Microsoft Debuts SoapBox on MSN Video

Microsoft has announced the launch of SoapBox, a new service on MSN video, which will allow users to upload their own videos on to the portal and share them with others on the Iinternet. Microsoft also revealed that Soapbox will be deeply integrated throughout Microsoft’s portfolio of online services, such as Windows Live Spaces and Windows Live Messenger.

Rob Bennett, general manager of Entertainment and Video Services for MSN said, “Soapbox delivers on a critical component of the MSN growth strategy of deepening audience engagement by enabling people to participate in the content experience. By adding a user-uploaded video service, we are rounding out our existing investments in commercially produced and original content on MSN Video.”

Features of SoapBox include background server-side video processing and faster uploading. The service will accept all major digital video formats and will offer the ability to browse through 15 categories to find related videos, subscribe to RSS feeds, and share their favorites with their contacts on MSN without interrupting the video they are watching. Moreover, Soapbox users can rate, comment on and tag the videos they view, share links with their friends via e-mail, and include the embeddable Soapbox player directly on their Web site or blog.

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Soapbox will be initially available to a limited number of users in the US, during an invitation-only test phase, but it will go fully live as a part of MSN Video within the next six months.

Find out more here.