Facebook Launches A Live Stream Box, Partners With Ustream

Today, Facebook is launching a new “Live Stream Box” feature which allows for Facebook Pages to offer their own live video and chat area. And Ustream will be the first to take advantage of it with Ustream on Facebook, a new service to provide live video support to select Facebook users.

This functionality is an extension of what Ustream and Facebook did with some Jonas Brothers concerts last month — events which drew huge numbers. How huge? This huge, according to Ustream:

■1.5 million unique posts were made via Facebook Live Feed
■23K average posts per minute
■More than 100K users joined the webcast after seeing their friend’s comment on Facebook
■974K total unique viewers watched the one hour webcast
■Ustream reports the Jonas Brothers webcast on Facebook surpassed the largest live video event they have hosted for any music artist
So clearly, there’s a big demand for certain live events via Facebook, and Ustream is jumping on it, as Facebook’s preferred partner.

Apparently, how this will work is that on Facebook Pages there will now be a way to add a “Live” tab, which will house things such as the Ustream on Facebook feature. Previously, beyond the Jonas Brothers, Facebook has tested this with CNN and the NBA All-Star game. Here’s what Facebook has to say:

Today, Facebook is launching the Facebook Live Stream Box as a feature that any website owner or developer can use to enable Facebook users to connect, share, and post updates in real-time as they witness an event online. Websites can run the Live Stream Box next to live streaming videos of concerts, speeches, sporting events, webcasts, TV shows, presentations, or webinars. Sites can also run the Live Stream Box in multi-player games, or with any other experience where many people are visiting a website at the same time.

But Ustream’s funtionality is not for everyone yet, due to what will undoubtedly be high demand, we’re told. Any artist or person who thinks they could benefit from the Ustream functionality, can apply to have the feature turned on here. With it, you’ll get not only the live player, but a customizable banner that can link to places like iTunes or Amazon (obviously important for artists).

Right now, there are two versions of the player: A free ad-supported version, and a white-label version. The free version is the one with limited sign-ups allowed right now, so click that link above quickly if you think you need the feature. The white-label version comes with a one-time development fee of $15,000. But you also get an ongoing subscription to Ustream’s white-label platform, Watershed.

Find out more information here. Eventually, Ustream hopes to port this Facebook experience over to its main site as well using Facebook Connect, we’re told.

Is Facebook really a place to watch TV?

Slide, the Widget start-up primarily responsible for delivering individuals photo slideshows and videos announced that it would be hosting video from CBS, Warner Brothers, and Hulu on Facebook. This is the beginning of a new Facebook application that is being worked on in partnership with FunSpace Channels that will open today. Facebook and TV? Does that go together?

I personally must admit that this saddens me, as Facebook’s appeal for me has always been that it is so opposite MySpace. MySpace allows users to bog down their page with text, music, photos and video- consuming my bandwidth and irritating me to death. Facebook on the other hand, I’ve always loved for its simplicity and ease of use. It can be used in both my professional and personal life and it’s not covered with colors, widgets and videos.

Facebook offers person-to person and person to group communication venues. It is more communication-based rather than entertainment-based. I feel like Facebook is starting to become trendy, and more media and advertisement oriented. It’s no longer the Facebook I used to love.

When Facebook opened the doors to application developers last year, I knew it was doomed. It was the start of Facebook appearing more like MySpace. The new redesign took Facebook back to the days of simplicity requiring users to actually click a tab to view the widgets and applications of their friends. I really thought Facebook was headed back toward a communication-geared website.

I am not impressed with the television-on-Facebook concept. Warner Brothers, CBS, and Hulu all currently have their own sites for streaming media- and when I want to watch TV on the web, that’s where I go to. The last thing I am interested in doing is logging on to Facebook and watching my shows through what is already slow and quirky at times when it comes to using applications. I am probably not alone in saying that if I want to see a clip from my favorite show I’m headed straight for YouTube, or the television network itself.

Facebook needs to be left alone, and left to what it’s designed for - communication and keeping in touch on a professional and personal level. Leave the streaming media, and bandwidth eating applications to MySpace.