Yahoo offers Y! Live video streaming site

Yahoo this morning took steps to up-end Google with Y! Live. The first service of its kind from a major web company, the feature aims to bring the same live recording seen from more focused sites such as Justin.tv or Ustream. Users can link a webcam or any other connected camera to the site and host live performances viewable from any Mac or PC with Adobe's Flash installed; show hosts can also interact with as many as four other primary guests as well as a much larger number of live chatters.

The service is also freely movable around the web. A programming interface permits Y! Live feeds to be ported to different websites and to integrate into different web apps. A Twitter feed is also currently available that helps keep track of when new shows are live.

This video service also represents the first fruits of a turnaround at Yahoo, the company says. The live streaming technology is the creation of a recently-established Advanced Products group and is one of Yahoo's few beta projects, having been released to the public in a limited-bandwidth test form just six months after it began. The service currently lacks features such as saving video for later viewing but is poised to expand over coming months.

Filed under: industry, digital imaging
Other story tags: Adobe, Yahoo, Flash, Ustream, Justin.tv