Microsoft Messenger TV Touts Social Video

By Geoff Duncan Published May 12, 2008

Microsoft has launched a new social video service dubbed Messenger TV that enables users to simultaneously watch and chat about video content via Windows Live Messenger. The idea is to turn watching online videos into a social experience by enabling friends to chat about the content in real time. However, while Microsoft is launching the service in 20 countries—including the UK, France, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico—it’s not available in the United States.

Initially, the service will offer video clips from MTV and Sony BMG; initial advertising partners for the service include Pepsi and 20th Century Fox. Other content may vary by market; for instance, deals with EMI and the UK’s Channel 4 will make music videos and selected television programming clips available via the service. The clips will include pre-roll advertisements and banner ads that run at the bottom of the video. The service operates as a flash-based video player within the Windows Live Messenger application, and lets users select videos by genre.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft sees Messenger TV as a way to turn its online video offerings into a more social experience that will appear to younger Internet users. And, of course, if the service proves popular, it’s also a way for the Redmond giant to boost its online advertising revenue. Although Microsoft has thrown considerable effort into upgrading its MSN Video offerings, the services are still far, far under the radar when compared to the 800-pound gorilla of the online video marketplace, YouTube.

Former Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Emerging Tech

Remember Samsung’s Ballie home robot? It may finally be inching closer to reality

Leaked app wireframes give the strongest hint yet that Samsung's Ballie home robot, first shown at CES 2020, might still be headed toward an actual release.

Samsung Ballie robot in a room next to a dog feeder.

Samsung's rolling home robot has been the industry's longest-running "will it ever actually ship" joke, and I'll admit I'd mostly given up on it. Now, there's finally a glimmer of hope.

Samsung first unveiled Ballie as a concept at CES 2020. Then, it showed it as a significantly upgraded version four years later. However, the company never confirmed a release date or committed to releasing it at all.

Smart Home

The US foreign-made robot crackdown is coming for future Roombas too

Future Roombas face new US sales hurdles, but existing models are unaffected

Roomba 980

The FCC has already made it much harder for foreign drone makers such as DJI to bring new products into the US. Now, the same crackdown is reaching a machine far more likely to be moving around your living room.

The US government recently added foreign-made advanced robotic devices to the FCC’s Covered List. The announcement appeared focused on humanoids, robot dogs, and industrial machines, but an FCC spokesperson has confirmed to The Verge that robot vacuum cleaners are covered too.

Branded Content

The GOKO M6 Robotic Lawn Mower Brings Industrial Robotics to Modern Lawn Care

7 reasons this AI-driven powerhouse makes hands-free yard work smarter than ever

Grass, Lawn, Plant

Robotic lawn mowers can save homeowners hours of manual yard work, but not every model is designed for challenging properties. While many perform well on flat lawns, larger yards with uneven terrain, steep slopes, and multiple mowing zones require a mower built for more demanding conditions.

Developed by GOKO, the consumer robotics brand of Robot++, the GOKO M6 is an industrial-grade 4WD AI-powered robotic lawn mower that brings more than a decade of industrial robotics expertise to residential lawn care. It combines AI-powered four-wheel drive, advanced navigation technologies, and AI QuadVision obstacle detection to tackle complex landscapes with less manual intervention.