Producing Your Own Online “Television Show” From Home

As a cheap and often under-produced outlet of creative expression, local cable access television shows have been used by budding television hosts and exhibitionists alike as a sort of training ground for the real thing (a career in Hollywood) or simply as a way of sharing ideas that are more than often wacky or “out there”. The most famous use of cable access programming has to be the “Wayne’s World” skits on Saturday Night Live, that were even expanded upon to make two full-length big screen movies, introducing the world to the comedy genius of Mike Meyers. Anymore, today’s generation of up and coming Johnny Carsons and Merv Griffins are turning to the internet to express their ideas, finding how easy it can be to produce and star in a weekly program with the accessibility of millions of viewers worldwide.

Sometimes inspiration for a program, skit, or mini-movie is created after the purchasing of the equipment and simply “riffing” or improvising in front of the camera. While television cameras and assorted equipment for video-production can be relatively expensive, Internet broadcasting production equipment and cameras are not, making for online installments of shows that can be easily done on the cheap. Amateur Scorceses the world over are now starting off with merely an Internet connection and a webcam, allowing for an outlet of expression and the opportunity to hone their ideas before moving up to the next level. With online sites such as YouTube and many others, performers, musicians, and comedians alike are afforded the opportunity to easily express themselves and instantly receive comments and feedback from their audience. This leads to another fantastic aspect that has occurred due to the expansion and boom of Internet broadcasting: the audience. With cable access television, performers more than often got joy mostly from simply being filmed and “doing their thing”, often having show times in the wee hours of the night, after most viewers were tucked snugly in bed, finding themselves catering to a somewhat fringe audience of night owls, voyeurs, perverts, and insomniacs. With the advent of the Internet, it is now possible to find that audience every performer has been craving. An audience that “gets” what the producer and performers are doing and craves for the next installment to be broadcast live, downloaded to their computer for later viewing, or simply streamed from a host site such as YouTube and others.

As online opportunities for creative expression grow and evolve, internet broadcasting solution providers continue to adapt and invent software and hardware that can be manipulated and dialed-in to tailor fit the needs of the online producer, actor, or entertainer.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Online Retail Benefits From Broadband Streaming Abilities

How many times have you visited a company’s convoluted website and wish there were more options available concerning the presentation or explanation of their product? A digital image is all well and good, but not all that helpful if the use of this product is problematic once it arrives, due to its three-dimensional usage not being adequately related by a two-dimensional online picture or verbal explanation. The technology available to online retailers involved in the global marketplace is growing and evolving everyday. It simply does not make sense for retailers to ignore these new and exciting advances; they must take advantage of every avenue available to them when marketing their wares.

Broadband streaming of product usage videos is a wonderful tool available to today’s retailers. If a customer considers purchasing the newest baby carrier, let’s say, from an online distributor, it would be enormously helpful to view a video showing this product in action. Several videos uploaded by the retailer would be available for streaming by would-be buyers at their convenience. An interested parent would then be able to see this product, how it is worn, assembled, and even, how to place the baby within safely. Showing a parent and child in all steps of usage would add significantly to the buyer’s confidence in not only the product but also in the manufacturer’s desire and ability to satisfy their needs. But let’s not stop there. Advances in technology would also allow for a live chat, even with video, with store personnel available to answer questions during normal business hours. A virtual face-to-face explanation and demonstration might just be that extra step that encourages the customer to “pull the trigger” on their mouse and make that purchase. In this struggling economy, every advantage possible should be employed to help that all-important bottom line. The virtual streaming product demonstration model works for a wide array of products and services from baby carriers to espresso machines. A landscape architect could show a detailed video of his or her crew enacting beautiful change upon a client’s lawn or garden, a carpenter could stream a representative video of additions or outbuilding construction to prospective clients, and a how-to guru or cooking show chef extraordinaire would be much ingratiated to this technology as a matter of outreach and education to web visitors.

Broadband technology continues to expand and grow as providers and researchers like those at Whiteblox and other firms continue to research and develop new ways to increase and establish innovation within Internet connectivity. The appropriation and implementation of these capabilities would undoubtedly serve online retailers tremendously.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Media Allows Face to Face With Deployed Loved Ones

Connecting with loved ones during the holidays is one joy that many Americans look forward to. Sometimes finances and schedules can be so tight that a holiday visit just isn’t fated to happen on a given year, and sometimes, it helps to think outside the box, trying new ways to gain that precious holiday connectivity. This is where new innovations in broadband media technology and broadcasting can help fill in the gaps and bring those who are miles apart together in the same room; allowing grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even deployed fathers meet new additions to the family face to face or simply share in the holiday cheer.

While many of us might simply be unable to afford a trip to visit distanced relatives over the holidays, our dutifully serving military personnel abroad are not able due to their service to our country. Imagine being stationed overseas while your friends and relations celebrate the holidays, a very insular feeling indeed, and a phone call can only do so much. A phone call is bittersweet, but the ability to see family members faces, reactions of joy, and offerings of love would be priceless. Present-day broadband technology has the ability to allow relatives, even those spread across the country, to connect their celebrations via multiple cameras and multiple personal computers. A mother and father in Tennessee are able to see their daughter in Virginia, their son in Washington State, and their grandson serving in Afghanistan, communicating in real time across thousands upon thousands of miles thanks to Whiteblox and other providers of Internet broadcasting tools. Not only are separated relatives allowed to talk and see each other live, they are afforded the ability as well to broadcast streaming video, perhaps of their youngest son’s first “at bat” at a little league game, a daughter’s dance recital, or simply an infant’s bath- time; all of these being joyous viewings by proud grandparents that need not wait for DVDs to arrive by mail, but instead can watch and enjoy them with the grandchildren that produced them, sharing the elation and warm feelings instantly.

Harnessing the power of the Internet to connect loved ones across vast distances is truly exciting. Providers like Whiteblox continue to strive and create new capabilities as well as making this technology increasingly available to all that desire to use it.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Internet Broadcasting Can Supply Extreme Applications For Extreme Sports

Nearly three decades ago, the only extreme sport that received any, albeit minimal, television broadcasting was professional skateboarding. In the early to mid eighties, skateboarding experienced its second boom (the first being in the seventies), and with the entrance of extremely marketable skateboarders such as Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, and Mark “Gator” Ragowski, skateboard companies and clothiers such as Vision Skatewear, Airwalk, and Jimmy’Z were experiencing a sales heyday as well, with revenues in the millions. Today, the extreme sports phenomenon is seeing exposure like never before. With the addition of the X-Games nearly a decade ago, extreme sports from bicycle motocross to snowboarding are receiving their share of television broadcast time on the major networks as well as even having their own cable network channels dedicated to extreme sports broadcasts. As viewership grows, opportunities grow for promoters to reach out to new markets and new generations by expanding their presence on the Internet. Internet broadcasting could be the new extreme sports broadcasting solution.

With the interactive applications offered by Internet broadcasting providers like Whiteblox, extreme sporting events can attract their computer-savvy viewers more than ever. Imagine watching your favorite skateboarding competition, and being allowed to, at-will, switch between a multitude of cameras, from those mounted on the halfpipe’s deck, to one mounted on a crane above, or even a tiny camera mounted within your favorite competitor’s helmet. The skater’s point of view as he or she enters the ramp from twelve to fifteen feet in the air, at their trick’s apex is one few ever get to see unless they are skilled professionals themselves. Just as the visuals could be manipulated to tailor the viewer’s tastes, audio could be fine tuned as well. Viewers could be allowed to hear the banter between competitors on deck by switching to the appropriate audio feed. This sort of interactivity allows the viewer to feel they are really a part of the action without having to travel to the events themselves. Watching an event on the Internet can allow you to get closer to the action while offering extras that could never be available to the ticket buyer viewing the event on site. How many times have you watched a live sporting event, hoping to see a particularly amazing trick again, maybe even from a different camera angle, and it isn’t shown? Never again with new live Internet broadcast abilities that are emerging. You would be able to view the trick again and again, perhaps even within a separate viewing window, while live action is still available to view.

The possibilities and applications provided by Internet broadcasting are endless, and companies like Texas’ Whiteblox are continuously striving to develop new and exciting ways to help their customers reach the global marketplace.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Selling Properties With Help of Broadband Media

As broadband technology evolves and expands due to the efforts of research and development divisions of hardware and software companies across the globe, the global marketplace becomes more accessible to all and new opportunities for networking and interaction emerge. Applications in the media sector are numerous, as should be expected, but what about in everyday retail business, where the bottom line depends on sales? One such area that is benefitting from broadband advances is real estate. Realtors and brokers are using broadband like never before, enhancing their ability to serve the customer, and as always, make the sale.

As the real estate market becomes more and more competitive, especially in rapidly inflating markets like California, agents are expanding upon conventional efforts to do all they can to promote their properties in new and exciting ways. One way agents are finding to stay ahead of other outfits is by offering streaming video and virtual tours on their company’s websites. With new advances, customers are able to pan camera angles interactively, allowing 360-degree views of interiors and exteriors of prospective properties. This allows realtors to do the normal staging of units as in conventional showings, but affords them the ability to reach a much wider audience, especially interested parties that are looking to move into the area from out of state. This virtual peek might be all that is needed to entice a viewer to book a personal showing, hopefully with checkbook in hand!

Exclusive, multi-million dollar properties may require even more technological assistance to attract buyers. With broadband technology, an agent with an entrepreneurial spirit would be able to set up multiple cameras across an estate that is just not selling. An interested party that might live overseas and is tied up with business meetings and the like, would be able to view a property in a personal showing in real time with existing technology. Imagine the interactivity. Prospective buyers could ask questions of the agent, receiving answers immediately. This sort of customer service could be the difference between a “pass” and a “buy”.

Broadband media expansion is only just beginning. Broadband positive effects on business are causing a ripple effect that will only become larger as more consumers realize its power. Companies like Whiteblox are ramping up research and development in order to find new ways to achieve interactivity in business, education, non-profit, and varied sectors, hoping to meet and exceed new demand.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Can Increase Merchandising and Ticketing Success

Live entertainment such as theater, sporting events, concerts, etc., have always relied upon ticket sales and merchandising in order to assure performers, vendors, and suppliers are paid for services rendered and operations remain in the black. As production value rises each year with new additions and more extravagant displays, costs rise, and ticket and merchandise sales become more important than ever. Television and radio advertising slots are costly and can only run so many times daily. Many organizations already have websites in place that need only be amplified in ability and outreach possibilities. Broadband broadcasting and multimedia additions can be most helpful in keeping viewers interested, watching, and purchasing.

New developments in broadband applications are available to sports teams, theater companies, and live music venues, engaging viewers like never before when visiting websites, while ensuring seats are filled at performances and game-time. Sports teams’ budgets thrive upon sales of merchandise like players’ jerseys, hats, balls, and other paraphernalia. Imagining how many more jerseys might be sold if as the web-viewer rolls over the product, a streaming video begins, showcasing the player’s brilliant finesse with a bat, stick, etc. Even live action from multiple camera angles are possible, streaming on any given team’s website, allowing fans to purchase items and stay up to date on the action taking place. Live chat with salespeople at the venue is also made possible through broadband innovation, allowing purchasers to know exactly which seats they are choosing for a given performance or game, with a live person available to answer questions. Views from seated sections could be accessed online to show ticket-buyers comparative seats and site-lines from each. For music venues, the possibilities are boundless as well. Streaming audio and video showcasing guest artists greatest performances could be made available to concert goers that would previously need scour and search the web for examples themselves. Viewers would be driven to purchase tickets for artists they might not be so familiar with, because a video or audio sample had been made available on the venue’s site.

Broadband media is opening doors for increased sales, invigoratingly interactive applications, and more extensive outreach for varied organizations worldwide. Innovators in broadband multimedia research and development like Whiteblox strive to improve communications for corporations, entertainment and news outlets, as well as non-profits like churches and humanitarian organizations. As new services become available, broadband solution providers will continue to supply cutting-edge ways of harnessing the power of the Internet for consumers worldwide.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Media For Online Education Outreach

The ability and power of the Internet to instantly reach millions of citizens is extremely invaluable. In the 2007-2008 presidential campaign season, delegates harnessed the power of the Internet like never before to promote their campaigns, their ideals, and missions. Delegates used broadband media to stream videos of speeches at town meetings, handshaking engagements, et al, showcasing their movements throughout the country, and allowing voters never before inside-access of how the political campaign machinery worked, firsthand. Though the delegates may argue that their sites and displays were a part of their efforts to educate voters, these media blitzkriegs were truthfully large advertisements for their campaign with education taking a bit of a backseat. By observing the far-reaching ability of this medium however, it is easy to postulate how the technology could be used by valuable non-profit organizations as an important tool to educate millions about their causes, broadcast info on their efforts, and gather donations for necessary financial support.

Non-profits can exploit this new and exciting technology by using their websites to stream videos about emerging developments in their particular area of interest. A large non-profit such as the Red Cross could use the ability to broadcast live video feeds from areas affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, or floods, in efforts to appeal to supporters and volunteers to lend assistance. No longer would viewers be limited to watching the local news channel for updates at news broadcast times of 6 or 11, for example, but would be able to visit an advertised, unbiased website for up-to-the-minute information, pictures, and videos, detailing the plight of citizens that are currently in danger. All-important details such as alternate routes to bypass dangerous terrain or ways to get involved in rescue attempts and disaster relief could be broadcast instantaneously and without delay from the scene.

The Internet is emerging as an immeasurably valuable tool in reaching out to the populous and has been harnessed by network news, favorite television variety and reality shows. Often painted and colored as purveying unreliable and unsubstantiated information, the true power of the Internet to aid, help, and educate is undeniable and exciting. The possibilities and applications are endless and as broadcast media solution innovators such as Whiteblox continue to research and develop new and exciting ways in which these technologies can be used, efforts of non-profits like the Red Cross can be augmented and extended in ways never before imagined.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Internet Live Teaching Solutions

A decade ago, attending a major university or community college was much different. Waking up early, hauling yourself out of bed after a late night of studying (partying), getting dressed, and making it in time to an 8 AM Psych 101 class was a drag. Being an off-campus student made this even harder, because of commuting, and often, rolling over and hitting snooze or turning off the alarm altogether happened all too often, having quite an adverse affect upon those dreaded classes based upon attendance and class participation. Thankfully, the Internet and daily exponential advances in home computer and broadband technology has made the commute for some college students become a simple push of the button or stroke of the mouse.

Today, many colleges and universities are enticing prospective students with the freedom that online classrooms provide. No more waking up early, getting your notebooks, pencils, and papers together, taking time to primp and dress yourself in a way to impress your instructor or classmates, and running across the quad in a dead sprint to make your class on time. Students are now able to roll right out of bed in the clothes they slept in and enter their virtual classrooms online, not worrying about traffic gridlock, inclement weather, or a multitude of other obstacles that prevented their pre-internet predecessors from making it to class. This online option helps increase enrollment of distance learners, virtually allowing an entirely new population of students immediate ability to attend and learn while providing advanced learning institutions new opportunities for increasing all important university coffers with newly acquirable tuition monies.

Another positive for universities that can be attributed to the increase in online enrollment includes attracting new teaching staff due to flexibility of hours and negating professor commuting as well. This helps cut university costs relating to professor commuting such as parking and gas allowances. Cutting salary costs allow more monies to be focused on essential programs that might be lacking diligent financial attention.

Because of the extensive advances in live broadband broadcasting technologies, online classes have the ability to be just as interactive as those classes held on campus. With an open connection to students’ webcams, students and instructors are afforded the ability to converse, theorize, and argue points in real time and “virtually” face to face allowing for interchange of ideas across zip codes and time zones with no interruption whatsoever. Large Internet Broadcasting System providers like Whiteblox and others work diligently to ensure that colleges and universities have the tools they need to utilize these new and ever-changing technologies as they become available.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.