Andy Plesser

Brightcove, the big video services company, has been expanding aggressively in Japan with a number of corporate and media clients.  Today, the company announced it will provide video services to the Nikkei, Japan's largest business newspaper.

SAN FRANCISCO — Media executives have a love/hate relationship with Apple. They admire the elegant design and usability of its products but decry the restricted "walled garden" that Apple puts up for content creators.

The Financial Times has been publishing online video for the past three years and is set to "invest heavily" in production and technology, according to Rob Grimshaw, head of digital operations for the FT.

SAN FRANCISCO — Avatar director James Cameron, studio chief Jeff Katzenberg, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and Comcast's Steve Burke are some of the speakers scheduled for the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference June 1-3 in Palo Verdes, California.

SAN FRANCISCO — While the iPad is elegant, distributing a new type of video file along with formats for other emerging platforms such as HTML5, it could create unexpected costs for the the industry, says Anthony Soohoo, SVP at CBS Interactive in comments during the Beet.TV Online Video Executive Roundtable that took place on Wednesday.

Howcast, a New York-based online video content and syndication company, which makes short "how to" videos, is finding traction with branded content created for big marketers. Today, the company announced a campaign with 1-800-Flowers. 

Boxee, the free software download that allows consumers to use their PC to watch television programming, is creating a pay-per-view system for content creators. 

Not surprisingly, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver have captured the attention of millions of Canadians who are watching the Olympics online.  

Techmeme, the influential aggregator of technology news, has added another "human" element to its engine with Rich DeMuro, a veteran CNET editor who joined Techmeme earlier this year. 

Will 2010 be the year when online video becomes mainstream in the media business? Will marketers move television budgets online? What are the metrics of success for the emerging medium?

Demand Media, the Los Angeles-based media start-up with a network of 7,000 content creators, uses YouTube as its primary publishing platform and it now has had one billion views, Shawn Colo, co-founder, told me on Friday.

Auditude, the Palo Alto-based online video management company has signed a deal to manage video advertising for Comcast Interactive Media, according to Liz Gannes over at NewTeeVee.

As part of our sponsorship arrangement with Brightcove, we have interviewed several of the company's customers about how they use the online video platform.

This year will be a transformative one for online video as advertisers are routinely buying seven-figure campaigns, says Jason Glickman, CEO of Tremor Media, the big New York-based video ad network.

Video search will become increasingly important as publishers and advertisers seek to draw viewers to content, says Amanda Richman, managing director of digital at MediaVest, the giant media buying company.

NEW YORK, February 19 — We are streaming the paidContent:2010 media summit today.  Beet.TV will be be at the event doing a number of video interviews that will be published later today and over the next several days.

Consumers of online video are not adverse to multiple in-stream commercials — and many will embrace a form of micropayments, according to Quincy Smith, former CEO of CBS Interactive  who is now a partner with Code Advisors, a new media boutique investment banking firm. . 

Vook, the startup which has developed a multi-media platform for books that mixes video, pictures, and social media with traditional text, has raised $2.5 million in funding.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Today Google released a video about its Google Voice and its many features.  One of which is the means by which voicemail messages are transcribed to text. 

Clicker, the fast growing guide to online video programming, raised an additional $11 million in venture funding, the company announced today.