This what happens when you pre-announced an apparently cool and hip product and everybody anticipates its release. No matter how you want the live release to be as stealth as possible, you wouldn’t be successful like what happened to Yahoo’s live video broadcasting portal, Y! Live.
Just a few minutes after it went live, the server suddenly crashes just like the other Yahoo product releases (remember, Yahoo! Mash?) and you can test its main function which is live video streaming. Anyway, while we all wait for the Y!Live beta server to be up again, here’s the lowdown on what Y!Live is all about.As posted in the Y!Live Blog (which for a moment also suffered a crash down), Y! Live is an experiment in live video broadcasting. We, as online video consumers or viewers will be treated with video contents which are being broadcasted by another user, or broadcaster. Its just like YouTube but with the biggest difference as Y!Live videos are, you guess it right, LIVE.
For video publishers, whether you are an up and coming band seeking instant fame, or seeking to be recognized by major music labels, these might be your ticket to that much sought stardom. Go ahead and practice your performing skills and start broadcasting your bands performance Live on the Web. Do I see an American Idol on Y! Live? Hopefully not. American Idol on TV is more than enough.
Y!Live also comes with nifty tools that let users:
- Find out who’s broadcasting right now
- Get data about past broadcasts
- See snapshots of past broadcasts
- Embed live video in your blog or web page
Y!Live also comes with APIs for developers to use in developing customizable applications, and for embedding the Flash videos on individual pages. I will have to redirect your to the Y!Live API page for more information about this tools.
From the looks of it, Y!Live is a promising web product which might get major attention from YouTube fans. Hopefully, Yahoo gets to fix some minor kinks for us to fully appreciate its features. Break some legs Yahoo guys!
