VideoSwiper plugin for HWDMediaShare

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Created on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 10:33

Written by Sam Cummings

A lot of our users use HWDMediaShare to display and share videos, or create a video gallery. We try hard to allow media uploads from as many different sources as possible in order for you to have a wide scope to find good content. Another way for our users to find good video content has recently been brought to our attention; VideoSwiper.

About VideoSwiper

VideoSwiper allows you to search a huge video database of 1.5 billion videos plus up to 50 video search engines for content. You can add as many videos as you like. Then edit, either one at a time or bulk, your titles, descriptions and tags and with a simple click upload all this new content to your site. You can easily add thousands of videos every day much quicker than it would normally take you.

To find out more about what VideoSwiper offers, see their features page.

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Google's 'All Access' music subscription service

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Created on Monday, 20 May 2013 13:53

Written by Sam Cummings

We have recently seen Google take a new direction with it's major video service YouTube, as it introduced paid subscription channels. This became a hot topic and had people talking about the future of online video. Well, we have heard for a while now that Google have been planning a music subscription service with many believing it to be in the style (and rival) of Spotify. Last week saw the launch of that service called 'Google Play Music All Access'. There has also been whispers for a while of Apple bringing out a new music service similar to Pandora.

So, Google has launched their effort first but this has got me thinking about the future of audio, how we listen to music and in particular online music.

Google Music Service

Google have launched their own subscription music service, Google Play Music All Access, in the US (for now). Predictions that the service would be heavily tied with the Android mobile operating system, therefore syncing with Google Play, were realised. Users can upload music to play anytime, anywhere. This strengthens Google’s ties to it's consumers through its Android software which is the most popular operating system in smartphones.

Apparently Google had lengthy negotiations with music companies over this service. The search giant offers the service as paid subscription music streaming to complement its own Google Music storefront. The price is $9.99 (around £6.50) per month but there is a 30 day free trial. It features millions of songs you can play instantly, recommendations, playlists and charts, and instant radio stations. It is described as "Radio without rules".

Google's music service was already competing with Apple's iTunes, and actually undercuts it by offering the ability to match and upload a personal music collection for free. Apple's iTunes and Amazon both charge $24.99 for the same functionality.

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YouTube launches paid subscriptions

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Created on Monday, 13 May 2013 09:21

Written by Sam Cummings

Last week I wrote an article on the subject of Google being about to introduce paid subscription channels to YouTube, in which I said I would write a follow up post when this was launched. Well, YouTube have now announced the launch and it has already taken effect.

The launch sees 53 channels now being 'Paid Channels' with prices starting slightly lower than we first thought. Some channels start at $99(64p) however, some do cost more up to about $7 per month. All channels do offer a 14day free trial though and some offer discounts if you pay for annual subscription. As you can see from the image above, not all of the channels are available in all countries.

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What happened to RevenueManager?

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Created on Tuesday, 14 May 2013 12:46

Written by Dave Horsfall

HWDRevenueManager was a Joomla 1.5 component that provided additional monetizing features to hwdVideoShare and hwdPhotoShare.

The RevenueManager component has not been ported to Joomla 2.5, and is not compatible with the new HWDMediaShare component.

This has caused some confusion, and the aim of this blog post is to explain what has happened to RevenueManager and clarify that all important features from that plugin are still available in our media gallery.

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In memory of our friend, Chris Bygate

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Created on Thursday, 09 May 2013 13:49

Written by Dave Horsfall

As the founder and lead developer here at HWDMediaShare, I've been very dedicated to our HWD community, and the wider CMS communities for many years. I've enjoyed working very hard to provide great software and support. However, over the past 6 months I've been devoting all my spare time to something new.

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JW Player 6 support added to the HWD JWPlayer plugin

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Created on Thursday, 09 May 2013 12:16

Written by Sam Cummings

The JW Player is the webs most popular video player and as you probably know, we have a plugin for it. This allows you to easily use the JW Player in your Joomla site, with HWDMediaShare and in articles. There are major differences in functionality between JW Player 5 (JW5), and our most recent version JW Player 6 (JW6). We now allow you to choose which version you want to use.

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YouTube Pay-Per-View Premium Channels Coming Soon

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Created on Wednesday, 08 May 2013 08:47

Written by Sam Cummings

You may have heard the news this week that Google are looking to introduce 'premium channels' to YouTube which require users to pay to watch the videos, and that this introduction is coming very soon! This is big news for most people who work with and enjoy media as YouTube is a video giant. It is also big news for everyone trying to make money through YouTube, but what does it actually mean?

Premium Channels

So you've heard these changes are coming but don't worry, it's not as dramatic as it may seem. They are only looking to add up to 50 pay-per channels so you won't suddenly have to start paying to access YouTube. However this is definitely a major initial shift towards this direction.

At the moment Google haven't come out and told us exactly what will happen but we can derive that these channels will be 'pay-per-month'. We can also assume that these channels are going to have some pretty exciting content (otherwise what would be the point). The initial figures being thrown around at this stage are of around $1.99 a month (£1.29). There is also talk of 'pay-per-view' options for videos although it is unclear as to whether this will be restricted to the same channels or not.

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HWDMediaShare 1.1.7 Released

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Created on Friday, 03 May 2013 14:52

Written by Sam Cummings

The HWDMediaShare team are happy to announce that HWDMediaShare 1.1.7 has been released.

The release includes improvements such as modifications to the default_body.php template of the administrator activities view to provide more information about the activity, such as the title of the uploaded media, with a link to the appropriate item where necessary.

We have added a new feature so that you can see and change the location of a remote media thumbnail image.

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Bulk Import from Server in HWDMediaShare

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Created on Thursday, 02 May 2013 09:54

Written by Sam Cummings

One of the most powerful ways to import media to HWDMediaShare is the Bulk Import Tool. This allows you to navigate your server tree, and select a a directory which is holding supported media. HWDMediaShare will then notify you how many media items can be imported, and allow you to import all them instantly with a single click.

The major benefit of this is of course that you can upload a lot of media items in one go.

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Site of the Week - UGRmedia

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Created on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 10:20

Written by Sam Cummings

UGRmedia

UGRmedia is a media repository for the University of Granada in Spain. The university is a public university with over 60,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students who study at the UGR, with another 20,000 students taking additional courses. It was founded in 1531 and is located in close proximity to the Mediterranean coast.

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