Twitter moves to beef up video sharing on social media

NEW YORK: Twitter said Thursday it has bought SnappyTV, a California firm that lets people edit and share clips from TV broadcasts.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SnappyTV, launched in 2010, has been collaborating with Twitter to "inject the best video content into Twitter´s real-time conversation, straight from the TV to your mobile device," Twitter said on its official blog.

Twitter added: "While we continue to invest in SnappyTV´s product and integrate it more tightly with Twitter, we also plan to maintain our partners´ ability to post high-quality videos to other platforms."

"As Twitter has grown as the companion to live events and broadcast media, SnappyTV will help partners and brands bring the best videos into the conversation, when it matters most," Twitter added.

Since the beginning of the year Twitter has been on a shopping spree, in particular for TV audience rating firms or social media advertising companies. These include the US firm Gnip, Mesagraph of France and Britain´s SecondSync.

Taliban release video of Bowe Bergdahl's handover

KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday released dramatic footage of their handover of army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to US forces after five years in captivity.

"Don´t come to Afghanistan again. Next time, nobody will release you," one of the gun-toting militants is heard telling Bergdahl in the 17-minute video.

It shows a US military helicopter landing in a valley, kicking up small clouds of dust as a jittery-looking Bergdahl waits just a few feet away flanked by militants clutching a white flag.

After a brief exchange of handshakes between insurgents and US soldiers, Bergdahl moves unsteadily towards the helicopter. Bergdahl -- the only US soldier held by the Taliban after being captured in Afghanistan -- was freed on Saturday in exchange for five senior Taliban militants detained at Guantanamo Bay in a deal brokered by Qatar.

His release has evoked sharp criticism from some US politicians, who fear they could return to the battlefield and pose a threat to Americans abroad.

The Taliban video, entitled "Ceremony of the American soldier exchange", at one point also displays the words "Don´t Come Back to Afghanistan" superimposed over footage of Bergdahl. A male voiceover in the video -- laced with religious music and chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) -- said the exchange occurred in the eastern Afghan province of Khost.

"The Americans contacted us and asked us where was a good place to meet. We contacted tribal elders to come and join us, because we do not trust them (Americans)," the voiceover said. "I congratulate all the mujahideen for this victory. "The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified by AFP.

US defence officials have said dozens of US special forces troops backed up by helicopters were sent for the handover. "Fortunately, no shots were fired," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday. "There was no violence. It went as well as we not only had expected and planned, but I think as well as it could have.

"Bergdahl is now being treated at a US military facility in Germany. The US military´s top officer General Martin Dempsey said Tuesday that Bergdahl may be disciplined if the army holds him guilty of misconduct, after claims from members of his unit that he had been captured in 2009 after abandoning his post.

Psy's new music video to be unveiled June 8

SAN FRANCISCO: Fresh from conquering YouTube by surpassing two billion views with his mega-hit "Gangnam Style," handlers for Psy say the release of a follow-up video is just a week away, according to a report Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal said the music star's next song -- a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg -- will get its worldwide release during a June 8 live broadcast of America's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" late-night talk show.

The new song -- "Hangover" -- will be "completely different," displaying Psy's hip-hop side, his handlers told the newspaper.

The South Korean pop phenomenon galloped into the record books Saturday when his "Gangnam Style" mega hit smashed through the two-billion views mark on YouTube.

It was a first at YouTube, where "Baby" by Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber in February became the only other video in the billion-view club.

"Gangnam Style" turned into a global sensation and fueled a South Korean "K-Pop" trend after it was uploaded to YouTube in July 2012.

Edward Snowden appears via video at Toronto debate

 

AP A file image (made from video) of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence contractor who has been leaking information about government data collection programs, says entire populations, rather than just individuals, now live under constant surveillance.

Mr. Snowden appeared via video link at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall during a Munk Debate about state surveillance on Friday night.

Former U.S. National Security Administration director General Michael Hayden and well-known civil liberties lawyer and Harvard law professor Alan M. Dershowitz, argued in favour of the debate statement — “Be it resolved state surveillance is a legitimate defence of our freedoms.”

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist whose work based on the Mr. Snowden leaks won a Pulitzer Prize last month and Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of social media website reddit, were in opposition.

The debate ended with 59 percent of the audience siding with Mr. Greenwald and Mr. Ohanian.

Commuter's video shows rat terrifying NYC subway

NEW YORK: Turns out, New Yorkers are just as wimpy as anyone else.

A subway train was leaving the Fulton Street station in lower Manhattan on Monday when someone shouted, "Rat on the train!"

Jinais Ponnampadikkal Kader (jih-NYE'-ees poh-nahm-PAH'-dihk-kahl KAH'-dur) started recording the ensuing panic on his cellphone.

His video shows people screaming as a large rat runs from side to side. It ends when the train reaches the High Street station in Brooklyn.

The 28-year-old Kader is a software developer who lives in Harrison, N.J.

More than 700,000 people had clicked on the YouTube video by Wednesday afternoon.

2-legged Washington dog charms millions with video

VANCOUVER: A dog in Washington state has no rear legs, but he can balance enough to run on only his front legs, as millions of people have seen in a YouTube video.

Duncan was born with deformed rear legs that were amputated to remove the dead weight.

The 9-month-old boxer belongs to Amanda Giese and Gary Walters, who run a nonprofit animal rescue called Panda Paws Rescue out of their home in the Clark County community of Felida.

The Columbian reports the couple took Duncan to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast in March and took the video of Duncan racing across the sand and chasing sticks.

Giese says they initially tried to fit Duncan in a special wheelchair, but he hated it and can do without it.

Meera’s Marriage in Trouble After the Controversial Video

The ever green yet controversial Meera can never be low rated as she has so much to offer to media. According to reports received, the Pakistani contentious actress Meera has been drinking lately in an American hotel bar nowadays. Not to feel lonely she is spending most of her time with her American friend, it seems like she has not taken the breakup very well.

Meera went to America to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her husband Captain Naveed. But after the controversial video of Meera and Naveed Khan, her in-laws are really not in favor of settling the issue and has are not allowing Captain Naveed to meet Meera.

Due to this Captain Naveed rejected to meet his wife. This is the only reason that they lady who was so keen to build the hospital in a slump area went underground in America. Captain Naveed stayed in America for 15 days after Meera’s arrival. And now he is performing his duties in Japan. Meera’s in-laws confirmed the whole situation.