Disclosure: Userplane has been a longtime sponsor of Rev2.
With video already tipped in the real world, web publishers have been playing catch up to the demands of today’s consumers. Text is old, pictures can only go far, so a lot of websites are incorporating more media-centric content, and even more so video. But YouTube can only go so far for a lot of them — it may be the best option for consumers, but the control-seekers and brand-controllers of the world are on a wholly different level. Userplane is launching Media Player tonight — a free white label video solution for content publishers.
White label video hosting have existed for a while — the most prominent current player I can think of being Blip.TV. What Userplane brings to the fold is their expertise, experience, support, and mostly importantly, core driver of the company: white label solutions for communities. They’re by far the biggest player in the market, and while you may see video sites fade in and fade out — and do so with your content — you can be sure that is not going to be the case with Userplane (and the fact that they’re owned by AOL adds for assurance.)
Based on Adobe Flex, the Media Player application integrates with other Userplane apps such as Webchat, Webmessenger, Webrecorder and Desktop. If you’re an user of their existing products, that should be an added benefit. Additionally, the upcoming version of the app will include their Minichat software, giving users the ability to chat with others about the video they’re viewing as they view them.
A lot of site publishers and commnity leaders will find Media Player, if not the idea of white label hosting, come to their advantage in many ways. If you’re producing video content, the last thing you want is to for it to be on services which you have no control over whatsoever — nor that are willing to give you help, support, or assurance shall you need it.
