--Report: YouTube to Launch Sports Hub, Ramp Up Live Streaming Activities
In what may be one of the most unusual examples of convergence to date, two researchers from Japan's Keio University have developed a microwave oven that plays YouTube videos while the user waits for their food to cook. Dubbed the Castoven, the device incorporates a 10.4-inch LCD screen into its door and also integrates a speaker.
Designed to be connected to a home computer, and powered by an Adobe AIR app that accesses videos through YouTube's API, the Castoven--which is not yet available for sale--selects the videos it displays based on length: thus, if the user is warming up their Hungry-Man TV dinner for six minutes, the device will automatically play a six minute-long video.
A demo video of the Castoven is embedded above (h/t Serkan Toto, CrunchGear).
In other YouTube news: At the Le Web conference in Paris, Wednesday, YouTube CEO, Chad Hurley announced that the company is teaming with SportAccord, an umbrella organization that brings together 104 international sports federations, to launch a YouTube "Sports Hub," according to an article in the UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph. The service is slated to launch next spring with around 2,000 videos, including coverage of games and matches, as well as interviews and behind-the-scenes content. Hurley also told Le Web attendees that YouTube plans to expand its live streaming activities, the Telegraph reported.
