The Kyte Universal Embed Code and HTML5 Support for Apple iOS Devices

Posted by: Jenna Quilalang    Under: Product | Company |

When the iPad launched in April, we announced both the Kyte iPhone/iPad SDK, as well as HTML5 video support for Apple iOS devices. Today, with the continued buzz around HTML5, we'd like to share some more details on how we support it.

Our universal embed code makes it possible to publish to both Flash-capable PCs and iOS devices using a single embed code, enabling seamless HTML5-based mobile video delivery to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.

When you browse on an Apple device, the Kyte Universal Embed Code automatically switches to HTML5 mode, delivering a mobile web experience almost identical to that of a Flash-capable PC.

In addition to video, Kyte’s signature interactive capabilities including comments and ratings can also be realized today using the Kyte JavaScript API, making it possible to deliver a fully interactive, Kyte-powered video experience to Apple mobile devices.

If you have an iPhone/iPad or iPod Touch, go to http://www.kyte.com/platform to watch Kyte HTML5 Support for Apple iOS devices in action.

Contact us to learn how you can optimize your own Kyte-powered website for HTML5-based video delivery to Apple mobile devices.

Comments • Permalink

Kyte Feature Highlight: Player Templates

Posted by: Shawn Smith    Under: Product | Tips | Company |

Large media companies - like FOX, MTV, Trinity Mirror, and others - who use Kyte to power their video content tend to have Kyte Players embedded across a number of websites. This makes it a challenge to update things like logos, watermarks, and other branding elements when they need to change.

 

Player Templates

In the Kyte Console, we address this problem through Player Templates, which enable non-technical users to customize many aspects of the audience experience, and then apply those customizations to as many players as they want.

 

Template Builder

The Kyte Console includes a Template Builder that gives customers the ability to create players for every kind of audience experience. It's a snap to create simple, clean chromeless players of any size and shape.

(click image to view larger)

Furthermore, customers can also build powerful experiences from a toolkit that includes different kinds of content discovery features, basic enhancements like comments and ratings, a variety of social sharing mechanisms, and powerful engagement modules.

(click image to view larger)

Kyte Player Templates are independent from the content, so changing the look and feel - even Player features - can be done with little effort and without interrupting the audience. Working with a single template, a designer can swap out a logo, add and remove various features, and make any number of other tweaks - and the changes will immediately apply across all players that use that template.

Finally, one of the most powerful features of Kyte's Template Builder and Player Management tools are real-time previews. As you change the various configurations and settings, you can see the results in real time in an actual working Kyte player - not a static mockup or shell.

Watch the screencast to learn more!

Comments • Permalink

IDC Whitepaper: How Brands Converge Online, Mobile & Social Audiences to Build Communities with Kyte

Posted by: Jenna Quilalang    Under: Company |

While today’s audiences continue to move online, they’re also becoming increasingly fragmented, spending more and more of their time on mobile devices and social networks. According to Nielsen, mobile is the fastest growing segment of video consumption, increasing by approximately 55% in 2009. As we all know, growth in the social web is also massive, with Facebook alone now boasting over 500MM active users. The challenge is reaching these audiences and building community around your brand.

Leading research company, IDC, understands that in order for media companies and marketers to attain a complete 360° view of the consumer, they need to easily and quickly create and publish a variety of video across multiple platforms.

IDC’s recently published whitepaper, 360° Approach to Video: How Brands Converge Online, Mobile and Social Audiences to Build Communities with Kyte’s Platform, examines how leading brands and media companies are using video to converge fragmented audiences, build community and increase audience engagement.

If you’re interested in learning more about reaching and engaging audiences across multiple platforms using Kyte, please register and download the new IDC whitepaper here.

Comments • Permalink

Opportunities and challenges in online video delivery

Posted by: Gannon Hall    Under: Product | Tips | Company |

In the last decade online video has grown from an esoteric hobbyist activity into a multi-million dollar business built around a thriving ecosystem of content creators, publishing and monetization platforms, and various enabling technologies, services and devices. Like many industries born out of the mass consumer embrace of the Internet, online video continues to evolve rapidly. It was only five years ago that the first video was uploaded and shared on YouTube, yet a scan of industry news today reflects a growing conversation around the myriad devices and endpoints from which audiences consume video.

Advances in broadband, computer technology and consumer electronics have ushered in a new era of Internet connected, video-capable devices (PCs, smart phones, gaming consoles, tablets, set-top boxes, etc.). Digital technology has also greatly reduced the cost and complexity of creating video content, resulting in the emergence of not only user generated video, but a greater output of professional and semi-professional video content from publishers for whom video was once cost prohibitive.

These two trends combined (increased distribution channels and low production costs) have resulted in an explosion of Internet-based video.

Since Kyte’s launch in 2007, one of our hallmarks has been our ability to anticipate the direction consumer demand is headed, and then innovate quickly to help video publishers meet that demand head-on. Most recently this has taken the form of turn-key application frameworks and SDKs for leading social, mobile and connected device platforms including Facebook, iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry, Nokia and Boxee.

Our product philosophy reflects our belief that audiences will continue to consume content across a broad variety and combination of Internet-enabled devices and platforms.

This is a belief supported by the reality of today’s media landscape:

The shift to digital continues

Media companies and marketers evaluating their video strategy need only to look to the news media to witness an industry that failed to innovate fast enough to meet consumer demand for digital content. As new online news and information delivery models (HuffingtonPost, CNN.com, ESPN.com, Craigslist.org) emerged, the ad dollar pool for local and regional print news outlets shrunk to a fraction of its previous size. Many smaller outlets have gone entirely out of business, and even larger news organizations (Gannett, AP, etc. ) have begun to feel the pain. Publishers that fail to innovate and embrace online, mobile and social delivery mechanisms will surely experience the same fate.

Digital has evolved beyond the PC

Delivery of video to the PC was just the beginning. Online audiences are spending increasing amounts of time consuming media from multiple platforms. The introduction of the iPhone and now the iPad have established entirely new markets for the delivery and sharing of live and on-demand video content. According to Nielsen, mobile is now the fastest growing segment of video consumption. And connected devices like Boxee and Roku are meeting pent-up demand from consumers frustrated by the lack of freedom and control over how and when they consume professional broadcast and internet programming.

Digital is social

The days of centralized, one-way broadcasting are over. In today’s world of social media and transparency, video publishers need to create an authentic experience supported by the social dynamic of friends and like-minded individuals. Facebook and Twitter have become integral to today’s media consumption habits, with Facebook poised to revolutionize online advertising (in much the same way Google did with search) through “earned impressions” based on intricate social connections and behavioral history. To be relevant today and engage audiences, publishers need to create video experiences that integrate the social graph and provide a rich interactive experience.

These trends are amplified when video content is separated from static digital content. Video is commanding a much higher CPM than traditional display advertising, and advertisers are finding TV less effective as they shift dollars online. Combined with an avalanche of statistics that show more and more people are watching video programming online or on their mobile devices, media companies and marketers are faced with several compelling reasons to quickly determine how they are going to reach and engage with these audiences.

While consumer choice and emerging platforms have created new opportunities for publishers, and in some cases entirely new industries, these trends are also the key contributors to growing audience fragmentation, resulting in increased technical challenges for publishers looking to deliver rich video experiences to multi-platform audiences.

Adding to this, competing technologies and devices (and the companies who back them) are creating additional technical hurdles for publishers (the Flash vs. HTML5 war being the prime example).

In summary, for any organization evaluating how to best publish, monetize and scale video in what is becoming an increasingly complex landscape, it’s important to consider the particular goals of your organization and the many options that are available to you. Here are some decision criteria to help you get started:

1. Evaluate your video strategy through the lens of your broader marketing objectives. Are you already reaching core audiences across social platforms? How about mobile? How can you converge these efforts under a single point of control?
2. If you’re considering working with an online video platform (OVP) provider, examine how different vendors provide mobile, social and connected device capabilities. Can they provide these services natively, or do they work with third parties to provide this functionality? How deep are their roots in mobile and social technology?
3. How quickly do you need to move? Do you need a partner with built-in native functionality across multiple consumption platforms, or can you handle longer development cycles?
4. What are your content creation needs? Do you plan to leverage live and on-demand video? How about UGC? Do you have a means of easily moderating this content?

To discuss your own particular requirements and challenges in producing, managing and delivering multi-platform social video experiences, feel free to contact us.

Comments • Permalink

Kyte Mobile Producer Captures the iPad Release - A Month Later There Are 12M Downloaded Apps…

Posted by: Jenna Quilalang    Under: Company | It’s been exactly one month since the iPad was released and Apple just announced that, “Consumers have now downloaded more than 12 million iPad applications from Apple's App Store, as well over 1.5 million ebook titles from the new iBookstore.”

From a “front-row seat” at the Apple Store in the Upper West Side in New York City, one of our clients, Toto at Axel-Springer, was able to capture the madness on our Mobile Producer.

Comments • Permalink