Kyte @ SXSW 2010

If you're at SXSW Interactive you may run into me and Maks, who'll be out and about demoing Kyte LivePro Unwired, the newest addition to the Kyte Platform which enables broadcast-quality live streaming via 3G (and future 4G) wireless technology. Live streams are automatically archived for on-demand viewing, so if you miss an actual live stream, you can always watch the on-demand videos after the fact.

We put up a page where we'll be broadcasting, so check it out to catch the live (and on-demand) SXSW action. Let's just hope the 3G coverage is better than last year. Good news is that Kyte LivePro Unwired bonds several 3G cards from multiple carriers, so even if a particular carrier is experiencing difficulty (you know who you are), the others should compensate.

Click Here

Kyte First Online Video Platform to Deliver Wireless High Quality Live Streaming

Earlier this week, Daniel visited Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch to show off our new toy, Kyte LivePro Unwired, which enables high quality wireless live streaming via the Kyte Platform.  Check out the video below and Erick's post on TC.

In conjunction with the launch, SPIN Magazine will be using the technology to bring music fans behind the scenes live coverage from SXSW. 

Kyte LivePro Unwired, which uses wireless backpack technology provided by LiveU, will allow SPIN to deliver high-quality live video from places where deploying traditional broadcast technologies would be impossible or too costly. All that is needed for Kyte LivePro Unwired is the battery-operated backpack unit and any camera that supports IEEE 1394 (Firewire) output.

We’re super excited about this product, and we can’t wait for you to see it in action!  Check back here to see SPIN’s live coverage during the show.

Kyte LivePro Unwired extends our professional live streaming capabilities first introduced with Kyte LivePro. Check out our Kyte LivePro Overview to learn more about both products.

Announcing Kyte Console 2.0 - a Major Upgrade of our Video Management System

We’re excited to announce the launch today of the Kyte Console 2.0, a significant upgrade of our comprehensive, enterprise-grade content management and analytics solution for the Kyte Platform.

Informed by close collaboration and insight from key customers, Kyte Console 2.0, formerly known as the Kyte Dashboard, offers improved flexibility and workflow for managing, publishing and measuring your online and mobile video content. 

Here's what Brian Lakamp, EVP Digital Media of Premiere Radio Networks had to say: "A successful video strategy is critical to effectively engaging our audiences, and Kyte Console 2.0 provides us with the tools we need to streamline and manage our video publishing process. We look forward to taking advantage of new features like smart playlists and enhanced channel management, which will make it even easier to manage and deploy video across our platforms."

The Kyte Console 2.0 enables you to:

• Manage and organize all of your media assets, including on-demand, live, mobile video and user-generated content.
• Easily share your media assets and define hierarchical access levels across multiple accounts.
• Organize your media assets into playlists and publish to online, mobile and social web destinations.
• Define custom workflows for moderating user-generated media and comments.
• Measure the impact of your content through in-depth reporting and visualizations.

The Console is composed of four major tabs: Content, Publishing, Moderation and Analytics.

Content

Create live and on-demand shows, manage all your content, and create and manage playlists.

More details

Publishing

Create and configure channels and players, enable producer access, and configure engagement features.

More details

Moderation

Moderate content, control user-generated content, and moderate comments.

More details

Analytics

Track engagement levels, view distribution reach, survey production activity, measure advertising results, and review user metrics.

More details

To find out more about the Kyte Console 2.0, click here.

Kyte Extends Mobile App Frameworks to Android and Nokia, Now Available for 4 Major Mobile Platforms

The Kyte Mobile App Frameworks will soon be available for four major mobile platforms.

The Kyte Mobile App Frameworks for Android and Nokia mobile platforms, scheduled for release in Q1 of 2010, will soon join Kyte mobile video support for the iPhone and BlackBerry mobile platforms – both released earlier this year.

The Kyte Mobile App Frameworks offer companies the ability to build cost effective, native apps for each platform and bring the full Kyte experience to mobile phones.

All of the core Kyte features are offered, including video and pictures, real-time chat, comments and ratings, share functionality, RSS reader, activity notifications, Twitter feed, modules for downloads and events – as well as custom modules.

Customers who have already taken advantage of Kyte Mobile App Frameworks include Universal Music Group, which used the iPhone App Framework to launch apps for artists such as Lady Gaga, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, and The Pussycat Dolls; and VH1, the first Kyte customer to debut both BlackBerry and iPhone apps for the 2009 Hip Hop Honors show.

For more information on Kyte Mobile App Frameworks and to get started, contact us here.

Kyte and the Social Web – A Perfect Match

If the Social Web isn’t at the top of your radar screen, it should be.

As social web destinations like Facebook, Twitter and a slew of others explode in popularity, it’s more important than ever to ensure you maintain a presence. The social web is increasingly becoming a key element of the web, as more and more people engage and interact with their friends both online and mobile.

Crazy, right? But not at all surprising when you consider how many people interact on the social web today. The numbers are staggering: Facebook has more than 300 million active users all over the world who share more than 2 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, etc.) shared each week. About 15 percent of Facebook users (or 11 million) in the U.S. regularly access its mobile web version.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s numbers are also rising quickly, attracting 44.5 million people worldwide in June according to comScore, with 20 million visitors coming from the U.S. alone. And Twitter illustrates the power of mobile and social media working together. More than 3 million users in the U.S. regularly access the service via the mobile web, according to Nielsen.

In the U.S., more than four in five adults online use social media at least once a month, according to a Forrester Research report. Young people view the social web as part of their daily lives, yet the most rapid growth has occurred among consumers 35 and older.

So, why is this important?

It’s clear – the social web is where the users are. It's where people gather and communicate. Reaching a digital audience today requires tapping into the real-time stream of information and media that is central to the social experience of services like Facebook and Twitter.

How does Kyte fit in?

Kyte has the tools to help you to tap into the social web, enabling users to interact and engage both directly and indirectly with your content and interact with each other through a variety of tools. When you post your content to Facebook or Twitter, there are more ways for your friends to find your content and pass it on. 
 

SOCIAL SHARING

Here are some important ways Kyte helps your content to proliferate via the social web:

Get & Share
Kyte’s Get & Share functionality is an easy way for users to share links with friends to social web destinations like their Twitter, Facebook and MySpace accounts. With one click, viewers can select the website of their choice and instantly share links on their account. Viewers can also easily embed on websites or blogs with one click, and generate SEO-friendly links.

Twitter Integration
Kyte’s Twitter integration enables users to link their Twitter account to their Kyte account, instantly sending a tweet to their followers whenever a new show is produced. The tweet, sent automatically to their account, includes a direct link to the show, driving traffic back to your primary website.
 

ENGAGEMENT

Here are some ways Kyte helps you engage with your audience:

Live Streaming and Interactive User Engagement
Audiences are increasingly turning to the web to watch important live events, like the presidential inauguration, awards shows, sporting events and more.

With the advent of the social web, users are increasingly wanting to engage and interact with content in real-time while it happens. This is why integration with live streamed events is so crucial. The nature of the web has evolved, with direct user interactivity a required and central component to any compelling digital experience.

This is where Kyte comes in. Kyte's live streaming features easily integrate with the social web. Features, including simple one-click recording via webcam or mobile phone, and professional, high definition live streaming online via Kyte LivePro, seamlessly integrate with social web widgets for Twitter and Facebook. These widgets, such as the Twitter widget and Facebook's new embeddable Live Stream Box, enables users to comment in real-time while watching the live stream on Kyte. Kyte also offers real-time chat, in which viewers of shows can interact with each other in real-time using audio, video and text chat.

A recent example of Kyte's integration capabilities was in September, when TV Guide integrated the social web into live streaming coverage of the Emmy Awards, on their website www.tvguide.com. TV Guide live streamed 2.5 hours of high definition professional video coverage of the red carpet using Kyte LivePro. They integrated the Kyte Player into their website to broadcast the event and added the Facebook Live Stream Box next to the player. With this integration, fans were able to interact with each other and share their thoughts on red carpet coverage and fashion at the Emmy's in real-time while watching the live streaming coverage online.

Twitter Module
An easy way to increase audience engagement is by adding the new Twitter in-player module to your Kyte Player, augmenting visibility of specific Twitter feeds and search options like @replies and hashtags. The Twitter Module can be accessed via a custom link in the player header or through one of the flexible player tabs.

The social web clearly needs to be a vital part of any digital strategy. As user interactivity continues to rise, both online and via mobile, it's never been more important to think about how your users can engage directly and feel like they're as much a part of the action as what's going on in your content. With Kyte's many social sharing and engagement features leading the charge in user interactivity, you're assured your audience has the tools and information they need to spread their voice and your content across the web.