Contact Information: For more information: Lisa Bennett Kaltura (212) 981-3965
Kaltura Launches Friends' Video Card Facebook Application
Friends' Video Card Allows Groups of Facebook Users to Jointly Create Video Greeting Cards for Their Friends; First Project to Bring Kaltura's Group-Video-Making Platform to Existing Online Communities Beyond Kaltura.com
| Source: Kaltura
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - October 16, 2007) - Kaltura, Inc. (www.kaltura.com), a pioneer in
Collaborative Media, announced today the launch of its first application
that takes the company's core group-video-making technology beyond the
Kaltura.com portal. As part of its overall strategy to enable groups of
users to create online rich media together in their existing places of
gathering, Kaltura has developed the Friends' Video Card application for
Facebook. Using the application, any Facebook user can start a group video
card, invite friends to add photos, drawings, videos, and sounds, remix the
results without ever leaving Facebook, and send it to the recipient. This
is the first of many applications, partnerships, and relationships that
Kaltura has in the pipeline whereby its collaborative media technology will
allow existing groups of users to create video and rich-media together
within current social networking sites, and other online communities. The
application is available at http://apps.facebook.com/friendsvideocard/.
How does it work?
Facebook users can add the Kaltura Friends' Video Card application just as
they would any other Facebook application. Once installed, Friends' Video
Card automatically detects friends that have birthdays, anniversaries, or
other special occasions coming up in the next few weeks, and prompts the
creator to start a greeting card. Users can start a card, invite friends
to join, add their photos videos, graffiti and text, and easily combine
them together with music and sounds. When invited contributors add their
media clips, the original creator gets a notification, and when the creator
is satisfied that sufficient material has been accumulated, it can be sent
to the recipient. It's like a surprise party, without the hassle. The
application is based on Kaltura's core technology, yet somewhat simplified
and adapted to the Facebook environment. Users who want more effects and
video editing tools will have free access to the online video editor on
Kaltura.com, where they can further edit the greeting before sending to
their friends.
"Our goal is to provide users at any site with the ability to collaborate
with their peers in rich media; Facebook was a natural place to start,"
said Ron Yekutiel, Chairman and CEO of Kaltura. "Now Facebook users can
take action as a group, and have fun sending video greeting cards to their
friends without ever leaving the site. We see this as a great precedent
for getting the concept of collaborative rich media and the ability to
actually do it out there."
About Kaltura
Kaltura is a New York-based pioneer in Collaborative Media, allowing groups
of users to create rich-media projects together using video, audio, and
animation, similarly to what wiki platforms enable with text. Kaltura's
revolutionary concept of group-video-making enables existing affinity
groups to 'get creative together'. It provides the incentive and
opportunity for people to 'lean forward' and create rich-media with friends
and like-minded people. Kaltura's technology is implemented in the
kaltura.com portal, where group-video-making is available to all for free,
and is also licensed to other websites, social networks, and brands for
their customized and integrated use. Founded in 2006, Kaltura's management
and advisory team includes top notch advertising, marketing, and media
executives as well as seasoned technology entrepreneurs, including
co-founders of ICQ, Cyota, and Destinator Technologies. The Company is
backed by Avalon Ventures, a San Diego-based venture capital fund focused
on wireless technology, life science, and Web 2.0. For more information
visit http://www.kaltura.com or visit the Kaltura blog at
http://www.kaltura.com/blog/.