Youtube for businesses? Microsoft introduces Office 365 Video

Office 365 Video still need Sharepoint to work.

Microsoft has announced a new feature called Office 365 video which it calls a "NextGen Portal" and generally characterise go-to solutions that are often put in place by customers using Sharepoint; these include search, dashboard, wikis, company intranets and blogs.

Office 365 Video will allow organisations to post, share and discover video content within a secure perimeter rather than having to post them to an external third party like Vimeo or Youtube.

The service is powered by Microsoft's Azure Media Services and will be available to all enterprise Office 365 users (E1, E2, E3, E4) as well as Academic (A2, A3, A4) with government plans coming at a latter stage.

Videos are stored in the Sharepoint pooled storage and are encrypted at-rest and in-transit. Future improvements to the service, according to Mark Kashman, senior product manager on the Office 365 group, include broader mobile device coverage, recommendations powered by Office Graph and the ability to embed videos anywhere on an intranet.

Microsoft, it seems, is using the Office 365 brand more liberally with a number of services being added lately like Sway and Delve. Video is the first of these "NextGen Portals" that Microsoft will be rolling out for its enterprise users.

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In Depth: Netflix vs Amazon Prime Instant Video: which is best for you?

Owning stuff is so 20th Century: these days, the smart money gets spent on streaming.

Why pay for shiny and expensive discs when you can stream almost everything ever made to every device you and your family own for a small monthly fee?

That's what Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video offer, but there are big differences in the way they do things and in the stuff you can see. Let's discover which streaming service is best for you.

The standard Netflix UK service is £5.99 per month or £6.99 if you want high definition streaming (where available); if you've already signed up as a customer that £1 price increase has been delayed until 2016.

If you want Ultra HD/4K streaming you'll need to pay a bit more: that's £8.99 per month.

If you're a member of Amazon's Prime free-delivery club the Instant Video service is free - although the annual price of Prime has been hiked from £39 to £79 and gives you video whether you want it or not.

If you want Amazon Prime Instant Video but don't want the other benefits of a Prime membership, the price is a flat £5.99 per month.

Just want free next day delivery? Well you're stuck with the streaming service too

On the Xbox, users of Netflix or Amazon had to pay extra to use the apps as they were only available to paid-up Xbox Live Gold members. Microsoft has now dropped that requirement.

Both services are available for PC and Mac, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, PS3 and PS4, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Wii U, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and the Kindle Fire family.

Netflix apps are available on almost any device you can think of

In addition, Amazon Prime Instant Video is available on LG, Sony and Samsung Smart TVs, Sony's Network Media Player and Home Cinema System, and Blu-Ray players from LG, Samsung and Sony.

The previous lack of an Android phone app has been addressed, although it doesn't support Chromecast, and there's no Windows Phone app. As you'd expect, it works with Amazon's own Fire TV.

Netflix is available on Android (including Chromecast) and Windows Phone, compatible LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony Blu-Ray players and Smart TVs, Apple TV and set-top boxes from Philips, Roku, WD and Virgin Media, as well as LG home theatre equipment. It's also coming to YouView boxes.

Amazon's apps are much nicer than the web interface, possibly because they look like Netflix

You'll find a full list of Netflix-capable devices here; the list for Amazon Instant Video is here.

Both services have extensive libraries of kids' TV shows and movies including Disney and Pixar hits. Amazon also has an impressive collection of cartoons.

Both services have parental controls that can prevent the little 'uns from streaming horror movies, and Netflix also enables you to create separate profiles for each user and make the kids' ones child-friendly.

Netflix's user accounts are handy, especially for kids, but they aren't password protected

Those profiles aren't password-protected, however, so there's nothing to stop the little ones logging in as you and watching The Human Centipede 2.

Netflix has long had the edge over Amazon when it comes to TV: it snapped up the rights to stream Breaking Bad and it's commissioned critically acclaimed shows such as Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards.

Amazon is getting into the commissioning game too - its drama Transparent has attracted rave reviews - but its TV catalogue isn't as impressive as Netflix's. Netflix often has more recent series than Amazon, so for example Netflix has 8 seasons of the US Office while Amazon's streaming ends with season 5.

We often found Amazon's TV shows to be older than Netflix's unless you go pay-per-view

That brings us to one of the things we really hate about Amazon's offering: Prime Instant Video sits alongside the non-Prime Instant Video service, which is video on demand and isn't included in your membership. It's very frustrating to see programmes in the listings without the blue Prime logo.

The aforementioned US Office is a good example: if you want to see series after season 5, you'll need to pay £1.89 an episode for SD or £2.49 for HD.

On balance, we think Netflix has the better selection of TV programmes - but that might be because we're more Breaking Bad than Vikings. We'd recommend searching both services for your favourites.

It's important to know that both services regularly prune their catalogues, usually because the deals with the content owners have expired. Don't assume that a title that's there today will still be there in a few months' time.

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Google Play video channel is now available on Roku devices

But what about the slasher flicks?

The content available on Roku devices continues to expand, today with a new Google Play TV & Movies channel app.

The Google Play channel is available on all Roku devices released after June 2011, including the Roku 3, Roku Streaming Stick and more, which the company defines as the "current generation" of Roku gadgets.

Unfortunately it's only out in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada, somewhat limiting the availability of Google Play video content on Roku boxes.

Roku 3 users who don't already have a Google Play account will get a free digital copy of X-Men when they sign up for one on their set-top boxes.

And a Roku blog post hints that more titles will be released for free down the line in the channel's "Gifts from Google" section.

But given that today is Halloween, a lot of Roku 3 owners will probably be checking out Google Play's horror movie selection.

There are some true classics on there, from Stephen King's It to Killer Mermaid. Yeah, this was a smart day to launch the new channel.

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Running a video streaming service: the changes and challenges

A strong presence on mobile is becoming increasingly important

Ahead of his keynote slot at this year's Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam in October, we caught up with Dr. Gyula Feher, founder and CTO of Ustream, to hear about the challenges facing a video streaming company in the current internet age.

Ustream's founders identified a need for live streaming when friends who were posted in Iraq during the war had difficulties communicating with their families at home. While there is still a focus on Ustream for personal use, the opportunities for enterprise have far eclipsed the original user case and the majority of traffic and revenue seen by the live video streaming service are now derived from business customers.

In his Q&A with us, Dr. Feher discusses why Twitter presents a greater risk to corporate reputation than live streaming, his take on net neutrality, how the company is working with global operators to manage the impact that increasing levels of video traffic have on the network and where Ustream is headed to in the future.

TechRadar Pro: How did the concept for UStream begin?

Dr. Gyula Feher: We launched our beta service in March 2007. My co-founders, John Ham and Brad Hunstable, had noticed that friends who were posted in Iraq during the war had difficulties communicating with their families at home. From here we identified a need for live streaming, initially for individuals but the majority of our traffic now comes from enterprise clients.

TRP: What is the best example you have seen of a company or individual using UStream?

GF: Businesses are getting really creative with how video can optimise reach and generate value and not just in the B2C sector. Companies are using video to communicate with business and internal audiences too, for example to run training events in a more cost effective and engaging way.

We have moved into a new phase where live video isn't just being used as a passive instrument. Savvy and creative marketers recognise that it can be the linchpin of a fully integrated campaign and we've seen some great examples on our platform

One of the most memorable campaigns for me has been a company called Honest Tea. They set up pop-up kiosks in cities across the US that vended its drink based on customers adhering to the 'honour system' of payment.

Using a live video feed, the company assessed which city was the most honest and, subsequent to the video aspect of the campaign, had set up a fun 'honesty index' that assesses individuals' honesty profiles based on location, appearance and gender. Viewers could watch who was approaching the kiosk and decided whether that person would be honest and pay for their drink or choose not to.

TRP: Are there any risks for businesses using live streaming? How did you learn from the issues that you had around the streaming of the Hugo Awards in 2012?

GF: That was a big learning experience for us. We respect the intellectual property rights of others. We've made some refinements and also added in an additional layer of human approval, which adds more sanity to what we block and allow through.

In my experience Twitter presents a far greater risk to enterprises concerned about reputation management. For businesses new to video streaming, or those working on sensitive projects, we can offer the option of time shift so that they can be sure that whatever goes out live is okay - but there are some trade-offs on aspects such as interactivity.

TRP: UStream launched in 2007 – how have you seen the use of live video streams change over the last seven years and how do you ensure you keep ahead of the industry?

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