Website Test

[AZScanner]

Hey gang, as some of you may know I own a little piece of the web called livetelevisionfeeds.com and for a while I was running a nice little notification service that alerted folks to tune in to live news video from across the country and around the world via the internet. Things were going swimmingly and then I got some nasty email from some VP over at Clearchannel over it, and well I acted a bit rashly and in the heat of the moment just dismantled the whole thing.

Well, I've since had time to cool off and calm down and I've decided to try to get this thing back up and running again, and make some improvements along the way. One of the improvements I'm envisioning is a mobile version, allowing those of you with PDA's and smartphones to also join in on the fun. The other will be to omit any of Clearchannels feeds so they won't get all whiny about it.

Here's where you come in - I need someone to test this url on their PDA's and smartphones: http://livetelevisionfeeds.com/pda.html

Right now none of the links work and it plays the main CNN feed as a test. Here's what I'd like you to report back with:

1. Does it work?
2. If so, what phone model and service do you have?
3. Is the page size OK? Too big? Too small? Do you have to scroll to see the video?

Let me know what you think and if it works or not, that will let me know if it's worth pursuing further. Thanks! (Mods, if you prefer this be in the tavern, please move it there - I wasn't sure where exactly to post this.)

-AZ

 

[tbnmaster]

For some reason the video isn't showing up on the mobile site. Using a Samsung Blackjack here.

 

[AZScanner]

For some reason the video isn't showing up on the mobile site. Using a Samsung Blackjack here.

That's what I figured might happen. It's an embedded instance of media player and I'm not 100% sure if PDA's and smartphones can view it.

Try this link on your phone: http://www.cnn.com/video/live/cnnlive_1.asx - does that work? If so then perhaps the mobile site will just have links to the streams instead of embedded video.

-AZ

 

[kb2vxa]

I'm surprised Clear Channel was the only one you had issues with, seems to me you're rebroadcasting copyright material without permission or paying the customary fees. I'm not an attorney so I suggest you consult one in the field before you get eaten by the spiders lurking on the web. There is a reason why most broadcast stations discontinued simulcasting over the Internet, double fees.

 

[lgentle]

Tried both websites. Have a Motorola Q by Verizon. The first URL just comes up with a bunch of incident reports. The CNN page just shows code, no video.

 

[DickH]

Tried both websites. Have a Motorola Q by Verizon. The first URL just comes up with a bunch of incident reports. The CNN page just shows code, no video.

Shouldn't all this chit-chat be via e-mail?

 

[AZScanner]

I'm surprised Clear Channel was the only one you had issues with, seems to me you're rebroadcasting copyright material without permission or paying the customary fees. I'm not an attorney so I suggest you consult one in the field before you get eaten by the spiders lurking on the web. There is a reason why most broadcast stations discontinued simulcasting over the Internet, double fees.

Well, I can assure you that there is no infringement of copyright considering that the feeds are not hosted by me and I have no control over what appears on them. Viewing the stream thru my site is no different and no more illegal than viewing it directly in mediaplayer or winamp, which many people do every day.

All I do is provide a link and drive viewers to it. The redesign of the site will invite viewers to click thru to the official news outlet's website for more information which should, in theory, drive more viewers to their sites. It's a win/win for all involved. My mistake last time was not providing this mechanism and not properly attributing the stream (Stream appears courtesy of WXYZ and Gannett Broadcasting or whatever). To be honest, Clearchannel wasn't really nasty about it, they asked nicely enough but it still cheesed me off and I overreacted because of the amount of work it would take to pick out this station and that station, etc. Therefore, this site will also have an opt out mechanism as well so that next time if a particular station or entity wants to be removed from the listing it won't be a big PITA to take them off. I think most of them will see the value in having their video appear in front of a national audience who is then invited to click thru to their website, and will not want to opt out. Time will tell.

At any rate, thanks for the warning and the concern, but I think it'll be fine.
-AZ

 

[AZScanner]

Tried both websites. Have a Motorola Q by Verizon. The first URL just comes up with a bunch of incident reports. The CNN page just shows code, no video.

Does the Q run Windows Mobile? I would think that the link would automatically open in Windows Mobile Media Player if so. I apologize for "spamming the list" with this, but I don't have a smartphone to test this stuff with so I thought maybe someone here did. Thanks for the replies so far.

One question - is there a site that DOES work on the Q to show video? If so please pass that along, I'd like to be able to see if I can figure out how they put it together and if it's something I can add to my own site.

 

[mancow]

Why email? It's all relevant to the topic.

Shouldn't all this chit-chat be via e-mail?

I have a Q running on Alltel's EVDO network.

At the pda page I see the title

LiveTelevisionFeeds.com
MOBILE
ON NOW: CNN Feed 1
Issue Alert Stream List

I can click the bottom two and it takes me to the pages ahead but as for that page no video is showing up at all.

 

[AZScanner]

Thanks for the test guys, looks like it's not gonna work. If anyone knows a way to embed or display media player streams on mobile web sites, please send me a PM or reply here and I'll look into it. Thanks!
-AZ

 

[bezking]

Hey AZ: Only Windows Mobile Smartphones have WMP, and the mobile IE doesn't support embedding. Palm, Blackberry, and Symbian don't support embedded WM either. Try a different format, like Flash. That's compatible with some devices, not all. Being in the Web Dev business, I would try to use Flash. You have to remember that there really aren't alot of set standards for mobile content delivery, so really anything will only be partway compatible with all devices.