Yahoo, Current Team Up on Video

By Ed Oswald | Published September 20, 2006, 1:31 PM

Yahoo said Wednesday that it had penned an agreement with Current, the current events cable network pioneered by former vice presidential candidate Al Gore. The deal would bring some of the network's "viewer created content" to Yahoo's video service.

The agreement calls for a co-branded page on Yahoo Video that would feature content from the network. However, the four content channels that Current would sponsor on Yahoo would be completely separate from the cable network, meaning some of the content may not appear on Yahoo! Current, and vice versa.

"Current's mission has always been to spark a global conversation among young adults," Gore said. "Partnering with Yahoo! helps us advance this mission."

Four channels would initially premiere through the service, with more to be added in the feature. The first of them, Yahoo! Current Buzz, would be similar to Google Current on the television network. The daily feature would spotlight what Yahoo users are searching for on that given day.

Other channels include Current Action, home to action sports news and videos; Current Driver, a channel devoted to topics surrounding automobiles; and Current Traveler, where users would post "video postcards" from their travels.

Viewer created content would appear alongside professionally produced content from Yahoo Current hosts, the companies said. "The new Yahoo! Current Network helps publishers find an audience and be discovered on the biggest network on the planet," Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig said.

While Current TV and Yahoo Current are technically separate, a weekly contest will run where each Monday evening the best user-submitted video would air on the network, and the publisher awarded a $500 prize.

Within hours of its launch, Yahoo! Current appears to be a success. As of Wednesday afternoon, over 160 videos were already available on the service, across a variety of subjects.

"Today, for example, we have pieces uploaded from the drummer of an all female AC/DC cover band a student at UCF, a Bay Area hiphop filmmaker, and, uh...Bono," Connor Knighton wrote for the Current Blog.

The U2 singer's upload is called "A Day in the Life of the Edge," which chronicles the U2 guitarist's average day.

View comments by with a score of at least

Google rolls out real-time search, Near Me Now, extended personalization

Over time, searches from PCs and mobile phones will grow even "more personalized." But what about user privacy and search results that give you "the truth"?

Intel's marriage of CPU and GPU not ready for prime time

Although there will be an Intel component this month that can compute and plot in parallel, Betanews was told today, it won't be based on Project "Larrabee."

An alternative to Research in Motion's enterprise e-mail? There's an app for that

Good Technology today released an iPhone app compatible with its enterprise e-mail solution.

Playing catch-up in 2010: Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Symbian

Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia are each working on improved mobile operating systems. But could these efforts add up to too little, too late?

Windows fix for TLS security bug still forthcoming, won't be Tuesday

Anyone looking for a fix for last month's discovery of a potentially serious security hole in TLS and SSL may have to wait until everyone is ready to act together.

Not the first, not the last, technology predictions for 2010

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: The real truth is probably that what went around in 2009, will come around to haunt us next year.

Google Goggles: Hands on with the Shazam of the Real World

Google today unveiled Goggles, its visual search lab for Android devices that identifies objects by sight.

Microsoft: Windows 7 Family Pack wasn't 'pulled,' it just sold out

If you hurry, you may still be able to find the last Family Pack upgrade editions hanging around retail store shelves, but probably not so much online.

Clever iPhone game returns after being bumped over a name dispute

The game's simple concept and multitude of platforms and puzzles manage to pull off a retro, 8-bit style that's reminiscent of an old Atari game given a modern makeover.

Report: Microsoft to randomize Europe's browser screen choices

The fact that "A" is for "Apple" was apparently at the heart of browser vendor objections to Microsoft's alternative to listing IE first.

Will Nokia's plans further alienate American consumers?

A look at Nokia's plans for the coming years does little to shine up the company's increasingly dull image.