Microsoft's YouTube rival arrives in public beta
Microsoft Corp. has unveiled a public beta of its MSN Soapbox video-upload service, its competitor to Google Inc.'s popular YouTube service.
The service, which Microsoft unveiled last September, has been available to beta testers only by invitation for several months. But now anyone can test out the service by going to this Web site, reports the the LiveSide blog, which tracks Microsoft's Windows Live Internet services.
Like YouTube, Soapbox allows users not only to upload videos to the Web in almost any digital video format, but also to tag and categorize them so other users can find them. The service also lets users watch videos and browse for new ones simultaneously on the same screen, something that differentiates it from YouTube, Microsoft has said.
Microsoft has been assembling a raft of Web-based services to compete with Google and Yahoo Inc. since November 2005, when Chief Architect Ray Ozzie unveiled the company's Live services initiative. The company has said it would invest a significant amount of money in its Web efforts, and financial analysts expect Microsoft to give an update on this plan during a briefing with analysts in New York Thursday.
Though many believe the Live services will replace Microsoft's MSN branded services, the company continues to maintain MSN as a site where it offers entertainment content, which may explain why it branded Soapbox with the MSN name rather than Live. The Live moniker refers more to actual services such as Windows Live e-mail, instant messaging and search.
Google announced in October it was buying YouTube for US$1.65 billion, a price many thought was too high for the video service. Still, YouTube remains one of the most popular sites on the Web.
IDG News Service
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
