coming out out party of sorts, and what better place to do that than in Las Vegas! Myself and some of the gang from Overlay.TV traveled to Vegas for the Shop.org Annual Summit 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where we set up shop in a 10x20 booth.

The Summit was 3 days of non-stop meet and greets. Not only were we able to introduce ourselves to loads of people from all over the world, but we were also given the opportunity to see what's new in the world of online retail. What we heard a lot was that online retailers are looking for new ways to integrate video, product and user-generated,  into their sites to better engage existing customers and entice new ones. It's not just about pushing products and shopping, but about building a community of like minded consumers and giving them the ability to share their experiences with others. If you you missed the Summit, check out the Shop.org Blog for recaps on the show and keynote speakers. Thanks to the Shop.org crew for putting together a fabulous trade show. We couldn't have asked for a better coming out party.

Stay tuned, because over the next coming weeks and months I'll be posting stories and examples of how our clients are successfully integrating the Overlay.TV for Retail onto their sites.

Overlay.TV is pleased to announce today the launch of its latest platform, Overlay.TV for Retail. Overlay.TV for Retail is an all-in-one eCommerce video solution with all the tools a business needs to provide its customers with an interactive shopping experience combined with outstanding customer care, in one easy-to-use environment. Our new platform seamlessly integrates into existing websites and offers custom branded players that allow customers to click and shop directly from your inventory catalog right in the video.

Example of Overlay.TV for Retail Authoring Tool

Example of the Overlay.TV for Retail Player Website Integration

We have created a demo website, www.flixtore.com, that showcases our tool and how it can be used to engage consumers and enhance their shopping experience with clickable video. For more information download our White Paper for Retail or contact us at retail@overlay.tv. Read full press release here.

Stay tuned! We have a major retailer signed that will be launching this summer!

Welcome to the new and improved Overlay.TV. Over the past couple of weeks our team has been diligently working away to give our site a new facelift. Our goal for the re-design, based in part on community feedback, was to make information more accessible for people with business and development interests, while still maintaining the UGC aspects of our site.

The hompage now has three options to choose from: Creators, Business and Developers with each of these sections providing more information specific to your needs, including features and benefits, demos, downloadable PDFs and contact info.  There is also a promo video explaining what we do and showcases how clickable video can enhance your audience's viewing pleasure.  As always we welcome your thoughts and feedback regarding our site changes and encourage you to leave them here or on our official Twitter page @OverlayTV.

Ahhhh ... now that's refreshing!

Special Thanks to The Anybody for graciously allowing Overlay.TV to use their music for our promo video.

Backbone Magazine, a Canadian IT magazine that itself has had remarkable growth and staying power, establishing itself as a trusted source of IT information in the frosty nether regions has recently published its second annual Top 25 Up and Comers, a list that recognizes the leaders of tomorrow within the Canadian ICT industry. To make the list, companies had to be established no earlier than 2005 and were selected for their innovation, uniqueness and long-term potential.

The list is from Canadian ICT companies appearing on the 2009 Branham300 Edition and their combined force surpassed $70 billion in revenue for the first time in Branham300 history! Overcoming increasing economic pressures, these Canadian companies experienced a whopping 18 per cent growth - collectively generating $75.97 billion in revenue.

The envelope(s) please...(in alphabetical order, not ranked): Continue reading »

What's this you ask? I can win a Wii? How?

Well kids, you may recall a few posts ago I told you about a very special tool we launched called ijustine.overlay.tv. Basically it's a free product endorsement backed by none other than the Internet herself, iJustine. Well now you can review a product and maybe win a Wii. Go to ijustine.overlay.tv, create your product review, iJustine will pick what she thinks is the best one, and Overlay.TV will give that lucky person a Wii! OMG a Wii!! The winner will be chosen on March 17th at SXSW, the last day of the Interactive portion.

For more info on how you can win a Wii, watch the clip below from iJustine's new show, Ask iJ.

 We are always looking for ways to make things easier and more efficient for our users here at Overlay.TV, and we have developed a new app we think will do just that. It's called the YouTube Uploader, developed with our friends at Nitobi, and it makes uploading videos to YouTube and creating Overlays on them super quick and easy. Simply install the app and uploading your videos to YouTube is as easy as a drag and drop, and you can start creating Overlays on your videos right from the app!

The app also allows for larger file sizes and sits on your desktop for quick access that you can open anytime, anywhere. Click here to install the app and for a complete description of how to use the Overlay.TV YouTube Uploader.

For all you dev types check out Part One of Jesse from Nitobi's blog post on how the YouTube Uploader came to be at our newly launched Labs site.

Overlay.TV partner Kidz Bop is ready to let it rock! Kidz Bop users can now create their very own karaoke version of their favorite songs, including Kidz Bop's version of Let it Rock and Selena Gomez's pop hit Tell Me Something I Don't Know from the soundtrack to her movie 'Another Cinderella Story.' KidzBop had been thinking of implementing an interactive karaoke widget for some time, and when they saw the massive popularity of Jonas Brothers Overlay Vocal Booth, they were convinced. Like the JB booth, kids sing along to lyrics Overlayed in the music video, but this time their sing along will appear right inside the video itself.

And like all things Kidz Bop it's super simple for kids to create. Just head over to the Kidz Bop Karaoke Video Maker become a Kidz Bop member, if you haven't already done so, agree to the rules of play, pick your song and get ready to ROCK! Videos are moderated daily and kids can share them with their friends and family. And super awesome submissions have the chance to become the Featured Karaoke Video of the day. Get Rockin'!

Contribution. Sharing. Interests. Passion. Talent

The new faces of social media are sharing their passion and talent in forums that make the seemingly impossible possible. How do you go beyond words to express your love of something? How do you connect your contributions to those from people in over 100 countries simultaneously? How do we obfuscate technology and deliver community experiences that create engagement levels never before seen and at the same time give people a reason to stay up late, practice their potential and ultimately share this with the world?

We do it by delivering an experience that resists the urge to describe itself, and instead offer a single point of entry and action (similar to the iPod 'wheel' or the Google Search button) that allows for a common and shared experience that is immediately accessible - in this case "Create Your Own".

I give you first exhibit A - the new faces of social media - and if you click on any one of them (below) you will see what they shared just minutes or hours ago at the Jonas Brothers Vocal Booth. Forget the technology for a minute and focus on what was going through the minds of these very passionate community members from all around the world as they sang along with their favorite boy band, crush in, and hearts out.

Consider a few things as you ponder this - this wall of faces represents a very small 1-2% of the actual tens of thousands of participants who engaged in the experience. Beyond the bravery to share their version of a song sung by their heroes with their heroes and thousands of fans who are tuning in to watch the versions (many visitors now watch as many as 20 or more of the videos) they also overcame network, technology, bandwidth and hardware issues that would daunt most of the leaders in this space that are more than twice the age of our contributors here. It is one thing to soapbox, but it is indeed quite another level of sharing to sing when you are up on it.

These days we too often focus on the why or the how and not the what of social media. And when we think about the who, it would be great to focus on who really benefits from all the work, theory, technology and effort that goes into building great experiences.

These are a few of the new faces of social media. As a parent we can be proud of our children safely sharing their talent and passion with the world at large, and in my very humbled opinion they are worthy of nothing less than a standing ovation of heartfelt applause for their considerable effort and passion.

(reposted from http://bitpakkit.com )

Remember when you were a kid and you were 'like, oh my God, totally in love with,' let's say Duran Duran, or for those a little younger, New Kids on the Block, and how much you thought your love for them was so real and profound it made your heart ache? How you would lay awake at night in your pink canopy bed imagining your unicorn-themed wedding to Simon Le Bon or Donnie Wahlberg, just before rolling over and giving their poster one last kiss goodnight? How when you heard any of their songs on the radio, you would go absolutely crazy with delight, and sing at the top of your lungs into your hairbrush, dancing around your room to your legions of imaginary fans? Anyone? No? You totally lie.

Anyway, fast forward to 2008 and the new kids on the block are now Jonas Brothers, and posters still exist, but do so in a virtual universe. Now, imagine that you could sing-along with the Jonas Brothers and the whole world could see it. Kinda like karaoke, but not so lame. Well, Overlay.TV, together with the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records, has made that a reality.

Fans of the Jonas Brothers can now go to their official website and get in The Jonas Brothers Overlay.TV Vocal Booth and sing-along with them to their latest hit 'Lovebug.' It's super simple too. Click on the "Create Your Own!" button to start recording your very own version of 'Lovebug' while you sing-along with the JB boys themselves at the same time. Tell your kids, your friend’s kids, kids at school, stranger’s kids, your nieces and nephews, anyone who you think is a die hard JB fan, or just someone who likes to show off their musical chops. It's loads of PG good fun and gets you that much closer to Nick, Joe and Kevin. Like OMG!!!!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Overlay.TV Has Been Kidznapped!!!

This just in. Overlay.TV has been kidznapped by Kidz Bop! Not really of course, but Kidz Bop is the latest partnership to develop here at Overlay.TV. Kidz Bop is this millennium's answer to the Mini Pops (remember the Mini Pops?) with, as the name implies, kids bopping around and singing along to catchy pop hits, like The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls.

The official Kidz Bop website has re-launched, with of course all of the Kidz Bop music videos, but it now also features games, webisodes, contests, and the coolest new feature that gives kids the ability to create and upload their own video creations. Overlay.TV worked with Kidz Bop to develop not only a custom player for their site, but we also gave kids the ability to upload original videos that they could add cool animations to.

It's super easy too. Kids create an account on Kidz Bop, upload an already existing video, or create a new one with their webcam, add some animation to it and save! They can make web shows, video greetings, music videos, or whatever inspires them to be creative, and share it with all their friends on Kidz Bop! Cool.